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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animalia%20%28book%29

Animalia (book)

Animalia is an illustrated children's book by Graeme Base. It was originally published in 1986, followed by a tenth anniversary edition in 1996, and a 25th anniversary edition in 2012. Over four million copies have been sold worldwide. A special numbered and signed anniversary edition was also published in 1996, with an embossed gold jacket. Synopsis Animalia is an alliterative alphabet book and contains twenty-six illustrations, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each illustration features an animal from the animal kingdom (A is for alligator and armadillo, B is for butterfly, etc.) along with a short poem utilizing the letter of the page for many of the words. The illustrations contain many other objects beginning with that letter that the reader can try to identify (however, there are not necessarily "a thousand things, or maybe more", as the author states). As an additional challenge, the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture. Related products Julia MacRae Books published an Animalia colouring book in 2008. H. N. Abrams also published a wall calendar colouring book version for children the same year. H. N. Abrams published The Animalia Wall Frieze, a fold-out over 26 feet in length, in which the author created new riddles for each letter. The Great American Puzzle Factory created a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle based on the book's cover. Adaptations A television series was also created, based on the book, which airs in Canada. The Australian Children's Television Foundation released a teaching resource DVD-ROM in 2011 to accompany the TV series with teaching aids for classroom use. In 2010, The Base Factory and AppBooks released Animalia as an application for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch. Awards Animalia won the Young Australian's Best Book Award in 1987 for Best Picture Story Book. The Children's Book Council of Australia designated Animalia a 1987 Picture Book of the Year: Honour Book. Kid's Own Australian Literature Awards named Animalia the 1988 Picture Book Winner. References External links Graeme Base's official website A Learning Time activity guide for Animalia created by The Little Big Book Club 1986 children's books Alphabet books Australian children's books Children's books about animals Picture books by Graeme Base Puffin Books books Puzzle books

579

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien

Alien

Alien primarily refers to: Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country Enemy alien, the above in times of war Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth Specifically, a lifeform with extraterrestrial intelligence For fictional extraterrestrial life, see Extraterrestrials in fiction Introduced species, a species not native to its environment Alien(s), or The Alien(s) may also refer to: Science and technology AliEn (ALICE Environment), a grid framework Alien (file converter), a Linux program Alien Technology, a manufacturer of RFID technology Arts and entertainment Alien (franchise), a media franchise Xenomorph, the titular alien in the franchise Films Alien (film), a 1979 film by Ridley Scott Aliens (film), second film in the franchise from 1986 by James Cameron Alien 3, third film in the franchise from 1992 by David Fincher Alien Resurrection, fourth film in the franchise from 1997 by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Alien vs. Predator (film), fifth film in the franchise from 2004 by Paul W. S. Anderson Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, sixth film in the franchise from 2007 by the Brothers Strause Prometheus (2012 film), seventh film in the franchise from 2012 by Ridley Scott Alien: Covenant, eighth film in the franchise from 2017 by Ridley Scott Alien 2: On Earth, a 1980 unofficial sequel of the 1979 Alien film Alien Visitor (also titled Epsilon) (1995 film) AustralianItalian science fiction film by Rolf de Heer The Alien (2016 film), a 2016 Mexican film The Alien (unproduced film), an incomplete 1960s IndianAmerican film Alienoid, a 2022 South Korean film Literature Alien novels, an extension of the Alien franchise Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual, a 1995 book by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, a guide to the fictional United States Colonial Marines Aliens (Tappan Wright novel), a 1902 novel by Mary Tappan Wright Aliens! (anthology) a 1980 anthology of science fiction edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann The Alien (novel), the eighth book in the Animorphs series by Katherine Applegate The Aliens (play), a 2010 play by Annie Baker Music Performers Alien (band), a 1980s Swedish rock group The Aliens (Australian band), a 1970s new wave group The Aliens (Scottish band), a 2005–2008 rock group The Aliens, the backing band for the American musician Jared Louche on his 1999 solo debut album Covergirl Albums Alien (soundtrack), 1979 Alien (Beam album), 2022 Alien (Northlane album), 2019 Alien (Strapping Young Lad album), 2005 Alien, a 1989 EP by Tankard Aliens (soundtrack), 1987 Songs "Alien" (Britney Spears song), 2013 "Alien" (Jonas Blue and Sabrina Carpenter song), 2018 "Alien", a song by Atlanta Rhythm from the album Quinella, 1981 "Alien", a song by Bush from the album Sixteen Stone, 1994 "Alien", a song by Erasure from the album Loveboat, 2000 "Alien", a song by Japan from the album Quiet Life, 1979 "Alien", a song by Lamb from the album Fear of Fours, 1999 "Alien", a song by Nerina Pallot from the album Dear Frustrated Superstar, 2001 "Alien", a song by P-Model from the album Landsale, 1980 "Alien", a song by Pennywise from the album Straight Ahead, 1999 "Alien", a song by Stray Kids from the album SKZ-Replay, 2022 "Alien", a song by Structures from the album Life Through a Window, 2014 "Alien", a song by the National from the album First Two Pages of Frankenstein, 2023 "Alien", a song by Third Day from the album Conspiracy No. 5, 1997 "Alien", a song by Thriving Ivory from the album Thriving Ivory, 2003 "Alien", a song by Tokio Hotel from the album Humanoid, 2009 "Alien", a 2020 song by Lee Su-hyun "Alien", a 2020 song by Dennis Lloyd "Aliens" (song), a 2017 song by Coldplay "Aliens", a 1984 song by Warlord "The Alien", a song by Dream Theater from the album A View from the Top of the World, 2021 Video games Alien (1984 video game), based on the film Alien (Atari 2600), a 1982 maze game based on the 1979 film Alien: Isolation, a 2014 video game based on the Alien science fiction horror film series Aliens (1982 video game), a text-only clone of Space Invaders written for the CP/M operating system on the Kaypro computer Aliens (1990 video game), a game by Konami, based on the sequel of the film Other media Alien (Armenian TV series), a 2017 melodrama series Alien (sculpture), a 2012 work by David Breuer-Weil, in Mottisfont, Hampshire, England Aliens (Dark Horse Comics line) The Aliens (TV series), 2016 British sci-fi television series "Aliens" (Roseanne), a 1992 television episode Other uses Alien (shipping company), a Russian company Alien Sun (born 1974), Singaporean actress Alien, a perfume by Thierry Mugler Alian District (Alien), in Taiwan See also Alians, an Islamic order Alien Project (disambiguation) Alien vs. Predator (disambiguation) Astrobiology, the study of hypothetical alien life ATLiens, a 1996 album by OutKast Predator (disambiguation) UFO (disambiguation) Unidentified flying object (disambiguation)

590

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin%20%28disambiguation%29

Austin (disambiguation)

Austin is the capital of Texas in the United States. Austin may also refer to: Geographical locations Australia Austin, Western Australia Canada Austin, Manitoba Austin, Ontario Austin, Quebec Austin Island, Nunavut France Saint-Austin, hamlet at la Neuville-Chant-d'Oisel, Normandy United States Austin, Arkansas Austin, Colorado Austin Township, Macon County, Illinois Austin, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois Austin, Indiana Austin, Kentucky Austin, Minnesota Austin, Missouri Austin, Nevada Austin, Ohio Austin, Oregon Austin, Pennsylvania Austin, Texas Austin County, Texas (the city of Austin, Texas is located in Travis County) Schools Austin College, Sherman, Texas University of Texas at Austin, flagship institution of the University of Texas System Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee Religion Augustine of Hippo An adjective for the Augustinians Business American Austin Car Company, short-lived American automobile maker Austin Automobile Company, short-lived American automobile company Austin Motor Company, British car manufacturer Austin magazine, produced for the Austin Motor Company by in-house Nuffield Press Austin cookies and crackers, Keebler Company brand Entertainment "Austin" (song), a single by Blake Shelton Austin (album), a 2023 studio album by Post Malone Austin, a kangaroo Beanie Baby produced by Ty, Inc. Austin the kangaroo from the children's television series The Backyardigans Other uses Austin (building), a building designed by artist Ellsworth Kelly in Austin, Texas Austin (given name), a short form of Augustin, or Augustine, including fictional characters Austin (surname) USS Austin, three ships See also All pages beginning with Austin August (disambiguation) Augustin (disambiguation) Augustine (disambiguation) Austin station (disambiguation) Austins (disambiguation) Austen (disambiguation) Justice Austin (disambiguation) Austinburg (disambiguation)

595

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre%20Agassi

Andre Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Agassi is the second of five men to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open Era and the fifth of eight overall to make the achievement. He is also the first of two men to achieve the career Golden Slam (career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal), as well as the only man to win a career Super Slam (career Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal and the year-end championships). Agassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003). He also won 17 Masters titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995, but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. Agassi returned to No. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname "The Punisher". After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter school for at-risk children. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001. Early life Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (Aghassian), a former Olympic boxer from Iran, and American Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley). His father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage. Andre Agassi's mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor. He has three older siblings – Rita (last wife of former number one Pancho Gonzales), Philip and Tami. Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian American billionaire. Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas, had met Kerkorian in 1963. At the age of 12, Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner, Roddy Parks, won the 1982 National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago. Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book Open. When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. He was meant to stay for only three months, because that was all his father could afford. After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free." Agassi then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue a full-time tennis career. Professional career 1986–1993: Breakthrough and the first major title Agassi turned professional at the age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta, California. He won his first match against John Austin, but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander. By the end of 1986, Agassi was ranked No. 91. He won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at the Sul American Open in Itaparica and ended the year ranked No. 25. He won six additional tournaments in 1988 (Memphis, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Forest Hills WCT, Stuttgart Outdoor, Volvo International and Livingston Open), and, by December of that year, he had surpassed US$1 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. During 1988, he also set the open-era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager (a record that stood for 17 years until Rafael Nadal broke it in 2005). His year-end ranking was No. 3, behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander. Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and Tennis magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for 1988. In addition to not playing the Australian Open (which later became his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 (although he first played there in 1987, only to lose in the first round to Henri Leconte) and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at the event are required to conform. Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and the US Open in 1988 and made the US Open semi-finals in 1989. He began the 1990s with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he was favored before losing in four sets to Andrés Gómez, which he later attributed in his book to worrying about his wig falling off during the match. He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras; a year earlier, Agassi had crushed Sampras, after which time he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi lost the US Open final to Sampras in three sets. The Agassi-Sampras rivalry became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade. Agassi ended 1990 on a high note as he helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years on home soil against Australia (3-2) and won his only Tennis Masters Cup, beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in the final. In 1991, Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five-set final. The Las Vegan was a set and 3-1 up when came the rain. The rain delay proved to be a confidence builder for Courier. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991, leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He reached the quarterfinals on that occasion, losing in five sets to David Wheaton. Agassi's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the US Open, where he had previously enjoyed success. In 1992, he defeated Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final. Along the way, Agassi overcame two former Wimbledon champions: Boris Becker and John McEnroe. No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992. Agassi once again played on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years. Agassi famously played the game wearing Oakley brand sunglasses, and a photo of him from the day appeared on the cover of Tennis magazine. In his memoir, he wrote that he was covering up bloodshot eyes from a hangover and claimed that the founder of Oakley, Jim Jannard, had sent him a Dodge Viper to thank him for the inadvertent publicity. In 1993, Agassi won the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters, partnered with Petr Korda. He missed much of the early part of that year due to injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense, he lost to eventual champion and No. 1 Pete Sampras in five sets. Agassi lost in the first round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year. 1994–1997: Rise to the top, Olympic Gold and the fall With new coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. He started slowly in 1994, losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, he emerged during the hard-court season, winning the Canadian Open. His comeback culminated at the 1994 US Open with a five-set fourth-round victory against Michael Chang. He then became the first man to capture the US Open as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in the final. Along the way, he beat 5 seeded players. In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. He competed in the 1995 Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating defending champion Sampras in a four-set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 (Cincinnati, Key Biscayne, and the Canadian Open) and seven titles total. He compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hard-court circuit, with the last victory being in an intense late-night four-set semi-final of the US Open against Boris Becker. The streak ended the next day when Agassi lost the final to Sampras. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over mentally. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. Agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed Sampras to surpass him and finish ranked No. 1 at the year-end ranking. In terms of win–loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 73 and lost 9 matches, and was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of his career. 1996 was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. He suffered two early-round losses to Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Open semi-finals. At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions, but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose, as he did not want to play Boris Becker, whom he would have faced in that final. The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne. 1997 was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during the year. He later confessed that he started using crystal methamphetamine at that time, allegedly on the urging of a friend. He failed an ATP drug test, but wrote a letter claiming the same friend had spiked a drink. The ATP dropped the failed drug test as a warning. In his autobiography, Agassi admitted that the letter was a lie. He quit the drug soon after. At this time Agassi was also in a failing marriage with actress, model, and socialite Brooke Shields and had lost interest in the game. He won no top-level titles, and his ranking sank to No. 141 on November 10, 1997, prompting many to believe that his run as one of the sport's premier competitors was over and he would never again win any significant tournaments. 1998–2003: Return to glory and Career Super Slam In 1998, Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top 50. After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter. In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year. At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in the second round to Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in 1988). Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Don Budge—these have since been joined by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the Open Era. This win also made him the first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). Agassi also became the only male player to win the Career Super Slam, consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Year-end championship. Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a two sets to one deficit) in the final. Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat Marat Safin. Agassi ended 1999 as the No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–98). This was the only time Agassi ended the year at No. 1. Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup losing 1–6, 5–7, 4–6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2. He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.. 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1. Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément. En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7, with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades. 2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months. In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final. On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured the No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero, surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000, and finished the year ranked No. 4. At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in 1987. 2004–2006: Final years In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at the event. He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall, who won the title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. 7 in 1988. At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup, before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the US Open final. After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in straight sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to win in the fifth set tie-breaker. His other five-set victories were over Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semi-finals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets. Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end top-10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end. Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay-court season including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third round by world No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open. Agassi had a short, but dramatic, run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. Agassi won in five sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match, Agassi fell to 112th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech. Rivalries Agassi vs. Sampras The rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 1990s, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest serve returner at the time. Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–20. The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, lost the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at two sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship. With both Sampras and Agassi participating, the US won the Davis Cup in 1995. The year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won three out of four major titles, meeting each other twice in the finals, and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year. They met five times during the year, all in the title matches, including the Australian Open, the Newsweek Champions Cup (now Indian Wells), the Lipton International Players Championships (now Miami Open), the Canadian Open, and the US Open. Agassi won three of the finals, including the Australian Open; however, Sampras took the US Open title, ending Agassi's 26-match winning streak. After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off, Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over it mentally. In the following three years, while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season, Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open, which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round-robin match, but winning the final. In the 2000s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous five matches against Sampras. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of play presented by both players. Their last meeting was the final of the 2002 US Open, which was their third meeting in a US Open final, but the first since 1995. The match was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets. This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career. Agassi vs. Chang Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang being more defensive-minded. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. The rivalry began late in the 1980s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next great generation of American tennis players and both being of foreign descent. Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the 1988 US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in the 1990 French Open in a four-set quarterfinal. Arguably their best match took place in the round of 16 of the 1994 US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in 1996, with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his book that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final. Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last being in 2003 at the Miami Open with Chang being clearly past his prime. Agassi vs. Becker Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4. Becker won their first three matches in 1988 and 1989 before Agassi reversed the rivalry in 1990, and won 10 of their last 11 matches. One contributing factor is that after their third match, Agassi picked up a tell regarding Becker's serve and knew where his serves would be directed. They first played at Indian Wells in 1988, with Becker prevailing. Their most notable match was the 1989 Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered a baseliner with a playing style not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 1992 on his way to his first Grand Slam title. The intensity of the rivalry peaked in 1995. Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Open semi-final, this time it was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets. Their final match was played at Hong Kong in 1999, which Agassi won in three sets. Agassi vs. Rafter Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts, but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the 1999 Rome Masters. They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in 1993 and 1999, while Rafter took their 2000 and 2001 encounters, the latter two matches being gruelling 5-setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played. Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open, in 1995 and 2001, on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter, however, took their only US Open encounter in 1997 and went on to win the title. Agassi vs. Federer Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times, and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras, the rivalry against the 11-years-younger Federer, who was another great server like Sampras, became Agassi's main rivalry for the final years of his career. Agassi won their first three matches, but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones. They first met in just the third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the final. They played a quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At the 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the 2005 US Open. Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in any tournament final. Agassi vs. Lendl Agassi and Ivan Lendl played eight times, and Lendl led their head-to-head series 6–2. Agassi vs. Edberg Agassi and Stefan Edberg played nine times, and Agassi led their head-to-head series 6–3. Earnings Agassi earned more than $30 million in prize-money during his career, sixth only to Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Sampras and Murray to date (May 2018). He also earned more than $25 million a year through endorsements during his career, which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time. Post-retirement Since retiring after the 2006 US Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer US Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009. At the 2009 French Open, Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy. Also in 2009, Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona, where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin. Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in 2011 and participated in a total of seven events while winning two. Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas. In 2012, Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those. In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose, beating John McEnroe in the final. The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. In the series season finale, he beat Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup. The series and Agassi came back to action in 2014. Agassi won both tournaments he participated in. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. He defeated Blake again in Portland to win the title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships. In 2015, Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout. The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston. In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March 2010 after the two participated in the "Hit for Haiti" charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake. Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the old rivals began making jokes at each other's expense, which ended up with Sampras intentionally striking a serve at Agassi's body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras. Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 000 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets. On March 3, 2014, Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual World Tennis Day. This time, it was Agassi who came out on top in two straight sets. He returned to the tour in May 2017 in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Agassi announced the end of the partnership on March 31, 2018, stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship. Playing style Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his flat, accurate two-handed backhand, hit well cross-court but especially down the line. His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court. Agassi's strength was in dictating play from the baseline, and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise. While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more. This change to more methodical, less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach, Brad Gilbert, in their first year together in 1994. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. A signature play later in his career was a change-up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it. Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in 1992, a tournament that he professed to hating at the time. His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors. Business ventures Agassi established a limited liability company named Andre Agassi Ventures (formerly named Agassi Enterprises). Agassi, along with five athlete partners (including Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey Jr., and Monica Seles) opened a chain of sports-themed restaurant named Official All Star Café in April 1996. The restaurant closed down in 2001. In 1999, he paid $1 million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10 million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in 2006. In 2002, he joined the Tennis Channel to promote the channel to consumers and cable and satellite industry, and made an equity investment in the network. After meeting chef Michael Mina at one of his restaurants in San Francisco, Agassi partnered with him in 2002 to start Mina Group Inc. and opened 18 concept restaurants in San Francisco, San Jose, Dana Point, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Agassi was an equity investor of a group that acquired Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Golden Nugget Laughlin from MGM Mirage for $215 million in 2004. One year later, the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's, Inc. for $163 million in cash and $182 million in assumed debt. In 2007, he sat on the board of Meadows Bank, an independent bank in Nevada. He has invested in start-up companies backed by Allen & Company. Agassi and Graf formed a company called Agassi Graf Holdings. They invested in PURE, a nightclub at Caesars Palace, which opened in 2004, and sold it to Angel Management Group in 2010. In August 2006, Agassi and Graf developed a joint venture with high-end furniture maker Kreiss Enterprises. They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection. In September, Agassi and Graf, through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC, along with Bayview Financial LP, finalized an agreement to develop a condominium hotel, Fairmont Tamarack, at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho. Owing to difficult market conditions and delays, they withdrew from the project in 2009. The group still owns three small chunks of land. In September, they collaborated with Steve Case's Exclusive Resorts to co-develop luxury resorts and design Agassi-Graf Tennis and Fitness Centers. They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in 2009 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company. In October 2012, Village Roadshow and investors including Agassi and Graf announced plans to build a new water park called Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Village Roadshow has a 51% stake in the park while Agassi, Graf, and other private investors hold the remaining 49%. The park opened in May 2013. IMG managed Agassi from the time he turned pro in 1986 through January 2000 before switching to SFX Sports Group. His business manager, lawyer and agent was childhood friend Perry Rogers, but they have been estranged since 2008. In 2009, he and Graf signed with CAA. Equipment and endorsements Agassi used Prince Graphite rackets early in his career. He signed a $7 million endorsement contract with Belgian tennis racquet makers Donnay. He later switched to Head Ti Radical racket and Head's LiquidMetal Radical racket, having signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Head in 1993. He renewed his contract in 1999, and in November 2003 he signed a lifetime agreement with Head. He also endorses Penn tennis balls. On July 25, 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. A major reason for Agassi leaving Nike was because Nike refused to donate to Agassi's charities, and Adidas did. On May 13, 2013, Agassi rejoined Nike. Agassi was sponsored by DuPont, Ebel, Mountain Dew in 1993, Mazda in 1997, Kia Motors in 2002, American Express and Deutsche Bank in 2003. In 1990, he appeared in a television commercial for Canon Inc., promoting the Canon EOS Rebel camera. Between 1999 and 2000, he signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear endorsement deal with Schick and became the worldwide spokesman for the company. Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements. In mid-2003, he was named the spokesman of Aramis Life, a fragrance by Aramis, and signed a five-year deal with the company. In March 2004, he signed a ten-year agreement worth $1.5 million a year with 24 Hour Fitness, which will open five Andre Agassi fitness centers by year-end. Prior to the 2012 Australian Open, Agassi and Australian winemaker Jacobs Creek announced a three-year partnership and created the Open Film Series to "[share] personal stories about the life defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court." In 2007, watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their brand ambassador. Agassi and his mother appeared in a Got Milk? advertisement in 2002. Agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Graf. They both endorsed Deutsche Telekom in 2002, Genworth Financial and Canon Inc. in 2004, LVMH in 2007, and Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit U and Longines in 2013. Personal life Relationships and family In the early 1990s, after dating Wendi Stewart, Agassi dated American singer and entertainer Barbra Streisand. He wrote about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? We're sympatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection. It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo – another piece of my overall rebellion. Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava." He was married to Brooke Shields from 1997 to 1999. He married Steffi Graf on October 22, 2001, at their Las Vegas home; the only witnesses were their mothers. They have two children: son Jaden Gil (born 2001) and daughter Jaz Elle (born 2003). Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. The Graf-Agassi family resides in Summerlin, a community in the Las Vegas Valley. Graf's mother and brother, Michael, with his four children, also live there. Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends; some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi. In 2012, Agassi and Reyes introduced their own line of fitness equipment, BILT By Agassi and Reyes. In December 2008, Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager, Perry Rogers, sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him. Autobiography Agassi's autobiography, Open: An Autobiography, (written with assistance from J. R. Moehringer), was published in November 2009. In it, Agassi talks about his childhood and his unconventional Armenian father, who came to the United States from Iran, where he was a professional boxer. Overly demanding and emotionally abusive to the whole family, his father groomed young Agassi for tennis greatness by building a tennis court in their backyard and sending Agassi to tennis boarding school under the supervision of Nick Bollettieri, who later coached and managed part of Agassi's professional career. There is also mention in the book of using and testing positive for methamphetamine in 1997. In response to this revelation, Roger Federer declared himself shocked and disappointed, while Marat Safin argued that Agassi should return his prize money and be stripped of his titles. In an interview with CBS, Agassi justified himself and asked for understanding, saying that "It was a period in my life where I needed help." Agassi said that he had always hated tennis during his career because of the constant pressure it exerted on him. He also said he wore a hairpiece earlier in his career and thought Pete Sampras was "robotic". The book reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and received favorable reviews. It won the Autobiography category of the 2010 British Sports Book Awards. In 2018, the book was listed on Esquire as one of "The 30 Best Sports Books Ever Written", and was also recommended by self-help author Tim Ferriss who described it as "very candid, very amusing, and very instructional". In media In 2017, Agassi appeared in the documentary film Love Means Zero, which highlighted the troubled relationship between his coach Nick Bollettieri and him. Politics Agassi has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates, and $2,000 to Republicans. On September 1, 2010, when he appeared on daily WNYC public radio program The Brian Lehrer Show, he stated that he is registered as Independent. Philanthropy Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994, which assists Las Vegas' young people. He was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He has been cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It has also been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation. Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. His Boys & Girls Club sees 2,000 children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program (the Agassi Stars) and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics. In 2001, Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. He personally donated $35 million to the school. In 2009, the graduating class had a 100 percent graduation rate and expected a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children, Child Haven. In 1997, Agassi donated funding to Child Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $720,000 to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children. This 20-bed facility opened in December 2001, and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases. In 2007, along with several other athletes, Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. The Fund is an investment initiative for social change, focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses." In September 2013, the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education formed a partnership with V20 Foods to launch Box Budd!es, a line of kids' healthy snacks. All proceeds go to the Foundation. In February 2014, Agassi remodeled the vacant University of Phoenix building in Las Vegas as a new school, called the Doral Academy West through the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. Doral Academy opened in August 2014. The Fund purchased a 4.6-acre plot in Henderson, Nevada, to house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, which will relocate from its campus inside a church. On April 2, 2023, Agassi participated with Michael Chang, Andy Roddick and John McEnroe in the first live airing of Pickleball on ESPN in the Million dollar Pickleball Slam at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Career statistics Singles performance timeline Grand Slam finals (8 titles, 7 runners-up) By winning the 1999 French Open, Agassi completed a men's singles Career Grand Slam. He is the 5th of 8 male players in history (after Budge, Perry, Laver and Emerson, and before Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) to achieve this. Open Era records These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series since 1990. Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements. Legacy Considered by numerous sources to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has also been called one of the greatest service returners ever to play the game, and was described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history". As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s. Professional awards ITF World Champion: 1999. ATP Player of the Year: 1999. ATP Most Improved Player: 1988, 1998 Recognition In 1992, Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. In 2010, Sports Illustrated named Agassi the 7th greatest male player of all time. On July 9, 2011, Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island. Video Wimbledon 2000 Semi-final – Agassi vs. Rafter (2003) Starring: Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 213 minutes, . Charlie Rose with Andre Agassi (May 7, 2001) Charlie Rose, Inc., DVD Release Date: August 15, 2006, Run Time: 57 minutes. Wimbledon: The Record Breakers (2005) Starring: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 52 minutes, . Video games Andre Agassi Tennis for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Game Gear, Master System]. and mobile phones Agassi Tennis Generation for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance Agassi Tennis Generation 2002 for Windows Smash Court Pro Tournament for PlayStation 2 Top Spin 4 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii See also All-time tennis records – men's singles List of Grand Slam men's singles champions Tennis male players statistics Tennis records of the Open Era – men's singles Notes References Further reading External links Andre Agassi Ventures Farewell to Tennis Speech at the U.S. Open Agassi's Tennis Hall of Fame Induction for Steffi Graf 1970 births Living people American male tennis players American autobiographers American investors American real estate businesspeople American sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in tennis ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in tennis Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics ITF World Champions International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Novak Djokovic coaches Steffi Graf Nevada Democrats Philanthropists from Nevada Tennis people from Nevada Writers from Las Vegas 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American sportsmen American people of Iranian-Assyrian descent American people of Armenian descent Armenian-American tennis players Assyrian sportspeople

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austroasiatic%20languages

Austroasiatic languages

The Austroasiatic languages are a large language family spoken throughout mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority populations scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China. Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers. Of the Austroasiatic languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have lengthy, established presences in the historical record. Only two are presently considered to be the national languages of sovereign states: Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand, while the Wa language is a 'recognized national language' in the de facto autonomous Wa State within Myanmar. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The remainder of the family's languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status. Ethnologue identifies 168 Austroasiatic languages. These form thirteen established families (plus perhaps Shompen, which is poorly attested, as a fourteenth), which have traditionally been grouped into two, as Mon–Khmer, and Munda. However, one recent classification posits three groups (Munda, Mon-Khmer, and Khasi–Khmuic), while another has abandoned Mon–Khmer as a taxon altogether, making it synonymous with the larger family. Austroasiatic languages appear to be the extant autochthonous languages in mainland Southeast Asia, with the neighboring Kra–Dai, Hmong-Mien, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan languages having arrived via later migrations. Etymology The name Austroasiatic was coined by Wilhelm Schmidt () based on , the Latin word for "South" (but idiosyncratically used by Schmidt to refer to the southeast), and "Asia". Despite the literal meaning of its name, only three Austroasiatic branches are actually spoken in South Asia: Khasic, Munda, and Nicobarese. Typology Regarding word structure, Austroasiatic languages are well known for having an iambic "sesquisyllabic" pattern, with basic nouns and verbs consisting of an initial, unstressed, reduced minor syllable followed by a stressed, full syllable. This reduction of presyllables has led to a variety of phonological shapes of the same original Proto-Austroasiatic prefixes, such as the causative prefix, ranging from CVC syllables to consonant clusters to single consonants among the modern languages. As for word formation, most Austroasiatic languages have a variety of derivational prefixes, many have infixes, but suffixes are almost completely non-existent in most branches except Munda, and a few specialized exceptions in other Austroasiatic branches. The Austroasiatic languages are further characterized as having unusually large vowel inventories and employing some sort of register contrast, either between modal (normal) voice and breathy (lax) voice or between modal voice and creaky voice. Languages in the Pearic branch and some in the Vietic branch can have a three- or even four-way voicing contrast. However, some Austroasiatic languages have lost the register contrast by evolving more diphthongs or in a few cases, such as Vietnamese, tonogenesis. Vietnamese has been so heavily influenced by Chinese that its original Austroasiatic phonological quality is obscured and now resembles that of South Chinese languages, whereas Khmer, which had more influence from Sanskrit, has retained a more typically Austroasiatic structure. Proto-language Much work has been done on the reconstruction of Proto-Mon–Khmer in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary. Little work has been done on the Munda languages, which are not well documented. With their demotion from a primary branch, Proto-Mon–Khmer becomes synonymous with Proto-Austroasiatic. Paul Sidwell (2005) reconstructs the consonant inventory of Proto-Mon–Khmer as follows: This is identical to earlier reconstructions except for . is better preserved in the Katuic languages, which Sidwell has specialized in. Internal classification Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austroasiatic: the Mon–Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, Northeast India and the Nicobar Islands, and the Munda languages of East and Central India and parts of Bangladesh and Nepal. However, no evidence for this classification has ever been published. Each of the families that is written in boldface type below is accepted as a valid clade. By contrast, the relationships between these families within Austroasiatic are debated. In addition to the traditional classification, two recent proposals are given, neither of which accepts traditional "Mon–Khmer" as a valid unit. However, little of the data used for competing classifications has ever been published, and therefore cannot be evaluated by peer review. In addition, there are suggestions that additional branches of Austroasiatic might be preserved in substrata of Acehnese in Sumatra (Diffloth), the Chamic languages of Vietnam, and the Land Dayak languages of Borneo (Adelaar 1995). Diffloth (1974) Diffloth's widely cited original classification, now abandoned by Diffloth himself, is used in Encyclopædia Britannica and—except for the breakup of Southern Mon–Khmer—in Ethnologue. Munda North Munda Korku Kherwarian South Munda Kharia–Juang Koraput Munda Mon–Khmer Eastern Mon–Khmer Khmer (Cambodian) Pearic Bahnaric Katuic Vietic (Vietnamese, Muong) Northern Mon–Khmer Khasi (Meghalaya, India) Palaungic Khmuic Southern Mon–Khmer Mon Aslian (Malaya) Nicobarese (Nicobar Islands) Peiros (2004) Peiros is a lexicostatistic classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that languages can appear to be more distantly related than they actually are due to language contact. Indeed, when Sidwell (2009) replicated Peiros's study with languages known well enough to account for loans, he did not find the internal (branching) structure below. Nicobarese Munda–Khmer Munda Mon–Khmer Khasi Nuclear Mon–Khmer Mangic (Mang + Palyu) (perhaps in Northern MK) Vietic (perhaps in Northern MK) Northern Mon–Khmer Palaungic Khmuic Central Mon–Khmer Khmer dialects Pearic Asli-Bahnaric Aslian Mon–Bahnaric Monic Katu–Bahnaric Katuic Bahnaric Diffloth (2005) Diffloth compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations, though like other classifications the evidence has not been published. As a schematic, we have: Or in more detail, Munda languages (India) Koraput: 7 languages Core Munda languages Kharian–Juang: 2 languages North Munda languages Korku Kherwarian: 12 languages Khasi–Khmuic languages (Northern Mon–Khmer) Khasian: 3 languages of north eastern India and adjacent region of Bangladesh Palaungo-Khmuic languages Khmuic: 13 languages of Laos and Thailand Palaungo-Pakanic languages Pakanic or Palyu: 4 or 5 languages of southern China and Vietnam Palaungic: 21 languages of Burma, southern China, and Thailand Nuclear Mon–Khmer languages Khmero-Vietic languages (Eastern Mon–Khmer) Vieto-Katuic languages ? Vietic: 10 languages of Vietnam and Laos, including Muong and Vietnamese, which has the most speakers of any Austroasiatic language. Katuic: 19 languages of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Khmero-Bahnaric languages Bahnaric: 40 languages of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Khmeric languages The Khmer dialects of Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Pearic: 6 languages of Cambodia. Nico-Monic languages (Southern Mon–Khmer) Nicobarese: 6 languages of the Nicobar Islands, a territory of India. Asli-Monic languages Aslian: 19 languages of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand. Monic: 2 languages, the Mon language of Burma and the Nyahkur language of Thailand. Sidwell (2009–2015) Paul Sidwell (2009), in a lexicostatistical comparison of 36 languages which are well known enough to exclude loanwords, finds little evidence for internal branching, though he did find an area of increased contact between the Bahnaric and Katuic languages, such that languages of all branches apart from the geographically distant Munda and Nicobarese show greater similarity to Bahnaric and Katuic the closer they are to those branches, without any noticeable innovations common to Bahnaric and Katuic. He therefore takes the conservative view that the thirteen branches of Austroasiatic should be treated as equidistant on current evidence. Sidwell & Blench (2011) discuss this proposal in more detail, and note that there is good evidence for a Khasi–Palaungic node, which could also possibly be closely related to Khmuic. If this would the case, Sidwell & Blench suggest that Khasic may have been an early offshoot of Palaungic that had spread westward. Sidwell & Blench (2011) suggest Shompen as an additional branch, and believe that a Vieto-Katuic connection is worth investigating. In general, however, the family is thought to have diversified too quickly for a deeply nested structure to have developed, since Proto-Austroasiatic speakers are believed by Sidwell to have radiated out from the central Mekong river valley relatively quickly. Subsequently, Sidwell (2015a: 179) proposed that Nicobarese subgroups with Aslian, just as how Khasian and Palaungic subgroup with each other. A subsequent computational phylogenetic analysis (Sidwell 2015b) suggests that Austroasiatic branches may have a loosely nested structure rather than a completely rake-like structure, with an east–west division (consisting of Munda, Khasic, Palaungic, and Khmuic forming a western group as opposed to all of the other branches) occurring possibly as early as 7,000 years before present. However, he still considers the subbranching dubious. Integrating computational phylogenetic linguistics with recent archaeological findings, Paul Sidwell (2015c) further expanded his Mekong riverine hypothesis by proposing that Austroasiatic had ultimately expanded into Indochina from the Lingnan area of southern China, with the subsequent Mekong riverine dispersal taking place after the initial arrival of Neolithic farmers from southern China. Sidwell (2015c) tentatively suggests that Austroasiatic may have begun to split up 5,000 years B.P. during the Neolithic transition era of mainland Southeast Asia, with all the major branches of Austroasiatic formed by 4,000 B.P. Austroasiatic would have had two possible dispersal routes from the western periphery of the Pearl River watershed of Lingnan, which would have been either a coastal route down the coast of Vietnam, or downstream through the Mekong River via Yunnan. Both the reconstructed lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic and the archaeological record clearly show that early Austroasiatic speakers around 4,000 B.P. cultivated rice and millet, kept livestock such as dogs, pigs, and chickens, and thrived mostly in estuarine rather than coastal environments. At 4,500 B.P., this "Neolithic package" suddenly arrived in Indochina from the Lingnan area without cereal grains and displaced the earlier pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherer cultures, with grain husks found in northern Indochina by 4,100 B.P. and in southern Indochina by 3,800 B.P. However, Sidwell (2015c) found that iron is not reconstructable in Proto-Austroasiatic, since each Austroasiatic branch has different terms for iron that had been borrowed relatively lately from Tai, Chinese, Tibetan, Malay, and other languages. During the Iron Age about 2,500 B.P., relatively young Austroasiatic branches in Indochina such as Vietic, Katuic, Pearic, and Khmer were formed, while the more internally diverse Bahnaric branch (dating to about 3,000 B.P.) underwent more extensive internal diversification. By the Iron Age, all of the Austroasiatic branches were more or less in their present-day locations, with most of the diversification within Austroasiatic taking place during the Iron Age. Paul Sidwell (2018) considers the Austroasiatic language family to have rapidly diversified around 4,000 years B.P. during the arrival of rice agriculture in Indochina, but notes that the origin of Proto-Austroasiatic itself is older than that date. The lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic can be divided into an early and late stratum. The early stratum consists of basic lexicon including body parts, animal names, natural features, and pronouns, while the names of cultural items (agriculture terms and words for cultural artifacts, which are reconstructible in Proto-Austroasiatic) form part of the later stratum. Roger Blench (2017) suggests that vocabulary related to aquatic subsistence strategies (such as boats, waterways, river fauna, and fish capture techniques) can be reconstructed for Proto-Austroasiatic. Blench (2017) finds widespread Austroasiatic roots for 'river, valley', 'boat', 'fish', 'catfish sp.', 'eel', 'prawn', 'shrimp' (Central Austroasiatic), 'crab', 'tortoise', 'turtle', 'otter', 'crocodile', 'heron, fishing bird', and 'fish trap'. Archaeological evidence for the presence of agriculture in northern Indochina (northern Vietnam, Laos, and other nearby areas) dates back to only about 4,000 years ago (2,000 BC), with agriculture ultimately being introduced from further up to the north in the Yangtze valley where it has been dated to 6,000 B.P. Sidwell (2022) proposes that the locus of Proto-Austroasiatic was in the Red River Delta area about 4,000-4,500 years before present, instead of the Middle Mekong as he had previously proposed. Austroasiatic dispersed coastal maritime routes and also upstream through river valleys. Khmuic, Palaungic, and Khasic resulted from a westward dispersal that ultimately came from the Red Valley valley. Based on their current distributions, about half of all Austroasiatic branches (including Nicobaric and Munda) can be traced to coastal maritime dispersals. Hence, this points to a relatively late riverine dispersal of Austroasiatic as compared to Sino-Tibetan, whose speakers had a distinct non-riverine culture. In addition to living an aquatic-based lifestyle, early Austroasiatic speakers would have also had access to livestock, crops, and newer types of watercraft. As early Austroasiatic speakers dispersed rapidly via waterways, they would have encountered speakers of older language families who were already settled in the area, such as Sino-Tibetan. Sidwell (2018) Sidwell (2018) (quoted in Sidwell 2021) gives a more nested classification of Austroasiatic branches as suggested by his computational phylogenetic analysis of Austroasiatic languages using a 200-word list. Many of the tentative groupings are likely linkages. Pakanic and Shompen were not included. Possible extinct branches Roger Blench (2009) also proposes that there might have been other primary branches of Austroasiatic that are now extinct, based on substrate evidence in modern-day languages. Pre-Chamic languages (the languages of coastal Vietnam before the Chamic migrations). Chamic has various Austroasiatic loanwords that cannot be clearly traced to existing Austroasiatic branches (Sidwell 2006, 2007). Larish (1999) also notes that Moklenic languages contain many Austroasiatic loanwords, some of which are similar to the ones found in Chamic. Acehnese substratum (Sidwell 2006). Acehnese has many basic words that are of Austroasiatic origin, suggesting that either Austronesian speakers have absorbed earlier Austroasiatic residents in northern Sumatra, or that words might have been borrowed from Austroasiatic languages in southern Vietnam – or perhaps a combination of both. Sidwell (2006) argues that Acehnese and Chamic had often borrowed Austroasiatic words independently of each other, while some Austroasiatic words can be traced back to Proto-Aceh-Chamic. Sidwell (2006) accepts that Acehnese and Chamic are related, but that they had separated from each other before Chamic had borrowed most of its Austroasiatic lexicon. Bornean substrate languages (Blench 2010). Blench cites Austroasiatic-origin words in modern-day Bornean branches such as Land Dayak (Bidayuh, Dayak Bakatiq, etc.), Dusunic (Central Dusun, Visayan, etc.), Kayan, and Kenyah, noting especially resemblances with Aslian. As further evidence for his proposal, Blench also cites ethnographic evidence such as musical instruments in Borneo shared in common with Austroasiatic-speaking groups in mainland Southeast Asia. Adelaar (1995) has also noticed phonological and lexical similarities between Land Dayak and Aslian. Kaufman (2018) presents dozens of lexical comparisons showing similarities between various Bornean and Austroasiatic languages. Lepcha substratum ("Rongic"). Many words of Austroasiatic origin have been noticed in Lepcha, suggesting a Sino-Tibetan superstrate laid over an Austroasiatic substrate. Blench (2013) calls this branch "Rongic" based on the Lepcha autonym Róng. Other languages with proposed Austroasiatic substrata are: Jiamao, based on evidence from the register system of Jiamao, a Hlai language (Thurgood 1992). Jiamao is known for its highly aberrant vocabulary in relation to other Hlai languages. Kerinci: van Reijn (1974) notes that Kerinci, a Malayic language of central Sumatra, shares many phonological similarities with Austroasiatic languages, such as sesquisyllabic word structure and vowel inventory. John Peterson (2017) suggests that "pre-Munda" ("proto-" in regular terminology) languages may have once dominated the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain, and were then absorbed by Indo-Aryan languages at an early date as Indo-Aryan spread east. Peterson notes that eastern Indo-Aryan languages display many morphosyntactic features similar to those of Munda languages, while western Indo-Aryan languages do not. Writing systems Other than Latin-based alphabets, many Austroasiatic languages are written with the Khmer, Thai, Lao, and Burmese alphabets. Vietnamese divergently had an indigenous script based on Chinese logographic writing. This has since been supplanted by the Latin alphabet in the 20th century. The following are examples of past-used alphabets or current alphabets of Austroasiatic languages. Chữ Nôm Khmer alphabet Khom script (used for a short period in the early 20th century for indigenous languages in Laos) Old Mon script Mon script Pahawh Hmong was once used to write Khmu, under the name "Pahawh Khmu" Tai Le (Palaung, Blang) Tai Tham (Blang) Ol Chiki alphabet (Santali alphabet) Mundari Bani (Mundari alphabet) Warang Citi (Ho alphabet) Ol Onal (Bhumij alphabet) Sorang Sompeng alphabet (Sora alphabet) External relations Austric languages Austroasiatic is an integral part of the controversial Austric hypothesis, which also includes the Austronesian languages, and in some proposals also the Kra–Dai languages and the Hmong–Mien languages. Hmong-Mien Several lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic language families (Ratliff 2010), some of which had earlier been proposed by Haudricourt (1951). This could imply a relation or early language contact along the Yangtze. According to Cai (et al. 2011), Hmong–Mien people are genetically related to Austroasiatic speakers, and their languages were heavily influenced by Sino-Tibetan, especially Tibeto-Burman languages. Indo-Aryan languages It is suggested that the Austroasiatic languages have some influence on Indo-Aryan languages including Sanskrit and middle Indo-Aryan languages. Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji pointed that a specific number of substantives in languages such as Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali were borrowed from Munda languages. Additionally, French linguist Jean Przyluski suggested a similarity between the tales from the Austroasiatic realm and the Indian mythological stories of Matsyagandha (Satyavati from Mahabharata) and the Nāgas. Austroasiatic migrations and archaeogenetics Mitsuru Sakitani suggests that Haplogroup O1b1, which is common in Austroasiatic people and some other ethnic groups in southern China, and haplogroup O1b2, which is common in today's Japanese and Koreans, are the carriers of early rice agriculture from southern China. Another study suggests that the haplogroup O1b1 is the major Austroasiatic paternal lineage and O1b2 the "para-Austroasiatic" lineage of the Koreans and Yayoi people. A full genomic study by Lipson et al. (2018) identified a characteristic lineage that can be associated with the spread of Austroasiatic languages in Southeast Asia and which can be traced back to remains of Neolithic farmers from Mán Bạc (ca. 2000 BCE) in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam, and to closely related Ban Chiang and Vat Komnou remains in Thailand and Cambodia respectively. This Austroasiatic lineage can be modeled as a sister group of the Austronesian peoples with significant admixture (ca. 30%) from a deeply diverging eastern Eurasian source (modeled by the authors as sharing some genetic drift with the Onge, a modern Andamanese hunter-gatherer group) and which is ancestral to modern Austroasiatic-speaking groups of Southeast Asia such as the Mlabri and the Nicobarese, and partially to the Austroasiatic Munda-speaking groups of South Asia (e.g. the Juang). Significant levels of Austroasiatic ancestry were also found in Austronesian-speaking groups of Sumatra and Borneo. Austroasiatic-speaking groups in southern China (such as the Wa and Blang in Yunnan) predominatly carry the same Mainland Southeast Asian Neolithic farmer ancestry, but with additional geneflow from northern and southern East Asian lineages that can be associated with the spread of Tibeto-Burman and Kra-Dai languages, respectively. Larena et al. 2021 could reproduce the genetic evidence for the origin of Basal East Asians in Mainland Southeast Asia, which are estimated to have formed about 50kya years ago, and expanded through multiple migration waves southwards and northwards. Early Austroasiatic speakers are estimated to have originated from an lineage, which split from Ancestral East Asians between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago, and were among the first wave to replace distinct Australasian-related groups in Insular Southeast Asia. East Asian-related ancestry became dominant in Insular Southeast Asia already between 15,000 years to 12,000 years ago, and may be associated with Austroasiatic groups, which however got again replaced by later Austronesian groups some 10,000 to 7,000 years ago. Early Austroasiatic people were found to be best represented by the Mlabri people in modern-day Thailand. Proposals for Austroasiatic substratum among later Austronesian languages in Western Indonesia, noteworthy among the Dayak languages, is strengthened by genetic data, suggesting Austroasiatic speakers were assimilated by Austronesian speakers. Migration into India According to Chaubey et al., "Austro-Asiatic speakers in India today are derived from dispersal from Southeast Asia, followed by extensive sex-specific admixture with local Indian populations." According to Riccio et al., the Munda peoples are likely descended from Austroasiatic migrants from Southeast Asia. According to Zhang et al., Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia into India took place after the Last Glacial Maximum, circa 10,000 years ago. Arunkumar et al., suggest Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia occurred into Northeast India 5.2 ± 0.6 kya and into East India 4.3 ± 0.2 kya. Notes References Sources Adams, K. L. (1989). Systems of numeral classification in the Mon–Khmer, Nicobarese and Aslian subfamilies of Austroasiatic. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. Alves, Mark J. (2015). Morphological functions among Mon-Khmer languages: beyond the basics. In N. J. Enfield & Bernard Comrie (eds.), Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: the state of the art. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton, 531–557. Bradley, David (2012). "Languages and Language Families in China ", in Rint Sybesma (ed.), Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics. Chakrabarti, Byomkes. (1994). A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali. Diffloth, Gérard. (2005). "The contribution of linguistic palaeontology and Austro-Asiatic". in Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, eds. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. 77–80. London: Routledge Curzon. Filbeck, D. (1978). T'in: a historical study. Pacific linguistics, no. 49. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. Hemeling, K. (1907). Die Nanking Kuanhua. (German language) Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages . Leiden: Brill. Peck, B. M., Comp. (1988). An Enumerative Bibliography of South Asian Language Dictionaries. Peiros, Ilia. 1998. Comparative Linguistics in Southeast Asia. Pacific Linguistics Series C, No. 142. Canberra: Australian National University. Shorto, Harry L. edited by Sidwell, Paul, Cooper, Doug and Bauer, Christian (2006). A Mon–Khmer comparative dictionary . Canberra: Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. Shorto, H. L. Bibliographies of Mon–Khmer and Tai Linguistics. London oriental bibliographies, v. 2. London: Oxford University Press, 1963. van Driem, George. (2007). Austroasiatic phylogeny and the Austroasiatic homeland in light of recent population genetic studies. Mon-Khmer Studies, 37, 1–14. Zide, Norman H., and Milton E. Barker. (1966) Studies in Comparative Austroasiatic Linguistics, The Hague: Mouton (Indo-Iranian monographs, v. 5.). Further reading Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families. Chiang Mai: Payap University. Sidwell, Paul. 2016. Bibliography of Austroasiatic linguistics and related resources . E. K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Languages and Linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier Press. Gregory D. S. Anderson and Norman H. Zide. 2002. Issues in Proto-Munda and Proto-Austroasiatic Nominal Derivation: The Bimoraic Constraint. In Marlys A. Macken (ed.) Papers from the 10th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, South East Asian Studies Program, Monograph Series Press. pp. 55–74. External links Swadesh lists for Austro-Asiatic languages (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix) Austro-Asiatic at the Linguist List MultiTree Project (not functional as of 2014): Genealogical trees attributed to Sebeok 1942, Pinnow 1959, Diffloth 2005, and Matisoff 2006 Mon–Khmer.com Lectures by Paul Sidwell Mon–Khmer Languages Project at SEAlang Munda Languages Project at SEAlang RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage) RWAAI Digital Archive Michel Ferlus's recordings of Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) languages (CNRS) Language families

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

Andorra

Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a sovereign landlocked country and microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is currently headed by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella. Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area of and a population of approximately . The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group closely related to Catalans. Andorra is the world's 16th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of above sea level. The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Occitan, and French are also commonly spoken. Tourism in Andorra brings an estimated 10.2 million visitors to the country annually. Andorra is not a member state of the European Union. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. Etymology The origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been proposed. The oldest is one put forward by the Greek historian Polybius (The Histories III, 35, 1), who describes the Andosins, an Iberian Pre-Roman tribe, as historically located in the valleys of Andorra and facing the Carthaginian army in its passage through the Pyrenees during the Punic Wars. The word Andosini or Andosins () may derive from the Basque , meaning "big" or "giant". The Andorran toponymy shows evidence of Basque language in the area. Another theory suggests that the word Andorra may derive from the old word Anorra that contains the Basque word ("water"). Another theory suggests that Andorra may derive from Arabic (), indicating a vast land which is located among mountains or a thickly wooded place (with being the definite article). When the Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula, the valleys of the High Pyrenees were covered by large tracts of forest. These regions were not administered by Muslims, because of the geographic difficulty of direct rule. Other theories suggest that the term derives from the Navarro-Aragonese "andurrial", which means "land covered with bushes" or "scrubland". The folk etymology holds that Charlemagne had named the region as a reference to the Biblical Canaanite valley of Endor or Andor (where the Midianites had been defeated), a name bestowed by his heir and son Louis the Pious after defeating the Moors in the "wild valleys of Hell". History Prehistory La Balma de la Margineda, found by archaeologists at Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9,500 BCE as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from Ariege and Segre. During the Neolithic Age, a group of people moved to the Valley of Madriu (the present-day Natural Park located in Escaldes-Engordany declared UNESCO World Heritage Site) as a permanent camp in 6640 BCE. The population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock, and developed a commercial trade with people from the Segre and Occitania. Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of Segudet (Ordino) and Feixa del Moro (Sant Julià de Lòria), both dated in 4900–4300 BCE as an example of the Urn culture in Andorra. The model of small settlements began to evolve to a complex urbanism during the Bronze Age. Metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins, and reliquaries can be found in the ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country. The sanctuary of Roc de les Bruixes (Stone of the Witches) is perhaps the most important archeological complex of this age in Andorra, located in the parish of Canillo, about the rituals of funerals, ancient scripture and engraved stone murals. Iberian and Roman Andorra The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini () during the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. Influenced by the Aquitanian, Basque and Iberian languages, the locals developed some current toponyms. Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his Histories during the Punic Wars. Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc d'Enclar (part of the early Marca Hispanica), l'Anxiu in Les Escaldes and Roc de L'Oral in Encamp. The presence of Roman influence is recorded from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. The places with the most Roman presence are in Camp Vermell (Red Field) in Sant Julià de Lòria, and in some places in Encamp, as well as in the Roc d'Enclar. People continued trading, mainly with wine and cereals, with the Roman cities of Urgellet (the present-day La Seu d'Urgell) and all across Segre through the via romana Strata Ceretana (also known as Strata Confluetana). Visigoths and Carolingians: the legend of Charlemagne After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time Christianity spread. When the Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was sheltered from these Arab invaders by the Franks. Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people for a contingent of 5,000 soldiers under the command of Marc Almugaver, in return for fighting against the Moors near Porté-Puymorens (Cerdanya). Andorra remained part of the Frankish Marca Hispanica, the buffer zone between the Frankish Empire and the Muslim territories, Andorra being part of the territory ruled by the Count of Urgell and eventually the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell. Tradition also holds that it was guaranteed by the son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, writing the Carta de Poblament or a local municipal charter . In 988, Count Borrell II of Urgell gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya. Since then, the bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has been co-prince of Andorra. The first document that mentions Andorra as a territory is the Acta de Consagració i Dotació de la Catedral de la Seu d'Urgell (Deed of Consecration and Endowment of the Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell). The document, dated 839, depicts the six old parishes of the Andorran valleys that made up the country's administrative division. Medieval Age: The Paréages and the founding of the Co-Principality Before 1095, Andorra had no military protection, and the bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, asked the Lord of Caboet for help and protection. In 1095, the lord of Caboet and the bishop of Urgell signed under oath a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda de Caboet, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellbò. Their daughter, Ermessenda de Castellbò, married the count of Foix, Roger-Bernard II. Roger-Bernard II and Ermessenda shared rule over Andorra with the bishop of Urgell. In the 13th century, a military dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix as aftermath of the Cathar Crusade. The conflict was resolved in 1278 with the mediation of the king of Aragon, Peter III, between the bishop and the count, by the signing of the first paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix (whose title would ultimately transfer to the French head of state) and the bishop of Urgell, in Catalonia. This gave the principality its territory and political form. A second paréage was signed in 1288 after a dispute when the count of Foix ordered the construction of a castle in Roc d'Enclar. The document was ratified by the noble notary Jaume Orig of Puigcerdà, and construction of military structures in the country was prohibited. In 1364, the political organization of the country named the figure of the syndic (now spokesman and president of the parliament) as representative of the Andorrans to their co-princes, making possible the creation of local departments (comuns, quarts and veïnats). After being ratified by Bishop Francesc Tovia and Count John I, the Consell de la Terra or Consell General de les Valls (General Council of the Valleys) was founded in 1419, the second oldest parliament in Europe. The syndic Andreu d'Alàs and the General Council organized the creation of the Justice Courts (La Cort de Justicia) in 1433 with the co-princes and the collection of taxes like foc i lloc (literally "fire and site", a national tax active since then). Although there are remains of ecclesiastical works dating before the 9th century (Sant Vicenç d'Enclar or Església de Santa Coloma), Andorra developed exquisite Romanesque Art during the 9th through 14th centuries, particularly in the construction of churches, bridges, religious murals and statues of the Virgin and Child (Our Lady of Meritxell being the most important). Nowadays, the Romanesque buildings that form part of Andorra's cultural heritage stand out in a remarkable way, with an emphasis on Església de Sant Esteve, Sant Joan de Caselles, Església de Sant Miquel d'Engolasters, Sant Martí de la Cortinada and the medieval bridges of Margineda and Escalls among many others. The Catalan Pyrenees were embryonic of the Catalan language at the end of the 11th century. Andorra was influenced by this language, which was adopted locally decades before it expanded to the rest of the Crown of Aragon. The local economy during the Middle Ages was based on livestock, agriculture, furs and weavers. Later, at the end of the 11th century, the first iron foundries began to appear in Northern Parishes like Ordino, much appreciated by the master artisans who developed the art of the forges, an important economic activity in the country from the 15th century. 16th to 18th centuries In 1601 the Tribunal de Corts (High Court of Justice) was created as a result of Huguenot rebellions in France, Inquisition courts coming from Spain and witchcraft-related beliefs native to the area, in the context of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. With the passage of time, the co-title to Andorra passed to the kings of Navarre. After Henry III of Navarre became king of France, he issued an edict in 1607 that established the head of the French state and the bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra, a political arrangement that still holds. During 1617, communal councils form the sometent (popular militia or army) to deal with the rise of bandolerisme (brigandage) and the Consell de la Terra was defined and structured in terms of its composition, organization and competences current today. Andorra continued with the same economic system that it had during the 12th–14th centuries with a large production of metallurgy (fargues, a system similar to Farga Catalana) and with the introduction of tobacco circa 1692 and import trade. In 1371 and 1448, the co-princes ratified the fair of Andorra la Vella, the most important annual national festival commercially ever since. The country had a unique and experienced guild of weavers, Confraria de Paraires i Teixidors, in Escaldes-Engordany. Founded in 1604, it took advantage of the local thermal waters. By this time, the country was characterized by the social system of prohoms (wealthy society) and casalers (rest of the population with smaller economic acquisition), deriving from the tradition of pubilla and hereu. Three centuries after its foundation, the Consell de la Terra located its headquarters and the Tribunal de Corts in Casa de la Vall in 1702. The manor house built in 1580 served as a noble fortress of the Busquets family. Inside the parliament was placed the Closet of the six keys (Armari de les sis claus), representative of each Andorran parish, where the Andorran constitution and other documents and laws were later kept. In both the Reapers' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, the Andorran people (while professing to be a neutral country) supported the Catalans who saw their rights reduced in 1716. The reaction was the promotion of Catalan writings in Andorra, with cultural works such as the Book of Privileges (Llibre de Privilegis de 1674), Manual Digest (1748) by Antoni Fiter i Rossell or the Polità andorrà (1763) by Antoni Puig. 19th century: the New Reform and the Andorran Question After the French Revolution, Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809 and removed the French medieval title. In 1812–1813, the First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the Peninsular War () and divided the region into four départements, with Andorra as a part of the district of Puigcerdà. In 1814, an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of Andorra. During this period, Andorra's late medieval institutions and rural culture remained largely unchanged. In 1866, the syndic Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit led the reformist group in a Council General of 24 members elected by suffrage limited to heads of families. The Council General replaced the aristocratic oligarchy that previously ruled the state. The New Reform () began after ratification by both Co-Princes and established the basis of the constitution and symbolssuch as the tricolour flagof Andorra. A new service economy arose as a demand of the valley inhabitants and began to build infrastructure such as hotels, spa resorts, roads and telegraph lines. The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict and the Revolution of 1881, which began when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Baró i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies. From 7 to 9 June 1881, the loyalists of Canillo and Encamp reconquered the parishes of Ordino and La Massana by establishing contact with the revolutionary forces in Escaldes-Engordany. After a day of combat the Treaty of the Bridge of Escalls was signed on 10 June. The council was replaced and new elections were held. The economic situation worsened, as the populace was divided over the  – the "Andorran Question" in relation to the Eastern Question. The struggles continued between pro-bishops, pro-French, and nationalists based on the troubles of Canillo in 1882 and 1885. Andorra participated in the cultural movement of the Catalan Renaixença. Between 1882 and 1887, the first academic schools were formed where trilingualism coexisted with the official language, Catalan. Romantic authors from France and Spain reported the awakening of the national consciousness of the country. Jacint Verdaguer lived in Ordino during the 1880s where he wrote and shared works related to the Renaixença with writer and photographer Joaquim de Riba. In 1848, Fromental Halévy had premiered the opera Le Val d'Andorre to great success in Europe, where the national consciousness of the valleys was exposed in the romantic work during the Peninsular War. 20th and 21st century: Modernisation of the country and the Constitutional Andorra In 1933 France occupied Andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the Revolution of 1933 and the FHASA strikes (Vagues de FHASA); the revolt led by Joves Andorrans (a labour union group related to the Spanish CNT and FAI) called for political reforms, the universal suffrage vote of all Andorrans and acted in defense of the rights of local and foreign workers during the construction of FHASA's hydroelectric power station in Encamp. On 5 April 1933 Joves Andorrans seized the Andorran Parliament. These actions were preceded by the arrival of Colonel René-Jules Baulard with 50 gendarmes and the mobilization of 200 local militias or sometent led by the Síndic Francesc Cairat. On 6 July 1934, adventurer and nobleman Boris Skossyreff, with his promise of freedoms and modernization of the country and wealth through the establishment of a tax haven and foreign investments, received the support of the members of the General Council to proclaim himself the sovereign of Andorra. On 8 July 1934 Boris issued a proclamation in Urgell, declaring himself Boris I, King of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell and approving the King's constitution on 10 July. He was arrested by the Co-Prince and Bishop Justí Guitart i Vilardebó and their authorities on 20 July and ultimately expelled from Spain. From 1936 until 1940, a French military detachment of Garde Mobile led by well-known Colonel René-Jules Baulard was garrisoned in Andorra to secure the principality against disruption from the Spanish Civil War and Francoist Spain and also face the rise of Republicanism in the aftermath of the 1933 Revolution. During the Spanish Civil War, the inhabitants of Andorra welcomed refugees from both sides, and many of them settled permanently in the country thus contributing to the subsequent economic boom and the entry into the capitalist era of Andorra. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war. During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Francoist Spain. Many Andorrans criticized the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes, reducing the rights of citizens and sympathy with Francoism. General Council members justified the council's political and diplomatic actions as necessary for Andorra's survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War. Certain groups formed to help victims of oppression in Nazi-occupied countries, while participating in smuggling to help Andorra survive. Among the most prominent was the Hostal Palanques Evasion Network Command, which, in contact with the British MI6, helped almost 400 fugitives, among whom were Allied military personnel. The Command remained active between 1941 and 1944, although there were struggles with pro-Axis informers and Gestapo agents in Andorra. In the capital city there was a smuggling black market of propaganda, culture and cinematic art not favorable to totalitarian regimes, promulgated in such places as the Hotel Mirador or the Casino Hotel, as a meeting place for Free French forces and a route for escorting crashed Allied pilots out of Europe. The network was maintained after the war, when film societies were formed, where movies, music and books censored in Franco's Spain were imported, becoming an anti-censorship attraction for the Catalan or foreign public even within Andorra. Andorran Group (Agrupament Andorrà), an anti-fascist organization linked to the Occitanie's French Resistance, accused the French representative (veguer) of collaboration with Nazism. The Andorran opening to the capitalist economy resulted in two axes: mass tourism and the country's tax exemption. The first steps toward the capitalist boom date from the 1930s, with the construction of FHASA and the creation of professional banking with Banc Agrícol (1930) and Crèdit Andorrà (1949), later with Banca Mora (1952), Banca Cassany (1958) and SOBANCA (1960). Shortly after activities such as skiing and shopping become a tourist attraction, with the inauguration of ski resorts and cultural entities in the late 1930s. All in all, a renovated hotel industry has developed. In April 1968 a social health insurance system was created (CASS). The Andorran government necessarily involved planning, projection and forecasts for the future: with the official visit of the French co-prince Charles de Gaulle in 1967 and 1969, it was given approval for the economic boom and national demands within the framework of human rights and international openness. Andorra lived an era commonly known as "Andorran dream" (in relation to the American dream) along with the Trente Glorieuses: the mass culture rooted the country experiencing radical changes in the economy and culture. Proof of this was Ràdio Andorra, the top musical radio station in Europe in this period, with guests and speakers of great importance promoting musical hits of chanson française, swing, rhythm & blues, jazz, rock and roll and American country music. During this period Andorra achieved a GDP per capita and a life expectancy higher than the most standard countries of the current economy. Given its relative isolation, Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, with few ties to countries other than France, Spain and Portugal. But in recent times its thriving tourist industry along with developments in transport and communications have removed the country from its isolation. Since 1976 the country has seen the need to reform Andorran institutions due to anachronisms in sovereignty, human rights and the balance of powers as well as the need to adapt legislation to modern demands. In 1982 a first separation of powers took place when instituting the Govern d'Andorra, under the name of Executive Board (Consell Executiu), chaired by the first prime minister Òscar Ribas Reig with the co-princes' approval. In 1989 the Principality signed an agreement with the European Economic Community to regularize trade relations. Its political system was modernized in 1993 after the Andorran constitutional referendum, when the constitution was drafted by the co-princes and the General Council and approved on 14 March by 74.2% of voters, with a 76% turnout. The first elections under the new constitution were held later in the year. The same year, Andorra became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Andorra formalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1996, participating in the 51st UN General Assembly. First General Syndic Marc Forné took part on a speech in Catalan in the General Assembly to defend the reform of the organization, and after three days he took part in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe to defend Andorra's linguistic rights and economy. In 2006 a monetary agreement with the European Union was formalized that allows Andorra to use the Euro in an official way, as well as minting its own Euro coins. Politics Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the Bishop of Urgell and the president of France as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the president of France, in his capacity as prince of Andorra, an elected monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy with a unicameral legislature, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The prime minister is the chief executive. The current Prime Minister is Xavier Espot Zamora of the Democrats for Andorra (DA). Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both government and parliament. The Parliament of Andorra is known as the General Council. The General Council consists of between 28 and 42 councillors. The councillors serve for four-year terms, and elections are held between the 30th and 40th days following the dissolution of the previous Council. Half are elected in equal numbers by each of the seven administrative parishes, and the other half of the councillors are elected in a single national constituency. Fifteen days after the election, the councillors hold their inauguration. During this session, the General Syndic, who is the head of the General Council, and the Subsyndic General, his assistant, are elected. Eight days later, the Council convenes once more. During this session, the prime minister is chosen from among the councillors. Candidates can be proposed by a minimum of one-fifth of the councillors. The Council then elects the candidate with the absolute majority of votes to be prime minister. The Syndic General then notifies the co-princes, who in turn appoint the elected candidate as the prime minister of Andorra. The General Council is also responsible for proposing and passing laws. Bills may be presented to the council as Private Members' Bills by three of the local Parish Councils jointly or by at least one tenth of the citizens of Andorra. The council also approves the annual budget of the principality. The government must submit the proposed budget for parliamentary approval at least two months before the previous budget expires. If the budget is not approved by the first day of the next year, the previous budget is extended until a new one is approved. Once any bill is approved, the Syndic General is responsible for presenting it to the co-princes so that they may sign and enact it. If the prime minister is not satisfied with the council, he may request that the co-princes dissolve the council and order new elections. In turn, the councillors have the power to remove the prime minister from office. After a motion of censure is approved by at least one-fifth of the councillors, the council will vote and if it receives the absolute majority of votes, the prime minister is removed. Law and criminal justice The judiciary is composed of the Magistrates Court, the Criminal Law Court, the High Court of Andorra, and the Constitutional Court. The High Court of Justice is composed of five judges: one appointed by the prime minister, one each by the co-princes, one by the Syndic General, and one by the judges and magistrates. It is presided over by the member appointed by the Syndic General and the judges hold office for six-year terms. The magistrates and judges are appointed by the High Court, as is the president of the Criminal Law Court. The High Court also appoints members of the Office of the Attorney General. The Constitutional Court is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and reviewing all appeals of unconstitutionality against laws and treaties. It is composed of four judges, one appointed by each of the co-princes and two by the General Council. They serve eight-year terms. The Court is presided over by one of the judges on a two-year rotation so that each judge at one point will preside over the Court. Foreign relations, defence and security Andorra does not have its own armed forces, although there is a small ceremonial army. Responsibility for defending the nation rests primarily with France and Spain. However, in case of emergencies or natural disasters, the Sometent (an alarm) is called and all able-bodied men between 21 and 60 of Andorran nationality must serve. This is why all Andorrans, and especially the head of each house (usually the eldest able-bodied man of a house) should, by law, keep a rifle, even though the law also states that the police will offer a firearm in case of need. Andorra is a full member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and has a special agreement with the European Union (EU). After the constitution was ratified, Andorra would later establish diplomatic relations with their major allies aside from neighbours France and Spain such as the United Kingdom in 1994 and the United States in 1995. It also has observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO). On 16 October 2020, Andorra became the 190th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during the COVID-19 pandemic. Military Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the summoning of the Sometent (a civil defense organization of Andorra, made up of the heads of households). Being a landlocked country, Andorra has no navy. Before World War I, Andorra maintained an armed militia force of about 600 part-time militiamen under the supervision of a Captain (Capità or Cap de Sometent) and a Lieutenant (Desener or Lloctinent del Capità). This body was not liable for service outside the principality and was commanded by two officials (veguers) appointed by France and the Bishop of Urgell. In the modern era, the army has consisted of a very small body of volunteers willing to undertake ceremonial duties. Uniforms and weaponry were handed down from generation to generation within families and communities. The army's role in internal security was largely taken over by the formation of the Police Corps of Andorra in 1931. Brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 1933 led to assistance being sought from the French National Gendarmerie, with a detachment resident in Andorra for two months under the command of René-Jules Baulard. The Andorran Police was reformed in the following year, with eleven soldiers appointed to supervisory roles. The force consisted of six Corporals, one for each parish (although there are currently seven parishes, there were only six until 1978), plus four junior staff officers to co-ordinate action, and a commander with the rank of major. It was the responsibility of the six corporals, each in his own parish, to be able to raise a fighting force from among the able-bodied men of the parish. The only permanent section of the present-day Sometent is a twelve-man ceremonial unit. However, all able-bodied men are technically available for military service, with a requirement for each family to have access to a firearm. An area weapon such as a shotgun per household is unregulated, however ranged weapons such as pistols and rifles require a license. The army has not fought for more than 700 years, and its main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions. According to Marc Forné Molné, Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations, and the availability of full-time volunteers. In more recent times there has only been a general emergency call to the popular army of Sometent during the floods of 1982 in the Catalan Pyrenees, where 12 citizens perished in Andorra, to help the population and establish a public order along with the Local Police units. Police Corps Andorra maintains a small but modern and well-equipped internal police force, with around 240 police officers supported by civilian assistants. The principal services supplied by the corps are uniformed community policing, criminal detection, border control, and traffic policing. There are also small specialist units including police dogs, mountain rescue, and a bomb disposal team. GIPA The Grup d'Intervenció Policia d'Andorra (GIPA) is a small special forces squad trained in counter-terrorism, and hostage recovery tasks. Although it is the closest in style to an active military force, it is part of the Police Corps, and not the army. As terrorist and hostage situations are a rare threat to the country, the GIPA is commonly assigned to prisoner escort duties, and at other times to routine policing. Fire brigade The Andorran Fire Brigade, with headquarters at Santa Coloma, operates from four modern fire stations, and has a staff of around 120 firefighters. The service is equipped with 16 heavy appliances (fire tenders, turntable ladders, and specialist four-wheel drive vehicles), four light support vehicles (cars and vans) and four ambulances. Historically, the families of the six ancient parishes of Andorra maintained local arrangements to assist each other in fighting fires. The first fire pump purchased by the government was acquired in 1943. Serious fires which lasted for two days in December 1959 led to calls for a permanent fire service, and the Andorran Fire Brigade was formed on 21 April 1961. The fire service maintains full-time cover with five fire crews on duty at any time: two at the brigade's headquarters in Santa Coloma, and one crew at each of the other three fire stations. Geography Parishes Andorra consists of seven parishes: Andorra la Vella Canillo Encamp Escaldes-Engordany La Massana Ordino Sant Julià de Lòria Physical geography Due to its location in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range, Andorra consists predominantly of rugged mountains, the highest being the Coma Pedrosa at , and the average elevation of Andorra is . These are dissected by three narrow valleys in a Y shape that combine into one as the main stream, the Gran Valira river, leaves the country for Spain (at Andorra's lowest point of ). Andorra's land area is . Environment Phytogeographically, Andorra belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Andorra belongs to the ecoregion of Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests. Andorra had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.45/10, ranking it 127th globally out of 172 countries. Important Bird Area The whole country has been recognised as a single Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International, because it is important for forest and mountain birds and supports populations of red-billed choughs, citril finches and rock buntings. Climate Andorra has alpine, continental and oceanic climates, depending on altitude. Its higher elevation means there is, on average, more snow in winter and it is slightly cooler in summer. The diversity of landmarks, the different orientation of the valleys and the irregularity relief typical of the Mediterranean climates make the country have a great diversity of microclimates that hinder the general dominance of the high mountain climate. The great differences of altitude in the minimum and maximum points, together with the influence of a Mediterranean climate, develop the climate of the Andorran Pyrenees. When in precipitation, a global model characterized by convective and abundant rains can be defined during spring and summer, which can last until autumn (May, June and August are usually the rainiest months). In winter, however, it is less rainy, except in the highlands, subject to the influence of fronts from the Atlantic, which explains the great amount of snowfall in the Andorran mountains. The temperature regime is characterized, broadly, by a temperate summer and a long and cold winter, in accordance with the mountainous condition of the Principality. Economy Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's economy, accounts for roughly 80% of GDP. An estimated 10.2 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts. One of the main sources of income in Andorra is tourism from ski resorts which total over of ski ground. The sport brings in over 7 million visitors annually and an estimated 340 million euros per year, sustaining 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs at present since 2007. The banking sector, with its tax haven status, also contributes substantially to the economy with revenues raised exclusively through import tariffs (the financial and insurance sector accounts for approximately 19% of GDP). However, during the European sovereign-debt crisis of the 21st century, the tourist industry suffered a decline, partly caused by a drop in the prices of goods in Spain, undercutting duty-free shopping and increasing unemployment. On 1 January 2012, a business tax of 10% was introduced, followed by a sales tax of 2% a year later, which raised just over 14 million euros in its first quarter. Agricultural production is limited; only 1.7% of the land is arable, and most food has to be imported. Some tobacco is grown locally. The principal livestock activity is domestic sheep raising. Manufacturing output consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars, and furniture. Andorra's natural resources include hydroelectric power, mineral water, timber, iron ore, and lead. Andorra is not a member of the European Union, but enjoys a special relationship with it, such as being treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs) and as a non-EU member for agricultural products. Andorra lacked a currency of its own and used both the French franc and the Spanish peseta in banking transactions until 31 December 1999, when both currencies were replaced by the EU's single currency, the euro. Coins and notes of both the franc and the peseta remained legal tender in Andorra until 31 December 2002. Andorra negotiated to issue its own euro coins, beginning in 2014. Andorra has historically had one of the world's lowest unemployment rates. In 2019 it stood at 2%. On 31 May 2013, it was announced that Andorra intended to legislate for the introduction of an income tax by the end of June, against a background of increasing dissatisfaction with the existence of tax havens among EU members. The announcement was made following a meeting in Paris between the Prime Minister Antoni Martí and the French President and Prince of Andorra François Hollande. Hollande welcomed the move as part of a process of Andorra "bringing its taxation in line with international standards". By the mid-2010s, the financial system comprised five banking groups, one specialised credit entity, eight investment undertaking management entities, three asset management companies, and 29 insurance companies, 14 of which are branches of foreign insurance companies authorised to operate in the principality. The last mergers between banks took place in 2022, bringing the Andorran financial sector to currently have 3 active banking groups. Demographics Population The population of Andorra is estimated at (). The Andorrans are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. The population has grown from 5,000 in 1900. Two-thirds of residents lack Andorran nationality and do not have the right to vote in communal elections. Moreover, they are not allowed to be elected as prime minister or to own more than 33% of the capital stock of a privately held company. Languages According to mother tongue percentage statistics by the Andorran Government released in 2018: The historic and official language is Catalan, a Romance language. The Andorran government encourages the use of Catalan. It funds a Commission for Catalan Toponymy in Andorra (Catalan: ), and provides free Catalan classes to assist immigrants. Andorran television and radio stations use Catalan. Because of immigration, historical links, and close geographic proximity, Spanish, Portuguese and French are commonly spoken. Most Andorran residents can speak one or more of these, in addition to Catalan. English is less commonly spoken among the general population, though it is understood to varying degrees in the major tourist resorts. Andorra is one of only four European countries (together with France, Monaco, and Turkey) that have never signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities. Religion Few official statistics are available on religion; estimates of the Catholic population in 2020 range from 89.5% and 99.21%. The patron saint is Our Lady of Meritxell. There are also members of various Protestant denominations and small numbers of Hindus, and Bahá'ís, In 2022 there were approximately 2000 Muslims and roughly 100 Jews. Largest cities Education Schools Children between the ages of 6 and 16 are required by law to have full-time education. Education up to secondary level is provided free of charge by the government. There are three systems of school, Andorran, French and Spanish, which use Catalan, French and Spanish languages respectively, as the main language of instruction. Parents may choose which system their children attend. All schools are built and maintained by Andorran authorities, but teachers in the French and Spanish schools are paid for the most part by France and Spain. 39% of Andorran children attend Andorran schools, 33% attend French schools, and 28% Spanish schools. University of Andorra The Universitat d'Andorra (UdA) is the state public university and is the only university in Andorra. It was established in 1997. The university provides first-level degrees in nursing, computer science, business administration, and educational sciences, in addition to higher professional education courses. The only two graduate schools in Andorra are the Nursing School and the School of Computer Science, the latter having a PhD programme. Virtual Studies Centre The geographical complexity of the country as well as the small number of students prevents the University of Andorra from developing a full academic programme, and it serves principally as a centre for virtual studies, connected to Spanish and French universities. The Virtual Studies Centre (Centre d'Estudis Virtuals) at the university runs approximately 20 different academic degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in fields including tourism, law, Catalan philology, humanities, psychology, political sciences, audiovisual communication, telecommunications engineering, and East Asia studies. The centre also runs various postgraduate programmes and continuing-education courses for professionals. Transport Until the 20th century, Andorra had very limited transport links to the outside world, and development of the country was affected by its physical isolation. Even now, the nearest major airports at Toulouse and Barcelona are both three hours' drive from Andorra. Andorra has a road network of , of which is unpaved. The two main roads out of Andorra la Vella are the CG-1 to the Spanish border near Sant Julià de Lòria, and the CG-2 to the French border via the Envalira Tunnel near El Pas de la Casa. Bus services cover all metropolitan areas and many rural communities, with services on most major routes running half-hourly or more frequently during peak travel times. There are frequent long-distance bus services from Andorra to Barcelona and Toulouse, plus a daily tour from the former city. Bus services mostly are run by private companies, but some local ones are operated by the government. There are no airports for fixed-wing aircraft within Andorra's borders but there are, however, heliports in La Massana (Camí Heliport), Arinsal and Escaldes-Engordany with commercial helicopter services and an airport located in the neighbouring Spanish comarca of Alt Urgell, south of the Andorran-Spanish border. Since July 2015, Andorra–La Seu d'Urgell Airport has operated commercial flights to Madrid and Palma de Mallorca, and is the main hub for Andorra Airlines. Nearby airports located in Spain and France provide access to international flights for the principality. The nearest airports are at Perpignan, France ( from Andorra) and Lleida, Spain ( from Andorra). The largest nearby airports are at Toulouse, France ( from Andorra) and Barcelona, Spain ( from Andorra). There are hourly bus services from both Barcelona and Toulouse airports to Andorra. The nearest railway station is Andorre-L'Hospitalet station east of Andorra which is on the -gauge line from Latour-de-Carol () southeast of Andorra, to Toulouse and on to Paris by the French high-speed trains. This line is operated by the SNCF. Latour-de-Carol has a scenic trainline to Villefranche-de-Conflent, as well as the SNCF's gauge line connecting to Perpignan, and the Renfe's -gauge line to Barcelona. There are also direct Intercités de Nuit trains between L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre and Paris on certain dates. Media and telecommunications In Andorra, mobile and fixed telephone and internet services are operated exclusively by the Andorran national telecommunications company, SOM, also known as Andorra Telecom (STA). The same company also manages the technical infrastructure for national broadcasting of digital television and radio. In 2010 Andorra became the first country to provide a direct optical fiber link to all homes (FTTH) and businesses. The first commercial radio station to broadcast was Radio Andorra, which was active from 1939 to 1981. On 12 October 1989, the General Council established radio and television as essential public services creating and managing the entity ORTA, becoming on 13 April 2000, in the public company Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA). In 1990, the public radio was founded on the Radio Nacional d'Andorra. As an autochthonous television channel, there is only the national public television network Andorra Televisió, created in 1995. Additional TV and radio stations from Spain and France are available via digital terrestrial television and IPTV. There are three national newspapers, Diari d'Andorra, El Periòdic d'Andorra, and Bondia as well as several local newspapers. The history of the Andorran press begins in the period between 1917 and 1937 with the appearance of several periodicals papers such as Les Valls d'Andorra (1917), Nova Andorra (1932) and Andorra Agrícola (1933). In 1974, the Poble Andorrà became the first regular newspaper in Andorra. There is also an amateur radio society and news agency ANA with independent management. Culture Andorra is home to folk dances like the contrapàs and marratxa, which survive in Sant Julià de Lòria especially. Andorran folk music has similarities to the music of its neighbours, but is especially Catalan in character, especially in the presence of dances such as the sardana. Other Andorran folk dances include contrapàs in Andorra la Vella and Saint Anne's dance in Escaldes-Engordany. Andorra's national holiday is Our Lady of Meritxell Day, 8 September. Among the more important festivals and traditions are the Canólich Gathering in May, the Roser d'Ordino in July, the Meritxell Day (National Day of Andorra), the Andorra la Vella Fair, the Sant Jordi Day, the Santa Llúcia Fair, the Festivity from La Candelera to Canillo, the Carnival of Encamp, the sung of caramelles, the Festivity of Sant Esteve and the Festa del Poble. Andorra participated regularly in the Eurovision Song Contest between 2004 and 2009, being the only participating country presenting songs in Catalan. In popular folklore, the best-known Andorran legends are the legend of Charlemagne, according to which this Frankish King would have founded the country, the White Lady of Auvinyà, the Buner d'Ordino, the legend of Engolasters Lake and the legend of Our Lady of Meritxell. Andorran gastronomy is mainly Catalan, although it has also adopted other elements of French and Italian cuisines. The cuisine of the country has similar characteristics with the neighbours of Cerdanya and Alt Urgell, with whom it has strong cultural ties. Andorra's cuisine is marked by its nature as mountain valleys. Typical dishes of the country are quince all-i-oli, duck with winter pear, roast lamb with nuts, pork civet, massegada cake, escarole with pears, duck confit and mushrooms, escudella, spinach with raisins and pine nuts, jelly marmalade, stuffed murgues (mushrooms) with pork, dandelion salad, and Andorran river trout. To drink, mulled wine and beer are also popular. Some of the dishes are very common in the mountainous regions of Catalonia, such as trinxat, embotits, cooked snails, rice with mushrooms, mountain rice and mató. Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art are one of the most important artistic manifestations and characteristics of the Principality. The Romanesque one allows to know the formation of the parochial communities, the relations of (social and political) power and the national culture. There are a total of forty Romanesque churches that stand out as being small austere ornamentation constructions, as well as bridges, fortresses and manor houses of the same period. Summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees was included as UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage in 2015. Also the Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley became Andorra's first, and to date its only, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, with a small extension in 2006. Sports Andorra is famous for the practice of winter sports. Andorra has the largest territory of ski slopes in the Pyrenees (3100 hectares and about 350 km of slopes) and two ski resorts. Grandvalira is the largest and most popular resort. Other popular sports played in Andorra include football, rugby union, basketball, and roller hockey. For roller hockey, Andorra usually plays in CERH Euro Cup and in FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup. In 2011, Andorra was the host country to the 2011 European League Final Eight. The country is represented in association football by the Andorra national football team. The team gained its first competitive win in a European Championship qualifier on 11 October 2019, against Moldova. Football is governed in Andorra by the Andorran Football Federation – founded in 1994, it organizes the national competitions of association football (Primera Divisió, Copa Constitució and Supercopa) and futsal. Andorra was admitted to UEFA and FIFA in the same year, 1996. FC Andorra, a club based in Andorra la Vella founded in 1942, compete in the Spanish football league system. Rugby is a traditional sport in Andorra, mainly influenced by the popularity in southern France. The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards, plays on the international stage in rugby union and rugby sevens. VPC Andorra XV is a rugby team based in Andorra la Vella, which actually plays in the French championship. Basketball popularity has increased in the country since the 1990s, when the Andorran team BC Andorra played in the top league of Spain (Liga ACB). After 18 years the club returned to the top league in 2014. Other sports practised in Andorra include cycling, volleyball, judo, Australian Rules football, handball, swimming, gymnastics, tennis, and motorsports. In 2012, Andorra raised its first national cricket team and played a home match against the Dutch Fellowship of Fairly Odd Places Cricket Club, the first match played in the history of Andorra at an altitude of . Andorra first participated at the Olympic Games in 1976. The country has appeared in every Winter Olympic Games since 1976. Andorra competes in the Games of the Small States of Europe, being twice the host country, in 1991 and 2005. As one of the Catalan Countries, Andorra is home to a team of castellers, or Catalan human tower builders. The , based in the town of Santa Coloma d'Andorra, are recognized by the , the governing body of castells. See also Index of Andorra-related articles Outline of Andorra Bibliography of Andorra Explanatory notes Citations General bibliography Further reading Berthet, Elie, The Valley of Andorra. Bristol, UK: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1886. Butler, Michael, Frisch: Andorra. Carrick, Noel, Let's Visit Andorra. London: Macmillan, 1988. Deane, Shirley, The Road to Andorra. London: John Murray, 1960. Duursma, John C., Fragmentation and the International Relations of Micro-States. Cambridge University Press, 1996. Jenner, Paul & Christine Smith, Landscapes of the Pyrenees. London: Sunflower Books, 1990. Johnson, Virginia W., Two Quaint Republics: Andorra and San Marino. Leary, Lewis Gaston, Andorra the Hidden Republic. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1912. Mackintosh, May, Assignment in Andorra. London: Pan, 1976. Murray, James Erskine, A Summer in the Pyrenees. London: John Macrone, 1837. Newman, Bernard, Round About Andorra. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1928. Piesold, Werner, Andorra. Reichert, Thomas, Andorra: A Country Survey. Nuremberg, 1986. Spender, Harold & H. Llewellyn Smith, Through the High Pyrenees. London: A. D. Innes, 1898. Vila, Linda Armengol, Approach to the History of Andorra. Perpignan: Institut d'Estudis Andorrans, 1989. Vilajoana, Ricard Fiter & M. Marti Rebols, All Andorra. Barcelona: Escudo de Oro, 1979. Waagenaar, Sam, The Little Five. London: Andre Deutsch, 1960. External links Govern d'Andorra Official governmental site Andorra. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Portals to the World from the United States Library of Congress Andorra from UCB Libraries GovPubs Andorra from the BBC News Andorra – Guía, turismo y de viajes History of Andorra: Primary Documents from EuroDocs A New Path for Andorra – slideshow by The New York Times 1278 establishments in Europe Catalan Countries Christian states Countries in Europe Diarchies Duty-free zones of Europe Iberian Peninsula countries Important Bird Areas of Andorra Landlocked countries Member states of the Council of Europe Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Member states of the United Nations Monarchies of Europe Prince-bishoprics Principalities Pyrenees Spanish-speaking countries and territories Special economic zones States and territories established in 1278 Religion and politics

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the twentieth century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. Today, small farms produce about a third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest one percent of farms in the world are greater than 50 hectares and operate more than 70 percent of the world's farmland. Nearly 40 percent of agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares. However, five of every six farms in the world consist of less than two hectares and take up only around 12 percent of all agricultural land. Farms and farming greatly influence rural economics and greatly shape rural society, effecting both the direct agricultural workforce and broader businesses that support the farms and farming populations. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, meat, milk, eggs, and fungi. Global agricultural production amounts to approximately 11 billion tonnes of food, 32 million tonnes of natural fibres and 4 billion m3 of wood. However, around 14 percent of the world's food is lost from production before reaching the retail level. Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields, but also contributed to ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include contributions to climate change, depletion of aquifers, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and other agricultural pollution. Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation, and climate change, all of which can cause decreases in crop yield. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some countries ban them. Etymology and scope The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin , from 'field' and 'cultivation' or 'growing'. While agriculture usually refers to human activities, certain species of ant, termite and beetle have been cultivating crops for up to 60 million years. Agriculture is defined with varying scopes, in its broadest sense using natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services". Thus defined, it includes arable farming, horticulture, animal husbandry and forestry, but horticulture and forestry are in practice often excluded. It may also be broadly decomposed into plant agriculture, which concerns the cultivation of useful plants, and animal agriculture, the production of agricultural animals. History Origins The development of agriculture enabled the human population to grow many times larger than could be sustained by hunting and gathering. Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa, in at least 11 separate centers of origin. Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. In the Paleolithic Levant, 23,000 years ago, cereals cultivation of emmer, barley, and oats has been observed near the sea of Galilee. Rice was domesticated in China between 11,500 and 6,200 BC with the earliest known cultivation from 5,700 BC, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan some 10,500 years ago. Pig production emerged in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, and was independently domesticated in Eurasia. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was bred into maize by 6,000 years ago. The horse was domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes around 3500 BC. Scholars have offered multiple hypotheses to explain the historical origins of agriculture. Studies of the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies indicate an initial period of intensification and increasing sedentism; examples are the Natufian culture in the Levant, and the Early Chinese Neolithic in China. Then, wild stands that had previously been harvested started to be planted, and gradually came to be domesticated. Civilizations In Eurasia, the Sumerians started to live in villages from about 8,000 BC, relying on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a canal system for irrigation. Ploughs appear in pictographs around 3,000 BC; seed-ploughs around 2,300 BC. Farmers grew wheat, barley, vegetables such as lentils and onions, and fruits including dates, grapes, and figs. Ancient Egyptian agriculture relied on the Nile River and its seasonal flooding. Farming started in the predynastic period at the end of the Paleolithic, after 10,000 BC. Staple food crops were grains such as wheat and barley, alongside industrial crops such as flax and papyrus. In India, wheat, barley and jujube were domesticated by 9,000 BC, soon followed by sheep and goats. Cattle, sheep and goats were domesticated in Mehrgarh culture by 8,000–6,000 BC. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th–4th millennium BC. Archeological evidence indicates an animal-drawn plough from 2,500 BC in the Indus Valley civilisation. In China, from the 5th century BC, there was a nationwide granary system and widespread silk farming. Water-powered grain mills were in use by the 1st century BC, followed by irrigation. By the late 2nd century, heavy ploughs had been developed with iron ploughshares and mouldboards. These spread westwards across Eurasia. Asian rice was domesticated 8,200–13,500 years ago – depending on the molecular clock estimate that is used– on the Pearl River in southern China with a single genetic origin from the wild rice Oryza rufipogon. In Greece and Rome, the major cereals were wheat, emmer, and barley, alongside vegetables including peas, beans, and olives. Sheep and goats were kept mainly for dairy products. In the Americas, crops domesticated in Mesoamerica (apart from teosinte) include squash, beans, and cacao. Cocoa was domesticated by the Mayo Chinchipe of the upper Amazon around 3,000 BC. The turkey was probably domesticated in Mexico or the American Southwest. The Aztecs developed irrigation systems, formed terraced hillsides, fertilized their soil, and developed chinampas or artificial islands. The Mayas used extensive canal and raised field systems to farm swampland from 400 BC. Coca was domesticated in the Andes, as were the peanut, tomato, tobacco, and pineapple. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 3,600 BC. Animals including llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs were domesticated there. In North America, the indigenous people of the East domesticated crops such as sunflower, tobacco, squash and Chenopodium. Wild foods including wild rice and maple sugar were harvested. The domesticated strawberry is a hybrid of a Chilean and a North American species, developed by breeding in Europe and North America. The indigenous people of the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest practiced forest gardening and fire-stick farming. The natives controlled fire on a regional scale to create a low-intensity fire ecology that sustained a low-density agriculture in loose rotation; a sort of "wild" permaculture. A system of companion planting called the Three Sisters was developed in North America. The three crops were winter squash, maize, and climbing beans. Indigenous Australians, long supposed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers, practised systematic burning, possibly to enhance natural productivity in fire-stick farming. Scholars have pointed out that hunter-gatherers need a productive environment to support gathering without cultivation. Because the forests of New Guinea have few food plants, early humans may have used "selective burning" to increase the productivity of the wild karuka fruit trees to support the hunter-gatherer way of life. The Gunditjmara and other groups developed eel farming and fish trapping systems from some 5,000 years ago. There is evidence of 'intensification' across the whole continent over that period. In two regions of Australia, the central west coast and eastern central, early farmers cultivated yams, native millet, and bush onions, possibly in permanent settlements. Revolution In the Middle Ages, compared to the Roman period, agriculture in Western Europe became more focused on self-sufficiency. The agricultural population under feudalism was typically organized into manors consisting of several hundred or more acres of land presided over by a lord of the manor with a Roman Catholic church and priest. Thanks to the exchange with the Al-Andalus where the Arab Agricultural Revolution was underway, European agriculture transformed, with improved techniques and the diffusion of crop plants, including the introduction of sugar, rice, cotton and fruit trees (such as the orange). After 1492, the Columbian exchange brought New World crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and manioc to Europe, and Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips, and livestock (including horses, cattle, sheep and goats) to the Americas. Irrigation, crop rotation, and fertilizers advanced from the 17th century with the British Agricultural Revolution, allowing global population to rise significantly. Since 1900, agriculture in developed nations, and to a lesser extent in the developing world, has seen large rises in productivity as mechanization replaces human labor, and assisted by synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and selective breeding. The Haber-Bosch method allowed the synthesis of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on an industrial scale, greatly increasing crop yields and sustaining a further increase in global population. Modern agriculture has raised or encountered ecological, political, and economic issues including water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs and farm subsidies, leading to alternative approaches such as the organic movement. Unsustainable farming practices in North America led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Types Pastoralism involves managing domesticated animals. In nomadic pastoralism, herds of livestock are moved from place to place in search of pasture, fodder, and water. This type of farming is practised in arid and semi-arid regions of Sahara, Central Asia and some parts of India. In shifting cultivation, a small area of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the trees. The cleared land is used for growing crops for a few years until the soil becomes too infertile, and the area is abandoned. Another patch of land is selected and the process is repeated. This type of farming is practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. This practice is used in Northeast India, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon Basin. Subsistence farming is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone, with little left over for transport elsewhere. It is intensively practiced in Monsoon Asia and South-East Asia. An estimated 2.5 billion subsistence farmers worked in 2018, cultivating about 60% of the earth's arable land. Intensive farming is cultivation to maximise productivity, with a low fallow ratio and a high use of inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticide and automation). It is practiced mainly in developed countries. Contemporary agriculture Status From the twentieth century onwards, intensive agriculture increased crop productivity. It substituted synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for labour, but caused increased water pollution, and often involved farm subsidies. Soil degradation and diseases such as stem rust are major concerns globally; approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In recent years there has been a backlash against the environmental effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic, regenerative, and sustainable agriculture movements. One of the major forces behind this movement has been the European Union, which first certified organic food in 1991 and began reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2005 to phase out commodity-linked farm subsidies, also known as decoupling. The growth of organic farming has renewed research in alternative technologies such as integrated pest management, selective breeding, and controlled-environment agriculture. There are concerns about the lower yield associated with organic farming and its impact on global food security. Recent mainstream technological developments include genetically modified food. By 2015, the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world, followed by the European Union, India and the United States. Economists measure the total factor productivity of agriculture, according to which agriculture in the United States is roughly 1.7 times more productive than it was in 1948. Despite increases in agricultural production and productivity, between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021. Food insecurity and malnutrition can be the result of conflict, climate extremes and variability and economic swings. It can also be caused by a country's structural characteristics such as income status and natural resource endowments as well as its political economy. The International Fund for Agricultural Development posits that an increase in smallholder agriculture may be part of the solution to concerns about food prices and overall food security, given the favorable experience of Vietnam. Workforce Agriculture provides about one-quarter of all global employment, more than half in sub-Saharan Africa and almost 60 percent in low-income countries. As countries develop, other jobs have historically pulled workers away from agriculture, and labour-saving innovations increase agricultural productivity by reducing labour requirements per unit of output. Over time, a combination of labour supply and labour demand trends have driven down the share of population employed in agriculture. During the 16th century in Europe, between 55 and 75% of the population was engaged in agriculture; by the 19th century, this had dropped to between 35 and 65%. In the same countries today, the figure is less than 10%. At the start of the 21st century, some one billion people, or over 1/3 of the available work force, were employed in agriculture. This constitutes approximately 70% of the global employment of children, and in many countries constitutes the largest percentage of women of any industry. The service sector overtook the agricultural sector as the largest global employer in 2007. In many developed countries, immigrants help fill labour shortages in high-value agriculture activities that are difficult to mechanize. Foreign farm workers from mostly Eastern Europe, North Africa and South Asia constituted around one-third of the salaried agricultural workforce in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal in 2013. In the United States of America, more than half of all hired farmworkers (roughly 450,000 workers) were immigrants in 2019, although the number of new immigrants arriving in the country to work in agriculture has fallen by 75 percent in recent years and rising wages indicate this has led to a major labor shortage on U.S. farms. Around the world, women make up a large share of the population employed in agriculture. This share is growing in all developing regions except East and Southeast Asia where women already make up about 50 percent of the agricultural workforce. Women make up 47 percent of the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, a rate that has not changed significantly in the past few decades. However, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) posits that the roles and responsibilities of women in agriculture may be changing – for example, from subsistence farming to wage employment, and from contributing household members to primary producers in the context of male-out-migration. Safety Agriculture, specifically farming, remains a hazardous industry, and farmers worldwide remain at high risk of work-related injuries, lung disease, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases, as well as certain cancers related to chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. On industrialized farms, injuries frequently involve the use of agricultural machinery, and a common cause of fatal agricultural injuries in developed countries is tractor rollovers. Pesticides and other chemicals used in farming can be hazardous to worker health, and workers exposed to pesticides may experience illness or have children with birth defects. As an industry in which families commonly share in work and live on the farm itself, entire families can be at risk for injuries, illness, and death. Ages 0–6 May be an especially vulnerable population in agriculture; common causes of fatal injuries among young farm workers include drowning, machinery and motor accidents, including with all-terrain vehicles. The International Labour Organization considers agriculture "one of the most hazardous of all economic sectors". It estimates that the annual work-related death toll among agricultural employees is at least 170,000, twice the average rate of other jobs. In addition, incidences of death, injury and illness related to agricultural activities often go unreported. The organization has developed the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001, which covers the range of risks in the agriculture occupation, the prevention of these risks and the role that individuals and organizations engaged in agriculture should play. In the United States, agriculture has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda to identify and provide intervention strategies for occupational health and safety issues. In the European Union, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has issued guidelines on implementing health and safety directives in agriculture, livestock farming, horticulture, and forestry. The Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America (ASHCA) also holds a yearly summit to discuss safety. Production Overall production varies by country as listed. Crop cultivation systems Cropping systems vary among farms depending on the available resources and constraints; geography and climate of the farm; government policy; economic, social and political pressures; and the philosophy and culture of the farmer. Shifting cultivation (or slash and burn) is a system in which forests are burnt, releasing nutrients to support cultivation of annual and then perennial crops for a period of several years. Then the plot is left fallow to regrow forest, and the farmer moves to a new plot, returning after many more years (10–20). This fallow period is shortened if population density grows, requiring the input of nutrients (fertilizer or manure) and some manual pest control. Annual cultivation is the next phase of intensity in which there is no fallow period. This requires even greater nutrient and pest control inputs. Further industrialization led to the use of monocultures, when one cultivar is planted on a large acreage. Because of the low biodiversity, nutrient use is uniform and pests tend to build up, necessitating the greater use of pesticides and fertilizers. Multiple cropping, in which several crops are grown sequentially in one year, and intercropping, when several crops are grown at the same time, are other kinds of annual cropping systems known as polycultures. In subtropical and arid environments, the timing and extent of agriculture may be limited by rainfall, either not allowing multiple annual crops in a year, or requiring irrigation. In all of these environments perennial crops are grown (coffee, chocolate) and systems are practiced such as agroforestry. In temperate environments, where ecosystems were predominantly grassland or prairie, highly productive annual farming is the dominant agricultural system. Important categories of food crops include cereals, legumes, forage, fruits and vegetables. Natural fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Specific crops are cultivated in distinct growing regions throughout the world. Production is listed in millions of metric tons, based on FAO estimates. Livestock production systems Animal husbandry is the breeding and raising of animals for meat, milk, eggs, or wool, and for work and transport. Working animals, including horses, mules, oxen, water buffalo, camels, llamas, alpacas, donkeys, and dogs, have for centuries been used to help cultivate fields, harvest crops, wrangle other animals, and transport farm products to buyers. Livestock production systems can be defined based on feed source, as grassland-based, mixed, and landless. , 30% of Earth's ice- and water-free area was used for producing livestock, with the sector employing approximately 1.3 billion people. Between the 1960s and the 2000s, there was a significant increase in livestock production, both by numbers and by carcass weight, especially among beef, pigs and chickens, the latter of which had production increased by almost a factor of 10. Non-meat animals, such as milk cows and egg-producing chickens, also showed significant production increases. Global cattle, sheep and goat populations are expected to continue to increase sharply through 2050. Aquaculture or fish farming, the production of fish for human consumption in confined operations, is one of the fastest growing sectors of food production, growing at an average of 9% a year between 1975 and 2007. During the second half of the 20th century, producers using selective breeding focused on creating livestock breeds and crossbreeds that increased production, while mostly disregarding the need to preserve genetic diversity. This trend has led to a significant decrease in genetic diversity and resources among livestock breeds, leading to a corresponding decrease in disease resistance and local adaptations previously found among traditional breeds. Grassland based livestock production relies upon plant material such as shrubland, rangeland, and pastures for feeding ruminant animals. Outside nutrient inputs may be used, however manure is returned directly to the grassland as a major nutrient source. This system is particularly important in areas where crop production is not feasible because of climate or soil, representing 30–40 million pastoralists. Mixed production systems use grassland, fodder crops and grain feed crops as feed for ruminant and monogastric (one stomach; mainly chickens and pigs) livestock. Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as a fertilizer for crops. Landless systems rely upon feed from outside the farm, representing the de-linking of crop and livestock production found more prevalently in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. Synthetic fertilizers are more heavily relied upon for crop production and manure use becomes a challenge as well as a source for pollution. Industrialized countries use these operations to produce much of the global supplies of poultry and pork. Scientists estimate that 75% of the growth in livestock production between 2003 and 2030 will be in confined animal feeding operations, sometimes called factory farming. Much of this growth is happening in developing countries in Asia, with much smaller amounts of growth in Africa. Some of the practices used in commercial livestock production, including the usage of growth hormones, are controversial. Production practices Tillage is the practice of breaking up the soil with tools such as the plow or harrow to prepare for planting, for nutrient incorporation, or for pest control. Tillage varies in intensity from conventional to no-till. It can improve productivity by warming the soil, incorporating fertilizer and controlling weeds, but also renders soil more prone to erosion, triggers the decomposition of organic matter releasing CO2, and reduces the abundance and diversity of soil organisms. Pest control includes the management of weeds, insects, mites, and diseases. Chemical (pesticides), biological (biocontrol), mechanical (tillage), and cultural practices are used. Cultural practices include crop rotation, culling, cover crops, intercropping, composting, avoidance, and resistance. Integrated pest management attempts to use all of these methods to keep pest populations below the number which would cause economic loss, and recommends pesticides as a last resort. Nutrient management includes both the source of nutrient inputs for crop and livestock production, and the method of use of manure produced by livestock. Nutrient inputs can be chemical inorganic fertilizers, manure, green manure, compost and minerals. Crop nutrient use may also be managed using cultural techniques such as crop rotation or a fallow period. Manure is used either by holding livestock where the feed crop is growing, such as in managed intensive rotational grazing, or by spreading either dry or liquid formulations of manure on cropland or pastures. Water management is needed where rainfall is insufficient or variable, which occurs to some degree in most regions of the world. Some farmers use irrigation to supplement rainfall. In other areas such as the Great Plains in the U.S. and Canada, farmers use a fallow year to conserve soil moisture for the following year. Recent technological innovations in precision agriculture allow for water status monitoring and automate water usage, leading to more efficient management. Agriculture represents 70% of freshwater use worldwide. However, water withdrawal ratios for agriculture vary significantly by income level. In least developed countries and landlocked developing countries, water withdrawal ratios for agriculture are as high as 90 percent of total water withdrawals and about 60 percent in Small Island Developing States. According to 2014 report by the International Food Policy Research Institute, agricultural technologies will have the greatest impact on food production if adopted in combination with each other. Using a model that assessed how eleven technologies could impact agricultural productivity, food security and trade by 2050, the International Food Policy Research Institute found that the number of people at risk from hunger could be reduced by as much as 40% and food prices could be reduced by almost half. Payment for ecosystem services is a method of providing additional incentives to encourage farmers to conserve some aspects of the environment. Measures might include paying for reforestation upstream of a city, to improve the supply of fresh water. Agricultural automation Different definitions exist for agricultural automation and for the variety of tools and technologies that are used to automate production. One view is that agricultural automation refers to autonomous navigation by robots without human intervention. Alternatively it is defined as the accomplishment of production tasks through mobile, autonomous, decision-making, mechatronic devices. However, FAO finds that these definitions do not capture all the aspects and forms of automation, such as robotic milking machines that are static, most motorized machinery that automates the performing of agricultural operations, and digital tools (e.g., sensors) that automate only diagnosis. FAO defines agricultural automation as the use of machinery and equipment in agricultural operations to improve their diagnosis, decision-making or performing, reducing the drudgery of agricultural work or improving the timeliness, and potentially the precision, of agricultural operations. The technological evolution in agriculture has involved a progressive move from manual tools to animal traction, to motorized mechanization, to digital equipment and finally, to robotics with artificial intelligence (AI). Motorized mechanization using engine power automates the performance of agricultural operations such as ploughing and milking. With digital automation technologies, it also becomes possible to automate diagnosis and decision-making of agricultural operations. For example, autonomous crop robots can harvest and seed crops, while drones can gather information to help automate input application. Precision agriculture often employs such automation technologies. Motorized machines are increasingly complemented, or even superseded, by new digital equipment that automates diagnosis and decision-making. A conventional tractor, for example, can be converted into an automated vehicle allowing it to sow a field autonomously. Motorized mechanization has increased significantly across the world in recent years, although reliable global data with broad country coverage exist only for tractors and only up to 2009. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the adoption of motorized mechanization has stalled over the past decades. Automation technologies are increasingly used for managing livestock, though evidence on adoption is lacking. Global automatic milking system sales have increased over recent years, but adoption is likely mostly in Northern Europe, and likely almost absent in low- and middle-income countries. Automated feeding machines for both cows and poultry also exist, but data and evidence regarding their adoption trends and drivers is likewise scarce. Measuring the overall employment impacts of agricultural automation is difficult because it requires large amounts of data tracking all the transformations and the associated reallocation of workers both upstream and downstream. While automation technologies reduce labour needs for the newly automated tasks, they also generate new labour demand for other tasks, such as equipment maintenance and operation. Agricultural automation can also stimulate employment by allowing producers to expand production and by creating other agrifood systems jobs. This is especially true when it happens in context of rising scarcity of rural labour, as is the case in high-income countries and many middle-income countries. On the other hand, if forcedly promoted, for example through government subsidies in contexts of abundant rural labour, it can lead to labour displacement and falling or stagnant wages, particularly affecting poor and low-skilled workers. Effects of climate change on yields Climate change and agriculture are interrelated on a global scale. Climate change affects agriculture through changes in average temperatures, rainfall, and weather extremes (like storms and heat waves); changes in pests and diseases; changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations; changes in the nutritional quality of some foods; and changes in sea level. Global warming is already affecting agriculture, with effects unevenly distributed across the world. In a 2022 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describes how human-induced warming has slowed growth of agricultural productivity over the past 50 years in mid and low latitudes. Methane emissions have negatively impacted crop yields by increasing temperatures and surface ozone concentrations. Warming is also negatively affecting crop and grassland quality and harvest stability. Ocean warming has decreased sustainable yields of some wild fish populations while ocean acidification and warming have already affected farmed aquatic species. Climate change will probably increase the risk of food insecurity for some vulnerable groups, such as the poor. Crop alteration and biotechnology Plant breeding Crop alteration has been practiced by humankind for thousands of years, since the beginning of civilization. Altering crops through breeding practices changes the genetic make-up of a plant to develop crops with more beneficial characteristics for humans, for example, larger fruits or seeds, drought-tolerance, or resistance to pests. Significant advances in plant breeding ensued after the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel. His work on dominant and recessive alleles, although initially largely ignored for almost 50 years, gave plant breeders a better understanding of genetics and breeding techniques. Crop breeding includes techniques such as plant selection with desirable traits, self-pollination and cross-pollination, and molecular techniques that genetically modify the organism. Domestication of plants has, over the centuries increased yield, improved disease resistance and drought tolerance, eased harvest and improved the taste and nutritional value of crop plants. Careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant selection and breeding in the 1920s and 1930s improved pasture (grasses and clover) in New Zealand. Extensive X-ray and ultraviolet induced mutagenesis efforts (i.e. primitive genetic engineering) during the 1950s produced the modern commercial varieties of grains such as wheat, corn (maize) and barley. The Green Revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to sharply increase yield by creating "high-yielding varieties". For example, average yields of corn (maize) in the US have increased from around 2.5 tons per hectare (t/ha) (40 bushels per acre) in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha (150 bushels per acre) in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased from less than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South American average wheat yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1 t/ha, and Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha with irrigation. In contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is over 8 t/ha. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques (use of fertilizers, chemical pest control, and growth control to avoid lodging). Genetic engineering Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to use in creating desired germlines for new crops. Increased durability, nutritional content, insect and virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are a few of the attributes bred into crops through genetic engineering. For some, GMO crops cause food safety and food labeling concerns. Numerous countries have placed restrictions on the production, import or use of GMO foods and crops. The Biosafety Protocol, an international treaty, regulates the trade of GMOs. There is ongoing discussion regarding the labeling of foods made from GMOs, and while the EU currently requires all GMO foods to be labeled, the US does not. Herbicide-resistant seeds have a gene implanted into their genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to herbicides, including glyphosate. These seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with herbicides to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers worldwide. With the increasing use of herbicide-tolerant crops, comes an increase in the use of glyphosate-based herbicide sprays. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers to switch to other herbicides. Some studies also link widespread glyphosate usage to iron deficiencies in some crops, which is both a crop production and a nutritional quality concern, with potential economic and health implications. Other GMO crops used by growers include insect-resistant crops, which have a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces a toxin specific to insects. These crops resist damage by insects. Some believe that similar or better pest-resistance traits can be acquired through traditional breeding practices, and resistance to various pests can be gained through hybridization or cross-pollination with wild species. In some cases, wild species are the primary source of resistance traits; some tomato cultivars that have gained resistance to at least 19 diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes. Environmental impact Effects and costs Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation and climate change, which cause decreases in crop yield. Agriculture is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change, climate change, water use and toxic emissions. Agriculture is the main source of toxins released into the environment, including insecticides, especially those used on cotton. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy report stated that agricultural operations produced some 13 per cent of anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes gases from the use of inorganic fertilizers, agro-chemical pesticides, and herbicides, as well as fossil fuel-energy inputs. Agriculture imposes multiple external costs upon society through effects such as pesticide damage to nature (especially herbicides and insecticides), nutrient runoff, excessive water usage, and loss of natural environment. A 2000 assessment of agriculture in the UK determined total external costs for 1996 of £2,343 million, or £208 per hectare. A 2005 analysis of these costs in the US concluded that cropland imposes approximately $5 to $16 billion ($30 to $96 per hectare), while livestock production imposes $714 million. Both studies, which focused solely on the fiscal impacts, concluded that more should be done to internalize external costs. Neither included subsidies in their analysis, but they noted that subsidies also influence the cost of agriculture to society. Agriculture seeks to increase yield and to reduce costs, often employing measures that cut biodiversity to very low levels. Yield increases with inputs such as fertilisers and removal of pathogens, predators, and competitors (such as weeds). Costs decrease with increasing scale of farm units, such as making fields larger; this means removing hedges, ditches and other areas of habitat. Pesticides kill insects, plants and fungi. Effective yields fall with on-farm losses, which may be caused by poor production practices during harvesting, handling, and storage. The environmental effects of climate change show that research on pests and diseases that do not generally afflict areas is essential. In 2021, farmers discovered stem rust on wheat in the Champagne area of France, a disease that had previously only occurred in Morocco for 20 to 30 years. Because of climate change, insects that used to die off over the winter are now alive and multiplying. Livestock issues A senior UN official, Henning Steinfeld, said that "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems". Livestock production occupies 70% of all land used for agriculture, or 30% of the land surface of the planet. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2.) It also generates 64% of the ammonia emission. Livestock expansion is cited as a key factor driving deforestation; in the Amazon basin 70% of previously forested area is now occupied by pastures and the remainder used for feed crops. Through deforestation and land degradation, livestock is also driving reductions in biodiversity. Furthermore, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) states that "methane emissions from global livestock are projected to increase by 60 per cent by 2030 under current practices and consumption patterns." Land and water issues Land transformation, the use of land to yield goods and services, is the most substantial way humans alter the Earth's ecosystems, and is the driving force causing biodiversity loss. Estimates of the amount of land transformed by humans vary from 39 to 50%. Land degradation, the long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, is estimated to be occurring on 24% of land worldwide, with cropland overrepresented. Land management is the driving factor behind degradation; 1.5 billion people rely upon the degrading land. Degradation can be through deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, mineral depletion, acidification, or salinization. Eutrophication, excessive nutrient enrichment in aquatic ecosystems resulting in algal blooms and anoxia, leads to fish kills, loss of biodiversity, and renders water unfit for drinking and other industrial uses. Excessive fertilization and manure application to cropland, as well as high livestock stocking densities cause nutrient (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) runoff and leaching from agricultural land. These nutrients are major nonpoint pollutants contributing to eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems and pollution of groundwater, with harmful effects on human populations. Fertilisers also reduce terrestrial biodiversity by increasing competition for light, favouring those species that are able to benefit from the added nutrients. Agriculture simultaneously is facing growing freshwater demand and precipitation anomalies (droughts, floods, and extreme rainfall and weather events) on rainfed areasfields and grazing lands. Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of withdrawals of freshwater resources, and an estimated 41 percent of current global irrigation water use occurs at the expense of environmental flow requirements. It is long known that aquifers in areas as diverse as northern China, the Upper Ganges and the western US are being depleted, and new research extends these problems to aquifers in Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Increasing pressure is being placed on water resources by industry and urban areas, meaning that water scarcity is increasing and agriculture is facing the challenge of producing more food for the world's growing population with reduced water resources. While industrial withdrawals have declined in the past few decades and municipal withdrawals have increased only marginally since 2010, agricultural withdrawals have continued to grow at an ever faster pace. Agricultural water usage can also cause major environmental problems, including the destruction of natural wetlands, the spread of water-borne diseases, and land degradation through salinization and waterlogging, when irrigation is performed incorrectly. Pesticides Pesticide use has increased since 1950 to 2.5 million short tons annually worldwide, yet crop loss from pests has remained relatively constant. The World Health Organization estimated in 1992 that three million pesticide poisonings occur annually, causing 220,000 deaths. Pesticides select for pesticide resistance in the pest population, leading to a condition termed the "pesticide treadmill" in which pest resistance warrants the development of a new pesticide. An alternative argument is that the way to "save the environment" and prevent famine is by using pesticides and intensive high yield farming, a view exemplified by a quote heading the Center for Global Food Issues website: 'Growing more per acre leaves more land for nature'. However, critics argue that a trade-off between the environment and a need for food is not inevitable, and that pesticides can replace good agronomic practices such as crop rotation. The Push–pull agricultural pest management technique involves intercropping, using plant aromas to repel pests from crops (push) and to lure them to a place from which they can then be removed (pull). Contribution to climate change Agriculture contributes towards climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forests into agricultural land. The agriculture, forestry and land use sector contribute between 13% and 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions of nitrous oxide, methane make up over half of total greenhouse gas emission from agriculture. Animal husbandry is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 57% of global GHG emissions from the production of food are from the production of animal-based food while plant-based foods contribute 29% and the remaining 14% is for other utilizations. Farmland management and land-use change represented major shares of total emissions (38% and 29%, respectively), whereas rice and beef were the largest contributing plant- and animal-based commodities (12% and 25%, respectively). South and Southeast Asia and South America were the largest emitters of production-based GHGs. Sustainability Current farming methods have resulted in over-stretched water resources, high levels of erosion and reduced soil fertility. There is not enough water to continue farming using current practices; therefore how water, land, and ecosystem resources are used to boost crop yields must be reconsidered. A solution would be to give value to ecosystems, recognizing environmental and livelihood tradeoffs, and balancing the rights of a variety of users and interests. Inequities that result when such measures are adopted would need to be addressed, such as the reallocation of water from poor to rich, the clearing of land to make way for more productive farmland, or the preservation of a wetland system that limits fishing rights. Technological advancements help provide farmers with tools and resources to make farming more sustainable. Technology permits innovations like conservation tillage, a farming process which helps prevent land loss to erosion, reduces water pollution, and enhances carbon sequestration. Agricultural automation can help address some of the challenges associated with climate change and thus facilitate adaptation efforts. For example, the application of digital automation technologies (e.g. in precision agriculture) can improve resource-use efficiency in conditions which are increasingly constrained for agricultural producers. Moreover, when applied to sensing and early warning, they can help address the uncertainty and unpredictability of weather conditions associated with accelerating climate change. Other potential sustainable practices include conservation agriculture, agroforestry, improved grazing, avoided grassland conversion, and biochar. Current mono-crop farming practices in the United States preclude widespread adoption of sustainable practices, such as 2–3 crop rotations that incorporate grass or hay with annual crops, unless negative emission goals such as soil carbon sequestration become policy. The food demand of Earth's projected population, with current climate change predictions, could be satisfied by improvement of agricultural methods, expansion of agricultural areas, and a sustainability-oriented consumer mindset. Energy dependence Since the 1940s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel sources. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, with world grain production increasing significantly (between 70% and 390% for wheat and 60% to 150% for rice, depending on geographic area) as world population doubled. Heavy reliance on petrochemicals has raised concerns that oil shortages could increase costs and reduce agricultural output. Industrialized agriculture depends on fossil fuels in two fundamental ways: direct consumption on the farm and manufacture of inputs used on the farm. Direct consumption includes the use of lubricants and fuels to operate farm vehicles and machinery. Indirect consumption includes the manufacture of fertilizers, pesticides, and farm machinery. In particular, the production of nitrogen fertilizer can account for over half of agricultural energy usage. Together, direct and indirect consumption by US farms accounts for about 2% of the nation's energy use. Direct and indirect energy consumption by U.S. farms peaked in 1979, and has since gradually declined. Food systems encompass not just agriculture but off-farm processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. Agriculture accounts for less than one-fifth of food system energy use in the US. Plastic pollution Plastic products are used extensively in agriculture, including to increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water and agrichemical use. "Agriplastic" products include films to cover greenhouses and tunnels, mulch to cover soil (e.g. to suppress weeds, conserve water, increase soil temperature and aid fertilizer application), shade cloth, pesticide containers, seedling trays, protective mesh and irrigation tubing. The polymers most commonly used in these products are low- density polyethylene (LPDE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The total amount of plastics used in agriculture is difficult to quantify. A 2012 study reported that almost 6.5 million tonnes per year were consumed globally while a later study estimated that global demand in 2015 was between 7.3 million and 9 million tonnes. Widespread use of plastic mulch and lack of systematic collection and management have led to the generation of large amounts of mulch residue. Weathering and degradation eventually cause the mulch to fragment. These fragments and larger pieces of plastic accumulate in soil. Mulch residue has been measured at levels of 50 to 260 kg per hectare in topsoil in areas where mulch use dates back more than 10 years, which confirms that mulching is a major source of both microplastic and macroplastic soil contamination. Agricultural plastics, especially plastic films, are not easy to recycle because of high contamination levels (up to 40–50% by weight contamination by pesticides, fertilizers, soil and debris, moist vegetation, silage juice water, and UV stabilizers) and collection difficulties . Therefore, they are often buried or abandoned in fields and watercourses or burned. These disposal practices lead to soil degradation and can result in contamination of soils and leakage of microplastics into the marine environment as a result of precipitation run-off and tidal washing. In addition, additives in residual plastic film (such as UV and thermal stabilizers) may have deleterious effects on crop growth, soil structure, nutrient transport and salt levels. There is a risk that plastic mulch will deteriorate soil quality, deplete soil organic matter stocks, increase soil water repellence and emit greenhouse gases. Microplastics released through fragmentation of agricultural plastics can absorb and concentrate contaminants capable of being passed up the trophic chain. Disciplines Agricultural economics Agricultural economics is economics as it relates to the "production, distribution and consumption of [agricultural] goods and services". Combining agricultural production with general theories of marketing and business as a discipline of study began in the late 1800s, and grew significantly through the 20th century. Although the study of agricultural economics is relatively recent, major trends in agriculture have significantly affected national and international economies throughout history, ranging from tenant farmers and sharecropping in the post-American Civil War Southern United States to the European feudal system of manorialism. In the United States, and elsewhere, food costs attributed to food processing, distribution, and agricultural marketing, sometimes referred to as the value chain, have risen while the costs attributed to farming have declined. This is related to the greater efficiency of farming, combined with the increased level of value addition (e.g. more highly processed products) provided by the supply chain. Market concentration has increased in the sector as well, and although the total effect of the increased market concentration is likely increased efficiency, the changes redistribute economic surplus from producers (farmers) and consumers, and may have negative implications for rural communities. National government policies, such as taxation, subsidies, tariffs and others, can significantly change the economic marketplace for agricultural products. Since at least the 1960s, a combination of trade restrictions, exchange rate policies and subsidies have affected farmers in both the developing and the developed world. In the 1980s, non-subsidized farmers in developing countries experienced adverse effects from national policies that created artificially low global prices for farm products. Between the mid-1980s and the early 2000s, several international agreements limited agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other trade restrictions. However, , there was still a significant amount of policy-driven distortion in global agricultural product prices. The three agricultural products with the most trade distortion were sugar, milk and rice, mainly due to taxation. Among the oilseeds, sesame had the most taxation, but overall, feed grains and oilseeds had much lower levels of taxation than livestock products. Since the 1980s, policy-driven distortions have decreases more among livestock products than crops during the worldwide reforms in agricultural policy. Despite this progress, certain crops, such as cotton, still see subsidies in developed countries artificially deflating global prices, causing hardship in developing countries with non-subsidized farmers. Unprocessed commodities such as corn, soybeans, and cattle are generally graded to indicate quality, affecting the price the producer receives. Commodities are generally reported by production quantities, such as volume, number or weight. Agricultural science Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. It covers topics such as agronomy, plant breeding and genetics, plant pathology, crop modelling, soil science, entomology, production techniques and improvement, study of pests and their management, and study of adverse environmental effects such as soil degradation, waste management, and bioremediation. The scientific study of agriculture began in the 18th century, when Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulphate) as a fertilizer. Research became more systematic when in 1843, John Lawes and Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term agronomy field experiments at Rothamsted Research Station in England; some of them, such as the Park Grass Experiment, are still running. In America, the Hatch Act of 1887 provided funding for what it was the first to call "agricultural science", driven by farmers' interest in fertilizers. In agricultural entomology, the USDA began to research biological control in 1881; it instituted its first large program in 1905, searching Europe and Japan for natural enemies of the spongy moth and brown-tail moth, establishing parasitoids (such as solitary wasps) and predators of both pests in the US. Policy Agricultural policy is the set of government decisions and actions relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Some overarching themes include risk management and adjustment (including policies related to climate change, food safety and natural disasters), economic stability (including policies related to taxes), natural resources and environmental sustainability (especially water policy), research and development, and market access for domestic commodities (including relations with global organizations and agreements with other countries). Agricultural policy can also touch on food quality, ensuring that the food supply is of a consistent and known quality, food security, ensuring that the food supply meets the population's needs, and conservation. Policy programs can range from financial programs, such as subsidies, to encouraging producers to enroll in voluntary quality assurance programs. A 2021 report finds that globally, support to agricultural producers accounts for almost US$540 billion a year. This amounts to 15 percent of total agricultural production value, and is heavily biased towards measures that are leading to inefficiency, as well as are unequally distributed and harmful for the environment and human health.   There are many influences on the creation of agricultural policy, including consumers, agribusiness, trade lobbies and other groups. Agribusiness interests hold a large amount of influence over policy making, in the form of lobbying and campaign contributions. Political action groups, including those interested in environmental issues and labor unions, also provide influence, as do lobbying organizations representing individual agricultural commodities. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger and provides a forum for the negotiation of global agricultural regulations and agreements. Samuel Jutzi, director of FAO's animal production and health division, states that lobbying by large corporations has stopped reforms that would improve human health and the environment. For example, proposals in 2010 for a voluntary code of conduct for the livestock industry that would have provided incentives for improving standards for health, and environmental regulations, such as the number of animals an area of land can support without long-term damage, were successfully defeated due to large food company pressure. See also Aeroponics Agricultural aircraft Agricultural engineering Agricultural machinery Agricultural robot Agroecology Agribusiness Agrominerals Building-integrated agriculture Contract farming Corporate farming Crofting Ecoagriculture Farmworker Food loss and waste Food security Hill farming List of documentary films about agriculture Pharming (genetics) Remote sensing Rural Development Soil biodiversity Subsistence economy Sustainable agriculture Vertical farming Vegetable farming References Cited sources External links Food and Agriculture Organization United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture material from the World Bank Group Agronomy Food industry

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada

Ada

Ada may refer to: Places Africa Ada Foah, a town in Ghana Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, Turkey Europe Ada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a village Ada, Croatia, a village Ada, Serbia, a town and municipality Ada Ciganlija or Ada, a river island artificially turned into a peninsula in Belgrade, Serbia United States Ada, Alabama, an unincorporated community Ada County, Idaho Ada, Kansas, an unincorporated community Ada Township, Michigan Ada, Minnesota, a city Ada Township, Dickey County, North Dakota Ada, Ohio, a village Ada, Oklahoma, a city Ada, Oregon, an unincorporated community Ada Township, Perkins County, South Dakota Ada, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Ada, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other Ada River (disambiguation), various rivers 523 Ada, an asteroid Film and television Ada TV, a television channel in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ada (1961 film), a 1961 film by Daniel Mann Ada (2019 film), a short biopic about Ada Lovelace Ada... A Way of Life, a 2008 Bollywood musical by Tanvir Ahmed Ada (dog actor), a dog that played Colin on the sitcom Spaced Ada, one of the main characters in 1991 movie Armour of God II: Operation Condor Biology Ada (plant), a genus of orchids Adenosine deaminase, an enzyme involved in purine metabolism Ada (protein), an enzyme induced by treatment of bacterial cells Computer science Ada (programming language), programming language based on Pascal Ada (computer virus) Air travel Ada Air, a regional airline based in Tirana, Albania Francisco C. Ada Airport, Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands Schools Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, a further education college in Tottenham Hale, London Ada High School (Ohio) Ada Independent School District, Oklahoma People Ada (name), a feminine given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional characters Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), computer scientist sometimes regarded as the first computer programmer Ada of Caria (fl. 377 – 326 BCE), satrap of ancient Caria and adoptive mother of Alexander the Great Other uses List of tropical storms named Ada Ada (food), a traditional Kerala delicacy Ada, the cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain platform Ada Bridge, Belgrade, Serbia , a cargo vessel built for the London and South Western Railway Ada (ship), a wooden ketch, wrecked near Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Ada class, a class of anti-submarine corvettes developed by Turkey Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, novel by Vladimir Nabokov Dangme language, spoken in Ghana (ISO 639-2 and 639-3 code "ada") Ada Health GmbH, a symptom checker app See also ADA (disambiguation) Ada regulon, an Escherichia coli adaptive response protein Adah (disambiguation) Adha (disambiguation) Ada'a, a woreda in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia Ade (disambiguation) USS Little Ada (1864), a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War

632

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen%20%28disambiguation%29

Aberdeen (disambiguation)

Aberdeen is a city in Scotland. Aberdeen may also refer to: Places Africa Aberdeen, Sierra Leone Aberdeen, Eastern Cape, South Africa Asia Hong Kong Aberdeen, Hong Kong, an area and town on southwest Hong Kong Island Aberdeen Channel, a channel between Ap Lei Chau (Aberdeen Island) and Nam Long Shan on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong Aberdeen Country Park, a country park in Hong Kong Island Aberdeen floating village, at Aberdeen Harbour, containing approximately 600 junks, which house an estimated 6,000 people Aberdeen Harbour, a harbour between Aberdeen, Hong Kong and Ap Lei Chau (Aberdeen Island) Aberdeen Tunnel, a tunnel in Hong Kong Island Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory, an underground particle physics laboratory in Hong Kong Island Ap Lei Chau or Aberdeen Island, an island of Hong Kong Aberdeen (Hong Kong constituency), a constituency of Southern District Council India Aberdeen Bazaar, a shopping centre in Port Blair, South Andaman Island Sri Lanka Aberdeen Falls, a waterfall in Sri Lanka Australia Aberdeen, New South Wales Aberdeen, South Australia, one of the early townships that merged in 1940 to create the town of Burra Aberdeen, Tasmania, a suburb of the City of Devonport Caribbean Aberdeen, Jamaica, a town in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica Europe Aberdeen (Parliament of Scotland constituency) Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency) 1832-1885 Aberdeen Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) 1801-1832 Aberdeen Central (Scottish Parliament constituency) Aberdeen Central (UK Parliament constituency) Aberdeen Donside (Scottish Parliament constituency) County of Aberdeen, a historic county of Scotland whose county town was Aberdeen Old Aberdeen, a part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland North America Canada Aberdeen, community in the township of Champlain, Prescott and Russell County, Ontario Aberdeen, Abbotsford, a neighbourhood in the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia Aberdeen Centre, a shopping mall in Richmond, British Columbia Aberdeen, Grey County, Ontario Aberdeen, Kamloops, an area in the City of Kamloops, British Columbia Aberdeen Lake (Nunavut), a lake in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada Aberdeen, Nova Scotia, part of the Municipality of Inverness County, Nova Scotia Aberdeen Parish, New Brunswick Rural Municipality of Aberdeen No. 373, Saskatchewan Aberdeen, Saskatchewan Aberdeen Bay, a bay between southern Baffin Island and north-eastern Hector Island in the Nunavut territory Aberdeen Township, Quebec, until 1960 part of Sheen-Esher-Aberdeen-et-Malakoff, now part of Rapides-des-Joachims, Quebec Aberdeen River, a tributary of rivière aux Castors Noirs in Mauricie, Québec New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia United States Aberdeen, Arkansas Aberdeen, Colorado Aberdeen, Florida Aberdeen, Georgia Aberdeen, Idaho Aberdeen, Ohio County, Indiana Aberdeen, Porter County, Indiana Aberdeen, Kentucky Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen, Massachusetts, a neighborhood of Brighton, Boston Aberdeen, Mississippi Aberdeen Lake (Mississippi), a lake in northeast Mississippi on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, close to Aberdeen, Mississippi Aberdeen Township, New Jersey Aberdeen, North Carolina Aberdeen Historic District (Aberdeen, North Carolina) Aberdeen, Ohio Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen Historic District (Aberdeen, South Dakota) Aberdeen, Texas Aberdeen (Disputanta, Virginia) Aberdeen Gardens (Hampton, Virginia) Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen Gardens, Washington Aberdeen, West Virginia See Also New Aberdeen (disambiguation) Aberdeen City Council, the local authority body in the city Arts and entertainment Aberdeen (2000 film), a 2000 Norwegian-British film Aberdeen (2014 film), a 2014 Hong Kong film Aberdeen (band), an American rock band Aberdeen (song), by Cage The Elephant Businesses and organisations Companies Abrdn, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen Aberdeen Asset Management Education Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen College, Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen Hall, a university-preparatory school in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Aberdeen High School (disambiguation) University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland Sports Aberdeen F.C., a Scottish professional football team Aberdeen F.C. Women Aberdeen GSFP RFC, an amateur rugby union club in Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen IronBirds, a Minor League Baseball team in Aberdeen, Maryland, U.S. Aberdeen L.F.C., a women's football team affiliated with Aberdeen F.C. Transportation Aberdeen Airport (disambiguation) Aberdeen station (disambiguation) Aberdeen Line, a British shipping company founded in 1825 Aberdeen (ship), the name of several ships See also Aberdeen Act Aberdeen Angus, a Scottish breed of small beef cattle Aberdeen Central (disambiguation) Aberdeen Gardens (disambiguation) Aberdeen Historic District (disambiguation) Aberdeen Hospital (disambiguation) Aberdeen Quarry, a granite quarry in Colorado Battle of Aberdeen (disambiguation) Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church Etymology of Aberdeen Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae

Algae

Algae (, ; : alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as Chlorella, Prototheca and the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga which may grow up to in length. Most are aquatic and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem and phloem that are found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds, while the most complex freshwater forms are the Charophyta, a division of green algae which includes, for example, Spirogyra and stoneworts. Algae that are carried by water are plankton, specifically phytoplankton. Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor, and although their plastids seem to have a single origin, from cyanobacteria, they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Diatoms and brown algae are examples of algae with secondary chloroplasts derived from an endosymbiotic red alga. Algae exhibit a wide range of reproductive strategies, from simple asexual cell division to complex forms of sexual reproduction. Algae lack the various structures that characterize land plants, such as the phyllids (leaf-like structures) of bryophytes, rhizoids of non-vascular plants, and the roots, leaves, and other organs found in tracheophytes (vascular plants). Most are phototrophic, although some are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some unicellular species of green algae, many golden algae, euglenids, dinoflagellates, and other algae have become heterotrophs (also called colorless or apochlorotic algae), sometimes parasitic, relying entirely on external energy sources and have limited or no photosynthetic apparatus. Some other heterotrophic organisms, such as the apicomplexans, are also derived from cells whose ancestors possessed plastids, but are not traditionally considered as algae. Algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from cyanobacteria that produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, unlike other photosynthetic bacteria such as purple and green sulfur bacteria. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago. Because of the wide range of types of algae, they have increasing different industrial and traditional applications in human society. Traditional seaweed farming practices have existed for thousands of years and have strong traditions in East Asia food cultures. More modern algaculture applications extend the food traditions for other applications include cattle feed, using algae for bioremediation or pollution control, transforming sunlight into algae fuels or other chemicals used in industrial processes, and in medical and scientific applications. A 2020 review found that these applications of algae could play an important role in carbon sequestration in order to mitigate climate change while providing lucrative value-added products for global economies. Etymology and study The singular is the Latin word for 'seaweed' and retains that meaning in English. The etymology is obscure. Although some speculate that it is related to Latin , 'be cold', no reason is known to associate seaweed with temperature. A more likely source is , 'binding, entwining'. The Ancient Greek word for 'seaweed' was (), which could mean either the seaweed (probably red algae) or a red dye derived from it. The Latinization, , meant primarily the cosmetic rouge. The etymology is uncertain, but a strong candidate has long been some word related to the Biblical (), 'paint' (if not that word itself), a cosmetic eye-shadow used by the ancient Egyptians and other inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean. It could be any color: black, red, green, or blue. The study of algae is most commonly called phycology (); the term algology is falling out of use. Classifications One definition of algae is that they "have chlorophyll as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around their reproductive cells". On the other hand, the colorless Prototheca under Chlorophyta are all devoid of any chlorophyll. Although cyanobacteria are often referred to as "blue-green algae", most authorities exclude all prokaryotes, including cyanobacteria, from the definition of algae. The algae contain chloroplasts that are similar in structure to cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain circular DNA like that in cyanobacteria and are interpreted as representing reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. However, the exact origin of the chloroplasts is different among separate lineages of algae, reflecting their acquisition during different endosymbiotic events. The table below describes the composition of the three major groups of algae. Their lineage relationships are shown in the figure in the upper right. Many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic. Some retain plastids, but not chloroplasts, while others have lost plastids entirely. Phylogeny based on plastid not nucleocytoplasmic genealogy: Linnaeus, in Species Plantarum (1753), the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature, recognized 14 genera of algae, of which only four are currently considered among algae. In Systema Naturae, Linnaeus described the genera Volvox and Corallina, and a species of Acetabularia (as Madrepora), among the animals. In 1768, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1744–1774) published the Historia Fucorum, the first work dedicated to marine algae and the first book on marine biology to use the then new binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus. It included elaborate illustrations of seaweed and marine algae on folded leaves. W. H. Harvey (1811–1866) and Lamouroux (1813) were the first to divide macroscopic algae into four divisions based on their pigmentation. This is the first use of a biochemical criterion in plant systematics. Harvey's four divisions are: red algae (Rhodospermae), brown algae (Melanospermae), green algae (Chlorospermae), and Diatomaceae. At this time, microscopic algae were discovered and reported by a different group of workers (e.g., O. F. Müller and Ehrenberg) studying the Infusoria (microscopic organisms). Unlike macroalgae, which were clearly viewed as plants, microalgae were frequently considered animals because they are often motile. Even the nonmotile (coccoid) microalgae were sometimes merely seen as stages of the lifecycle of plants, macroalgae, or animals. Although used as a taxonomic category in some pre-Darwinian classifications, e.g., Linnaeus (1753), de Jussieu (1789), Horaninow (1843), Agassiz (1859), Wilson & Cassin (1864), in further classifications, the "algae" are seen as an artificial, polyphyletic group. Throughout the 20th century, most classifications treated the following groups as divisions or classes of algae: cyanophytes, rhodophytes, chrysophytes, xanthophytes, bacillariophytes, phaeophytes, pyrrhophytes (cryptophytes and dinophytes), euglenophytes, and chlorophytes. Later, many new groups were discovered (e.g., Bolidophyceae), and others were splintered from older groups: charophytes and glaucophytes (from chlorophytes), many heterokontophytes (e.g., synurophytes from chrysophytes, or eustigmatophytes from xanthophytes), haptophytes (from chrysophytes), and chlorarachniophytes (from xanthophytes). With the abandonment of plant-animal dichotomous classification, most groups of algae (sometimes all) were included in Protista, later also abandoned in favour of Eukaryota. However, as a legacy of the older plant life scheme, some groups that were also treated as protozoans in the past still have duplicated classifications (see ambiregnal protists). Some parasitic algae (e.g., the green algae Prototheca and Helicosporidium, parasites of metazoans, or Cephaleuros, parasites of plants) were originally classified as fungi, sporozoans, or protistans of incertae sedis, while others (e.g., the green algae Phyllosiphon and Rhodochytrium, parasites of plants, or the red algae Pterocladiophila and Gelidiocolax mammillatus, parasites of other red algae, or the dinoflagellates Oodinium, parasites of fish) had their relationship with algae conjectured early. In other cases, some groups were originally characterized as parasitic algae (e.g., Chlorochytrium), but later were seen as endophytic algae. Some filamentous bacteria (e.g., Beggiatoa) were originally seen as algae. Furthermore, groups like the apicomplexans are also parasites derived from ancestors that possessed plastids, but are not included in any group traditionally seen as algae. Relationship to land plants The first land plants probably evolved from shallow freshwater charophyte algae much like Chara almost 500 million years ago. These probably had an isomorphic alternation of generations and were probably filamentous. Fossils of isolated land plant spores suggest land plants may have been around as long as 475 million years ago. Morphology A range of algal morphologies is exhibited, and convergence of features in unrelated groups is common. The only groups to exhibit three-dimensional multicellular thalli are the reds and browns, and some chlorophytes. Apical growth is constrained to subsets of these groups: the florideophyte reds, various browns, and the charophytes. The form of charophytes is quite different from those of reds and browns, because they have distinct nodes, separated by internode 'stems'; whorls of branches reminiscent of the horsetails occur at the nodes. Conceptacles are another polyphyletic trait; they appear in the coralline algae and the Hildenbrandiales, as well as the browns. Most of the simpler algae are unicellular flagellates or amoeboids, but colonial and nonmotile forms have developed independently among several of the groups. Some of the more common organizational levels, more than one of which may occur in the lifecycle of a species, are Colonial: small, regular groups of motile cells Capsoid: individual non-motile cells embedded in mucilage Coccoid: individual non-motile cells with cell walls Palmelloid: nonmotile cells embedded in mucilage Filamentous: a string of connected nonmotile cells, sometimes branching Parenchymatous: cells forming a thallus with partial differentiation of tissues In three lines, even higher levels of organization have been reached, with full tissue differentiation. These are the brown algae,—some of which may reach 50 m in length (kelps)—the red algae, and the green algae. The most complex forms are found among the charophyte algae (see Charales and Charophyta), in a lineage that eventually led to the higher land plants. The innovation that defines these nonalgal plants is the presence of female reproductive organs with protective cell layers that protect the zygote and developing embryo. Hence, the land plants are referred to as the Embryophytes. Turfs The term algal turf is commonly used but poorly defined. Algal turfs are thick, carpet-like beds of seaweed that retain sediment and compete with foundation species like corals and kelps, and they are usually less than 15 cm tall. Such a turf may consist of one or more species, and will generally cover an area in the order of a square metre or more. Some common characteristics are listed: Algae that form aggregations that have been described as turfs include diatoms, cyanobacteria, chlorophytes, phaeophytes and rhodophytes. Turfs are often composed of numerous species at a wide range of spatial scales, but monospecific turfs are frequently reported. Turfs can be morphologically highly variable over geographic scales and even within species on local scales and can be difficult to identify in terms of the constituent species. Turfs have been defined as short algae, but this has been used to describe height ranges from less than 0.5 cm to more than 10 cm. In some regions, the descriptions approached heights which might be described as canopies (20 to 30 cm). Physiology Many algae, particularly species of the Characeae, have served as model experimental organisms to understand the mechanisms of the water permeability of membranes, osmoregulation, turgor regulation, salt tolerance, cytoplasmic streaming, and the generation of action potentials. Phytohormones are found not only in higher plants, but in algae, too. Symbiotic algae Some species of algae form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. In these symbioses, the algae supply photosynthates (organic substances) to the host organism providing protection to the algal cells. The host organism derives some or all of its energy requirements from the algae. Examples are: Lichens Lichens are defined by the International Association for Lichenology to be "an association of a fungus and a photosynthetic symbiont resulting in a stable vegetative body having a specific structure". The fungi, or mycobionts, are mainly from the Ascomycota with a few from the Basidiomycota. In nature, they do not occur separate from lichens. It is unknown when they began to associate. One mycobiont associates with the same phycobiont species, rarely two, from the green algae, except that alternatively, the mycobiont may associate with a species of cyanobacteria (hence "photobiont" is the more accurate term). A photobiont may be associated with many different mycobionts or may live independently; accordingly, lichens are named and classified as fungal species. The association is termed a morphogenesis because the lichen has a form and capabilities not possessed by the symbiont species alone (they can be experimentally isolated). The photobiont possibly triggers otherwise latent genes in the mycobiont. Trentepohlia is an example of a common green alga genus worldwide that can grow on its own or be lichenised. Lichen thus share some of the habitat and often similar appearance with specialized species of algae (aerophytes) growing on exposed surfaces such as tree trunks and rocks and sometimes discoloring them. Coral reefs Coral reefs are accumulated from the calcareous exoskeletons of marine invertebrates of the order Scleractinia (stony corals). These animals metabolize sugar and oxygen to obtain energy for their cell-building processes, including secretion of the exoskeleton, with water and carbon dioxide as byproducts. Dinoflagellates (algal protists) are often endosymbionts in the cells of the coral-forming marine invertebrates, where they accelerate host-cell metabolism by generating sugar and oxygen immediately available through photosynthesis using incident light and the carbon dioxide produced by the host. Reef-building stony corals (hermatypic corals) require endosymbiotic algae from the genus Symbiodinium to be in a healthy condition. The loss of Symbiodinium from the host is known as coral bleaching, a condition which leads to the deterioration of a reef. Sea sponges Endosymbiontic green algae live close to the surface of some sponges, for example, breadcrumb sponges (Halichondria panicea). The alga is thus protected from predators; the sponge is provided with oxygen and sugars which can account for 50 to 80% of sponge growth in some species. Life cycle Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta, and Heterokontophyta, the three main algal divisions, have life cycles which show considerable variation and complexity. In general, an asexual phase exists where the seaweed's cells are diploid, a sexual phase where the cells are haploid, followed by fusion of the male and female gametes. Asexual reproduction permits efficient population increases, but less variation is possible. Commonly, in sexual reproduction of unicellular and colonial algae, two specialized, sexually compatible, haploid gametes make physical contact and fuse to form a zygote. To ensure a successful mating, the development and release of gametes is highly synchronized and regulated; pheromones may play a key role in these processes. Sexual reproduction allows for more variation and provides the benefit of efficient recombinational repair of DNA damages during meiosis, a key stage of the sexual cycle. However, sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction. Meiosis has been shown to occur in many different species of algae. Numbers The Algal Collection of the US National Herbarium (located in the National Museum of Natural History) consists of approximately 320,500 dried specimens, which, although not exhaustive (no exhaustive collection exists), gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the number of algal species (that number remains unknown). Estimates vary widely. For example, according to one standard textbook, in the British Isles the UK Biodiversity Steering Group Report estimated there to be 20,000 algal species in the UK. Another checklist reports only about 5,000 species. Regarding the difference of about 15,000 species, the text concludes: "It will require many detailed field surveys before it is possible to provide a reliable estimate of the total number of species ..." Regional and group estimates have been made, as well: 5,000–5,500 species of red algae worldwide "some 1,300 in Australian Seas" 400 seaweed species for the western coastline of South Africa, and 212 species from the coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Some of these are duplicates, as the range extends across both coasts, and the total recorded is probably about 500 species. Most of these are listed in List of seaweeds of South Africa. These exclude phytoplankton and crustose corallines. 669 marine species from California (US) 642 in the check-list of Britain and Ireland and so on, but lacking any scientific basis or reliable sources, these numbers have no more credibility than the British ones mentioned above. Most estimates also omit microscopic algae, such as phytoplankton. The most recent estimate suggests 72,500 algal species worldwide. Distribution The distribution of algal species has been fairly well studied since the founding of phytogeography in the mid-19th century. Algae spread mainly by the dispersal of spores analogously to the dispersal of Plantae by seeds and spores. This dispersal can be accomplished by air, water, or other organisms. Due to this, spores can be found in a variety of environments: fresh and marine waters, air, soil, and in or on other organisms. Whether a spore is to grow into an organism depends on the combination of the species and the environmental conditions where the spore lands. The spores of freshwater algae are dispersed mainly by running water and wind, as well as by living carriers. However, not all bodies of water can carry all species of algae, as the chemical composition of certain water bodies limits the algae that can survive within them. Marine spores are often spread by ocean currents. Ocean water presents many vastly different habitats based on temperature and nutrient availability, resulting in phytogeographic zones, regions, and provinces. To some degree, the distribution of algae is subject to floristic discontinuities caused by geographical features, such as Antarctica, long distances of ocean or general land masses. It is, therefore, possible to identify species occurring by locality, such as "Pacific algae" or "North Sea algae". When they occur out of their localities, hypothesizing a transport mechanism is usually possible, such as the hulls of ships. For example, Ulva reticulata and U. fasciata travelled from the mainland to Hawaii in this manner. Mapping is possible for select species only: "there are many valid examples of confined distribution patterns." For example, Clathromorphum is an arctic genus and is not mapped far south of there. However, scientists regard the overall data as insufficient due to the "difficulties of undertaking such studies." Ecology Algae are prominent in bodies of water, common in terrestrial environments, and are found in unusual environments, such as on snow and ice. Seaweeds grow mostly in shallow marine waters, under deep; however, some such as Navicula pennata have been recorded to a depth of . A type of algae, Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, was found in Greenland in areas known as the 'Dark Zone', which caused an increase in the rate of melting ice sheet. Same algae was found in the Italian Alps, after pink ice appeared on parts of the Presena glacier. The various sorts of algae play significant roles in aquatic ecology. Microscopic forms that live suspended in the water column (phytoplankton) provide the food base for most marine food chains. In very high densities (algal blooms), these algae may discolor the water and outcompete, poison, or asphyxiate other life forms. Algae can be used as indicator organisms to monitor pollution in various aquatic systems. In many cases, algal metabolism is sensitive to various pollutants. Due to this, the species composition of algal populations may shift in the presence of chemical pollutants. To detect these changes, algae can be sampled from the environment and maintained in laboratories with relative ease. On the basis of their habitat, algae can be categorized as: aquatic (planktonic, benthic, marine, freshwater, lentic, lotic), terrestrial, aerial (subaerial), lithophytic, halophytic (or euryhaline), psammon, thermophilic, cryophilic, epibiont (epiphytic, epizoic), endosymbiont (endophytic, endozoic), parasitic, calcifilic or lichenic (phycobiont). Cultural associations In classical Chinese, the word is used both for "algae" and (in the modest tradition of the imperial scholars) for "literary talent". The third island in Kunming Lake beside the Summer Palace in Beijing is known as the Zaojian Tang Dao (藻鑒堂島), which thus simultaneously means "Island of the Algae-Viewing Hall" and "Island of the Hall for Reflecting on Literary Talent". Cultivation Seaweed farming Bioreactors Uses Agar Agar, a gelatinous substance derived from red algae, has a number of commercial uses. It is a good medium on which to grow bacteria and fungi, as most microorganisms cannot digest agar. Alginates Alginic acid, or alginate, is extracted from brown algae. Its uses range from gelling agents in food, to medical dressings. Alginic acid also has been used in the field of biotechnology as a biocompatible medium for cell encapsulation and cell immobilization. Molecular cuisine is also a user of the substance for its gelling properties, by which it becomes a delivery vehicle for flavours. Between 100,000 and 170,000 wet tons of Macrocystis are harvested annually in New Mexico for alginate extraction and abalone feed. Energy source To be competitive and independent from fluctuating support from (local) policy on the long run, biofuels should equal or beat the cost level of fossil fuels. Here, algae-based fuels hold great promise, directly related to the potential to produce more biomass per unit area in a year than any other form of biomass. The break-even point for algae-based biofuels is estimated to occur by 2025. Fertilizer For centuries, seaweed has been used as a fertilizer; George Owen of Henllys writing in the 16th century referring to drift weed in South Wales: Today, algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and livestock feed. Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places. Maerl is commonly used as a soil conditioner. Nutrition Naturally growing seaweeds are an important source of food, especially in Asia, leading some to label them as superfoods. They provide many vitamins including: A, B1, B2, B6, niacin, and C, and are rich in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium. In addition, commercially cultivated microalgae, including both algae and cyanobacteria, are marketed as nutritional supplements, such as spirulina, Chlorella and the vitamin-C supplement from Dunaliella, high in beta-carotene. Algae are national foods of many nations: China consumes more than 70 species, including fat choy, a cyanobacterium considered a vegetable; Japan, over 20 species such as nori and aonori; Ireland, dulse; Chile, cochayuyo. Laver is used to make laverbread in Wales, where it is known as . In Korea, green laver is used to make . It is also used along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia, in Hawaii and by the Māori of New Zealand. Sea lettuce and badderlocks are salad ingredients in Scotland, Ireland, Greenland, and Iceland. Algae is being considered a potential solution for world hunger problem. Two popular forms of algae are used in cuisine: Chlorella: This form of alga is found in freshwater and contains photosynthetic pigments in its chloroplast. It is high in iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B2 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Furthermore, it contains all nine of the essential amino acids the body does not produce on its own Spirulina: Known otherwise as a cyanobacterium (a prokaryote or a "blue-green alga") The oils from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. For example, Parietochloris incisa is high in arachidonic acid, where it reaches up to 47% of the triglyceride pool. Some varieties of algae favored by vegetarianism and veganism contain the long-chain, essential omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Fish oil contains the omega-3 fatty acids, but the original source is algae (microalgae in particular), which are eaten by marine life such as copepods and are passed up the food chain. Algae have emerged in recent years as a popular source of omega-3 fatty acids for vegetarians who cannot get long-chain EPA and DHA from other vegetarian sources such as flaxseed oil, which only contains the short-chain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Pollution control Sewage can be treated with algae, reducing the use of large amounts of toxic chemicals that would otherwise be needed. Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. When subsequently harvested, the enriched algae can be used as fertilizer. Aquaria and ponds can be filtered using algae, which absorb nutrients from the water in a device called an algae scrubber, also known as an algae turf scrubber. Agricultural Research Service scientists found that 60–90% of nitrogen runoff and 70–100% of phosphorus runoff can be captured from manure effluents using a horizontal algae scrubber, also called an algal turf scrubber (ATS). Scientists developed the ATS, which consists of shallow, 100-foot raceways of nylon netting where algae colonies can form, and studied its efficacy for three years. They found that algae can readily be used to reduce the nutrient runoff from agricultural fields and increase the quality of water flowing into rivers, streams, and oceans. Researchers collected and dried the nutrient-rich algae from the ATS and studied its potential as an organic fertilizer. They found that cucumber and corn seedlings grew just as well using ATS organic fertilizer as they did with commercial fertilizers. Algae scrubbers, using bubbling upflow or vertical waterfall versions, are now also being used to filter aquaria and ponds. Polymers Various polymers can be created from algae, which can be especially useful in the creation of bioplastics. These include hybrid plastics, cellulose-based plastics, poly-lactic acid, and bio-polyethylene. Several companies have begun to produce algae polymers commercially, including for use in flip-flops and in surf boards. Bioremediation The alga Stichococcus bacillaris has been seen to colonize silicone resins used at archaeological sites; biodegrading the synthetic substance. Pigments The natural pigments (carotenoids and chlorophylls) produced by algae can be used as alternatives to chemical dyes and coloring agents. The presence of some individual algal pigments, together with specific pigment concentration ratios, are taxon-specific: analysis of their concentrations with various analytical methods, particularly high-performance liquid chromatography, can therefore offer deep insight into the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of natural algae populations in sea water samples. Stabilizing substances Carrageenan, from the red alga Chondrus crispus, is used as a stabilizer in milk products. Additional images See also AlgaeBase AlgaePARC Eutrophication Iron fertilization Marimo algae Microbiofuels Microphyte Photobioreactor Phycotechnology Plant Toxoid – anatoxin References Bibliography General . Regional Britain and Ireland Australia New Zealand Europe Arctic Greenland Faroe Islands . Canary Islands Morocco South Africa North America External links – a database of all algal names including images, nomenclature, taxonomy, distribution, bibliography, uses, extracts Endosymbiotic events Polyphyletic groups Common names of organisms

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appellate%20court

Appellate court

An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of the world, court systems are divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court (or court of last resort) which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts, often on a discretionary basis. A particular court system's supreme court is its highest appellate court. Appellate courts nationwide can operate under varying rules. Under its standard of review, an appellate court decides the extent of the deference it would give to the lower court's decision, based on whether the appeal were one of fact or of law. In reviewing an issue of fact, an appellate court ordinarily gives deference to the trial court's findings. It is the duty of trial judges or juries to find facts, view the evidence firsthand, and observe witness testimony. When reviewing lower decisions on an issue of fact, courts of appeal generally look for clear error. The appellate court reviews issues of law (anew, no deference) and may reverse or modify the lower court's decision if the appellate court believes the lower court misapplied the facts or the law. An appellate court may also review the lower judge's discretionary decisions, such as whether the judge properly granted a new trial or disallowed evidence. The lower court's decision is only changed in cases of an "abuse of discretion". This standard tends to be even more deferential than the "clear error" standard. Before hearing any case, the court must have jurisdiction to consider the appeal. The authority of appellate courts to review the decisions of lower courts varies widely from one jurisdiction to another. In some areas, the appellate court has limited powers of review. Generally, an appellate court's judgment provides the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed, setting out with specificity the court's determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed, reversed, remanded or modified. Depending on the type of case and the decision below, appellate review primarily consists of: an entirely new hearing (a non trial de novo); a hearing where the appellate court gives deference to factual findings of the lower court; or review of particular legal rulings made by the lower court (an appeal on the record). Bifurcation of civil and criminal appeals While many appellate courts have jurisdiction over all cases decided by lower courts, some systems have appellate courts divided by the type of jurisdiction they exercise. Some jurisdictions have specialized appellate courts, such as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which only hears appeals raised in criminal cases, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has general jurisdiction but derives most of its caseload from patent cases, on one hand, and appeals from the Court of Federal Claims on the other. In the United States, Alabama, Tennessee, and Oklahoma also have separate courts of criminal appeals. Texas and Oklahoma have the final determination of criminal cases vested in their respective courts of criminal appeals, while Alabama and Tennessee allow decisions of its court of criminal appeals to be finally appealed to the state supreme court. Courts of criminal appeals Civilian Court of Criminal Appeal (England and Wales), abolished 1966 Court of Criminal Appeal (Ireland), abolished 2014 U.S. States: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Military United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (United States) Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (United States) Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (United States) Courts of civil appeals Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Appellate courts by country Australia The High Court has appellate jurisdiction over all other courts. Leave must be granted by the court, before the appeal matter is heard. The High Court is paramount to all federal courts. Further, it has an constitutionally entrenched general power of appeal from the Supreme Courts of the States and Territories. Appeals to the High Court are by special leave only, which is generally only granted in cases of public importance, matters involving the interpretation of the Commonwealth Constitution, or where the law has been inconsistently applied across the States and Territories.[19] Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, the appellate divisions of the Supreme Courts of each State and Territory and the Federal Court are the final courts of appeal. New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand's principal intermediate appellate court. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court. Philippines The Court of Appeals of the Philippines is the principal intermediate appellate court of that country. The Court of Appeals is primarily found in Manila, with three divisions each in Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro. Other appellate courts include the Sandiganbayan for cases involving graft and corruption, and the Court of Tax Appeals for cases involving tax. Appeals from all three appellate courts are to the Supreme Court. Sri Lanka The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka, located in Colombo, is the second senior court in the Sri Lankan legal system. United Kingdom United States In the United States, both state and federal appellate courts are usually restricted to examining whether the lower court made the correct legal determinations, rather than hearing direct evidence and determining what the facts of the case were. Furthermore, U.S. appellate courts are usually restricted to hearing appeals based on matters that were originally brought up before the trial court. Hence, such an appellate court will not consider an appellant's argument if it is based on a theory that is raised for the first time in the appeal. In most U.S. states, and in U.S. federal courts, parties before the court are allowed one appeal as of right. This means that a party who is unsatisfied with the outcome of a trial may bring an appeal to contest that outcome. However, appeals may be costly, and the appellate court must find an error on the part of the court below that justifies upsetting the verdict. Therefore, only a small proportion of trial court decisions result in appeals. Some appellate courts, particularly supreme courts, have the power of discretionary review, meaning that they can decide whether they will hear an appeal brought in a particular case. Institutional titles Many U.S. jurisdictions title their appellate court a court of appeal or court of appeals. Both terms are used in the United States, but the plural form is more common in American English, while in contrast, British English uses only the singular form. The correct form is whichever is the statutorily prescribed or customary form for a particular court and particular jurisdiction; in other words, one should never write "court of appeal" when the court at issue clearly prefers to be called a "court of appeals", and vice versa. Historically, certain jurisdictions have titled their appellate court a court of errors (or court of errors and appeals), on the premise that it was intended to correct errors made by lower courts. Examples of such courts include the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals (which existed from 1844 to 1947), the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors (which has been renamed the Connecticut Supreme Court), the Kentucky Court of Errors (renamed the Kentucky Supreme Court), and the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals (since renamed the Supreme Court of Mississippi). In some jurisdictions, a court able to hear appeals is known as an appellate division. The phrase "court of appeals" most often refers to intermediate appellate courts. However, the New York Court of Appeals is the highest appellate court in New York. The New York Supreme Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Maryland was known as the Court of Appeals, and the Appellate Court of Maryland was known as the Court of Special Appeals, until a 2022 constitutional amendment changed their names. Depending on the system, certain courts may serve as both trial courts and appellate courts, hearing appeals of decisions made by courts with more limited jurisdiction. See also Court of Criminal Appeal (disambiguation) Court of Appeal (Hong Kong) High Court (Hong Kong) Court of Appeal (England and Wales) Court of cassation References Citations Sources Lax, Jeffrey R. "Constructing Legal Rules on Appellate Courts." American Political Science Review 101.3 (2007): 591–604. Sociological Abstracts; Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Web. 29 May 2012. Courts by type Appellate courts Jurisdiction

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arraignment

Arraignment

Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, in some jurisdictions, the accused is expected to enter a plea; in other jurisdictions, no plea is required. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include guilty, not guilty, and the peremptory pleas, or pleas in bar, setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed. Pleas of nolo contendere ('no contest') and the Alford plea are allowed in some circumstances. By country Australia In Australia, arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial, and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment. The judge will testify during the indictment process. Canada In British Columbia, arraignment takes place in one of the first few court appearances by the defendant or their lawyer. The defendant is asked whether they plead guilty or not guilty to each charge. France In France, the general rule is that one cannot remain in police custody for more than 24 hours from the time of the arrest. However, police custody can last another 24 hours in specific circumstances, especially if the offence is punishable by at least one year's imprisonment, or if the investigation is deemed to require the extra time, and can last up to 96 hours in certain cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking or organised crime. The police need to have the consent of the prosecutor, the procureur. In the vast majority of cases, the prosecutor will consent. Germany In Germany, if one has been arrested and taken into custody by the police, one must be brought before a judge as soon as possible and at the latest on the day after the arrest. New Zealand In New Zealand law, at the first appearance of the accused, they are read the charges and asked for a plea. The available pleas are: guilty, not guilty, and no plea. The response of "no plea" allows the defendant to get legal advice on the plea, which must be made on the second appearance. South Africa In South Africa, arraignment is defined as the calling upon the accused to appear, the informing of the accused of the crime charged against them, the demanding of the accused whether they plead guilty or not guilty, and the entering of their plea. United Kingdom In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial, and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment. In England and Wales, the police cannot legally detain anyone for more than 24 hours without charging them unless an officer with the rank of superintendent (or above) authorises detention for a further 12 hours (i.e. 36 hours total), or a judge (who will be a magistrate) authorises detention by the police before charge for up to a maximum of 96 hours; for terrorism-related offences a person can be held by the police for up to 28 days before charge. If they are not released after being charged, they should be brought before a court as soon as practicable. In Scotland, the police cannot detain anyone for more than 12 hours without charging them unless an officer of the rank of superintendent (or above) authorises detention for a further 12 hours (i.e. up to 24 hours in total); for terrorism-related offences a person can be held by the police for up to 14 days before charge. If they are not released after being charged, they should be brought before a court as soon as practicable. United States The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution grants criminal defendants the right to be notified of the charges against them. Under the United States' Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, arraignment shall consist of an open reading of the indictment (and delivery of a copy) to the defendant and a call for them to plead. In federal courts, arraignment takes place in two stages. The first is called the "initial arraignment" and must take place within 48 hours of an individual's arrest, within 72 hours if the individual was arrested on the weekend and not able to go before a judge until Monday. During this stage, the defendant is informed of the pending legal charges and is informed of his or her right to retain counsel. The presiding judge also decides at what amount, if any, to set bail. During the second stage, the post-indictment arraignment, the defendant is allowed to enter a plea. In New York, a person arrested without a warrant and kept in custody must be brought before a local criminal court for arraignment "without unnecessary delay". A delay of more than 24 hours is rebuttably presumed to be unnecessary. In California, arraignments must be conducted without unnecessary delay and, in any event, within 48 hours of arrest, excluding weekends and holidays. Form of the arraignment The wording of the arraignment varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, it generally conforms with the following principles: The accused person (defendant) is addressed by name; The charge against the accused person is read, including the alleged date, time, and place of offense (and sometimes the names of the state's witnesses and the range of punishment for the charge(s)); and, The accused person is asked formally how they plead. Video arraignment Video arraignment is the act of conducting the arraignment process using some form of videoconferencing technology. Use of video arraignment system allows the court to conduct the requisite arraignment process without the need to transport the defendant to the courtroom by using an audio-visual link between the location where the defendant is being held and the courtroom. Use of the video arraignment process addresses the problems associated with having to transport defendants. The transportation of defendants requires time, puts additional demands on the public safety organizations to provide for the safety of the public, court personnel and for the security of the population held in detention. It also addresses the rising costs of transportation. Guilty and not-guilty pleas If the defendant pleads guilty, an evidentiary hearing usually follows. The court is not required to accept a guilty plea. During the hearing, the judge assesses the offense, the mitigating factors, and the defendant's character, and passes sentence. If the defendant pleads not guilty, a date is set for a preliminary hearing or a trial. In the past, a defendant who refused to plead (or "stood mute") was subject to peine forte et dure (Law French for "strong and hard punishment"). Today, in common law jurisdictions, the court enters a plea of not guilty for a defendant who refuses to enter a plea. The rationale for this is the defendant's right to silence. Pre-trial release This is also often the stage at which arguments for or against pre-trial release and bail may be made, depending on the alleged crime and jurisdiction. See also Desk appearance ticket References Legal terminology Prosecution United States criminal procedure Criminal law of the United Kingdom Australian criminal law

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument%20%28disambiguation%29

Argument (disambiguation)

In logic and philosophy, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion. Argument may also refer to: Mathematics and computer science Argument (complex analysis), a function which returns the polar angle of a complex number Command-line argument, an item of information provided to a program when it is started Parameter (computer programming), a piece of data provided as input to a subroutine Argument principle, a theorem in complex analysis An argument of a function, also known as an independent variable Language and rhetoric Argument (literature), a brief summary, often in prose, of a poem or section of a poem or other work Argument (linguistics), a phrase that appears in a syntactic relationship with the verb in a clause Oral argument in the United States, a spoken presentation to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail Closing argument, in law, the concluding statement of each party's counsel reiterating the important arguments in a court case Other uses Musical argument, a concept in the theory of musical form Argument (ship), an Australian sloop wrecked in 1809 Das Argument, a German academic journal Argument Clinic, a Monty Python sketch A disagreement between two or more parties or the discussion of the disagreement Argument (horse) See also The Argument (disambiguation) argumentation

662

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%2011

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin Columbia. Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit. After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20. The astronauts used Eagles ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled Columbia out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits onto a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space. Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively proved U.S. victory in the Space Race to demonstrate spaceflight superiority, by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Background In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United States was engaged in the Cold War, a geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. This surprise success fired fears and imaginations around the world. It demonstrated that the Soviet Union had the capability to deliver nuclear weapons over intercontinental distances, and challenged American claims of military, economic, and technological superiority. This precipitated the Sputnik crisis, and triggered the Space Race to prove which superpower would achieve superior spaceflight capability. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the Sputnik challenge by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and initiating Project Mercury, which aimed to launch a man into Earth orbit. But on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, and the first to orbit the Earth. Nearly a month later, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, completing a 15-minute suborbital journey. After being recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, he received a congratulatory telephone call from Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy. Since the Soviet Union had higher lift capacity launch vehicles, Kennedy chose, from among options presented by NASA, a challenge beyond the capacity of the existing generation of rocketry, so that the US and Soviet Union would be starting from a position of equality. A crewed mission to the Moon would serve this purpose. On May 25, 1961, Kennedy addressed the United States Congress on "Urgent National Needs" and declared: On September 12, 1962, Kennedy delivered another speech before a crowd of about 40,000 people in the Rice University football stadium in Houston, Texas. A widely quoted refrain from the middle portion of the speech reads as follows: In spite of that, the proposed program faced the opposition of many Americans and was dubbed a "moondoggle" by Norbert Wiener, a mathematician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The effort to land a man on the Moon already had a name: Project Apollo. When Kennedy met with Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier of the Soviet Union in June 1961, he proposed making the Moon landing a joint project, but Khrushchev did not take up the offer. Kennedy again proposed a joint expedition to the Moon in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 1963. The idea of a joint Moon mission was abandoned after Kennedy's death. An early and crucial decision was choosing lunar orbit rendezvous over both direct ascent and Earth orbit rendezvous. A space rendezvous is an orbital maneuver in which two spacecraft navigate through space and meet up. In July 1962 NASA head James Webb announced that lunar orbit rendezvous would be used and that the Apollo spacecraft would have three major parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon, and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit. This design meant the spacecraft could be launched by a single Saturn V rocket that was then under development. Technologies and techniques required for Apollo were developed by Project Gemini. The Apollo project was enabled by NASA's adoption of new advances in semiconductor electronic technology, including metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP) and silicon integrated circuit (IC) chips in the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC). Project Apollo was abruptly halted by the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, in which astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee died, and the subsequent investigation. In October 1968, Apollo 7 evaluated the command module in Earth orbit, and in December Apollo 8 tested it in lunar orbit. In March 1969, Apollo 9 put the lunar module through its paces in Earth orbit, and in May Apollo 10 conducted a "dress rehearsal" in lunar orbit. By July 1969, all was in readiness for Apollo 11 to take the final step onto the Moon. The Soviet Union appeared to be winning the Space Race by beating the US to firsts, but its early lead was overtaken by the US Gemini program and Soviet failure to develop the N1 launcher, which would have been comparable to the Saturn V. The Soviets tried to beat the US to return lunar material to the Earth by means of uncrewed probes. On July 13, three days before Apollo 11's launch, the Soviet Union launched Luna 15, which reached lunar orbit before Apollo 11. During descent, a malfunction caused Luna 15 to crash in Mare Crisium about two hours before Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon's surface to begin their voyage home. The Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories radio telescope in England recorded transmissions from Luna 15 during its descent, and these were released in July 2009 for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. Personnel Prime crew The initial crew assignment of Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot (CMP) Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Buzz Aldrin on the backup crew for Apollo 9 was officially announced on November 20, 1967. Lovell and Aldrin had previously flown together as the crew of Gemini 12. Due to design and manufacturing delays in the LM, Apollo 8 and Apollo 9 swapped prime and backup crews, and Armstrong's crew became the backup for Apollo 8. Based on the normal crew rotation scheme, Armstrong was then expected to command Apollo 11. There would be one change. Michael Collins, the CMP on the Apollo 8 crew, began experiencing trouble with his legs. Doctors diagnosed the problem as a bony growth between his fifth and sixth vertebrae, requiring surgery. Lovell took his place on the Apollo 8 crew, and when Collins recovered he joined Armstrong's crew as CMP. In the meantime, Fred Haise filled in as backup LMP, and Aldrin as backup CMP for Apollo 8. Apollo 11 was the second American mission where all the crew members had prior spaceflight experience, the first being Apollo 10. The next was STS-26 in 1988. Deke Slayton gave Armstrong the option to replace Aldrin with Lovell, since some thought Aldrin was difficult to work with. Armstrong had no issues working with Aldrin but thought it over for a day before declining. He thought Lovell deserved to command his own mission (eventually Apollo 13). The Apollo 11 prime crew had none of the close cheerful camaraderie characterized by that of Apollo 12. Instead, they forged an amiable working relationship. Armstrong in particular was notoriously aloof, but Collins, who considered himself a loner, confessed to rebuffing Aldrin's attempts to create a more personal relationship. Aldrin and Collins described the crew as "amiable strangers". Armstrong did not agree with the assessment, and said "... all the crews I was on worked very well together." Backup crew The backup crew consisted of Lovell as Commander, William Anders as CMP, and Haise as LMP. Anders had flown with Lovell on Apollo 8. In early 1969, Anders accepted a job with the National Aeronautics and Space Council effective August 1969, and announced he would retire as an astronaut at that time. Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup CMP in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch date, at which point Anders would be unavailable. By the normal crew rotation in place during Apollo, Lovell, Mattingly, and Haise were scheduled to fly on Apollo 14, but the three of them were bumped to Apollo 13: there was a crew issue for Apollo 13 as none of them except Edgar Mitchell flew in space again. George Mueller rejected the crew and this was the first time an Apollo crew was rejected. To give Alan Shepard more training time, Lovell's crew were bumped to Apollo 13. Mattingly would later be replaced by Jack Swigert as CMP on Apollo 13. Support crew During Projects Mercury and Gemini, each mission had a prime and a backup crew. For Apollo, a third crew of astronauts was added, known as the support crew. The support crew maintained the flight plan, checklists and mission ground rules, and ensured the prime and backup crews were apprised of changes. They developed procedures, especially those for emergency situations, so these were ready for when the prime and backup crews came to train in the simulators, allowing them to concentrate on practicing and mastering them. For Apollo 11, the support crew consisted of Ken Mattingly, Ronald Evans and Bill Pogue. Capsule communicators The capsule communicator (CAPCOM) was an astronaut at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, who was the only person who communicated directly with the flight crew. For Apollo 11, the CAPCOMs were: Charles Duke, Ronald Evans, Bruce McCandless II, James Lovell, William Anders, Ken Mattingly, Fred Haise, Don L. Lind, Owen K. Garriott and Harrison Schmitt. Flight directors The flight directors for this mission were: Other key personnel Other key personnel who played important roles in the Apollo 11 mission include the following. Preparations Insignia The Apollo 11 mission emblem was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States". At Lovell's suggestion, he chose the bald eagle, the national bird of the United States, as the symbol. Tom Wilson, a simulator instructor, suggested an olive branch in its beak to represent their peaceful mission. Collins added a lunar background with the Earth in the distance. The sunlight in the image was coming from the wrong direction; the shadow should have been in the lower part of the Earth instead of the left. Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins decided the Eagle and the Moon would be in their natural colors, and decided on a blue and gold border. Armstrong was concerned that "eleven" would not be understood by non-English speakers, so they went with "Apollo 11", and they decided not to put their names on the patch, so it would "be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing". An illustrator at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) did the artwork, which was then sent off to NASA officials for approval. The design was rejected. Bob Gilruth, the director of the MSC felt the talons of the eagle looked "too warlike". After some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the talons. When the Eisenhower dollar coin was released in 1971, the patch design provided the eagle for its reverse side. The design was also used for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar unveiled in 1979. Call signs After the crew of Apollo 10 named their spacecraft Charlie Brown and Snoopy, assistant manager for public affairs Julian Scheer wrote to George Low, the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at the MSC, to suggest the Apollo 11 crew be less flippant in naming their craft. The name Snowcone was used for the CM and Haystack was used for the LM in both internal and external communications during early mission planning. The LM was named Eagle after the motif which was featured prominently on the mission insignia. At Scheer's suggestion, the CM was named Columbia after Columbiad, the giant cannon that launched a spacecraft (also from Florida) in Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. It also referred to Columbia, a historical name of the United States. In Collins' 1976 book, he said Columbia was in reference to Christopher Columbus. Mementos The astronauts had personal preference kits (PPKs), small bags containing personal items of significance they wanted to take with them on the mission. Five PPKs were carried on Apollo 11: three (one for each astronaut) were stowed on Columbia before launch, and two on Eagle. Neil Armstrong's LM PPK contained a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyers left propeller and a piece of fabric from its wing, along with a diamond-studded astronaut pin originally given to Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. This pin had been intended to be flown on that mission and given to Slayton afterwards, but following the disastrous launch pad fire and subsequent funerals, the widows gave the pin to Slayton. Armstrong took it with him on Apollo 11. Site selection NASA's Apollo Site Selection Board announced five potential landing sites on February 8, 1968. These were the result of two years' worth of studies based on high-resolution photography of the lunar surface by the five uncrewed probes of the Lunar Orbiter program and information about surface conditions provided by the Surveyor program. The best Earth-bound telescopes could not resolve features with the resolution Project Apollo required. The landing site had to be close to the lunar equator to minimize the amount of propellant required, clear of obstacles to minimize maneuvering, and flat to simplify the task of the landing radar. Scientific value was not a consideration. Areas that appeared promising on photographs taken on Earth were often found to be totally unacceptable. The original requirement that the site be free of craters had to be relaxed, as no such site was found. Five sites were considered: Sites 1 and 2 were in the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis); Site 3 was in the Central Bay (Sinus Medii); and Sites 4 and 5 were in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum). The final site selection was based on seven criteria: The site needed to be smooth, with relatively few craters; with approach paths free of large hills, tall cliffs or deep craters that might confuse the landing radar and cause it to issue incorrect readings; reachable with a minimum amount of propellant; allowing for delays in the launch countdown; providing the Apollo spacecraft with a free-return trajectory, one that would allow it to coast around the Moon and safely return to Earth without requiring any engine firings should a problem arise on the way to the Moon; with good visibility during the landing approach, meaning the Sun would be between 7 and 20 degrees behind the LM; and a general slope of less than two degrees in the landing area. The requirement for the Sun angle was particularly restrictive, limiting the launch date to one day per month. A landing just after dawn was chosen to limit the temperature extremes the astronauts would experience. The Apollo Site Selection Board selected Site 2, with Sites 3 and 5 as backups in the event of the launch being delayed. In May 1969, Apollo 10's lunar module flew to within of Site 2, and reported it was acceptable. First-step decision During the first press conference after the Apollo 11 crew was announced, the first question was, "Which one of you gentlemen will be the first man to step onto the lunar surface?" Slayton told the reporter it had not been decided, and Armstrong added that it was "not based on individual desire". One of the first versions of the egress checklist had the lunar module pilot exit the spacecraft before the commander, which matched what had been done on Gemini missions, where the commander had never performed the spacewalk. Reporters wrote in early 1969 that Aldrin would be the first man to walk on the Moon, and Associate Administrator George Mueller told reporters he would be first as well. Aldrin heard that Armstrong would be the first because Armstrong was a civilian, which made Aldrin livid. Aldrin attempted to persuade other lunar module pilots he should be first, but they responded cynically about what they perceived as a lobbying campaign. Attempting to stem interdepartmental conflict, Slayton told Aldrin that Armstrong would be first since he was the commander. The decision was announced in a press conference on April 14, 1969. For decades, Aldrin believed the final decision was largely driven by the lunar module's hatch location. Because the astronauts had their spacesuits on and the spacecraft was so small, maneuvering to exit the spacecraft was difficult. The crew tried a simulation in which Aldrin left the spacecraft first, but he damaged the simulator while attempting to egress. While this was enough for mission planners to make their decision, Aldrin and Armstrong were left in the dark on the decision until late spring. Slayton told Armstrong the plan was to have him leave the spacecraft first, if he agreed. Armstrong said, "Yes, that's the way to do it." The media accused Armstrong of exercising his commander's prerogative to exit the spacecraft first. Chris Kraft revealed in his 2001 autobiography that a meeting occurred between Gilruth, Slayton, Low, and himself to make sure Aldrin would not be the first to walk on the Moon. They argued that the first person to walk on the Moon should be like Charles Lindbergh, a calm and quiet person. They made the decision to change the flight plan so the commander was the first to egress from the spacecraft. Pre-launch The ascent stage of LM-5 Eagle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on January 8, 1969, followed by the descent stage four days later, and CSM-107 Columbia on January 23. There were several differences between Eagle and Apollo 10's LM-4 Snoopy; Eagle had a VHF radio antenna to facilitate communication with the astronauts during their EVA on the lunar surface; a lighter ascent engine; more thermal protection on the landing gear; and a package of scientific experiments known as the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP). The only change in the configuration of the command module was the removal of some insulation from the forward hatch. The CSM was mated on January 29, and moved from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 14. The S-IVB third stage of Saturn V AS-506 had arrived on January 18, followed by the S-II second stage on February 6, S-IC first stage on February 20, and the Saturn V Instrument Unit on February 27. At 12:30 on May 20, the assembly departed the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the crawler-transporter, bound for Launch Pad 39A, part of Launch Complex 39, while Apollo 10 was still on its way to the Moon. A countdown test commenced on June 26, and concluded on July 2. The launch complex was floodlit on the night of July 15, when the crawler-transporter carried the mobile service structure back to its parking area. In the early hours of the morning, the fuel tanks of the S-II and S-IVB stages were filled with liquid hydrogen. Fueling was completed by three hours before launch. Launch operations were partly automated, with 43 programs written in the ATOLL programming language. Slayton roused the crew shortly after 04:00, and they showered, shaved, and had the traditional pre-flight breakfast of steak and eggs with Slayton and the backup crew. They then donned their space suits and began breathing pure oxygen. At 06:30, they headed out to Launch Complex 39. Haise entered Columbia about three hours and ten minutes before launch time. Along with a technician, he helped Armstrong into the left-hand couch at 06:54. Five minutes later, Collins joined him, taking up his position on the right-hand couch. Finally, Aldrin entered, taking the center couch. Haise left around two hours and ten minutes before launch. The closeout crew sealed the hatch, and the cabin was purged and pressurized. The closeout crew then left the launch complex about an hour before launch time. The countdown became automated at three minutes and twenty seconds before launch time. Over 450 personnel were at the consoles in the firing room. Mission Launch and flight to lunar orbit An estimated one million spectators watched the launch of Apollo 11 from the highways and beaches in the vicinity of the launch site. Dignitaries included the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General William Westmoreland, four cabinet members, 19 state governors, 40 mayors, 60 ambassadors and 200 congressmen. Vice President Spiro Agnew viewed the launch with former president Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. Around 3,500 media representatives were present. About two-thirds were from the United States; the rest came from 55 other countries. The launch was televised live in 33 countries, with an estimated 25 million viewers in the United States alone. Millions more around the world listened to radio broadcasts. President Richard Nixon viewed the launch from his office in the White House with his NASA liaison officer, Apollo astronaut Frank Borman. Saturn V AS-506 launched Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 EDT). At 13.2 seconds into the flight, the launch vehicle began to roll into its flight azimuth of 72.058°. Full shutdown of the first-stage engines occurred about 2 minutes and 42 seconds into the mission, followed by separation of the S-IC and ignition of the S-II engines. The second stage engines then cut off and separated at about 9 minutes and 8 seconds, allowing the first ignition of the S-IVB engine a few seconds later. Apollo 11 entered a near-circular Earth orbit at an altitude of by , twelve minutes into its flight. After one and a half orbits, a second ignition of the S-IVB engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later, with Collins in the left seat and at the controls, the transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver was performed. This involved separating Columbia from the spent S-IVB stage, turning around, and docking with Eagle still attached to the stage. After the LM was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the rocket stage flew on a trajectory past the Moon. This was done to avoid the third stage colliding with the spacecraft, the Earth, or the Moon. A slingshot effect from passing around the Moon threw it into an orbit around the Sun. On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility about southwest of the crater Sabine D. The site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers and the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft, and because it was unlikely to present major landing or EVA challenges. It lay about southeast of the Surveyor 5 landing site, and southwest of Ranger 8's crash site. Lunar descent At 12:52:00 UTC on July 20, Aldrin and Armstrong entered Eagle, and began the final preparations for lunar descent. At 17:44:00 Eagle separated from Columbia. Collins, alone aboard Columbia, inspected Eagle as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged, and that the landing gear was correctly deployed. Armstrong exclaimed: "The Eagle has wings!" As the descent began, Armstrong and Aldrin found themselves passing landmarks on the surface two or three seconds early, and reported that they were "long"; they would land miles west of their target point. Eagle was traveling too fast. The problem could have been mascons—concentrations of high mass in a region or regions of the Moon's crust that contains a gravitational anomaly, potentially altering Eagle trajectory. Flight Director Gene Kranz speculated that it could have resulted from extra air pressure in the docking tunnel, or a result of Eagles pirouette maneuver. Five minutes into the descent burn, and above the surface of the Moon, the LM guidance computer (LGC) distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected 1201 and 1202 program alarms. Inside Mission Control Center, computer engineer Jack Garman told Guidance Officer Steve Bales it was safe to continue the descent, and this was relayed to the crew. The program alarms indicated "executive overflows", meaning the guidance computer could not complete all its tasks in real-time and had to postpone some of them. Margaret Hamilton, the Director of Apollo Flight Computer Programming at the MIT Charles Stark Draper Laboratory later recalled: During the mission, the cause was diagnosed as the rendezvous radar switch being in the wrong position, causing the computer to process data from both the rendezvous and landing radars at the same time. Software engineer Don Eyles concluded in a 2005 Guidance and Control Conference paper that the problem was due to a hardware design bug previously seen during testing of the first uncrewed LM in Apollo 5. Having the rendezvous radar on (so it was warmed up in case of an emergency landing abort) should have been irrelevant to the computer, but an electrical phasing mismatch between two parts of the rendezvous radar system could cause the stationary antenna to appear to the computer as dithering back and forth between two positions, depending upon how the hardware randomly powered up. The extra spurious cycle stealing, as the rendezvous radar updated an involuntary counter, caused the computer alarms. Landing When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing target was in a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a crater (later determined to be West crater), so he took semi-automatic control. Armstrong considered landing short of the boulder field so they could collect geological samples from it, but could not since their horizontal velocity was too high. Throughout the descent, Aldrin called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting Eagle. Now above the surface, Armstrong knew their propellant supply was dwindling and was determined to land at the first possible landing site. Armstrong found a clear patch of ground and maneuvered the spacecraft towards it. As he got closer, now above the surface, he discovered his new landing site had a crater in it. He cleared the crater and found another patch of level ground. They were now from the surface, with only 90 seconds of propellant remaining. Lunar dust kicked up by the LM's engine began to impair his ability to determine the spacecraft's motion. Some large rocks jutted out of the dust cloud, and Armstrong focused on them during his descent so he could determine the spacecraft's speed. A light informed Aldrin that at least one of the probes hanging from Eagle footpads had touched the surface a few moments before the landing and he said: "Contact light!" Armstrong was supposed to immediately shut the engine down, as the engineers suspected the pressure caused by the engine's own exhaust reflecting off the lunar surface could make it explode, but he forgot. Three seconds later, Eagle landed and Armstrong shut the engine down. Aldrin immediately said "Okay, engine stop. ACA—out of detent." Armstrong acknowledged: "Out of detent. Auto." Aldrin continued: "Mode control—both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm—off. 413 is in." ACA was the Attitude Control Assembly—the LM's control stick. Output went to the LGC to command the reaction control system (RCS) jets to fire. "Out of Detent" meant the stick had moved away from its centered position; it was spring-centered like the turn indicator in a car. Address 413 of the Abort Guidance System (AGS) contained the variable that indicated the LM had landed. Eagle landed at 20:17:40 UTC on Sunday July 20 with of usable fuel remaining. Information available to the crew and mission controllers during the landing showed the LM had enough fuel for another 25 seconds of powered flight before an abort without touchdown would have become unsafe, but post-mission analysis showed that the real figure was probably closer to 50 seconds. Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than most subsequent missions, and the astronauts encountered a premature low fuel warning. This was later found to be the result of the propellant sloshing more than expected, uncovering a fuel sensor. On subsequent missions, extra anti-slosh baffles were added to the tanks to prevent this. Armstrong acknowledged Aldrin's completion of the post-landing checklist with "Engine arm is off", before responding to the CAPCOM, Charles Duke, with the words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Armstrong's unrehearsed change of call sign from "Eagle" to "Tranquility Base" emphasized to listeners that landing was complete and successful. Duke expressed the relief at Mission Control: "Roger, Twan—Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot." Two and a half hours after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin radioed to Earth: He then took communion privately. At this time NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (who had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis) demanding that their astronauts refrain from broadcasting religious activities while in space. For this reason, Aldrin chose to refrain from directly mentioning taking communion on the Moon. Aldrin was an elder at the Webster Presbyterian Church, and his communion kit was prepared by the pastor of the church, Dean Woodruff. Webster Presbyterian possesses the chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the Sunday closest to July 20. The schedule for the mission called for the astronauts to follow the landing with a five-hour sleep period, but they chose to begin preparations for the EVA early, thinking they would be unable to sleep. Lunar surface operations Preparations for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk on the Moon began at 23:43 UTC. These took longer than expected; three and a half hours instead of two. During training on Earth, everything required had been neatly laid out in advance, but on the Moon the cabin contained a large number of other items as well, such as checklists, food packets, and tools. Six hours and thirty-nine minutes after landing Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to go outside, and Eagle was depressurized. Eagles hatch was opened at 02:39:33. Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his portable life support system (PLSS). Some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress. At 02:51 Armstrong began his descent to the lunar surface. The remote control unit on his chest kept him from seeing his feet. Climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the modular equipment stowage assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle side and activate the TV camera. Apollo 11 used slow-scan television (TV) incompatible with broadcast TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera viewed this monitor (thus, a broadcast of a broadcast), significantly reducing the quality of the picture. The signal was received at Goldstone in the United States, but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra in Australia. Minutes later the feed was switched to the more sensitive Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Despite some technical and weather difficulties, black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth. Copies of this video in broadcast format were saved and are widely available, but recordings of the original slow scan source transmission from the lunar surface were likely destroyed during routine magnetic tape re-use at NASA. After describing the surface dust as "very fine-grained" and "almost like a powder", at 02:56:15, six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong stepped off Eagle landing pad and declared: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong intended to say "That's one small step for a man", but the word "a" is not audible in the transmission, and thus was not initially reported by most observers of the live broadcast. When later asked about his quote, Armstrong said he believed he said "for a man", and subsequent printed versions of the quote included the "a" in square brackets. One explanation for the absence may be that his accent caused him to slur the words "for a" together; another is the intermittent nature of the audio and video links to Earth, partly because of storms near Parkes Observatory. A more recent digital analysis of the tape claims to reveal the "a" may have been spoken but obscured by static. Other analysis points to the claims of static and slurring as "face-saving fabrication", and that Armstrong himself later admitted to misspeaking the line. About seven minutes after stepping onto the Moon's surface, Armstrong collected a contingency soil sample using a sample bag on a stick. He then folded the bag and tucked it into a pocket on his right thigh. This was to guarantee there would be some lunar soil brought back in case an emergency required the astronauts to abandon the EVA and return to the LM. Twelve minutes after the sample was collected, he removed the TV camera from the MESA and made a panoramic sweep, then mounted it on a tripod. The TV camera cable remained partly coiled and presented a tripping hazard throughout the EVA. Still photography was accomplished with a Hasselblad camera that could be operated hand-held or mounted on Armstrong's Apollo space suit. Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface. He described the view with the simple phrase: "Magnificent desolation." Armstrong said moving in the lunar gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "even perhaps easier than the simulations ... It's absolutely no trouble to walk around." Aldrin joined him on the surface and tested methods for moving around, including two-footed kangaroo hops. The PLSS backpack created a tendency to tip backward, but neither astronaut had serious problems maintaining balance. Loping became the preferred method of movement. The astronauts reported that they needed to plan their movements six or seven steps ahead. The fine soil was quite slippery. Aldrin remarked that moving from sunlight into Eagle shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit, but the helmet was warmer in sunlight, so he felt cooler in shadow. The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow, slowing work somewhat. As they worked, the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust, which soiled the outer part of their suits. The astronauts planted the Lunar Flag Assembly containing a flag of the United States on the lunar surface, in clear view of the TV camera. Aldrin remembered, "Of all the jobs I had to do on the Moon the one I wanted to go the smoothest was the flag raising." But the astronauts struggled with the telescoping rod and could only insert the pole about into the hard lunar surface. Aldrin was afraid it might topple in front of TV viewers, but gave "a crisp West Point salute". Before Aldrin could take a photo of Armstrong with the flag, President Richard Nixon spoke to them through a telephone-radio transmission, which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House." Nixon originally had a long speech prepared to read during the phone call, but Frank Borman, who was at the White House as a NASA liaison during Apollo 11, convinced Nixon to keep his words brief. They deployed the EASEP, which included a passive seismic experiment package used to measure moonquakes and a retroreflector array used for the lunar laser ranging experiment. Then Armstrong walked from the LM to take photographs at the rim of Little West Crater while Aldrin collected two core samples. He used the geologist's hammer to pound in the tubes—the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11—but was unable to penetrate more than deep. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documenting sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 minutes. Aldrin shoveled of soil into the box of rocks in order to pack them in tightly. Two types of rocks were found in the geological samples: basalt and breccia. Three new minerals were discovered in the rock samples collected by the astronauts: armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. Armalcolite was named after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. All have subsequently been found on Earth. While on the surface, Armstrong uncovered a plaque mounted on the LM ladder, bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and President Nixon. The inscription read: At the behest of the Nixon administration to add a reference to God, NASA included the vague date as a reason to include A.D., which stands for Anno Domini ("in the year of our Lord"). Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong his metabolic rates were high, and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. As metabolic rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15-minute extension. In a 2010 interview, Armstrong explained that NASA limited the first moonwalk's time and distance because there was no empirical proof of how much cooling water the astronauts' PLSS backpacks would consume to handle their body heat generation while working on the Moon. Lunar ascent Aldrin entered Eagle first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC). This proved to be an inefficient tool, and later missions preferred to carry equipment and samples up to the LM by hand. Armstrong reminded Aldrin of a bag of memorial items in his sleeve pocket, and Aldrin tossed the bag down. Armstrong then jumped onto the ladder's third rung, and climbed into the LM. After transferring to LM life support, the explorers lightened the ascent stage for the return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks, lunar overshoes, an empty Hasselblad camera, and other equipment. The hatch was closed again at 05:11:13. They then pressurized the LM and settled down to sleep. Presidential speech writer William Safire had prepared an In Event of Moon Disaster announcement for Nixon to read in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. The remarks were in a memo from Safire to Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster. According to the plan, Mission Control would "close down communications" with the LM, and a clergyman would "commend their souls to the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to burial at sea. The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to Rupert Brooke's World War I poem "The Soldier". While moving inside the cabin, Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the main engine for liftoff from the Moon. There was a concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. The nonconductive tip of a Duro felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch. After more than hours on the lunar surface, in addition to the scientific instruments, the astronauts left behind: an Apollo 1 mission patch in memory of astronauts Roger Chaffee, Gus Grissom, and Edward White, who died when their command module caught fire during a test in January 1967; two memorial medals of Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin, who died in 1967 and 1968 respectively; a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace; and a silicon message disk carrying the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon along with messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world. The disk also carries a listing of the leadership of the US Congress, a listing of members of the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for the NASA legislation, and the names of NASA's past and then-current top management. After about seven hours of rest, the crew was awakened by Houston to prepare for the return flight. Two and a half hours later, at 17:54:00 UTC, they lifted off in Eagle ascent stage to rejoin Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit. Film taken from the LM ascent stage upon liftoff from the Moon reveals the American flag, planted some from the descent stage, whipping violently in the exhaust of the ascent stage engine. Aldrin looked up in time to witness the flag topple: "The ascent stage of the LM separated ... I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over." Subsequent Apollo missions planted their flags farther from the LM. Columbia in lunar orbit During his day flying solo around the Moon, Collins never felt lonely. Although it has been said "not since Adam has any human known such solitude", Collins felt very much a part of the mission. In his autobiography he wrote: "this venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two". In the 48 minutes of each orbit when he was out of radio contact with the Earth while Columbia passed round the far side of the Moon, the feeling he reported was not fear or loneliness, but rather "awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation". One of Collins' first tasks was to identify the lunar module on the ground. To give Collins an idea where to look, Mission Control radioed that they believed the lunar module landed about off target. Each time he passed over the suspected lunar landing site, he tried in vain to find the module. On his first orbits on the back side of the Moon, Collins performed maintenance activities such as dumping excess water produced by the fuel cells and preparing the cabin for Armstrong and Aldrin to return. Just before he reached the dark side on the third orbit, Mission Control informed Collins there was a problem with the temperature of the coolant. If it became too cold, parts of Columbia might freeze. Mission Control advised him to assume manual control and implement Environmental Control System Malfunction Procedure 17. Instead, Collins flicked the switch on the system from automatic to manual and back to automatic again, and carried on with normal housekeeping chores, while keeping an eye on the temperature. When Columbia came back around to the near side of the Moon again, he was able to report that the problem had been resolved. For the next couple of orbits, he described his time on the back side of the Moon as "relaxing". After Aldrin and Armstrong completed their EVA, Collins slept so he could be rested for the rendezvous. While the flight plan called for Eagle to meet up with Columbia, Collins was prepared for a contingency in which he would fly Columbia down to meet Eagle. Return Eagle rendezvoused with Columbia at 21:24 UTC on July 21, and the two docked at 21:35. Eagles ascent stage was jettisoned into lunar orbit at 23:41. Just before the Apollo 12 flight, it was noted that Eagle was still likely to be orbiting the Moon. Later NASA reports mentioned that Eagle orbit had decayed, resulting in it impacting in an "uncertain location" on the lunar surface. In 2021, however, some calculations show that the lander may still be in orbit. On July 23, the last night before splashdown, the three astronauts made a television broadcast in which Collins commented: Aldrin added: Armstrong concluded: On the return to Earth, a bearing at the Guam tracking station failed, potentially preventing communication on the last segment of the Earth return. A regular repair was not possible in the available time but the station director, Charles Force, had his ten-year-old son Greg use his small hands to reach into the housing and pack it with grease. Greg was later thanked by Armstrong. Splashdown and quarantine The aircraft carrier , under the command of Captain Carl J. Seiberlich, was selected as the primary recovery ship (PRS) for Apollo 11 on June 5, replacing its sister ship, the LPH , which had recovered Apollo 10 on May 26. Hornet was then at her home port of Long Beach, California. On reaching Pearl Harbor on July 5, Hornet embarked the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters of HS-4, a unit which specialized in recovery of Apollo spacecraft, specialized divers of UDT Detachment Apollo, a 35-man NASA recovery team, and about 120 media representatives. To make room, most of Hornets air wing was left behind in Long Beach. Special recovery equipment was also loaded, including a boilerplate command module used for training. On July 12, with Apollo 11 still on the launch pad, Hornet departed Pearl Harbor for the recovery area in the central Pacific, in the vicinity of . A presidential party consisting of Nixon, Borman, Secretary of State William P. Rogers and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger flew to Johnston Atoll on Air Force One, then to the command ship USS Arlington in Marine One. After a night on board, they would fly to Hornet in Marine One for a few hours of ceremonies. On arrival aboard Hornet, the party was greeted by the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC), Admiral John S. McCain Jr., and NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine, who flew to Hornet from Pago Pago in one of Hornets carrier onboard delivery aircraft. Weather satellites were not yet common, but US Air Force Captain Hank Brandli had access to top-secret spy satellite images. He realized that a storm front was headed for the Apollo recovery area. Poor visibility which could make locating the capsule difficult, and strong upper-level winds which "would have ripped their parachutes to shreds" according to Brandli, posed a serious threat to the safety of the mission. Brandli alerted Navy Captain Willard S. Houston Jr., the commander of the Fleet Weather Center at Pearl Harbor, who had the required security clearance. On their recommendation, Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, commander of Manned Spaceflight Recovery Forces, Pacific, advised NASA to change the recovery area, each man risking his career. A new location was selected northeast. This altered the flight plan. A different sequence of computer programs was used, one never before attempted. In a conventional entry, trajectory event P64 was followed by P67. For a skip-out re-entry, P65 and P66 were employed to handle the exit and entry parts of the skip. In this case, because they were extending the re-entry but not actually skipping out, P66 was not invoked and instead, P65 led directly to P67. The crew were also warned they would not be in a full-lift (heads-down) attitude when they entered P67. The first program's acceleration subjected the astronauts to ; the second, to . Before dawn on July 24, Hornet launched four Sea King helicopters and three Grumman E-1 Tracers. Two of the E-1s were designated as "air boss" while the third acted as a communications relay aircraft. Two of the Sea Kings carried divers and recovery equipment. The third carried photographic equipment, and the fourth carried the decontamination swimmer and the flight surgeon. At 16:44 UTC (05:44 local time) Columbias drogue parachutes were deployed. This was observed by the helicopters. Seven minutes later Columbia struck the water forcefully east of Wake Island, south of Johnston Atoll, and from Hornet, at . with seas and winds at from the east were reported under broken clouds at with visibility of at the recovery site. Reconnaissance aircraft flying to the original splashdown location reported the conditions Brandli and Houston had predicted. During splashdown, Columbia landed upside down but was righted within ten minutes by flotation bags activated by the astronauts. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to prevent it from drifting. More divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and positioned rafts for astronaut extraction. The divers then passed biological isolation garments (BIGs) to the astronauts, and assisted them into the life raft. The possibility of bringing back pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, but NASA took precautions at the recovery site. The astronauts were rubbed down with a sodium hypochlorite solution and Columbia wiped with Povidone-iodine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The astronauts were winched on board the recovery helicopter. BIGs were worn until they reached isolation facilities on board Hornet. The raft containing decontamination materials was intentionally sunk. After touchdown on Hornet at 17:53 UTC, the helicopter was lowered by the elevator into the hangar bay, where the astronauts walked the to the Mobile quarantine facility (MQF), where they would begin the Earth-based portion of their 21 days of quarantine. This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life, and the quarantine process dropped. Nixon welcomed the astronauts back to Earth. He told them: "[A]s a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before." After Nixon departed, Hornet was brought alongside the Columbia, which was lifted aboard by the ship's crane, placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. It was then attached to the MQF with a flexible tunnel, allowing the lunar samples, film, data tapes and other items to be removed. Hornet returned to Pearl Harbor, where the MQF was loaded onto a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and airlifted to the Manned Spacecraft Center. The astronauts arrived at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at 10:00 UTC on July 28. Columbia was taken to Ford Island for deactivation, and its pyrotechnics made safe. It was then taken to Hickham Air Force Base, from whence it was flown to Houston in a Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, reaching the Lunar Receiving Laboratory on July 30. In accordance with the Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, a set of regulations promulgated by NASA on July 16 to codify its quarantine protocol, the astronauts continued in quarantine. After three weeks in confinement (first in the Apollo spacecraft, then in their trailer on Hornet, and finally in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory), the astronauts were given a clean bill of health. On August 10, 1969, the Interagency Committee on Back Contamination met in Atlanta and lifted the quarantine on the astronauts, on those who had joined them in quarantine (NASA physician William Carpentier and MQF project engineer John Hirasaki), and on Columbia itself. Loose equipment from the spacecraft remained in isolation until the lunar samples were released for study. Celebrations On August 13, the three astronauts rode in ticker-tape parades in their honor in New York and Chicago, with an estimated six million attendees. On the same evening in Los Angeles there was an official state dinner to celebrate the flight, attended by members of Congress, 44 governors, Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger and his predecessor, Earl Warren, and ambassadors from 83 nations at the Century Plaza Hotel. Nixon and Agnew honored each astronaut with a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The three astronauts spoke before a joint session of Congress on September 16, 1969. They presented two US flags, one to the House of Representatives and the other to the Senate, that they had carried with them to the surface of the Moon. The flag of American Samoa on Apollo 11 is on display at the Jean P. Haydon Museum in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa. This celebration began a 38-day world tour that brought the astronauts to 22 foreign countries and included visits with the leaders of many countries. The crew toured from September 29 to November 5. Many nations honored the first human Moon landing with special features in magazines or by issuing Apollo 11 commemorative postage stamps or coins. Legacy Cultural significance Humans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth accomplished Kennedy's goal set eight years earlier. In Mission Control during the Apollo 11 landing, Kennedy's speech flashed on the screen, followed by the words "TASK ACCOMPLISHED, July 1969". The success of Apollo 11 demonstrated the United States' technological superiority; and with the success of Apollo 11, America had won the Space Race. New phrases permeated into the English language. "If they can send a man to the Moon, why can't they ...?" became a common saying following Apollo 11. Armstrong's words on the lunar surface also spun off various parodies. While most people celebrated the accomplishment, disenfranchised Americans saw it as a symbol of the divide in America, evidenced by protesters led by Ralph Abernathy outside of Kennedy Space Center the day before Apollo 11 launched. NASA Administrator Thomas Paine met with Abernathy at the occasion, both hoping that the space program can spur progress also in other regards, such as poverty in the US. Paine was then asked, and agreed, to host protesters as spectators at the launch, and Abernathy, awestruck by the spectacle, prayed for the astronauts. Racial and financial inequalities frustrated citizens who wondered why money spent on the Apollo program was not spent taking care of humans on Earth. A poem by Gil Scott-Heron called "Whitey on the Moon" (1970) illustrated the racial inequality in the United States that was highlighted by the Space Race. The poem starts with: Twenty percent of the world's population watched humans walk on the Moon for the first time. While Apollo 11 sparked the interest of the world, the follow-on Apollo missions did not hold the interest of the nation. One possible explanation was the shift in complexity. Landing someone on the Moon was an easy goal to understand; lunar geology was too abstract for the average person. Another is that Kennedy's goal of landing humans on the Moon had already been accomplished. A well-defined objective helped Project Apollo accomplish its goal, but after it was completed it was hard to justify continuing the lunar missions. While most Americans were proud of their nation's achievements in space exploration, only once during the late 1960s did the Gallup Poll indicate that a majority of Americans favored "doing more" in space as opposed to "doing less". By 1973, 59 percent of those polled favored cutting spending on space exploration. The Space Race had been won, and Cold War tensions were easing as the US and Soviet Union entered the era of détente. This was also a time when inflation was rising, which put pressure on the government to reduce spending. What saved the space program was that it was one of the few government programs that had achieved something great. Drastic cuts, warned Caspar Weinberger, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, might send a signal that "our best years are behind us". After the Apollo 11 mission, officials from the Soviet Union said landing humans on the Moon was dangerous and unnecessary. At the time the Soviet Union was attempting to retrieve lunar samples robotically. The Soviets publicly denied there was a race to the Moon, and indicated they were not making an attempt. Mstislav Keldysh said in July 1969, "We are concentrating wholly on the creation of large satellite systems." It was revealed in 1989 that the Soviets had tried to send people to the Moon, but were unable due to technological difficulties. The public's reaction in the Soviet Union was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about the lunar landing, which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it any attention, and another portion was angered by it. The Apollo 11 landing is referenced in the songs "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" by the Byrds on the 1969 album Ballad of Easy Rider and "Coon on the Moon" by Howlin' Wolf on the 1973 album The Back Door Wolf. Spacecraft The command module Columbia went on a tour of the United States, visiting 49 state capitals, the District of Columbia, and Anchorage, Alaska. In 1971, it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, and was displayed at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC. It was in the central Milestones of Flight exhibition hall in front of the Jefferson Drive entrance, sharing the main hall with other pioneering flight vehicles such as the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Bell X-1, North American X-15 and Friendship 7. Columbia was moved in 2017 to the NASM Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, to be readied for a four-city tour titled Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission. This included Space Center Houston from October 14, 2017, to March 18, 2018, the Saint Louis Science Center from April 14 to September 3, 2018, the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh from September 29, 2018, to February 18, 2019, and its last location at Museum of Flight in Seattle from March 16 to September 2, 2019. Continued renovations at the Smithsonian allowed time for an additional stop for the capsule, and it was moved to the Cincinnati Museum Center. The ribbon cutting ceremony was on September 29, 2019. For 40 years Armstrong's and Aldrin's space suits were displayed in the museum's Apollo to the Moon exhibit, until it permanently closed on December 3, 2018, to be replaced by a new gallery which was scheduled to open in 2022. A special display of Armstrong's suit was unveiled for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 in July 2019. The quarantine trailer, the flotation collar and the flotation bags are in the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, where they are on display along with a test lunar module. The descent stage of the LM Eagle remains on the Moon. In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the various Apollo landing sites on the surface of the Moon, for the first time with sufficient resolution to see the descent stages of the lunar modules, scientific instruments, and foot trails made by the astronauts. The remains of the ascent stage lie at an unknown location on the lunar surface, after being abandoned and impacting the Moon. The location is uncertain because Eagle ascent stage was not tracked after it was jettisoned, and the lunar gravity field is sufficiently non-uniform to make the orbit of the spacecraft unpredictable after a short time. In March 2012 a team of specialists financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos located the F-1 engines from the S-IC stage that launched Apollo 11 into space. They were found on the Atlantic seabed using advanced sonar scanning. His team brought parts of two of the five engines to the surface. In July 2013, a conservator discovered a serial number under the rust on one of the engines raised from the Atlantic, which NASA confirmed was from Apollo 11. The S-IVB third stage which performed Apollo 11's trans-lunar injection remains in a solar orbit near to that of Earth. Moon rocks The main repository for the Apollo Moon rocks is the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For safekeeping, there is also a smaller collection stored at White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Most of the rocks are stored in nitrogen to keep them free of moisture. They are handled only indirectly, using special tools. Over 100 research laboratories worldwide conduct studies of the samples; approximately 500 samples are prepared and sent to investigators every year. In November 1969, Nixon asked NASA to make up about 250 presentation Apollo 11 lunar sample displays for 135 nations, the fifty states of the United States and its possessions, and the United Nations. Each display included Moon dust from Apollo 11 and flags, including the one of the Soviet Union, taken along by Apollo 11. The rice-sized particles were four small pieces of Moon soil weighing about 50 mg and were enveloped in a clear acrylic button about as big as a United States half dollar coin. This acrylic button magnified the grains of lunar dust. Nixon gave the Apollo 11 lunar sample displays as goodwill gifts in 1970. Experiment results The Passive Seismic Experiment ran until the command uplink failed on August 25, 1969. The downlink failed on December 14, 1969. , the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment remains operational. Armstrong's camera Armstrong's Hasselblad camera was thought to be lost or left on the Moon surface. LM memorabilia In 2015, after Armstrong died in 2012, his widow contacted the National Air and Space Museum to inform them she had found a white cloth bag in one of Armstrong's closets. The bag contained various items, which should have been left behind in the lunar module, including the 16mm Data Acquisition Camera that had been used to capture images of the first Moon landing. The camera is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Anniversary events 40th anniversary On July 15, 2009, Life.com released a photo gallery of previously unpublished photos of the astronauts taken by Life photographer Ralph Morse prior to the Apollo 11 launch. From July 16 to 24, 2009, NASA streamed the original mission audio on its website in real time 40 years to the minute after the events occurred. It is in the process of restoring the video footage and has released a preview of key moments. In July 2010, air-to-ground voice recordings and film footage shot in Mission Control during the Apollo 11 powered descent and landing was re-synchronized and released for the first time. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum set up an Adobe Flash website that rebroadcasts the transmissions of Apollo 11 from launch to landing on the Moon. On July 20, 2009, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins met with US President Barack Obama at the White House. "We expect that there is, as we speak, another generation of kids out there who are looking up at the sky and are going to be the next Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin", Obama said. "We want to make sure that NASA is going to be there for them when they want to take their journey." On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. The bill was sponsored by Florida Senator Bill Nelson and Florida Representative Alan Grayson. A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the anniversary events reflected on the significance of the Moon landing: 50th anniversary On June 10, 2015, Congressman Bill Posey introduced resolution H.R. 2726 to the 114th session of the United States House of Representatives directing the United States Mint to design and sell commemorative coins in gold, silver and clad for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. On January 24, 2019, the Mint released the Apollo 11 Fiftieth Anniversary commemorative coins to the public on its website. A documentary film, Apollo 11, with restored footage of the 1969 event, premiered in IMAX on March 1, 2019, and broadly in theaters on March 8. The Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum and NASA sponsored the "Apollo 50 Festival" on the National Mall in Washington DC. The three day (July 18 to 20, 2019) outdoor festival featured hands-on exhibits and activities, live performances, and speakers such as Adam Savage and NASA scientists. As part of the festival, a projection of the tall Saturn V rocket was displayed on the east face of the tall Washington Monument from July 16 through the 20th from 9:30 pm until 11:30 pm (EDT). The program also included a 17-minute show that combined full-motion video projected on the Washington Monument to recreate the assembly and launch of the Saturn V rocket. The projection was joined by a wide recreation of the Kennedy Space Center countdown clock and two large video screens showing archival footage to recreate the time leading up to the moon landing. There were three shows per night on July 19–20, with the last show on Saturday, delayed slightly so the portion where Armstrong first set foot on the Moon would happen exactly 50 years to the second after the actual event. On July 19, 2019, the Google Doodle paid tribute to the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, complete with a link to an animated YouTube video with voiceover by astronaut Michael Collins. Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong's sons were hosted by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Films and documentaries Footprints on the Moon, a 1969 documentary film by Bill Gibson and Barry Coe, about the Apollo 11 mission Moonwalk One, a 1971 documentary film by Theo Kamecke Apollo 11: As It Happened, a 1994 six-hour documentary on ABC News' coverage of the event First Man, 2018 film by Damien Chazelle based on the 2005 James R. Hansen book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. Apollo 11, a 2019 documentary film by Todd Douglas Miller with restored footage of the 1969 event Chasing the Moon, a July 2019 PBS three-night six-hour documentary, directed by Robert Stone, examined the events leading up to the Apollo 11 mission. An accompanying book of the same name was also released. 8 Days: To the Moon and Back, a PBS and BBC Studios 2019 documentary film by Anthony Philipson re-enacting major portions of the Apollo 11 mission using mission audio recordings, new studio footage, NASA and news archives, and computer-generated imagery. See also List of species that have landed on the Moon References Notes Citations In some of the following sources, times are shown in the format hours:minutes:seconds (e.g. 109:24:15), referring to the mission's Ground Elapsed Time (GET), based on the official launch time of July 16, 1969, 13:32:00 UTC (000:00:00 GET). Sources External links "Apollo 11 transcripts" at Spacelog Apollo 11 in real time Apollo 11 Press Conference filmed by KPRC-TV at Texas Archive of the Moving Image Apollo 11 and 13 Checklists at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections. Apollo 11, 12, and 14 Traverses, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute Multimedia Remastered videos of the original landing. Dynamic timeline of lunar excursion. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Apollo 11 Restored EVA Part 1 (1h of restored footage) Apollo 11: As They Photographed It (Augmented Reality)—The New York Times, Interactive, July 18, 2019 "Coverage of the Flight of Apollo 11" provided by Todd Kosovich for RadioTapes.com. Radio station recordings (airchecks) covering the flight of Apollo 11. 1969 on the Moon Buzz Aldrin Apollo program missions Neil Armstrong Articles containing video clips Michael Collins (astronaut) Crewed missions to the Moon Soft landings on the Moon Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy is inherently tied to developmental biology, embryology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, and phylogeny, as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated, both over immediate and long-term timescales. Anatomy and physiology, which study the structure and function of organisms and their parts respectively, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and are often studied together. Human anatomy is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine. Anatomy is a complex and dynamic field that is constantly evolving as new discoveries are made. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of advanced imaging techniques, such as MRI and CT scans, which allow for more detailed and accurate visualizations of the body's structures. The discipline of anatomy is divided into macroscopic and microscopic parts. Macroscopic anatomy, or gross anatomy, is the examination of an animal's body parts using unaided eyesight. Gross anatomy also includes the branch of superficial anatomy. Microscopic anatomy involves the use of optical instruments in the study of the tissues of various structures, known as histology, and also in the study of cells. The history of anatomy is characterized by a progressive understanding of the functions of the organs and structures of the human body. Methods have also improved dramatically, advancing from the examination of animals by dissection of carcasses and cadavers (corpses) to 20th-century medical imaging techniques, including X-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. Etymology and definition Derived from the Greek anatomē "dissection" (from anatémnō "I cut up, cut open" from ἀνά aná "up", and τέμνω témnō "I cut"), anatomy is the scientific study of the structure of organisms including their systems, organs and tissues. It includes the appearance and position of the various parts, the materials from which they are composed, and their relationships with other parts. Anatomy is quite distinct from physiology and biochemistry, which deal respectively with the functions of those parts and the chemical processes involved. For example, an anatomist is concerned with the shape, size, position, structure, blood supply and innervation of an organ such as the liver; while a physiologist is interested in the production of bile, the role of the liver in nutrition and the regulation of bodily functions. The discipline of anatomy can be subdivided into a number of branches, including gross or macroscopic anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and also includes superficial anatomy or surface anatomy, the study by sight of the external body features. Microscopic anatomy is the study of structures on a microscopic scale, along with histology (the study of tissues), and embryology (the study of an organism in its immature condition). Regional anatomy is the study of the interrelationships of all of the structures in a specific body region, such as the abdomen. In contrast, systemic anatomy is the study of the structures that make up a discrete body system—that is, a group of structures that work together to perform a unique body function, such as the digestive system. Anatomy can be studied using both invasive and non-invasive methods with the goal of obtaining information about the structure and organization of organs and systems. Methods used include dissection, in which a body is opened and its organs studied, and endoscopy, in which a video camera-equipped instrument is inserted through a small incision in the body wall and used to explore the internal organs and other structures. Angiography using X-rays or magnetic resonance angiography are methods to visualize blood vessels. The term "anatomy" is commonly taken to refer to human anatomy. However, substantially similar structures and tissues are found throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, and the term also includes the anatomy of other animals. The term zootomy is also sometimes used to specifically refer to non-human animals. The structure and tissues of plants are of a dissimilar nature and they are studied in plant anatomy. Animal tissues The kingdom Animalia contains multicellular organisms that are heterotrophic and motile (although some have secondarily adopted a sessile lifestyle). Most animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues and these animals are also known as eumetazoans. They have an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings; the gametes are produced in multicellular sex organs, and the zygotes include a blastula stage in their embryonic development. Metazoans do not include the sponges, which have undifferentiated cells. Unlike plant cells, animal cells have neither a cell wall nor chloroplasts. Vacuoles, when present, are more in number and much smaller than those in the plant cell. The body tissues are composed of numerous types of cells, including those found in muscles, nerves and skin. Each typically has a cell membrane formed of phospholipids, cytoplasm and a nucleus. All of the different cells of an animal are derived from the embryonic germ layers. Those simpler invertebrates which are formed from two germ layers of ectoderm and endoderm are called diploblastic and the more developed animals whose structures and organs are formed from three germ layers are called triploblastic. All of a triploblastic animal's tissues and organs are derived from the three germ layers of the embryo, the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. Animal tissues can be grouped into four basic types: connective, epithelial, muscle and nervous tissue. Connective tissue Connective tissues are fibrous and made up of cells scattered among inorganic material called the extracellular matrix. Connective tissue gives shape to organs and holds them in place. The main types are loose connective tissue, adipose tissue, fibrous connective tissue, cartilage and bone. The extracellular matrix contains proteins, the chief and most abundant of which is collagen. Collagen plays a major part in organizing and maintaining tissues. The matrix can be modified to form a skeleton to support or protect the body. An exoskeleton is a thickened, rigid cuticle which is stiffened by mineralization, as in crustaceans or by the cross-linking of its proteins as in insects. An endoskeleton is internal and present in all developed animals, as well as in many of those less developed. Epithelium Epithelial tissue is composed of closely packed cells, bound to each other by cell adhesion molecules, with little intercellular space. Epithelial cells can be squamous (flat), cuboidal or columnar and rest on a basal lamina, the upper layer of the basement membrane, the lower layer is the reticular lamina lying next to the connective tissue in the extracellular matrix secreted by the epithelial cells. There are many different types of epithelium, modified to suit a particular function. In the respiratory tract there is a type of ciliated epithelial lining; in the small intestine there are microvilli on the epithelial lining and in the large intestine there are intestinal villi. Skin consists of an outer layer of keratinized stratified squamous epithelium that covers the exterior of the vertebrate body. Keratinocytes make up to 95% of the cells in the skin. The epithelial cells on the external surface of the body typically secrete an extracellular matrix in the form of a cuticle. In simple animals this may just be a coat of glycoproteins. In more advanced animals, many glands are formed of epithelial cells. Muscle tissue Muscle cells (myocytes) form the active contractile tissue of the body. Muscle tissue functions to produce force and cause motion, either locomotion or movement within internal organs. Muscle is formed of contractile filaments and is separated into three main types; smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle. Smooth muscle has no striations when examined microscopically. It contracts slowly but maintains contractibility over a wide range of stretch lengths. It is found in such organs as sea anemone tentacles and the body wall of sea cucumbers. Skeletal muscle contracts rapidly but has a limited range of extension. It is found in the movement of appendages and jaws. Obliquely striated muscle is intermediate between the other two. The filaments are staggered and this is the type of muscle found in earthworms that can extend slowly or make rapid contractions. In higher animals striated muscles occur in bundles attached to bone to provide movement and are often arranged in antagonistic sets. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of the uterus, bladder, intestines, stomach, oesophagus, respiratory airways, and blood vessels. Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart, allowing it to contract and pump blood round the body. Nervous tissue Nervous tissue is composed of many nerve cells known as neurons which transmit information. In some slow-moving radially symmetrical marine animals such as ctenophores and cnidarians (including sea anemones and jellyfish), the nerves form a nerve net, but in most animals they are organized longitudinally into bundles. In simple animals, receptor neurons in the body wall cause a local reaction to a stimulus. In more complex animals, specialized receptor cells such as chemoreceptors and photoreceptors are found in groups and send messages along neural networks to other parts of the organism. Neurons can be connected together in ganglia. In higher animals, specialized receptors are the basis of sense organs and there is a central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and a peripheral nervous system. The latter consists of sensory nerves that transmit information from sense organs and motor nerves that influence target organs. The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system which conveys sensation and controls voluntary muscle, and the autonomic nervous system which involuntarily controls smooth muscle, certain glands and internal organs, including the stomach. Vertebrate anatomy All vertebrates have a similar basic body plan and at some point in their lives, mostly in the embryonic stage, share the major chordate characteristics: a stiffening rod, the notochord; a dorsal hollow tube of nervous material, the neural tube; pharyngeal arches; and a tail posterior to the anus. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebral column and is above the notochord, and the gastrointestinal tract is below it. Nervous tissue is derived from the ectoderm, connective tissues are derived from mesoderm, and gut is derived from the endoderm. At the posterior end is a tail which continues the spinal cord and vertebrae but not the gut. The mouth is found at the anterior end of the animal, and the anus at the base of the tail. The defining characteristic of a vertebrate is the vertebral column, formed in the development of the segmented series of vertebrae. In most vertebrates the notochord becomes the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs. However, a few vertebrates, such as the sturgeon and the coelacanth, retain the notochord into adulthood. Jawed vertebrates are typified by paired appendages, fins or legs, which may be secondarily lost. The limbs of vertebrates are considered to be homologous because the same underlying skeletal structure was inherited from their last common ancestor. This is one of the arguments put forward by Charles Darwin to support his theory of evolution. Fish anatomy The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always externally visible. The skeleton, which forms the support structure inside the fish, is either made of cartilage, in cartilaginous fish, or bone in bony fish. The main skeletal element is the vertebral column, composed of articulating vertebrae which are lightweight yet strong. The ribs attach to the spine and there are no limbs or limb girdles. The main external features of the fish, the fins, are composed of either bony or soft spines called rays, which with the exception of the caudal fins, have no direct connection with the spine. They are supported by the muscles which compose the main part of the trunk. The heart has two chambers and pumps the blood through the respiratory surfaces of the gills and on round the body in a single circulatory loop. The eyes are adapted for seeing underwater and have only local vision. There is an inner ear but no external or middle ear. Low frequency vibrations are detected by the lateral line system of sense organs that run along the length of the sides of fish, and these respond to nearby movements and to changes in water pressure. Sharks and rays are basal fish with numerous primitive anatomical features similar to those of ancient fish, including skeletons composed of cartilage. Their bodies tend to be dorso-ventrally flattened, they usually have five pairs of gill slits and a large mouth set on the underside of the head. The dermis is covered with separate dermal placoid scales. They have a cloaca into which the urinary and genital passages open, but not a swim bladder. Cartilaginous fish produce a small number of large, yolky eggs. Some species are ovoviviparous and the young develop internally but others are oviparous and the larvae develop externally in egg cases. The bony fish lineage shows more derived anatomical traits, often with major evolutionary changes from the features of ancient fish. They have a bony skeleton, are generally laterally flattened, have five pairs of gills protected by an operculum, and a mouth at or near the tip of the snout. The dermis is covered with overlapping scales. Bony fish have a swim bladder which helps them maintain a constant depth in the water column, but not a cloaca. They mostly spawn a large number of small eggs with little yolk which they broadcast into the water column. Amphibian anatomy Amphibians are a class of animals comprising frogs, salamanders and caecilians. They are tetrapods, but the caecilians and a few species of salamander have either no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their main bones are hollow and lightweight and are fully ossified and the vertebrae interlock with each other and have articular processes. Their ribs are usually short and may be fused to the vertebrae. Their skulls are mostly broad and short, and are often incompletely ossified. Their skin contains little keratin and lacks scales, but contains many mucous glands and in some species, poison glands. The hearts of amphibians have three chambers, two atria and one ventricle. They have a urinary bladder and nitrogenous waste products are excreted primarily as urea. Amphibians breathe by means of buccal pumping, a pump action in which air is first drawn into the buccopharyngeal region through the nostrils. These are then closed and the air is forced into the lungs by contraction of the throat. They supplement this with gas exchange through the skin which needs to be kept moist. In frogs the pelvic girdle is robust and the hind legs are much longer and stronger than the forelimbs. The feet have four or five digits and the toes are often webbed for swimming or have suction pads for climbing. Frogs have large eyes and no tail. Salamanders resemble lizards in appearance; their short legs project sideways, the belly is close to or in contact with the ground and they have a long tail. Caecilians superficially resemble earthworms and are limbless. They burrow by means of zones of muscle contractions which move along the body and they swim by undulating their body from side to side. Reptile anatomy Reptiles are a class of animals comprising turtles, tuataras, lizards, snakes and crocodiles. They are tetrapods, but the snakes and a few species of lizard either have no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their bones are better ossified and their skeletons stronger than those of amphibians. The teeth are conical and mostly uniform in size. The surface cells of the epidermis are modified into horny scales which create a waterproof layer. Reptiles are unable to use their skin for respiration as do amphibians and have a more efficient respiratory system drawing air into their lungs by expanding their chest walls. The heart resembles that of the amphibian but there is a septum which more completely separates the oxygenated and deoxygenated bloodstreams. The reproductive system has evolved for internal fertilization, with a copulatory organ present in most species. The eggs are surrounded by amniotic membranes which prevents them from drying out and are laid on land, or develop internally in some species. The bladder is small as nitrogenous waste is excreted as uric acid. Turtles are notable for their protective shells. They have an inflexible trunk encased in a horny carapace above and a plastron below. These are formed from bony plates embedded in the dermis which are overlain by horny ones and are partially fused with the ribs and spine. The neck is long and flexible and the head and the legs can be drawn back inside the shell. Turtles are vegetarians and the typical reptile teeth have been replaced by sharp, horny plates. In aquatic species, the front legs are modified into flippers. Tuataras superficially resemble lizards but the lineages diverged in the Triassic period. There is one living species, Sphenodon punctatus. The skull has two openings (fenestrae) on either side and the jaw is rigidly attached to the skull. There is one row of teeth in the lower jaw and this fits between the two rows in the upper jaw when the animal chews. The teeth are merely projections of bony material from the jaw and eventually wear down. The brain and heart are more primitive than those of other reptiles, and the lungs have a single chamber and lack bronchi. The tuatara has a well-developed parietal eye on its forehead. Lizards have skulls with only one fenestra on each side, the lower bar of bone below the second fenestra having been lost. This results in the jaws being less rigidly attached which allows the mouth to open wider. Lizards are mostly quadrupeds, with the trunk held off the ground by short, sideways-facing legs, but a few species have no limbs and resemble snakes. Lizards have moveable eyelids, eardrums are present and some species have a central parietal eye. Snakes are closely related to lizards, having branched off from a common ancestral lineage during the Cretaceous period, and they share many of the same features. The skeleton consists of a skull, a hyoid bone, spine and ribs though a few species retain a vestige of the pelvis and rear limbs in the form of pelvic spurs. The bar under the second fenestra has also been lost and the jaws have extreme flexibility allowing the snake to swallow its prey whole. Snakes lack moveable eyelids, the eyes being covered by transparent "spectacle" scales. They do not have eardrums but can detect ground vibrations through the bones of their skull. Their forked tongues are used as organs of taste and smell and some species have sensory pits on their heads enabling them to locate warm-blooded prey. Crocodilians are large, low-slung aquatic reptiles with long snouts and large numbers of teeth. The head and trunk are dorso-ventrally flattened and the tail is laterally compressed. It undulates from side to side to force the animal through the water when swimming. The tough keratinized scales provide body armour and some are fused to the skull. The nostrils, eyes and ears are elevated above the top of the flat head enabling them to remain above the surface of the water when the animal is floating. Valves seal the nostrils and ears when it is submerged. Unlike other reptiles, crocodilians have hearts with four chambers allowing complete separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Bird anatomy Birds are tetrapods but though their hind limbs are used for walking or hopping, their front limbs are wings covered with feathers and adapted for flight. Birds are endothermic, have a high metabolic rate, a light skeletal system and powerful muscles. The long bones are thin, hollow and very light. Air sac extensions from the lungs occupy the centre of some bones. The sternum is wide and usually has a keel and the caudal vertebrae are fused. There are no teeth and the narrow jaws are adapted into a horn-covered beak. The eyes are relatively large, particularly in nocturnal species such as owls. They face forwards in predators and sideways in ducks. The feathers are outgrowths of the epidermis and are found in localized bands from where they fan out over the skin. Large flight feathers are found on the wings and tail, contour feathers cover the bird's surface and fine down occurs on young birds and under the contour feathers of water birds. The only cutaneous gland is the single uropygial gland near the base of the tail. This produces an oily secretion that waterproofs the feathers when the bird preens. There are scales on the legs, feet and claws on the tips of the toes. Mammal anatomy Mammals are a diverse class of animals, mostly terrestrial but some are aquatic and others have evolved flapping or gliding flight. They mostly have four limbs, but some aquatic mammals have no limbs or limbs modified into fins, and the forelimbs of bats are modified into wings. The legs of most mammals are situated below the trunk, which is held well clear of the ground. The bones of mammals are well ossified and their teeth, which are usually differentiated, are coated in a layer of prismatic enamel. The teeth are shed once (milk teeth) during the animal's lifetime or not at all, as is the case in cetaceans. Mammals have three bones in the middle ear and a cochlea in the inner ear. They are clothed in hair and their skin contains glands which secrete sweat. Some of these glands are specialized as mammary glands, producing milk to feed the young. Mammals breathe with lungs and have a muscular diaphragm separating the thorax from the abdomen which helps them draw air into the lungs. The mammalian heart has four chambers, and oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are kept entirely separate. Nitrogenous waste is excreted primarily as urea. Mammals are amniotes, and most are viviparous, giving birth to live young. Exceptions to this are the egg-laying monotremes, the platypus and the echidnas of Australia. Most other mammals have a placenta through which the developing foetus obtains nourishment, but in marsupials, the foetal stage is very short and the immature young is born and finds its way to its mother's pouch where it latches on to a nipple and completes its development. Human anatomy Humans have the overall body plan of a mammal. Humans have a head, neck, trunk (which includes the thorax and abdomen), two arms and hands, and two legs and feet. Generally, students of certain biological sciences, paramedics, prosthetists and orthotists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, podiatrists, and medical students learn gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy from anatomical models, skeletons, textbooks, diagrams, photographs, lectures and tutorials and in addition, medical students generally also learn gross anatomy through practical experience of dissection and inspection of cadavers. The study of microscopic anatomy (or histology) can be aided by practical experience examining histological preparations (or slides) under a microscope. Human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are complementary basic medical sciences, which are generally taught to medical students in their first year at medical school. Human anatomy can be taught regionally or systemically; that is, respectively, studying anatomy by bodily regions such as the head and chest, or studying by specific systems, such as the nervous or respiratory systems. The major anatomy textbook, Gray's Anatomy, has been reorganized from a systems format to a regional format, in line with modern teaching methods. A thorough working knowledge of anatomy is required by physicians, especially surgeons and doctors working in some diagnostic specialties, such as histopathology and radiology. Academic anatomists are usually employed by universities, medical schools or teaching hospitals. They are often involved in teaching anatomy, and research into certain systems, organs, tissues or cells. Invertebrate anatomy Invertebrates constitute a vast array of living organisms ranging from the simplest unicellular eukaryotes such as Paramecium to such complex multicellular animals as the octopus, lobster and dragonfly. They constitute about 95% of the animal species. By definition, none of these creatures has a backbone. The cells of single-cell protozoans have the same basic structure as those of multicellular animals but some parts are specialized into the equivalent of tissues and organs. Locomotion is often provided by cilia or flagella or may proceed via the advance of pseudopodia, food may be gathered by phagocytosis, energy needs may be supplied by photosynthesis and the cell may be supported by an endoskeleton or an exoskeleton. Some protozoans can form multicellular colonies. Metazoans are a multicellular organism, with different groups of cells serving different functions. The most basic types of metazoan tissues are epithelium and connective tissue, both of which are present in nearly all invertebrates. The outer surface of the epidermis is normally formed of epithelial cells and secretes an extracellular matrix which provides support to the organism. An endoskeleton derived from the mesoderm is present in echinoderms, sponges and some cephalopods. Exoskeletons are derived from the epidermis and is composed of chitin in arthropods (insects, spiders, ticks, shrimps, crabs, lobsters). Calcium carbonate constitutes the shells of molluscs, brachiopods and some tube-building polychaete worms and silica forms the exoskeleton of the microscopic diatoms and radiolaria. Other invertebrates may have no rigid structures but the epidermis may secrete a variety of surface coatings such as the pinacoderm of sponges, the gelatinous cuticle of cnidarians (polyps, sea anemones, jellyfish) and the collagenous cuticle of annelids. The outer epithelial layer may include cells of several types including sensory cells, gland cells and stinging cells. There may also be protrusions such as microvilli, cilia, bristles, spines and tubercles. Marcello Malpighi, the father of microscopical anatomy, discovered that plants had tubules similar to those he saw in insects like the silk worm. He observed that when a ring-like portion of bark was removed on a trunk a swelling occurred in the tissues above the ring, and he unmistakably interpreted this as growth stimulated by food coming down from the leaves, and being captured above the ring. Arthropod anatomy Arthropods comprise the largest phylum in the animal kingdom with over a million known invertebrate species. Insects possess segmented bodies supported by a hard-jointed outer covering, the exoskeleton, made mostly of chitin. The segments of the body are organized into three distinct parts, a head, a thorax and an abdomen. The head typically bears a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of compound eyes, one to three simple eyes (ocelli) and three sets of modified appendages that form the mouthparts. The thorax has three pairs of segmented legs, one pair each for the three segments that compose the thorax and one or two pairs of wings. The abdomen is composed of eleven segments, some of which may be fused and houses the digestive, respiratory, excretory and reproductive systems. There is considerable variation between species and many adaptations to the body parts, especially wings, legs, antennae and mouthparts. Spiders a class of arachnids have four pairs of legs; a body of two segments—a cephalothorax and an abdomen. Spiders have no wings and no antennae. They have mouthparts called chelicerae which are often connected to venom glands as most spiders are venomous. They have a second pair of appendages called pedipalps attached to the cephalothorax. These have similar segmentation to the legs and function as taste and smell organs. At the end of each male pedipalp is a spoon-shaped cymbium that acts to support the copulatory organ. Other branches of anatomy Superficial or surface anatomy is important as the study of anatomical landmarks that can be readily seen from the exterior contours of the body. It enables physicians or veterinary surgeons to gauge the position and anatomy of the associated deeper structures. Superficial is a directional term that indicates that structures are located relatively close to the surface of the body. Comparative anatomy relates to the comparison of anatomical structures (both gross and microscopic) in different animals. Artistic anatomy relates to anatomic studies for artistic reasons. History Ancient In 1600 BCE, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Ancient Egyptian medical text, described the heart and its vessels, as well as the brain and its meninges and cerebrospinal fluid, and the liver, spleen, kidneys, uterus and bladder, and it showed the blood vessels diverging from the heart. The Ebers Papyrus () features a "treatise on the heart", with vessels carrying all the body's fluids to or from every member of the body. Ancient Greek anatomy and physiology underwent great changes and advances throughout the early medieval world. Over time, this medical practice expanded by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. Phenomenal anatomical observations of the human body were made, which have contributed towards the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and the nervous system. The Hellenistic Egyptian city of Alexandria was the stepping-stone for Greek anatomy and physiology. Alexandria not only housed the biggest library for medical records and books of the liberal arts in the world during the time of the Greeks, but was also home to many medical practitioners and philosophers. Great patronage of the arts and sciences from the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt helped raise Alexandria up, further rivalling the cultural and scientific achievements of other Greek states. Some of the most striking advances in early anatomy and physiology took place in Hellenistic Alexandria. Two of the most famous anatomists and physiologists of the third century were Herophilus and Erasistratus. These two physicians helped pioneer human dissection for medical research, using the cadavers of condemned criminals, which was considered taboo until the Renaissance—Herophilus was recognized as the first person to perform systematic dissections. Herophilus became known for his anatomical works making impressing contributions to many branches of anatomy and many other aspects of medicine. Some of the works included classifying the system of the pulse, the discovery that human arteries had thicker walls than veins, and that the atria were parts of the heart. Herophilus's knowledge of the human body has provided vital input towards understanding the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and nervous system, and characterizing the course of disease. Erasistratus accurately described the structure of the brain, including the cavities and membranes, and made a distinction between its cerebrum and cerebellum During his study in Alexandria, Erasistratus was particularly concerned with studies of the circulatory and nervous systems. He was able to distinguish the sensory and the motor nerves in the human body and believed that air entered the lungs and heart, which was then carried throughout the body. His distinction between the arteries and veins—the arteries carrying the air through the body, while the veins carried the blood from the heart was a great anatomical discovery. Erasistratus was also responsible for naming and describing the function of the epiglottis and the valves of the heart, including the tricuspid. During the third century, Greek physicians were able to differentiate nerves from blood vessels and tendons and to realize that the nerves convey neural impulses. It was Herophilus who made the point that damage to motor nerves induced paralysis. Herophilus named the meninges and ventricles in the brain, appreciated the division between cerebellum and cerebrum and recognized that the brain was the "seat of intellect" and not a "cooling chamber" as propounded by Aristotle Herophilus is also credited with describing the optic, oculomotor, motor division of the trigeminal, facial, vestibulocochlear and hypoglossal nerves. Great feats were made during the third century BCE in both the digestive and reproductive systems. Herophilus was able to discover and describe not only the salivary glands, but the small intestine and liver. He showed that the uterus is a hollow organ and described the ovaries and uterine tubes. He recognized that spermatozoa were produced by the testes and was the first to identify the prostate gland. The anatomy of the muscles and skeleton is described in the Hippocratic Corpus, an Ancient Greek medical work written by unknown authors. Aristotle described vertebrate anatomy based on animal dissection. Praxagoras identified the difference between arteries and veins. Also in the 4th century BCE, Herophilos and Erasistratus produced more accurate anatomical descriptions based on vivisection of criminals in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period. In the 2nd century, Galen of Pergamum, an anatomist, clinician, writer and philosopher, wrote the final and highly influential anatomy treatise of ancient times. He compiled existing knowledge and studied anatomy through dissection of animals. He was one of the first experimental physiologists through his vivisection experiments on animals. Galen's drawings, based mostly on dog anatomy, became effectively the only anatomical textbook for the next thousand years. His work was known to Renaissance doctors only through Islamic Golden Age medicine until it was translated from the Greek some time in the 15th century. Medieval to early modern Anatomy developed little from classical times until the sixteenth century; as the historian Marie Boas writes, "Progress in anatomy before the sixteenth century is as mysteriously slow as its development after 1500 is startlingly rapid". Between 1275 and 1326, the anatomists Mondino de Luzzi, Alessandro Achillini and Antonio Benivieni at Bologna carried out the first systematic human dissections since ancient times. Mondino's Anatomy of 1316 was the first textbook in the medieval rediscovery of human anatomy. It describes the body in the order followed in Mondino's dissections, starting with the abdomen, then the thorax, then the head and limbs. It was the standard anatomy textbook for the next century. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was trained in anatomy by Andrea del Verrocchio. He made use of his anatomical knowledge in his artwork, making many sketches of skeletal structures, muscles and organs of humans and other vertebrates that he dissected. Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), professor of anatomy at the University of Padua, is considered the founder of modern human anatomy. Originally from Brabant, Vesalius published the influential book De humani corporis fabrica ("the structure of the human body"), a large format book in seven volumes, in 1543. The accurate and intricately detailed illustrations, often in allegorical poses against Italianate landscapes, are thought to have been made by the artist Jan van Calcar, a pupil of Titian. In England, anatomy was the subject of the first public lectures given in any science; these were given by the Company of Barbers and Surgeons in the 16th century, joined in 1583 by the Lumleian lectures in surgery at the Royal College of Physicians. Late modern In the United States, medical schools began to be set up towards the end of the 18th century. Classes in anatomy needed a continual stream of cadavers for dissection and these were difficult to obtain. Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York were all renowned for body snatching activity as criminals raided graveyards at night, removing newly buried corpses from their coffins. A similar problem existed in Britain where demand for bodies became so great that grave-raiding and even anatomy murder were practised to obtain cadavers. Some graveyards were in consequence protected with watchtowers. The practice was halted in Britain by the Anatomy Act of 1832, while in the United States, similar legislation was enacted after the physician William S. Forbes of Jefferson Medical College was found guilty in 1882 of "complicity with resurrectionists in the despoliation of graves in Lebanon Cemetery". The teaching of anatomy in Britain was transformed by Sir John Struthers, Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Aberdeen from 1863 to 1889. He was responsible for setting up the system of three years of "pre-clinical" academic teaching in the sciences underlying medicine, including especially anatomy. This system lasted until the reform of medical training in 1993 and 2003. As well as teaching, he collected many vertebrate skeletons for his museum of comparative anatomy, published over 70 research papers, and became famous for his public dissection of the Tay Whale. From 1822 the Royal College of Surgeons regulated the teaching of anatomy in medical schools. Medical museums provided examples in comparative anatomy, and were often used in teaching. Ignaz Semmelweis investigated puerperal fever and he discovered how it was caused. He noticed that the frequently fatal fever occurred more often in mothers examined by medical students than by midwives. The students went from the dissecting room to the hospital ward and examined women in childbirth. Semmelweis showed that when the trainees washed their hands in chlorinated lime before each clinical examination, the incidence of puerperal fever among the mothers could be reduced dramatically. Before the modern medical era, the main means for studying the internal structures of the body were dissection of the dead and inspection, palpation and auscultation of the living. It was the advent of microscopy that opened up an understanding of the building blocks that constituted living tissues. Technical advances in the development of achromatic lenses increased the resolving power of the microscope and around 1839, Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann identified that cells were the fundamental unit of organization of all living things. Study of small structures involved passing light through them and the microtome was invented to provide sufficiently thin slices of tissue to examine. Staining techniques using artificial dyes were established to help distinguish between different types of tissue. Advances in the fields of histology and cytology began in the late 19th century along with advances in surgical techniques allowing for the painless and safe removal of biopsy specimens. The invention of the electron microscope brought a great advance in resolution power and allowed research into the ultrastructure of cells and the organelles and other structures within them. About the same time, in the 1950s, the use of X-ray diffraction for studying the crystal structures of proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules gave rise to a new field of molecular anatomy. Equally important advances have occurred in non-invasive techniques for examining the interior structures of the body. X-rays can be passed through the body and used in medical radiography and fluoroscopy to differentiate interior structures that have varying degrees of opaqueness. Magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and ultrasound imaging have all enabled examination of internal structures in unprecedented detail to a degree far beyond the imagination of earlier generations. See also Anatomical model Outline of human anatomy Plastination References External links Anatomy, In Our Time. BBC Radio 4. Melvyn Bragg with guests Ruth Richardson, Andrew Cunningham and Harold Ellis. "Anatomy of the Human Body". 20th edition. 1918. Henry Gray Anatomia Collection: anatomical plates 1522 to 1867 (digitized books and images) Lyman, Henry Munson. The Book of Health (1898). Science History Institute Digital Collections . Gunther von Hagens True Anatomy for New Ways of Teaching. Sources Branches of biology Morphology (biology)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei%20Tarkovsky

Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential directors in cinema history, Tarkovsky's films explore spiritual and metaphysical themes, and are noted for their slow pacing and long takes, dreamlike visual imagery, and preoccupation with nature and memory. Tarkovsky studied film at Moscow's VGIK under filmmaker Mikhail Romm, and subsequently directed his first five features in the Soviet Union: Ivan's Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979). A number of his films from this period are ranked among the best films ever made. After years of creative conflict with state film authorities, Tarkovsky left the country in 1979 and made his final two films abroad; Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986) were produced in Italy and Sweden respectively. In 1986, he also published an influential book about cinema and art entitled Sculpting in Time. He died later that year of cancer, a condition possibly caused by the toxic locations used in the filming of Stalker. Tarkovsky was the recipient of several awards at the Cannes Film Festival throughout his career, including the FIPRESCI prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury. He was also awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his debut film, Ivan's Childhood. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Soviet Union's prestigious Lenin Prize. Three of his films—Andrei Rublev, Mirror, and Stalker—featured in Sight & Sound 2012 poll of the 100 greatest films of all time. Life and career Childhood and early life Andrei Tarkovsky was born in the village of Zavrazhye in the Yuryevetsky District of the Ivanovo Industrial Oblast (modern-day Kadyysky District of the Kostroma Oblast, Russia) to the poet and translator Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky, a native of Yelysavethrad (now Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine), and Maria Ivanova Vishnyakova, a graduate of the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute who later worked as a proofreader; she was born in Moscow in the Dubasov family estate. Andrei's paternal grandfather Aleksandr Karlovich Tarkovsky (in ) was a Polish nobleman who worked as a bank clerk. His wife Maria Danilovna Rachkovskaya was a Romanian language teacher who arrived from Iași. Andrei's maternal grandmother Vera Nikolayevna Vishnyakova (née Dubasova) belonged to an old Dubasov family of Russian nobility that traces its history back to the 17th century; among her relatives was Admiral Fyodor Dubasov, a fact she had to conceal during the Soviet days. She was married to Ivan Ivanovich Vishnyakov, a native of the Kaluga Governorate who studied law at the Moscow State University and served as a judge in Kozelsk. According to the family legend, Tarkovsky's ancestors on his father's side were princes from the Shamkhalate of Tarki, Dagestan, although his sister Marina Tarkovskaya who did a detailed research on their genealogy called it "a myth, even a prank of sorts," stressing that none of the documents confirms this version. Tarkovsky spent his childhood in Yuryevets. He was described by childhood friends as active and popular, having many friends and being typically in the center of action. His father left the family in 1937, subsequently volunteering for the army in 1941. He returned home in 1943, having been awarded a Red Star after being shot in one of his legs (which he would eventually need to amputate due to gangrene). Tarkovsky stayed with his mother, moving with her and his sister Marina to Moscow, where she worked as a proofreader at a printing press. In 1939, Tarkovsky enrolled at the Moscow School No. 554. During the war, the three evacuated to Yuryevets, living with his maternal grandmother. In 1943, the family returned to Moscow. Tarkovsky continued his studies at his old school, where the poet Andrei Voznesensky was one of his classmates. He studied piano at a music school and attended classes at an art school. The family lived on Shchipok Street in the Zamoskvorechye District in Moscow. From November 1947 to spring 1948 he was in the hospital with tuberculosis. Many themes of his childhood—the evacuation, his mother and her two children, the withdrawn father, the time in the hospital—feature prominently in his film Mirror. In his school years, Tarkovsky was a troublemaker and a poor student. He still managed to graduate, and from 1951 to 1952 studied Arabic at the Oriental Institute in Moscow, a branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Although he already spoke some Arabic and was a successful student in his first semesters, he did not finish his studies and dropped out to work as a prospector for the Academy of Science Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. He participated in a year-long research expedition to the river Kureyka near Turukhansk in the Krasnoyarsk Province. During this time in the taiga, Tarkovsky decided to study film. Film school student Upon returning from the research expedition in 1954, Tarkovsky applied at the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) and was admitted to the film-directing program. He was in the same class as Irma Raush (Irina) whom he married in April 1957. The early Khrushchev era offered good opportunities for young film directors. Before 1953, annual film production was low and most films were directed by veteran directors. After 1953, more films were produced, many of them by young directors. The Khrushchev Thaw relaxed Soviet social restrictions a bit and permitted a limited influx of European and North American literature, films and music. This allowed Tarkovsky to see films of the Italian neorealists, French New Wave, and of directors such as Kurosawa, Buñuel, Bergman, Bresson, Wajda (whose film Ashes and Diamonds influenced Tarkovsky) and Mizoguchi. Tarkovsky's teacher and mentor was Mikhail Romm, who taught many film students who would later become influential film directors. In 1956, Tarkovsky directed his first student short film, The Killers, from a short story of Ernest Hemingway. The longer television film There Will Be No Leave Today followed in 1959. Both films were a collaboration between the VGIK students. Classmate Aleksandr Gordon, who married Tarkovsky's sister, in particular directed, wrote, edited, and acted in the two films with Tarkovsky. An important influence on Tarkovsky was the film director Grigory Chukhray, who was teaching at the VGIK. Impressed by the talent of his student, Chukhray offered Tarkovsky a position as assistant director for his film Clear Skies. Tarkovsky initially showed interest but then decided to concentrate on his studies and his own projects. During his third year at the VGIK, Tarkovsky met Andrei Konchalovsky. They found much in common as they liked the same film directors and shared ideas on cinema and films. In 1959, they wrote the script Antarctica – Distant Country, which was later published in the Moskovsky Komsomolets. Tarkovsky submitted the script to Lenfilm, but it was rejected. They were more successful with the script The Steamroller and the Violin, which they sold to Mosfilm. This became Tarkovsky's graduation project, earning him his diploma in 1960 and winning First Prize at the New York Student Film Festival in 1961. Film career in the Soviet Union Tarkovsky's first feature film was Ivan's Childhood in 1962. He had inherited the film from director Eduard Abalov, who had to abort the project. The film earned Tarkovsky international acclaim and won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in the year 1962. In the same year, on 30 September, his first son Arseny (called Senka in Tarkovsky's diaries) Tarkovsky was born. In 1965, he directed the film Andrei Rublev about the life of Andrei Rublev, the fifteenth-century Russian icon painter. Andrei Rublev was not, except for a single screening in Moscow in 1966, immediately released after completion due to problems with Soviet authorities. Tarkovsky had to cut the film several times, resulting in several different versions of varying lengths. The film was widely released in the Soviet Union in a cut version in 1971. Nevertheless, the film had a budget of more than 1 million rubles – a significant sum for that period. A version of the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and won the FIPRESCI prize. He divorced his wife, Irina, in June 1970. In the same year, he married Larisa Kizilova (née Egorkina), who had been a production assistant for the film Andrei Rublev (they had been living together since 1965). Their son, Andrei Andreyevich Tarkovsky, (nicknamed Andriosha, meaning "little Andre" or "Andre Junior") was born in the same year on 7 August. In 1972, he completed Solaris, an adaptation of the novel Solaris by Stanisław Lem. He had worked on this together with screenwriter Friedrich Gorenstein as early as 1968. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, and was nominated for the Palme d'Or. From 1973 to 1974, he shot the film Mirror, a highly autobiographical and unconventionally structured film drawing on his childhood and incorporating some of his father's poems. In this film Tarkovsky portrayed the plight of childhood affected by war. Tarkovsky had worked on the screenplay for this film since 1967, under the consecutive titles Confession, White day and A white, white day. From the beginning the film was not well received by Soviet authorities due to its content and its perceived elitist nature. Soviet authorities placed the film in the "third category", a severely limited distribution, and only allowed it to be shown in third-class cinemas and workers' clubs. Few prints were made and the film-makers received no returns. Third category films also placed the film-makers in danger of being accused of wasting public funds, which could have serious effects on their future productivity. These difficulties are presumed to have made Tarkovsky play with the idea of going abroad and producing a film outside the Soviet film industry. During 1975, Tarkovsky also worked on the screenplay Hoffmanniana, about the German writer and poet E. T. A. Hoffmann. In December 1976, he directed Hamlet, his only stage play, at the Lenkom Theatre in Moscow. The main role was played by Anatoly Solonitsyn, who also acted in several of Tarkovsky's films. At the end of 1978, he also wrote the screenplay Sardor together with the writer Aleksandr Misharin. The last film Tarkovsky completed in the Soviet Union was Stalker, inspired by the novel Roadside Picnic by the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Tarkovsky had met the brothers first in 1971 and was in contact with them until his death in 1986. Initially he wanted to shoot a film based on their novel Dead Mountaineer's Hotel and he developed a raw script. Influenced by a discussion with Arkady Strugatsky he changed his plan and began to work on the script based on Roadside Picnic. Work on this film began in 1976. The production was mired in troubles; improper development of the negatives had ruined all the exterior shots. Tarkovsky's relationship with cinematographer Georgy Rerberg deteriorated to the point where he hired Alexander Knyazhinsky as a new first cinematographer. Furthermore, Tarkovsky had a heart attack in April 1978, resulting in further delay. The film was completed in 1979 and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. In a question and answer session at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on 11 February 1981, Tarkovsky trenchantly rejected suggestions that the film was either impenetrably mysterious or a political allegory. In 1979, Tarkovsky began production of the film The First Day (Russian: Первый День Pervyj Dyen), based on a script by his friend and long-term collaborator Andrei Konchalovsky. The film was set in 18th-century Russia during the reign of Peter the Great and starred Natalya Bondarchuk and Anatoli Papanov. To get the project approved by Goskino, Tarkovsky submitted a script that was different from the original script, omitting several scenes that were critical of the official atheism in the Soviet Union. After shooting roughly half of the film the project was stopped by Goskino after it became apparent that the film differed from the script submitted to the censors. Tarkovsky was reportedly infuriated by this interruption and destroyed most of the film. Film career outside the Soviet Union During the summer of 1979, Tarkovsky traveled to Italy, where he shot the documentary Voyage in Time together with his long-time friend Tonino Guerra. Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1980 for an extended trip, during which he and Guerra completed the script for the film Nostalghia. During this period, he took Polaroid photographs depicting his personal life. Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1982 to start shooting Nostalghia, but Mosfilm then withdrew from the project, so he sought and received financial backing from the Italian RAI. Tarkovsky completed the film in 1983, and it was presented at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Tarkovsky also shared a special prize called Grand Prix du cinéma de creation with Robert Bresson. Soviet authorities lobbied to prevent the film from winning the Palme d'Or, a fact that hardened Tarkovsky's resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again. After Cannes he went to London to stage and choreograph the opera Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado. At a press conference in Milan on 10 July 1984, he announced that he would never return to the Soviet Union and would remain in Western Europe. He stated, "I am not a Soviet dissident, I have no conflict with the Soviet Government," but if he returned home, he added, "I would be unemployed." At that time, his son Andriosha was still in the Soviet Union and not allowed to leave the country. On 28 August 1985, Tarkovsky was processed as a Soviet Defector at a refugee camp in Latina, Italy, registered with the serial number 13225/379, and officially welcomed to the West. Tarkovsky spent most of 1984 preparing the film The Sacrifice. It was finally shot in 1985 in Sweden, with many of the crew being alumni from Ingmar Bergman's films, including cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Tarkovsky's vision of his film was greatly influenced by Bergman's style. While The Sacrifice is about an apocalypse and impending death, faith, and possible redemption, in the making-of documentary Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, in a particularly poignant scene, writer/director Michal Leszczylowski follows Tarkovsky on a walk as he expresses his sentiments on death—he claims himself to be immortal and has no fear of dying. Ironically, at the end of the year Tarkovsky was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In January 1986, he began treatment in Paris and was joined there by his son, Andre Jr, who was finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. What would be Tarkovsky's final film was dedicated to him. The Sacrifice was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his son. Death In Tarkovsky's last diary entry (15 December 1986), he wrote: "But now I have no strength left—that is the problem". The diaries are sometimes also known as Martyrology and were published posthumously in 1989 and in English in 1991. Tarkovsky died in Paris on 29 December 1986. His funeral ceremony was held at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. He was buried on 3 January 1987 in the Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois in France. The inscription on his gravestone, which was erected in 1994, was conceived by Tarkovsky's wife, Larisa, reads: To the man who saw the Angel. Larisa died in 1998 and is buried beside her husband. A conspiracy theory emerged in Russia in the early 1990s when it was alleged that Tarkovsky did not die of natural causes, but was assassinated by the KGB. Evidence for this hypothesis includes testimonies by former KGB agents who claim that Viktor Chebrikov gave the order to eradicate Tarkovsky to curtail what the Soviet government and the KGB saw as anti-Soviet propaganda by Tarkovsky. Other evidence includes several memoranda that surfaced after the 1991 coup and the claim by one of Tarkovsky's doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause. As with Tarkovsky, his wife Larisa and actor Anatoly Solonitsyn all died from the very same type of lung cancer. Vladimir Sharun, sound designer on Stalker, is convinced that they were all poisoned by the chemical plant where they were shooting the film. Influences and thoughts on film Tarkovsky became a film director during the mid and late 1950s, a period referred to as the Khrushchev Thaw, during which Soviet society opened to foreign films, literature and music, among other things. This allowed Tarkovsky to see films of European, American and Japanese directors, an experience that influenced his own film making. His teacher and mentor at the film school, Mikhail Romm, allowed his students considerable freedom and emphasized the independence of the film director. Tarkovsky was, according to fellow student Shavkat Abdusalmov, fascinated by Japanese films. He was amazed by how every character on the screen is exceptional and how everyday events such as a Samurai cutting bread with his sword are elevated to something special and put into the limelight. Tarkovsky has also expressed interest in the art of Haiku and its ability to create "images in such a way that they mean nothing beyond themselves". Tarkovsky was also a deeply religious Orthodox Christian, who believed great art should have a higher spiritual purpose. He was a perfectionist not given to humor or humility: his signature style was ponderous and literary, having many characters that pondered over religious themes and issues regarding faith. Tarkovsky perceived that the art of cinema has only been truly mastered by very few filmmakers, stating in a 1970 interview with Naum Abramov that "they can be counted on the fingers of one hand". In 1972, Tarkovsky told film historian Leonid Kozlov his ten favorite films. The list includes: Diary of a Country Priest and Mouchette by Robert Bresson; Winter Light, Wild Strawberries, and Persona by Ingmar Bergman; Nazarín by Luis Buñuel; City Lights by Charlie Chaplin; Ugetsu by Kenji Mizoguchi; Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, and Woman in the Dunes by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Among his favorite directors were Buñuel, Mizoguchi, Bergman, Bresson, Kurosawa, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean Vigo, and Carl Theodor Dreyer. With the exception of City Lights, the list does not contain any films of the early silent era. The reason is that Tarkovsky saw film as an art as only a relatively recent phenomenon, with the early film-making forming only a prelude. The list has also no films or directors from Tarkovsky's native Russia, although he rated Soviet directors such as Boris Barnet, Sergei Parajanov and Alexander Dovzhenko highly. He said of Dovzhenko's Earth: "I have lived a lot among very simple farmers and met extraordinary people. They spread calmness, had such tact, they conveyed a feeling of dignity and displayed wisdom that I have seldom come across on such a scale. Dovzhenko had obviously understood wherein the sense of life resides. [...] This trespassing of the border between nature and mankind is an ideal place for the existence of man. Dovzhenko understood this." He was also not a fan of blockbusters or science fiction, largely dismissing the latter for its "comic book" trappings and vulgar commercialism. However, in notable exceptions Tarkovsky praised the James Cameron blockbuster film The Terminator, saying that its "vision of the future and the relation between man and its destiny is pushing the frontier of cinema as an art". He was critical of the "brutality and low acting skills", but was nevertheless impressed by the film. He equally liked George Lucas's Star Wars according to his son, Andrei A. Tarkovsky. Cinematic style In a 1962 interview, Tarkovsky argued: "All art, of course, is intellectual, but for me, all the arts, and cinema even more so, must above all be emotional and act upon the heart." His films are characterized by metaphysical themes, extremely long takes, and images often considered by critics to be of exceptional beauty. Recurring motifs are dreams, memory, childhood, running water accompanied by fire, rain indoors, reflections, levitation, and characters re-appearing in the foreground of long panning movements of the camera. He once said: "Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema." Tarkovsky incorporated levitation scenes into several of his films, most notably Solaris. To him these scenes possess great power and are used for their photogenic value and magical inexplicability. Water, clouds, and reflections were used by him for their surreal beauty and photogenic value, as well as their symbolism, such as waves or the forms of brooks or running water. Bells and candles are also frequent symbols. These are symbols of film, sight and sound, and Tarkovsky's film frequently has themes of self-reflection. Tarkovsky developed a theory of cinema that he called "sculpting in time". By this he meant that the unique characteristic of cinema as a medium was to take our experience of time and alter it. Unedited movie footage transcribes time in real time. By using long takes and few cuts in his films, he aimed to give the viewers a sense of time passing, time lost, and the relationship of one moment in time to another. Up to, and including, his film Mirror, Tarkovsky focused his cinematic works on exploring this theory. After Mirror, he announced that he would focus his work on exploring the dramatic unities proposed by Aristotle: a concentrated action, happening in one place, within the span of a single day. Several of Tarkovsky's films have color or black-and-white sequences. This first occurs in the otherwise monochrome Andrei Rublev, which features a color epilogue of Rublev's authentic religious icon paintings. All of his films afterwards contain monochrome, and in Stalker's case sepia sequences, while otherwise being in color. In 1966, in an interview conducted shortly after finishing Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky dismissed color film as a "commercial gimmick" and cast doubt on the idea that contemporary films meaningfully use color. He claimed that in everyday life one does not consciously notice colors most of the time, and that color should therefore be used in film mainly to emphasize certain moments, but not all the time, as this distracts the viewer. To him, films in color were like moving paintings or photographs, which are too beautiful to be a realistic depiction of life. Director Ingmar Bergman commented on Tarkovsky: Contrarily, however, Bergman conceded the truth in the claim made by a critic who wrote that "with Autumn Sonata Bergman does Bergman", adding: "Tarkovsky began to make Tarkovsky films, and that Fellini began to make Fellini films [...] Buñuel nearly always made Buñuel films." This pastiche of one's own work has been derogatorily termed as "self-karaoke". Vadim Yusov Tarkovsky worked in close collaboration with cinematographer Vadim Yusov from 1958 to 1972, and much of the visual style of Tarkovsky's films can be attributed to this collaboration. Tarkovsky would spend two days preparing for Yusov to film a single long take, and due to the preparation, usually only a single take was needed. Sven Nykvist In his last film, The Sacrifice, Tarkovsky worked with cinematographer Sven Nykvist, who had worked on many films with director Ingmar Bergman. (Nykvist was not alone: several people involved in the production had previously collaborated with Bergman, notably lead actor Erland Josephson, who had also acted for Tarkovsky in Nostalghia.) Nykvist complained that Tarkovsky would frequently look through the camera and even direct actors through it, but ultimately stated that choosing to work with Tarkovsky was one of the best choices he had ever made. Filmography Tarkovsky is mainly known as a film director. During his career he directed seven feature films, as well as three shorts from his time at VGIK. His features are: Ivan's Childhood (1962) Andrei Rublev (1966) Solaris (1972) Mirror (1975) Stalker (1979) Nostalghia (1983) The Sacrifice (1986) He also wrote several screenplays. Furthermore, he directed the play Hamlet for the stage in Moscow, directed the opera Boris Godunov in London, and he directed a radio production of the short story Turnabout by William Faulkner. He also wrote Sculpting in Time, a book on film theory. Tarkovsky's first feature film was Ivan's Childhood in 1962. He then directed Andrei Rublev in 1966, Solaris in 1972, Mirror in 1975 and Stalker in 1979. The documentary Voyage in Time was produced in Italy in 1982, as was Nostalghia in 1983. His last film The Sacrifice was produced in Sweden in 1986. Tarkovsky was personally involved in writing the screenplays for all his films, sometimes with a cowriter. Tarkovsky once said that a director who realizes somebody else's screenplay without being involved in it becomes a mere illustrator, resulting in dead and monotonous films. Publications Sculpting in Time. University of Texas Press, 1986. . Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970–1986. Seagull, 1989. . Translated by Kitty Hunter-Blair. Collected Screenplays. London: Faber & Faber, 2003. . Instant Light, Tarkovsky Polaroids. London: Thames and Hudson, 2006. . A book of 60 photographs taken by Tarkovsky in Russia and Italy between 1979 and 1984. Edited by Italian photographer Giovanni Chiaramonte and Tarkovsky's son Andrey A. Tarkovsky. Bright, bright day. Tarkovsky Foundation and White Space Gallery, 2008. A book of Polaroids edited by Stephen Gill. . Edition of 3000 copies. Tarkovsky: Films, Stills, Polaroids & Writings. London: Thames and Hudson, 2019. . Unproduced screenplays Concentrate Concentrate (, Kontsentrat) is a never-filmed 1958 screenplay by Tarkovsky. The screenplay is based on Tarkovsky's year in the taiga as a member of a research expedition, prior to his enrollment in film school. It's about the leader of a geological expedition, who waits for the boat that brings back the concentrates collected by the expedition. The expedition is surrounded by mystery, and its purpose is a state secret. Although some authors claim that the screenplay was filmed, according to Marina Tarkovskaya, Tarkovsky's sister (and wife of Aleksandr Gordon, a fellow student of Tarkovsky during his film school years) the screenplay was never filmed. Tarkovsky wrote the screenplay during his entrance examination at the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in a single sitting. He earned the highest possible grade, "excellent" () for this work. In 1994, fragments of Concentrate were filmed and used in the documentary Andrei Tarkovsky's Taiga Summer by Marina Tarkovskaya and Aleksandr Gordon. Hoffmanniana Hoffmanniana () is a never-filmed 1974 screenplay by Tarkovsky. The screenplay is based on the life and work of German author E. T. A. Hoffmann. In 1974, an acquaintance from Tallinnfilm approached Tarkovsky to write a screenplay on a German theme. Tarkovsky considered Thomas Mann and E. T. A. Hoffmann, and also thought about Ibsen's Peer Gynt. In the end Tarkovsky signed a contract for a script based on the life and work of Hoffmann. He planned to write the script during the summer of 1974 at his dacha. Writing was not without difficulty, less than a month before the deadline he had not written a single page. He finally finished the project in late 1974 and submitted the final script to Tallinnfilm in October. Although the script was well received by the officials at Tallinnfilm, it was the consensus that no one but Tarkovsky would be able to direct it. The script was sent to Goskino in February 1976, and although approval was granted for proceeding with making the film, the screenplay was never realized. In 1984, during the time of his exile in the West, Tarkovsky revisited the screenplay and made a few changes. He also considered to finally direct a film based on the screenplay but ultimately dropped this idea. Films about Tarkovsky Voyage in Time (1983): documents the travels in Italy of Andrei Tarkovsky in preparation for the making of his film Nostalghia, co-directed with Tonino Guerra. Tarkovsky: A Poet in the Cinema (1984): directed by Donatella Baglivo. Moscow Elegy (1987), a documentary/homage to Tarkovsky by Aleksandr Sokurov. Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit (1988): Andrej Tarkowskijs Exil und Tod. Documentary directed by Ebbo Demant. Germany. One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich (1999): French documentary film directed by Chris Marker. "Andrey" (Color/B&W, Short-Fiction, 35mm, 15min, 2006) A film by Nariné Mktchyan and Arsen Azatyan. Festivals: Yerevan IFF 2006, Rotterdam IFF 2007, Busan IFF 2007, Sydney Film Festival 2007, Zerkalo FF, Ivanovo (Special Prize) 2008, Kinoshock FF 2014. Tarkovsky: Time Within Time (2015): documentary by P. J. Letofsky. Andrei Tarkovsky: A Cinema Prayer (2019): a poetic documentary by Tarkovsky's son Andrei A. Tarkovsky. Awards and commemoration Numerous awards were bestowed on Tarkovsky throughout his lifetime. At the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Lion of the for Ivan's Childhood At the Cannes Film Festival, the FIPRESCI prize three times, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury three times (more than any other director), the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury twice, and the Best Director award once. He was also nominated for the Palme d'Or three times. In 1987, the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for The Sacrifice. Under the influence of Glasnost and Perestroika, Tarkovsky was finally recognized in the Soviet Union in the Autumn of 1986, shortly before his death, by a retrospective of his films in Moscow. After his death, an entire issue of the film magazine Iskusstvo Kino was devoted to Tarkovsky. In their obituaries, the film committee of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and the Union of Soviet Film Makers expressed their sorrow that Tarkovsky had to spend the last years of his life in exile. Posthumously, he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990, one of the highest state honors in the Soviet Union. In 1989, the Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize was established, with its first recipient being the Russian animator Yuri Norstein. In three consecutive events, the Moscow International Film Festival awarded the Andrei Tarkovsky Award in 1993, 1995, and 1997. In 1996, the Andrei Tarkovsky Museum opened in Yuryevets, his childhood town. A minor planet, 3345 Tarkovskij, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina in 1982, has been named after him. Tarkovsky has been the subject of several documentaries. Most notable is the 1988 documentary Moscow Elegy, by Russian film director Alexander Sokurov. Sokurov's own work has been heavily influenced by Tarkovsky. The film consists mostly of narration over stock footage from Tarkovsky's films. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky is a 1988 documentary film by Michal Leszczylowski, an editor of the film The Sacrifice. Film director Chris Marker produced the television documentary One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich as an homage to Andrei Tarkovsky in 2000. At the entrance to the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, there is a monument that includes statues of Tarkovsky, Gennady Shpalikov and Vasily Shukshin. Reception and legacy Andrei Tarkovsky and his works have received praise from many filmmakers, critics and thinkers. The Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman was quoted as saying: "Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [of us all], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream". The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa remarked on Tarkovsky's films as saying: "His unusual sensitivity is both overwhelming and astounding. It almost reaches a pathological intensity. Probably there is no equal among film directors alive now." Kurosawa also commented: "I love all of Tarkovsky's films. I love his personality and all his works. Every cut from his films is a marvelous image in itself. But the finished image is nothing more than the imperfect accomplishment of his idea. His ideas are only realized in part. And he had to make do with it." The Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami remarked that: "Tarkovsky's works separate me completely from physical life, and are the most spiritual films I have seen". The Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski commented that: "Andrei Tarkovsky was one of the greatest directors of recent years," and regarded Tarkovsky's film Ivan's Childhood as an influence on his own work. The Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan said that when he first discovered the films of Andrei Tarkovsky as a college student, unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, he was utterly baffled by the lauded Russian master. He walked out of a screening of Solaris at the halfway point, and stopped a VHS tape of Mirror at a similar juncture. Today, he considers the latter to be the greatest film ever made. "I've seen it maybe 20 times," he says. The Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov remarked that watching Tarkovsky's film, Ivan's Childhood was his main inspiration to become a filmmaker by saying: "I did not know how to do anything and I would not have done anything if there had not been Ivan's Childhood". The Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke voted for Mirror on his top 10 films in the 2002 Sight & Sound directors' poll and later said that he has seen the picture at least 25 times. The German filmmaker Wim Wenders dedicated his film Wings of Desire to Tarkovsky (along with François Truffaut and Yasujirō Ozu). The French filmmaker Chris Marker directed a documentary film as a homage to Tarkovsky called One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich and used Tarkovsky's concept of "The Zone" (from the film, Stalker) for his 1983 film essay, Sans Soleil. The Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos regarded Tarkovsky's film Stalker as one of the films that influenced him. The Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski remarked that: "If anybody influenced anybody, it’s me being influenced by Tarkovsky, not the reverse", and called Tarkovsky's film Andrei Rublev a "masterpiece". The Greek-Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas was "extremely influenced" by Tarkovsky's work and cited Stalker as one of his favorite films. The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre highly praised Tarkovsky's film Ivan's Childhood, saying that it was one of the most beautiful films he had ever seen. The Japanese anime filmmaker Mamoru Oshii, known for his works such as Ghost in the Shell, was influenced by Tarkovsky. The Indian-born British American novelist Salman Rushdie praised Tarkovsky and his work Solaris by calling it "a sci-fi masterpiece". Film historian Steven Dillon says that much of subsequent film was deeply influenced by the films of Tarkovsky. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñarritu is a huge fan of Tarkovsky. He once said in an interview: "Andrei Rublev is maybe my favorite film ever", and in another interview, he added: "I remember, the first time I saw a Tarkovsky film, I was shocked by it. I did not know what to do. I was shocked by it. I was fascinated, because suddenly I realized that film could have so many more layers to it than what I had imagined before". There are many direct references and hidden tributes to Tarkovsky's movies in Iñarritu's 2015 Oscar-winning drama The Revenant. Danish film director Lars von Trier is a fervent admirer of Tarkovsky. He dedicated his 2009 film Antichrist to him, and, while discussing it with critic David Jenkins, asked: "Have you seen Mirror? I was hypnotised! I've seen it 20 times. It's the closest thing I've got to a religion – to me he is a god". Film festival Two film festivals have been named in his honor: International Human Rights Film Festival "Stalker", named after the film held annually in Moscow and regional centres since 1995 International Film Festival "Zerkalo" named after Andrei Tarkovsky (meaning "mirror"), "for fans of intellectual cinema"; also known as Tarkovsky Film festival – Zerkalo, Zerkalo International Film Festival, Andrei Tarkovsky Zerkalo International Film Festival, or simply Zerkalo, The festival is organized by a committee headed by Mikhail Men, governor of Ivanovo Oblast. Sister of Andrei Tarkovsky, Marina Tarkovsky was one of the co-founders and organizers. From 2010 the festival was directed by Pavel Lungin. In 2020, the president of the festival was Russian director Sergei Bodrov. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, the 14th edition was held online in 2020, and appears to be the last one held, . The festival awards a number of prizes, including the Special Award for Contribution to Andrei Tarkovsky's Cinema. Held in Ivanovo since 2007, the festival is held in July each year, with the 16th edition scheduled for 22–27 July, to be held in various cities in the Ivanovo region, with special screenings in Moscow. Films from France, India, Greece, Serbia, Colombia, Kazakhstan and other countries were entered into the competition, and a gala night was dedicated to Tarkovsky's 90th birthday, on the main square of his hometown of Yuryevets on 22 July. See also European art cinema Slow cinema Moscow International Film Festival References Notes Bibliography Schmidt, Stefan W. (2016). "Somatography and Film: Nostalgia as Haunting Memory Shown in Tarkovsky's Nostalghia." Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology, 3 (1): 27–41. Somatography and Film: Nostalgia as Haunting Memory Shown in Tarkovsky's Nostalghia Further reading External links Andrei Tarkovsky at Senses of Cinema Website about Andrei Tarkovsky, Films, Articles, Interviews Andrei Tarkovsky: Biography wrestles with the filmmaker's remarkable life Nostalghia.com - An Andrei Tarkovsky Information Site, at Film Studies Program in the Department of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary 1932 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Russian diarists 20th-century Russian male actors 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian non-fiction writers 20th-century Russian screenwriters Writers from Kostroma Oblast People from Kostroma Oblast Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors People's Artists of the RSFSR Recipients of the Lenin Prize Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Directors of Golden Lion winners Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award Russian male screenwriters Science fiction film directors Russian people of Polish descent Russian people of Romanian descent Russian diarists Russian documentary filmmakers Russian experimental filmmakers Russian film directors Russian male film actors Russian non-fiction writers Russian opera directors Russian Orthodox Christians from Russia Russian screenwriters Soviet diarists Soviet documentary film directors Soviet emigrants to France Soviet emigrants to Italy Soviet film directors Soviet male film actors Soviet non-fiction writers Soviet opera directors Soviet screenwriters Deaths from lung cancer in France Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal%20%28disambiguation%29

Animal (disambiguation)

An animal is a multicellular, eukaryotic organism of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Animal, Animals, or The Animal may also refer to: People The Animal (nickname), a list of people nicknamed "The Animal" or "Animal" Animal Hamaguchi, a ring name of Japanese retired professional wrestler Heigo Hamaguchi (born 1947) Road Warrior Animal or Animal, ring names of American professional wrestler Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (1960–2020) Books and publications Animal (book), full title Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to The World's WildLife Animal, 2012 novel by K'wan Foye Animal (journal), full title: Animal: An International Journal of Animal Bioscience Animals (novel), a 2014 novel by Emma Jane Unsworth Film and television Films Animal (1977 film), a French film (L'Animal) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Raquel Welch Animals (1998 film), an American film starring Tim Roth and Rod Steiger Animal (2001 film), an Argentine comedy film by Sergio Bizzio with Carlos Roffé Animal (2005 film), an American direct-to-video action drama film starring Ving Rhames and Terrance Howard Animal (2014 film), an American horror film starring Keke Palmer Animal (2018 film), an Argentine film Animals (2003 film), a stand-up show written and performed by Ricky Gervais Animals (2012 film), a Spanish film Animals (2014 film), a British drama film written by and starring David Dastmalchian Animals (2017 film), a German film Animals (2019 film), an Australian film Animals (2021 film), a psychological thriller film The Animal, a 2001 American comedy film featuring Rob Schneider The Animals (film), a 2012 Filipino coming-of-age film by Gino M. Santos Animal (2023 film), a 2023 Indian Hindi language action thriller film Television Animal (TV series), an American nature documentary series Animals (American TV series), a 2016–2018 animated series Animals (South Korean TV series), a 2015 reality-variety show "Animals" (The Goodies), a 1980 episode "Animals" (Men Behaving Badly), a 1992 episode "Animals" (Off the Air), a 2011 episode "Animals" (The Vicar of Dibley), a 1994 episode "The Animals" (Orange Is the New Black), a 2016 episode Animal (audio drama), a 2011 audio drama based on Doctor Who Characters Animal (Muppet), a character from the television series The Muppet Show Animal, a character in the television series Takeshi's Castle Animal, played by Ken Hudson Campbell, a character on the TV sitcom Herman's Head Dennis "Animal" Price, a character on the TV series Lou Grant Music The Animals, a British rock band A.N.I.M.A.L., an Argentine heavy metal band Animal (Nick Culmer) lead singer of the Anti-Nowhere League Albums Animal (Animosity album), 2007 Animal (Bar-Kays album), 1989 Animal (Big Scary album), 2016 Animal (Kesha album), 2010 Animal (Lump album), 2021 Animal (María Becerra album), 2021 Animal (Motor Ace album), 2005 Animals (Pink Floyd album), 1977 Animals (This Town Needs Guns album), 2008 The Animals (American album), by the Animals, 1964 The Animals (British album), by the Animals, 1964 Animal, a 2009 album by AutoKratz Animal, a 2013 album by Berlin Animal, a 2008 album by Far East Movement Animal!, a 2008 album by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's EPs Animals (EP) by Ryan Starx, 2013 Animal, a 2015 EP by Hidden in Plain View A.N.I.M.A.L, a 2019 EP by John Newman Songs "Animal" "Animal" (Álvaro Soler song), 2017 "Animal" (Conor Maynard song), 2013 "Animal" (Def Leppard song), 1987 "Animal" (Jebediah song), 1999 "Animal" (Juvenile song), 2006 "Animal" (María Becerra and Cazzu song), 2022 "Animal" (Miike Snow song), 2009 "Animal" (Neon Trees song), 2010 "Animal" (Pearl Jam song), 1994 "Animal" (R.E.M. song), 2004 "Animal" (R.I.O. song), 2011 "Animal" (Trey Songz song), 2017 "Animal" (Troye Sivan song), 2018 "Animal", by Against Me! from New Wave "Animal", by Ani DiFranco from Educated Guess "Animal", by Anti-Nowhere League from We Are...The League, 1982 "Animal", by Aurora from A Different Kind of Human (Step 2) "Animal", by Black Light Burns from Cruel Melody "Animal", by Ellie Goulding from Lights "Animal", by Karen O and the Kids from Where the Wild Things Are "Animal", by Kat DeLuna from 9 Lives "Animal", by Kesha from Animal "Animal", by Mabel from About Last Night..., 2022 "Animal", by the Men from Open Your Heart, 2012 "Animal", by Mindless Self Indulgence from If "Animal", by Mudmen from Overrated "Animal", by Nada Surf from You Know Who You Are, 2016 "Animal", by Subhumans from Demolition War "Animal", by Sunhouse from Crazy On The Weekend "Animal", by The Kinks from To the Bone "Animal", by Toto from Past to Present 1977–1990 "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", by W.A.S.P., 1984 "Animals" "Animals" (Architects song), 2020 "Animals" (Kevin Ayers song), 1980 "Animals" (Maroon 5 song), 2014 "Animals" (Martin Garrix song), 2013 "Animals" (Muse song), 2012 "Animals" (Nickelback song), 2005 "Animals", by CocoRosie from The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn "Animals", by Coldplay as one of the B-sides for "Clocks" "Animals", by Dead Poetic from Vices "Animals", by Talking Heads from Fear of Music "Animals", by The End from Elementary "Animals", by Todrick Hall featuring Matt Bloyd from Forbidden "The Animal" "The Animal" (Disturbed song), 2010 "The Animal", by Steve Vai from Passion and Warfare Other uses ANIMAL (computer worm), an early self-replicating computer program ANIMAL (image processing), an interactive software environment for image processing Operation Animals, a World War II Allied deception operation in Greece Animals (Israeli organization), an animal rights group based in Israel See also Animals, Animals, Animals, an American educational television series (1976–1981)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. According to the World Population review, , Afghanistan's population is 40.2 million The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million . Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires, the land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, amongst others, rose to form major empires. The various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres made the area a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state. Dost Mohammad died in 1863, days after his last campaign to unite Afghanistan, and Afghanistan was consequently thrown back into civil war. During this time, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War. However, the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory and the successful establishment of British political influence. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under Amanullah Khan. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established. Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars. The conflict began in 1978 when a communist revolution established a socialist state, and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting amongst themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The Islamic fundamentalist Taliban controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul and overthrowing the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ending the 2001–2021 war. In September 2021 the Taliban re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized. Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including lithium, iron, zinc, and copper. It is also the world's largest producer of opium, second largest producer of cannabis resin, and third largest of both saffron and cashmere. The country is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Afghanistan remains among the world's least developed countries, ranking 180th in the Human Development Index. Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) is $81 billion by purchasing power parity and $20.1 billion by nominal values. Per capita, its GDP is amongst the lowest of any country . Etymology Some scholars suggest that the root name Afghān is derived from the Sanskrit word Aśvakan, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush. Aśvakan literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (from aśva, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse"). Historically, the ethnonym Afghān was used to refer to ethnic Pashtuns. The Arabic and Persian form of the name, Afġān, was first attested in the 10th-century geography book Hudud al-'Alam. The last part of the name, "-stan", is a Persian suffix meaning "place of". Therefore, "Afghanistan" translates to "land of the Afghans", or "land of the Pashtuns" in a historical sense. According to the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam: The term "Afghanistan" was officially used in 1855, when the British recognized Dost Mohammad Khan as king of Afghanistan. History Prehistory and antiquity Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world. An important site of early historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages have been found in Afghanistan. Urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak (near Kandahar in the south of the country) was a center of the Helmand culture. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilization stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan, which shows Afghanistan to have been a part of Indus Valley Civilization. After 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan; among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, and toward Europe via the area north of the Caspian Sea. The region at the time was referred to as Ariana. By the middle of the 6th century BCE, the Achaemenids overthrew the Medes and incorporated Arachosia, Aria, and Bactria within its eastern boundaries. An inscription on the tombstone of Darius I of Persia mentions the Kabul Valley in a list of the 29 countries that he had conquered. The region of Arachosia, around Kandahar in modern-day southern Afghanistan, used to be primarily Zoroastrian and played a key role in the transfer of the Avesta to Persia and is thus considered by some to be the "second homeland of Zoroastrianism". Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces arrived in Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier in the Battle of Gaugamela. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the region until 305 BCE, when they gave much of it to the Maurya Empire as part of an alliance treaty. The Mauryans controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush until they were overthrown in about 185 BCE. Their decline began 60 years after Ashoka's rule ended, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest by the Greco-Bactrians. Much of it soon broke away and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. They were defeated and expelled by the Indo-Scythians in the late 2nd century BCE. The Silk Road appeared during the first century BCE, and Afghanistan flourished with trade, with routes to China, India, Persia, and north to the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva in present-day Uzbekistan. Goods and ideas were exchanged at this center point, such as Chinese silk, Persian silver and Roman gold, while the region of present Afghanistan was mining and trading lapis lazuli stones mainly from the Badakhshan region. During the first century BCE, the Parthian Empire subjugated the region but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid-to-late first century CE the vast Kushan Empire, centered in Afghanistan, became great patrons of Buddhist culture, making Buddhism flourish throughout the region. The Kushans were overthrown by the Sassanids in the 3rd century CE, though the Indo-Sassanids continued to rule at least parts of the region. They were followed by the Kidarites who, in turn, was replaced by the Hephthalites. They were replaced by the Turk Shahi in the 7th century. The Buddhist Turk Shahi of Kabul was replaced by a Hindu dynasty before the Saffarids conquered the area in 870, this Hindu dynasty was called Hindu Shahi. Much of the northeastern and southern areas of the country remained dominated by Buddhist culture. Medieval period Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before the arrival of Islam, the region used to be home to various beliefs and cults, often resulting in Syncretism between the dominant religions such as Zoroastrianism, Buddhism or Greco-Buddhism, Ancient Iranian religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism. An exemplification of the syncretism in the region would be that people were patrons of Buddhism but still worshipped local Iranian gods such as Ahura Mazda, Lady Nana, Anahita or Mihr (Mithra) and portrayed Greek gods as protectors of Buddha. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids extended their Islamic influence south of the Hindu Kush. The Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century. By the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and effectively Islamized the wider region, with the exception of Kafiristan. Mahmud made Ghazni into an important city and patronized intellectuals such as the historian Al-Biruni and the poet Ferdowsi. The Ghaznavid dynasty was overthrown by the Ghurids in 1186, whose architectural achievements included the remote Minaret of Jam. The Ghurids controlled Afghanistan for less than a century before being conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in 1215. In 1219 CE, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region. His troops are said to have annihilated the Khwarazmian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan. The destruction caused by the Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society. Mongol rule continued with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khalji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of Timur (aka Tamerlane), who established the Timurid Empire in 1370. Under the rule of Shah Rukh the city served as the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance, whose glory matched Florence of the Italian Renaissance as the center of a cultural rebirth. In the early 16th century, Babur arrived from Ferghana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty. Babur would go on to conquer the Afghan Lodi dynasty who had ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the First Battle of Panipat. Between the 16th and 18th century, the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara, Iranian Safavids, and Indian Mughals ruled parts of the territory. During the medieval period, the northwestern area of Afghanistan was referred to by the regional name Khorasan, which was commonly used up to the 19th century among natives to describe their country. Hotak Dynasty In 1709, Mirwais Hotak, a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids. He defeated Gurgin Khan, the Georgian governor of Kandahar under the Safavids, and established his own kingdom. Mirwais died in 1715 and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, who was soon killed by Mirwais's son Mahmud for possibly planning to sign a peace with the Safavids. Mahmud led the Afghan army in 1722 to the Persian capital of Isfahan, and captured the city after the Battle of Gulnabad and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Afghan dynasty was ousted from Persia by Nader Shah after the 1729 Battle of Damghan. In 1738, Nader Shah and his forces captured Kandahar in the siege of Kandahar, the last Hotak stronghold, from Shah Hussain Hotak. Soon after, the Persian and Afghan forces invaded India, Nader Shah had plundered Delhi, alongside his 16-year-old commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani who had assisted him on these campaigns. Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747. Durrani Empire After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani had returned to Kandahar with a contingent of 4,000 Pashtuns. The Abdalis had "unanimously accepted" Ahmad Shah as their new leader. With his ascension in 1747, Ahmad Shah had led multiple campaigns against the Mughal Empire, Maratha Empire, and then-receding Afsharid Empire. Ahmad Shah had captured Kabul and Peshawar from the Mughal appointed governor, Nasir Khan. Ahmad Shah had then conquered Herat in 1750, and had also captured Kashmir in 1752. Ahmad Shah had launched two campaigns into Khorasan, 1750–1751 and 1754–1755. His first campaign had seen the siege of Mashhad, however, he was forced to retreat after four months. In November 1750, he moved to siege Nishapur, but he was unable to capture the city and was forced to retreat in early 1751. Ahmad Shah returned in 1754; he captured Tun, and on 23 July, he sieged Mashhad once again. Mashhad had fallen on 2 December, but Shahrokh was reappointed in 1755. He was forced to give up Torshiz, Bakharz, Jam, Khaf, and Turbat-e Haidari to the Afghans, as well as accept Afghan sovereignty. Following this, Ahmad Shah sieged Nishapur once again, and captured it. Ahmad Shah |invaded India eight times during his reign, beginningin 1748. Crossing the Indus River, his armies sacked and absorbed Lahore into the Durrani Realm. He met Mughal armies at the Battle of Manupur (1748), where he was defeated and forced to retreat to back to Afghanistan. He returned the next year in 1749 and captured the area around Lahore and Punjab, presenting it as an Afghan victory for this campaign. From 1749 to 1767, Ahmad Shah led six more invasions, the most important being the last; the Third Battle of Panipat created a power vacuum in northern India, halting Maratha expansion. Ahmad Shah Durrani died in October 1772, and a civil war over succession followed, with his named successor, Timur Shah Durrani succeeding him after the defeat of his brother, Suleiman Mirza. Timur Shah Durrani ascended to the throne in November 1772, having defeated a coalition under Shah Wali Khan and Humayun Mirza. Timur Shah began his reign by consolidating power toward himself and people loyal to him, purging Durrani Sardars and influential tribal leaders in Kabul and Kandahar. One of Timur Shah's reforms was to move the capital of the Durrani Empire from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur Shah fought multiple series of rebellions to consolidate the empire, and he also led campaigns into Punjab against the Sikhs like his father, though more successfully. The most prominent example of his battles during this campaign was when he led his forces under Zangi Khan Durrani – with over 18,000 men total of Afghan, Qizilbash, and Mongol cavalrymen – against over 60,000 Sikh men. The Sikhs lost over 30,000 in this battle and staged a Durrani resurgence in the Punjab region The Durranis lost Multan in 1772 after Ahmad Shah's death. Following this victory by Timur Shah, Timur Shah was able to lay siege to Multan and recapture it, incorporating it into the Durrani Empire once again, reintegrating it as a province until the Siege of Multan (1818). Timur Shah was succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani after his death on in May 1793. Timur Shah's reign oversaw the attempted stabilization and consolidation of the empire. However, Timur Shah had over 24 sons, which plunged the empire in civil war over succession crises. Zaman Shah Durrani succeeded to the Durrani Throne following the death of his father, Timur Shah Durrani. His brothers Mahmud Shah Durrani and Humayun Mirza revolted against him, with Humayun centered in Kandahar and Mahmud Shah centered in Herat. Zaman Shah would defeat Humayun and force the loyalty of Mahmud Shah Durrani. Securing his position on the throne, Zaman Shah led three campaigns into Punjab. The first two campaigns captured Lahore, but he retreated due to intel about a possible Qajar invasion. Zaman Shah embarked on his third campaign for Punjab in 1800 to deal with a rebellious Ranjit Singh. However, he was forced to withdraw, and Zaman Shah's reign was ended by Mahmud Shah Durrani. However, just under two years in his reign, Mahmud Shah Durrani was deposed by his brother Shah Shuja Durrani (on 13 July 1803). Shah Shuja attempted to consolidate the Durrani Realm but was deposed by his brother at the Battle of Nimla (1809). Mahmud Shah Durrani defeated Shah Shuja and forced him to flee, usurping the throne again. His second reign began on 3 May 1809. Barakzai dynasty and British wars By the early 19th century, the Afghan empire was under threat from the Persians in the west and the Sikh Empire in the east. Fateh Khan, leader of the Barakzai tribe, installed many of his brothers in positions of power throughout the empire. Fateh Khan was brutally murdered in 1818 by Mahmud Shah. As a result, the brothers of Fateh Khan and the Barakzai tribe rebelled, and a civil war brewed. During this turbulent period, Afghanistan fractured into many states, including the Principality of Qandahar, Emirate of Herat, Khanate of Qunduz, Maimana Khanate, and numerous other warring polities. The most prominent state was the Emirate of Kabul, ruled by Dost Mohammad Khan. With the collapse of the Durrani Empire, and the exile of the Sadozai Dynasty to be left to rule in Herat, Punjab and Kashmir were lost to Ranjit Singh, ruler of the Sikh Empire, who invaded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in March 1823 and captured the city of Peshawar following the Battle of Nowshera. In 1834, Dost Mohammad Khan led numerous campaigns, firstly campaigning to Jalalabad, and then allying with his rival brothers in Kandahar to defeat Shah Shuja Durrani and the British in the Expedition of Shuja ul-Mulk. In 1837, Dost Mohammad Khan attempted to conquer Peshawar and sent a large force under his son Wazir Akbar Khan, leading to the Battle of Jamrud. Akbar Khan and the Afghan army failed to capture the Jamrud Fort from the Sikh Khalsa Army, but killed Sikh Commander Hari Singh Nalwa, thus ending the Afghan-Sikh Wars. By this time the British were advancing from the east, capitalizing off of the decline of the Sikh Empire after it had its own period of turbulence following the death of Ranjit Singh, which engaged the Emirate of Kabul in the first major conflict during "The Great Game". In 1839, a British expeditionary force marched into Afghanistan, invading the Principality of Qandahar, and in August 1839, seized Kabul. Dost Mohammad Khan defeated the British in the Parwan campaign, but surrendered following his victory. He was replaced with the former Durrani ruler Shah Shuja Durrani as the new ruler of Kabul, a de facto puppet of the British. Following an uprising that saw the assassination of Shah Shuja, the 1842 retreat from Kabul of British-Indian forces and the annihilation of Elphinstone's army, and the punitive expedition of The Battle of Kabul that led to its sacking, the British gave up on their attempts to try and subjugate Afghanistan, which allowed Dost Mohammad Khan to return as ruler. Dost Mohammad united most of the Afghan realm in his reign, launching numerous campaigns including against the surrounding states in Afghanistan in numerous campaigns such as the Hazarajat campaign, conquest of Balkh, conquest of Kunduz, conquest of Kandahar, and finally securing the last major state, Herat, in his final campaign. During his campaigns of re-unification, he held friendly relations with the British and affirmed their status in the Second Anglo-Afghan treaty of 1857, while Bukhara and internal leaders pressured the Afghans to invade india. Dost Mohammad died in June 1863, a few weeks after his successful campaign to Herat. Following his death, a civil war ensued amongst his sons, prominently Mohammad Afzal Khan, Mohammad Azam Khan, and Sher Ali Khan. Sher Ali won the resulting Afghan Civil War (1863–1869) and ruled the realm until 1878, when the British returned in the Second Anglo-Afghan War to fight perceived Russian influence in the region. Britain gained control of Afghanistan's foreign relations as part of the Treaty of Gandamak of 1879, making it an official British Protected State. In 1893, Amir Abdur Rahman signed an agreement in which the ethnic Pashtun and Baloch territories were divided by the Durand Line, which forms the modern-day border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shia-dominated Hazarajat and pagan Kafiristan remained politically independent until being conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1891–1896. He was known as the "Iron Amir" for his features and his ruthless methods against tribes. He died in 1901, succeeded by his son, Habibullah Khan. During the First World War, when Afghanistan was neutral, Habibullah Khan was met by officials of the Central Powers in the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition. They called on Afghanistan to declare full independence from the United Kingdom, join them and attack British India, as part of the Hindu–German Conspiracy. The effort to bring Afghanistan into the Central Powers failed, but it sparked discontent among the population about maintaining neutrality with the British. Habibullah was assassinated in February 1919, and Amanullah Khan eventually assumed power. A staunch supporter of the 1915–1916 expeditions, Amanullah Khan provoked the Third Anglo-Afghan War, entering British India via the Khyber Pass. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi on 19 August 1919, Emir Amanullah Khan declared the Emirate of Afghanistan a sovereign and fully independent state. He moved to end his country's traditional isolation by establishing diplomatic relations with the international community, particularly with the Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic. He proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan on 9 June 1926, forming the Kingdom of Afghanistan. He introduced several reforms intended to modernize his nation. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi, an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's 1923 constitution, which made elementary education compulsory. Slavery was abolished in 1923. King Amanullah's wife, Queen Soraya, was an important figure during this period in the fight for woman's education and against their oppression. Some of the reforms that were put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional burqa for women and the opening of co-educational schools, alienated many tribal and religious leaders, leading to the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929). King Amanullah abdicated in January 1929, and soon after Kabul fell to Saqqawist forces led by Habibullah Kalakani. Mohammed Nadir Shah, Amanullah's cousin, defeated and killed Kalakani in October 1929, and was declared King Nadir Shah. He abandoned the reforms of King Amanullah in favor of a more gradual approach to modernization, but was assassinated in 1933 by Abdul Khaliq. Mohammed Zahir Shah succeeded to the throne and reigned as king from 1933 to 1973. During the tribal revolts of 1944–1947, King Zahir's reign was challenged by Zadran, Safi, Mangal, and Wazir tribesmen led by Mazrak Zadran, Salemai, and Mirzali Khan, among others – many of whom were Amanullah loyalists. Afghanistan joined the League of Nations in 1934. The 1930s saw the development of roads, infrastructure, the founding of a national bank, and increased education. Road links in the north played a large part in a growing cotton and textile industry. The country built close relationships with the Axis powers, with Nazi Germany having the largest share in Afghan development at the time. Until 1946, King Zahir ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of prime minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. Another uncle, Shah Mahmud Khan, became prime minister in 1946 and experimented with allowing greater political freedom. He was replaced in 1953 by Mohammed Daoud Khan, a Pashtun nationalist who sought the creation of a Pashtunistan, leading to highly tense relations with Pakistan. Daoud Khan pressed for social modernization reforms and sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Afterward, the 1964 constitution was formed, and the first non-royal prime minister was sworn in. Zahir Shah, like his father Nadir Shah, had a policy of maintaining national independence while pursuing gradual modernization, creating nationalist feeling, and improving relations with the United Kingdom. Afghanistan was neither a participant in World War II nor aligned with either power bloc in the Cold War. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the United States vied for influence by building Afghanistan's main highways, airports, and other vital infrastructure. On a per capita basis, Afghanistan received more Soviet development aid than any other country. In 1973, while the King was in Italy, Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup and became the first president of Afghanistan, abolishing the monarchy. Democratic Republic and Soviet war In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a bloody coup d'état against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan, in what is called the Saur Revolution. The PDPA declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with its first leader named as People's Democratic Party General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki. This would trigger a series of events that would dramatically turn Afghanistan from a poor and secluded (albeit peaceful) country to a hotbed of international terrorism. The PDPA initiated various social, symbolic, and land distribution reforms that provoked strong opposition, while also brutally oppressing political dissidents. This caused unrest and quickly expanded into a state of civil war by 1979, waged by guerrilla mujahideen (and smaller Maoist guerrillas) against regime forces countrywide. It quickly turned into a proxy war as the Pakistani government provided these rebels with covert training centers, the United States supported them through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisers to support the PDPA regime. Meanwhile, there was increasingly hostile friction between the competing factions of the PDPA – the dominant Khalq and the more moderate Parcham. In September 1979, PDPA General Secretary Taraki was assassinated in an internal coup orchestrated by then-prime minister Hafizullah Amin, who became the new general secretary of the People's Democratic Party. The situation in the country deteriorated under Amin, and thousands of people went missing. Displeased with Amin's government, the Soviet Army invaded the country in December 1979, heading for Kabul and killing Amin. A Soviet-organized regime, led by Parcham's Babrak Karmal but inclusive of both factions (Parcham and Khalq), filled the vacuum. Soviet troops in more substantial numbers were deployed to stabilize Afghanistan under Karmal, marking the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War. Lasting nine years, the war caused the deaths of between 562,000 and 2 million Afghans, and displaced about 6 million people who subsequently fled Afghanistan, mainly to Pakistan and Iran. Heavy air bombardment destroyed many countryside villages, millions of landmines were planted, and some cities such as Herat and Kandahar were also damaged from bombardment. After the Soviet withdrawal, the civil war ensued until the communist regime under People's Democratic Party leader Mohammad Najibullah collapsed in 1992. The Soviet-Afghan War had drastic social effects on Afghanistan. The militarization of society led to heavily armed police, private bodyguards, openly armed civil defense groups, and other such things becoming the norm in Afghanistan for decades thereafter. The traditional power structure had shifted from clergy, community elders, intelligentsia, and military in favor of powerful warlords. Post–Cold War conflict Another civil war broke out after the creation of a dysfunctional coalition government between leaders of various mujahideen factions. Amid a state of anarchy and factional infighting, various mujahideen factions committed widespread rape, murder and extortion, while Kabul was heavily bombarded and partially destroyed by the fighting. Several failed reconciliations and alliances occurred between different leaders. The Taliban emerged in September 1994 as a movement and militia of students (talib) from Islamic madrassas (schools) in Pakistan, who soon had military support from Pakistan. Taking control of Kandahar city that year, they conquered more territories until finally driving out the government of Rabbani from Kabul in 1996, where they established an emirate. The Taliban were condemned internationally for the harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which resulted in the brutal treatment of many Afghans, especially women. During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum formed the Northern Alliance, later joined by others, to resist the Taliban. Dostum's forces were defeated by the Taliban during the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1997 and 1998; Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, began sending thousands of Pakistanis to help the Taliban defeat the Northern Alliance. By 2000, the Northern Alliance only controlled 10% of territory, cornered in the northeast. On 9 September 2001, Massoud was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers in Panjshir Valley. Around 400,000 Afghans died in internal conflicts between 1990 and 2001. US invasion and Islamic Republic In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the September 11 attacks, who was a "guest" of the Taliban and was operating his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The majority of Afghans supported the American invasion. During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps, and later working with the Northern Alliance, the Taliban regime came to an end. In December 2001, after the Taliban government was overthrown, the Afghan Interim Administration under Hamid Karzai was formed. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council to help assist the Karzai administration and provide basic security. By this time, after two decades of war as well as an acute famine at the time, Afghanistan had one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in the world, the lowest life expectancy, much of the population were hungry, and infrastructure was in ruins. Many foreign donors started providing aid and assistance to rebuild the war-torn country. As coalition troops entered Afghanistan to help the rebuilding process, the Taliban began an insurgency to regain control. Afghanistan remained one of the poorest countries in the world because of a lack of foreign investment, government corruption, and the Taliban insurgency. The Afghan government was able to build some democratic structures, adopting a constitution in 2004 with the name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Attempts were made, often with the support of foreign donor countries, to improve the country's economy, healthcare, education, transport, and agriculture. ISAF forces also began to train the Afghan National Security Forces. Following 2002, nearly five million Afghans were repatriated. The number of NATO troops present in Afghanistan peaked at 140,000 in 2011, dropping to about 16,000 in 2018. In September 2014 Ashraf Ghani became president after the 2014 presidential election where for the first time in Afghanistan's history power was democratically transferred. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led Operation Resolute Support was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF. Thousands of NATO troops remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces and continue their fight against the Taliban. On 19 February 2020, the US–Taliban deal was made in Qatar. The deal was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF); following the signing of the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Second Taliban era NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on 14 April 2021 that the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after NATO troops began withdrawing, the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan government and quickly advanced in front of collapsing Afghan government forces. The Taliban captured the capital city of Kabul on 15 August 2021, after regaining control over a vast majority of Afghanistan. Several foreign diplomats and Afghan government officials, including president Ashraf Ghani, were evacuated from the country, with many Afghan civilians attempting to flee along with them. On 17 August, first vice president Amrullah Saleh proclaimed himself caretaker president and announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front with a reported 6,000+ troops in the Panjshir Valley, along with Ahmad Massoud. However, by 6 September, the Taliban had taken control of most of Panjshir Province, with resistance fighters retreating to the mountains. Clashes in the valley ceased mid-September. According to the Costs of War Project, 176,000 people were killed in the conflict, including 46,319 civilians, between 2001 and 2021. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, at least 212,191 people were killed in the conflict. Though the state of war in the country ended in 2021, armed conflict persists in some regions amid fighting between the Taliban and the local branch of the Islamic State, as well as an anti-Taliban Republican insurgency. The Taliban government is led by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and acting prime minister Hasan Akhund, who took office on 7 September 2021. Akhund is one of the four founders of the Taliban and was a deputy prime minister of the previous emirate; his appointment was seen as a compromise between moderates and hardliners. A new, all-male cabinet was formed, which included Abdul Hakim Haqqani as minister of justice. On 20 September 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres received a letter from acting minister of foreign affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi to formally claim Afghanistan's seat as a member state for their official spokesman in Doha, Suhail Shaheen. The United Nations did not recognize the previous Taliban government and chose to work with the then-government in exile instead. Western nations suspended most of their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's August 2021 takeover of the country; the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also halted their payments. More than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage in October 2021. Human Rights Watch reported on 11 November 2021 that Afghanistan was facing widespread famine due to an economic and banking crisis. The Taliban have significantly tackled corruption, now being placed as 150th on the corruption watchdog perception index. The Taliban have also reportedly reduced bribery and extortion in public service areas. At the same time, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated. Following the 2001 invasion, more than 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan; however, in 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remained refugees, primarily in Iran and Pakistan, and another 4 million were internally displaced. Geography Afghanistan is located in Southern-Central Asia. The region centered at Afghanistan is considered the "crossroads of Asia", and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia. The renowned Urdu poet Allama Iqbal once wrote about the country: At over , Afghanistan is the world's 41st largest country, slightly bigger than France and smaller than Myanmar, and about the size of Texas in the United States. There is no coastline, as Afghanistan is landlocked. Afghanistan shares its longest land border (the Durand Line) with Pakistan to the east and south, followed by borders with Tajikistan to the northeast, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the north-west, Uzbekistan to the north and China to the far northeast; India recognizes a border with Afghanistan through Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Clockwise from south-west, Afghanistan shares borders with the Sistan and Baluchestan Province, South Khorasan Province and Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran; Ahal Region, Mary Region and Lebap Region of Turkmenistan; Surxondaryo Region of Uzbekistan; Khatlon Region and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan; Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; and the Gilgit-Baltistan territory, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Balochistan province of Pakistan. The geography in Afghanistan is varied, but is mostly mountainous and rugged, with some unusual mountain ridges accompanied by plateaus and river basins. It is dominated by the Hindu Kush range, the western extension of the Himalayas that stretches to eastern Tibet via the Pamir Mountains and Karakoram Mountains in Afghanistan's far north-east. Most of the highest points are in the east consisting of fertile mountain valleys, often considered part of the "Roof of the World". The Hindu Kush ends at the west-central highlands, creating plains in the north and southwest, namely the Turkestan Plains and the Sistan Basin; these two regions consist of rolling grasslands and semi-deserts, and hot windy deserts, respectively. Forests exist in the corridor between Nuristan and Paktika provinces (see East Afghan montane conifer forests), and tundra in the northeast. The country's highest point is Noshaq, at above sea level. The lowest point lies in Jowzjan Province along the Amu River bank, at above sea level. Despite having numerous rivers and reservoirs, large parts of the country are dry. The endorheic Sistan Basin is one of the driest regions in the world. The Amu Darya rises at the north of the Hindu Kush, while the nearby Hari Rud flows west towards Herat, and the Arghandab River from the central region southwards. To the south and west of the Hindu Kush flow a number of streams that are tributaries of the Indus River, such as the Helmand River. The Kabul River flows in an easterly direction to the Indus ending at the Indian Ocean. Afghanistan receives heavy snow during the winter in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains, and the melting snow in the spring season enters the rivers, lakes, and streams. However, two-thirds of the country's water flows into the neighboring countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. As reported in 2010, the state needs more than US$2 billion to rehabilitate its irrigation systems so that the water is properly managed. The northeastern Hindu Kush mountain range, in and around the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, is in a geologically active area where earthquakes may occur almost every year. They can be deadly and destructive, causing landslides in some parts or avalanches during the winter. In June 2022, a destructive 5.9 earthquake struck near the border with Pakistan, killing at least 1,150 people and sparking fears of a major humanitarian crisis. On 7 October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Herat, killing over 2,400 people according to government officials. Climate Afghanistan has a continental climate with harsh winters in the central highlands, the glaciated northeast (around Nuristan), and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below and can reach , and hot summers in the low-lying areas of the Sistan Basin of the southwest, the Jalalabad basin in the east, and the Turkestan plains along the Amu River in the north, where temperatures average over in July and can go over . The country is generally arid in the summers, with most rainfall falling between December and April. The lower areas of northern and western Afghanistan are the driest, with precipitation more common in the east. Although proximate to India, Afghanistan is mostly outside the monsoon zone, except the Nuristan Province which occasionally receives summer monsoon rain. Biodiversity Several types of mammals exist throughout Afghanistan. Snow leopards, Siberian tigers and brown bears live in the high elevation alpine tundra regions. The Marco Polo sheep exclusively live in the Wakhan Corridor region of north-east Afghanistan. Foxes, wolves, otters, deer, wild sheep, lynx and other big cats populate the mountain forest region of the east. In the semi-desert northern plains, wildlife include a variety of birds, hedgehogs, gophers, and large carnivores such as jackals and hyenas. Gazelles, wild pigs and jackals populate the steppe plains of the south and west, while mongoose and cheetahs exist in the semi-desert south. Marmots and ibex also live in the high mountains of Afghanistan, and pheasants exist in some parts of the country. The Afghan hound is a native breed of dog known for its fast speed and its long hair; it is relatively known in the west. Endemic fauna of Afghanistan includes the Afghan flying squirrel, Afghan snowfinch, Paradactylodon (or the "Paghman mountain salamander"), Stigmella kasyi, Vulcaniella kabulensis, Afghan leopard gecko, Wheeleria parviflorellus, amongst others. Endemic flora include Iris afghanica. Afghanistan has a wide variety of birds despite its relatively arid climate – an estimated 460 species of which 235 breed within. The forest region of Afghanistan has vegetation such as pine trees, spruce trees, fir trees and larches, whereas the steppe grassland regions consist of broadleaf trees, short grass, perennial plants and shrublands. The colder high elevation regions are composed of hardy grasses and small flowering plants. Several regions are designated protected areas; there are three national parks: Band-e Amir, Wakhan and Nuristan. Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10, ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries. Demographics The population of Afghanistan was estimated at 32.9 million as of 2019 by the Afghanistan Statistics and Information Authority, whereas the UN estimates over 38.0 million. In 1979 the total population was reported to be about 15.5 million. About 23.9% of them are urbanite, 71.4% live in rural areas, and the remaining 4.7% are nomadic. An additional 3 million or so Afghans are temporarily housed in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, most of whom were born and raised in those two countries. As of 2013, Afghanistan was the largest refugee-producing country in the world, a title held for 32 years. The current population growth rate is 2.37%, one of the highest in the world outside of Africa. This population is expected to reach 82 million by 2050 if current population trends continue. The population of Afghanistan increased steadily until the 1980s, when civil war caused millions to flee to other countries such as Pakistan. Millions have since returned and the war conditions contribute to the country having the highest fertility rate outside Africa. Afghanistan's healthcare has recovered since the turn of the century, causing falls in infant mortality and increases in life expectancy, although it has the lowest life expectance of any country outside Africa. This (along with other factors such as returning refugees) caused rapid population growth in the 2000s that has only recently started to slow down. The Gini coefficient in 2008 was 27.8. Ethnicity and languages Afghans are divided into several ethnolinguistic groups. According to research data by several institutions in 2019, the Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group, comprising 42%, followed by Tajiks, comprising 27% of the country's population. The other two major ethnic groups are the Hazaras and Uzbeks, each at 9%. A further 10 other ethnic groups are recognized and each are represented in the Afghan National Anthem. Dari and Pashto are the official languages of Afghanistan; bilingualism is very common. Dari, which is also referred to as Eastern Persian as it is a variety of and mutually intelligible with Persian (and very often called 'Farsi' by some Afghans like in Iran), functions as the lingua franca in Kabul as well as in much of the northern and northwestern parts of the country. Native speakers of Dari, of any ethnicity, are sometimes called Farsiwans. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, although many of them are also fluent in Dari while some non-Pashtuns are fluent in Pashto. Despite the Pashtuns having been dominant in Afghan politics for centuries, Dari remained the preferred language for government and bureaucracy. According to CIA World Factbook, Dari Persian is spoken by 78% (L1 + L2) and functions as the lingua franca, while Pashto is spoken by 50%, Uzbek 10%, English 5%, Turkmen 2%, Urdu 2%, Pashayi 1%, Nuristani 1%, Arabic 1%, and Balochi 1% (2021 est). Data represent the most widely spoken languages; shares sum to more than 100% because there is much bilingualism in the country and because respondents were allowed to select more than one language. There are a number of smaller regional languages, including Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Pashayi, and Nuristani. When it comes to foreign languages among the populace, many are able to speak or understand Hindustani (Urdu-Hindi), partly due to returning Afghan refugees from Pakistan and the popularity of Bollywood films respectively. English is also understood by some of the population, and has been gaining popularity as of the 2000s. Some Afghans retain some ability in Russian, which was taught in public schools during the 1980s. Religion The CIA estimated in 2009 that 99.7% of the Afghan population was Muslim and most are thought to adhere to the Sunni Hanafi school. According to Pew Research Center, as much as 90% are of the Sunni denomination, 7% Shia and 3% non-denominational. The CIA Factbook variously estimates up to 89.7% Sunni or up to 15% Shia. Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are also found in certain major cities (namely Kabul, Jalalabad, Ghazni, Kandahar) accompanied by gurdwaras and mandirs. According to Deutsche Welle in September 2021, 250 remain in the country after 67 were evacuated to India. There was a small Jewish community in Afghanistan, living mainly in Herat and Kabul. Over the years, this small community was forced to leave due to decades of warfare and religious persecution. By the end of the twentieth century, nearly the entire community had emigrated to Israel and the United States, with one known exception, Herat-born Zablon Simintov. He remained for years, being the caretaker of the only remaining Afghan synagogue. He left the country for the US after the second Taliban takeover. A woman who left shortly after him has since been identified as the likely last Jew in Afghanistan. Afghan Christians, who number 500–8,000, practice their faith secretly due to intense societal opposition, and there are no public churches. Urbanization As estimated by the CIA World Factbook, 26% of the population was urbanized as of 2020. This is one of the lowest figures in the world; in Asia it is only higher than Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Urbanization has increased rapidly, particularly in the capital Kabul, due to returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran after 2001, internally displaced people, and rural migrants. Urbanization in Afghanistan is different from typical urbanization in that it is centered on just a few cities. The only city with over a million residents is its capital, Kabul, located in the east of the country. The other large cities are located generally in the "ring" around the Central Highlands, namely Kandahar in the south, Herat in the west, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz in the north, and Jalalabad in the east. Education Education in Afghanistan is overseen by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. There are over 16,000 schools in the country and roughly 9 million students. Of this, about 60% are males and 40% females. However, the new regime has thus far forbidden female teachers and female students from returning to secondary schools. Over 174,000 students are enrolled in different universities around the country. About 21% of these are females. Former Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak had stated that construction of 8,000 schools is required for the remaining children who are deprived of formal learning. As of 2018 the literacy rate of the population age 15 and older is 43.02% (males 55.48% and females 29.81%). The top universities in Afghanistan are the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) followed by Kabul University (KU), both of which are located in Kabul. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, modeled after the United States Military Academy at West Point, was a four-year military development institution dedicated to graduating officers for the Afghan Armed Forces. The Afghan Defense University was constructed near Qargha in Kabul. Major universities outside of Kabul include Kandahar University in the south, Herat University in the northwest, Balkh University and Kunduz University in the north, Nangarhar University and Khost University in the east. After the Taliban regained power in 2021, it became unclear to what extent female education would continue in the country. In March 2022, after they had been closed for some time, it was announced that secondary education would be reopened shortly. However, shortly before reopening, the order was rescinded and schools for older girls remained closed. Despite the ban, six provinces, Balkh, Kunduz, Jowzjan, Sar-I-Pul, Faryab, and the Day Kundi, still allow girl's schools from grade 6 and up. Health According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the 15th least developed country in the world. The average life expectancy is estimated to be around 60 years. The country's maternal mortality rate is 396 deaths/100,000 live births and its infant mortality rate is 66 to 112.8 deaths in every 1,000 live births. The Ministry of Public Health plans to cut the infant mortality rate to 400 for every 100,000 live births before 2020. The country has more than 3,000 midwives, with an additional 300 to 400 being trained each year. There are over 100 hospitals in Afghanistan, with the most advanced treatments being available in Kabul. The French Medical Institute for Children and Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul are the leading children's hospitals in the country. Some of the other leading hospitals in Kabul include the Jamhuriat Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. In spite of all this, many Afghans travel to Pakistan and India for advanced treatment. It was reported in 2006 that nearly 60% of the Afghan population lives within a two-hour walk of the nearest health facility. The disability rate is also high in Afghanistan due to the decades of war. It was reported recently that about 80,000 people are missing limbs. Non-governmental charities such as Save the Children and Mahboba's Promise assist orphans in association with governmental structures. Governance Following the effective collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during the 2021 Taliban offensive, the Taliban declared the country an Islamic Emirate. A new caretaker government was announced on 7 September. , no other country had formally recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as the de jure government of Afghanistan. A traditional instrument of governance in Afghanistan is the loya jirga (grand assembly), a Pashtun consultative meeting that was mainly organized for choosing a new head of state, adopting a new constitution, or to settle national or regional issue such as war. Loya jirgas have been held since at least 1747, with the most recent one occurring in August 2020. Development of Taliban government On 17 August 2021, the leader of the Taliban-affiliated Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, met with both Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, and Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former Chief Executive, in Doha, Qatar, with the aim of forming a national unity government. President Ashraf Ghani, having fled the country during the Taliban advance to either Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, emerged in the United Arab Emirates and said that he supported such negotiations and was in talks to return to Afghanistan. Many figures within the Taliban generally agreed that continuation of the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan may, if correctly applied, be workable as the basis for the new religious state as their objections to the former government were political, and not religious. Hours after the final flight of American troops left Kabul on 30 August, a Taliban official interviewed said that a new government would likely be announced as early as Friday 3 September after Jumu'ah. It was added that Hibatullah Akhundzada would be officially named Emir, with cabinet ministers being revealed at the Arg in an official ceremony. Abdul Ghani Baradar would be named head of government as Prime Minister, while other important positions would go to Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob. Beneath the supreme leader, day-to-day governance will be entrusted to the cabinet. In a report by CNN-News18, sources said the new government was going to be governed similarly to Iran with Haibatullah Akhundzada as supreme leader similar to the role of Saayid Ali Khamenei, and would be based out of Kandahar. Baradar or Yaqoob would be head of government as Prime Minister. The government's ministries and agencies will be under a cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister. The Supreme Leader would preside over an executive body known Supreme Council with anywhere from 11 to 72 members. Abdul Hakim Haqqani is likely to be promoted to Chief Justice. According to the report, the new government will take place within the framework of an amended 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan. Government formation was delayed due to concerns about forming a broad-based government acceptable to the international community. It was later added however that the Taliban's Rahbari Shura, the group's leadership council was divided between the hardline Haqqani Network and moderate Abdul Ghani Baradar over appointments needed to form an "inclusive" government. This culminated in a skirmish which led to Baradar being injured and treated in Pakistan. As of early September 2021, the Taliban were planning the Cabinet to be men-only. Journalists and other human rights activists, mostly women, protested in Herat and Kabul, calling for women to be included. The acting Cabinet announced on 7 September was men-only, and the Ministry of Women's Affairs appeared to have been abolished. Administrative divisions Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces (wilayat). Each province has a governor and a capital. The country is further divided into nearly 400 provincial districts, each of which normally covers a city or several villages. Each district is represented by a district governor. The provincial governors are now appointed by the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, and the district governors are selected by the provincial governors. The provincial governors are representatives of the central government in Kabul and are responsible for all administrative and formal issues within their provinces. There are also provincial councils that are elected through direct and general elections for four years. The functions of provincial councils are to take part in provincial development planning and to participate in the monitoring and appraisal of other provincial governance institutions. According to article 140 of the constitution and the presidential decree on electoral law, mayors of cities should be elected through free and direct elections for a four-year term. In practice however, mayors are appointed by the government. The 34 provinces in alphabetical order are: Badakhshan Badghis Baghlan Balkh Bamyan Daykundi Farah Faryab Ghazni Ghor Helmand Herat Jowzjan Kabul Kandahar Kapisa Khost Kunar Kunduz Laghman Logar Nangarhar Nimruz Nuristan Oruzgan Paktia Paktika Panjshir Parwan Samangan Sar-e Pol Takhar Wardak Zabul Foreign relations Afghanistan became a member of the United Nations in 1946. Historically, Afghanistan had strong relations with Germany, one of the first countries to recognize Afghanistan's independence in 1919; the Soviet Union, which provided much aid and military training for Afghanistan's forces and includes the signing of a Treaty of Friendship in 1921 and 1978; and India, with which a friendship treaty was signed in 1950. Relations with Pakistan have often been tense for various reasons such as the Durand Line border issue and alleged Pakistani involvement in Afghan insurgent groups. The present Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is currently internationally unrecognized, but has had notable unofficial ties with China, Pakistan, and Qatar. Under the previous Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, it enjoyed cordial relations with a number of NATO and allied nations, particularly the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Turkey. In 2012, the United States and the then-republic in Afghanistan signed their Strategic Partnership Agreement in which Afghanistan became a major non-NATO ally. Such qualification was rescinded by US President Joe Biden in July 2022. Military The Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan captured a large amount of weapons, hardware, vehicles, aerocrafts, and equipment from the Afghan National Security Forces following the 2021 Taliban offensive and the Fall of Kabul. The total value of the captured equipment has been estimated at US$83 billion. Human rights Homosexuality is taboo in Afghan society; according to the Penal Code, homosexual intimacy is punished by up to a year in prison. Under Sharia law offenders can be punished by death. However an ancient tradition involving male homosexual acts between children and older men (typically wealthy warlords or elite people) called bacha bazi persists. Religious minorities such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians have reportedly faced persecution. Since May 2022, all women in Afghanistan have been required by law to wear full-body coverings when in public (either a burqa or an abaya paired with a niqāb, which leaves only the eyes uncovered). First Deputy Leader Sirajuddin Haqqani claimed the decree is only advisory and no form of hijab is compulsory in Afghanistan, though this contradicts the reality. It has been speculated that there is a genuine internal policy division over women's rights between hardliners, including leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, and pragmatists, though they publicly present a united front. Another decree was issued shortly after the first, requiring female TV presenters to cover their faces during broadcasts. Since the Taliban takeover, suicides among women have become more common, and the country could now be one of the few where the rate of suicide among women surpasses that among men. In May 2022, the Taliban dissolved Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission along with four other government departments, citing the country's budget deficit. Economy Afghanistan's nominal GDP was $20.1 billion in 2020, or $81 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). Its GDP per capita is $2,459 (PPP) and $611 by nominal. Despite having $1 trillion or more in mineral deposits, it remains one of the world's least developed countries. Afghanistan's rough physical geography and its landlocked status has been cited as reasons why the country has always been among the least developed in the modern era – a factor where progress is also slowed by contemporary conflict and political instability. The country imports over $7 billion worth of goods but exports only $784 million, mainly fruits and nuts. It has $2.8 billion in external debt. The service sector contributed the most to the GDP (55.9%) followed by agriculture (23%) and industry (21.1%). Da Afghanistan Bank serves as the central bank of the nation and the Afghani (AFN) is the national currency, with an exchange rate of about 75 Afghanis to 1 US dollar. A number of local and foreign banks operate in the country, including the Afghanistan International Bank, New Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Pashtany Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and the First Micro Finance Bank. One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 5 million expatriates, who brought with them entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. Many Afghans are now involved in construction, which is one of the largest industries in the country. Some of the major national construction projects include the $35 billion New Kabul City next to the capital, the Aino Mena project in Kandahar, and the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Town near Jalalabad. Similar development projects have also begun in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and other cities. An estimated 400,000 people enter the labor market each year. Several small companies and factories began operating in different parts of the country, which not only provide revenues to the government but also create new jobs. Improvements to the business environment have resulted in more than $1.5 billion in telecom investment and created more than 100,000 jobs since 2003. Afghan rugs are becoming popular again, allowing many carpet dealers around the country to hire more workers; in 2016–17 it was the fourth most exported group of items. Afghanistan is a member of WTO, SAARC, ECO, and OIC. It holds an observer status in SCO. In 2018, a majority of imports come from either Iran, China, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, while 84% of exports are to Pakistan and India. Since the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021, the United States has frozen about $9 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in US bank accounts. The GDP of Afghanistan is estimated to have dropped by 20% following the Taliban return to power. Following this, after months of free-fall, the Afghan economy began stabilizing, as a result of the Taliban's restrictions on smuggled imports, limits on banking transactions, and U.N aid. In 2023, the Afghan economy began seeing signs of revival. This has also been followed by stable exchange rates, low inflation, stable revenue collection, and the rise of trade in exports. In the third quarter of 2023, the Afghani rose to be the best performing currency in the world, climbing over 9% against the US dollar. Agriculture Agricultural production is the backbone of Afghanistan's economy and has traditionally dominated the economy, employing about 40% of the workforce as of 2018. The country is known for producing pomegranates, grapes, apricots, melons, and several other fresh and dry fruits. It is the world's largest producer of opium – as much as 16% or more of the nation's economy is derived from the cultivation and sale of opium. It is also one of the world's top producers of cannabis. Saffron, the most expensive spice, grows in Afghanistan, particularly Herat Province. In recent years, there has been an uptick in saffron production, which authorities and farmers trying to replace poppy cultivation. Between 2012 and 2019, the saffron cultivated and produced in Afghanistan was consecutively ranked the world's best by the International Taste and Quality Institute. Production hit record high in 2019 (19,469 kg of saffron), and one kilogram is sold domestically between $634 and $1147. The availability of cheap diesel-powered water pumps imported from China and Pakistan, and in the 2010s, of cheap solar power to pump water, resulted in expansion of agriculture and population in the southwestern deserts of Afghanistan in Kandahar Province, Helmand Province and Nimruz Province in the 2010s. Wells have gradually been deepened, but water resources are limited. Opium is the major crop, but as of 2022, was under attack by the new Taliban government which, in order to suppress opium production, was systematically suppressing water pumping. In a 2023 report, poppy cultivation in southern Afghanistan was reduced by over 80% as a result of Taliban campaigns to stop its use toward opium. This included a 99% reduction of opium growth in the Helmand Province. Mining The country's natural resources include: coal, copper, iron ore, lithium, uranium, rare earth elements, chromite, gold, zinc, talc, barite, sulfur, lead, marble, precious and semi-precious stones, natural gas, and petroleum. In 2010, US and Afghan government officials estimated that untapped mineral deposits located in 2007 by the US Geological Survey are worth at least . Michael E. O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution estimated that if Afghanistan generates about $10 billion per year from its mineral deposits, its gross national product would double and provide long-term funding for critical needs. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated in 2006 that northern Afghanistan has an average of crude oil, of natural gas, and of natural gas liquids. In 2011, Afghanistan signed an oil exploration contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for the development of three oil fields along the Amu Darya river in the north. The country has significant amounts of lithium, copper, gold, coal, iron ore, and other minerals. The Khanashin carbonatite in Helmand Province contains of rare earth elements. In 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the Aynak copper mine to the China Metallurgical Group for $3 billion, making it the biggest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan's history. The state-run Steel Authority of India won the mining rights to develop the huge Hajigak iron ore deposit in central Afghanistan. Government officials estimate that 30% of the country's untapped mineral deposits are worth at least . One official asserted that "this will become the backbone of the Afghan economy" and a Pentagon memo stated that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium". The lithium reserves of 21 Mio. tons could amount to the ones of Bolivia, which is currently viewed as the country with the largest lithium reserves. Other larger deposits are the ones of bauxite and cobalt. Access to biocapacity in Afghanistan is lower than world average. In 2016, Afghanistan had 0.43 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Afghanistan used 0.73 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use just under double as much biocapacity as Afghanistan contains. As a result, Afghanistan is running a biocapacity deficit. Infrastructure Energy According to the World Bank, 98% of the rural population have access to electricity in 2018, up from 28% in 2008. Overall the figure stands at 98.7%. As of 2016, Afghanistan produces 1,400 megawatts of power, but still imports the majority of electricity via transmission lines from Iran and the Central Asian states. The majority of electricity production is via hydropower, helped by the amount of rivers and streams that flow from the mountains. However electricity is not always reliable and blackouts happen, including in Kabul. In recent years an increasing number of solar, biomass and wind power plants have been constructed. Currently under development are the CASA-1000 project which will transmit electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Power is managed by the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS, Afghanistan Electricity Company). Important dams include the Kajaki Dam, Dahla Dam, and the Sardeh Band Dam. Tourism Tourism is a small industry in Afghanistan due to security issues. Nevertheless, some 20,000 foreign tourists visit the country annually as of 2016. In particular an important region for domestic and international tourism is the picturesque Bamyan Valley, which includes lakes, canyons and historical sites, helped by the fact it is in a safe area away from insurgent activity. Smaller numbers visit and trek in regions such as the Wakhan Valley, which is also one of the world's most remote communities. From the late 1960s onwards, Afghanistan was a popular stop on the famous hippie trail, attracting many Europeans and Americans. Coming from Iran, the trail traveled through various Afghan provinces and cities including Herat, Kandahar and Kabul before crossing to northern Pakistan, northern India, and Nepal. Tourism peaked in 1977, the year before the start of political instability and armed conflict. The city of Ghazni has significant history and historical sites, and together with Bamyan city have in recent years been voted Islamic Cultural Capital and South Asia Cultural Capital respectively. The cities of Herat, Kandahar, Balkh, and Zaranj are also very historic. The Minaret of Jam in the Hari River valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A cloak reputedly worn by Islam's prophet Muhammad is kept in the Shrine of the Cloak in Kandahar, a city founded by Alexander the Great and the first capital of Afghanistan. The citadel of Alexander in the western city of Herat has been renovated in recent years and is a popular attraction. In the north of the country is the Shrine of Ali, believed by many to be the location where Ali was buried. The National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul hosts a large number of Buddhist, Bactrian Greek and early Islamic antiquities; the museum suffered greatly by civil war but has been slowly restoring since the early 2000s. Communication Telecommunication services in Afghanistan are provided by Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, and Roshan. The country uses its own space satellite called Afghansat 1, which provides services to millions of phone, internet, and television subscribers. By 2001 following years of civil war, telecommunications was virtually a non-existent sector, but by 2016 it had grown to a $2 billion industry, with 22 million mobile phone subscribers and 5 million internet users. The sector employs at least 120,000 people nationwide. Transportation Due to Afghanistan's geography, transport between various parts of the country has historically been difficult. The backbone of Afghanistan's road network is Highway 1, often called the "Ring Road", which extends for and connects five major cities: Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, with spurs to Kunduz and Jalalabad and various border crossings, while skirting around the mountains of the Hindu Kush. The Ring Road is crucially important for domestic and international trade and the economy. A key portion of the Ring Road is the Salang Tunnel, completed in 1964, which facilitates travel through the Hindu Kush mountain range and connects northern and southern Afghanistan. It is the only land route that connects Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Several mountain passes allow travel between the Hindu Kush in other areas. Serious traffic accidents are common on Afghan roads and highways, particularly on the Kabul–Kandahar and the Kabul–Jalalabad Road. Traveling by bus in Afghanistan remains dangerous due to militant activities. Air transport in Afghanistan is provided by the national carrier, Ariana Afghan Airlines, and by the private company Kam Air. Airlines from a number of countries also provide flights in and out of the country. These include Air India, Emirates, Gulf Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. The country has four international airports: Hamid Karzai International Airport (formerly Kabul International Airport), Kandahar International Airport, Herat International Airport, and Mazar-e Sharif International Airport. Including domestic airports, there are 43. Bagram Air Base is a major military airfield. The country has three rail links: one, a line from Mazar-i-Sharif to the Uzbekistan border; a long line from Toraghundi to the Turkmenistan border (where it continues as part of Turkmen Railways); and a short link from Aqina across the Turkmen border to Kerki, which is planned to be extended further across Afghanistan. These lines are used for freight only and there is no passenger service. A rail line between Khaf, Iran and Herat, western Afghanistan, intended for both freight and passengers, is under construction as of 2019. About of the line will lie on the Afghan side. Private vehicle ownership has increased substantially since the early 2000s. Taxis are yellow and consist of both cars and auto rickshaws. In rural Afghanistan, villagers often use donkeys, mules or horses to transport or carry goods. Camels are primarily used by the Kochi nomads. Bicycles are popular throughout Afghanistan. Culture Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between the regions of Afghanistan, each with distinctive cultures partly as a result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Family is the mainstay of Afghan society and families are often headed by a patriarch. In the southern and eastern region, the people live according to the Pashtun culture by following Pashtunwali (the Pashtun way). Key tenets of Pashtunwali include hospitality, the provision of sanctuary to those seeking refuge, and revenge for the shedding of blood. The Pashtuns are largely connected to the culture of Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau. The remaining Afghans are culturally Persian and Turkic. Some non-Pashtuns who live in proximity with Pashtuns have adopted Pashtunwali in a process called Pashtunization, while some Pashtuns have been Persianized. Those who have lived in Pakistan and Iran over the last 30 years have been further influenced by the cultures of those neighboring nations. The Afghan people are known to be strongly religious. Afghans, particularly Pashtuns, are noted for their tribal solidarity and high regard for personal honor. There are various Afghan tribes, and an estimated 2–3 million nomads. Afghan culture is deeply Islamic, but pre-Islamic practices persist. One example is bacha bazi, a term for activities involving sexual relations between older men and adolescents or boys. Child marriage is prevalent; the legal age for marriage is 16. The most preferred marriage in Afghan society is to one's parallel cousin, and the groom is often expected to pay a bride price. In the villages, families typically occupy mudbrick houses, or compounds with mudbrick or stone walled houses. Villages typically have a headman (malik), a master for water distribution (mirab) and a religious teacher (mullah). Men would typically work on the fields, joined by women during harvest. About 15% of the population are nomadic, locally called kochis. When nomads pass villages they often buy supplies such as tea, wheat and kerosene from the villagers; villagers buy wool and milk from the nomads. Afghan clothing for both men and women typically consists of various forms of shalwar kameez, especially perahan tunban and khet partug. Women would normally wear a chador for head covering; some women, typically from highly conservative communities, wear the burqa, a full body covering. These were worn by some women of the Pashtun community well before Islam came to the region, but the Taliban enforced this dress on women when they were in power. Another popular dress is the chapan which acts as a coat. The karakul is a hat made from the fur of a specific regional breed of sheep. It was favored by former kings of Afghanistan and became known to much of the world in the 21st century when it was constantly worn by President Hamid Karzai. The pakol is another traditional hat originating from the far east of the country; it was popularly worn by the guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The Mazari hat originates from northern Afghanistan. Architecture The nation has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. Afghanistan contains many remnants from all ages, including Greek and Buddhist stupas, monasteries, monuments, temples and Islamic minarets. Among the most well known are the Great Mosque of Herat, the Blue Mosque, the Minaret of Jam, the Chil Zena, the Qala-i Bost in Lashkargah, the ancient Greek city of Ai-Khanoum. However, many of its historic monuments have been damaged in modern times due to the civil wars. The two famous Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. As there was no colonialism in the modern era in Afghanistan, European-style architecture is rare but does exist: the Victory Arch at Paghman and the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul were built in this style in the 1920s. Afghan architecture also ranges deep into India such as the Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan Emperor of India. Art and ceramics Carpet weaving is an ancient practice in Afghanistan, and many of these are still handmade by tribal and nomadic people today. Carpets have been produced in the region for thousands of years and traditionally done by women. Some crafters express their feelings through the designs of rugs; for example after the outbreak of the Soviet–Afghan War, "war rugs", a variant of Afghan rugs, were created with designs representing pain and misery caused by the conflict. Every province has its own specific characteristics in making rugs. In some of the Turkic-populated areas in the north-west, bride and wedding ceremony prices are driven by the bride's weaving skills. Pottery has been crafted in Afghanistan for millennia. The village of Istalif, north of Kabul, is in particular a major center, known for its unique turquoise and green pottery, and their methods of crafting have remained the same for centuries. Much of lapis lazuli stones were earthed in modern-day Afghanistan which were used in Chinese porcelain as cobalt blue, later used in ancient Mesopotamia and Turkey. The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art, with the world's earliest known usage of oil painting found in cave murals in the country. A notable art style that developed in Afghanistan and eastern Pakistan is Gandhara Art, produced by a fusion of Greco-Roman art and Buddhist art between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. Later eras saw increased use of the Persian miniature style, with Kamaleddin Behzad of Herat being one of the most notable miniature artists of the Timurid and early Safavid periods. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Abdul Ghafoor Breshna was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century. Media and entertainment Afghanistan has around 350 radio stations and over 200 television stations. Radio Television Afghanistan, originating from 1925, is the state public broadcaster. Television programs began airing in the 1970s and today there are many private television channels such as TOLO and Shamshad TV. The first Afghan newspaper was published in 1873, and there are hundreds of print outlets today. By the 1920s, Radio Kabul was broadcasting local radio services. Voice of America, BBC, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcast in both of Afghanistan's official languages on radio. Press restrictions have been gradually relaxed and private media diversified since 2002, after more than two decades of tight controls. Afghans have long been accustomed to watching Indian Bollywood films and listening to its filmi songs. It has been claimed that Afghanistan is among the biggest markets for the Hindi film industry. The stereotypes of Afghans in India (Kabuliwala or Pathani) have also been represented in some Bollywood films by actors. Many Bollywood film stars have roots in Afghanistan, including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Feroz Khan, Kader Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Zarine Khan, Celina Jaitly, and a number of others. Several Bollywood films have been shot inside Afghanistan, including Dharmatma, Khuda Gawah, Escape from Taliban, and Kabul Express. Music Afghan classical music has close historical links with Indian classical music and use the same Hindustani terminology and theories like raga. Genres of this style of music include ghazal (poetic music) and instruments such as the Indian tabla, sitar and harmonium, and local instruments like zerbaghali, as well as dayereh and tanbur which are also known in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. The rubab is the country's national instrument and precurses the Indian sarod instrument. Some of the famous artists of classical music include Ustad Sarahang and Sarban. Pop music developed in the 1950s through Radio Kabul and was influential in social change. During this time female artists also started appearing, at first Mermon Parwin. Perhaps the most famous artist of this genre was Ahmad Zahir, who synthesized many genres and continues to be renowned for his voice and rich lyrics long after his death in 1979. Other notable masters of traditional or popular Afghan music include Nashenas, Ubaidullah Jan, Mahwash, Ahmad Wali, Farhad Darya, and Naghma. Attan is the national dance of Afghanistan, a group dance popularly performed by Afghans of all backgrounds. The dance is considered part of Afghan identity. Cuisine Afghan cuisine is largely based upon the nation's chief crops, such as wheat, maize, barley and rice. Accompanying these staples are native fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and whey. Kabuli palaw is the national dish of Afghanistan. The nation's culinary specialties reflect its ethnic and geographic diversity. Afghanistan is known for its high-quality pomegranates, grapes, and sweet melons. Tea is a favorite drink among Afghans. A typical Afghan diet consists of naan, yogurt, rice, and meat. Literature Classic Persian and Pashto poetry are a cherished part of Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. One of the poetic styles is called landay. A popular theme in Afghan folklore and mythology are Divs, monstrous creatures. Thursdays are traditionally "poetry night" in the city of Herat when men, women and children gather and recite both ancient and modern poems. Three mystical authors are considered true national glories (although claimed with equal ardor by Iran), namely: Khwaja Abdullah Ansari of Herat, a great mystic and Sufi saint in the 11th century, Sanai of Ghazni, author of mystical poems in the 12th century, and, finally, Rumi of Balkh, in the 13th century, considered the greatest mystical poet of the Muslim world. The Afghan Pashto literature, although quantitatively remarkable and in great growth in the last century, has always had an essentially local meaning and importance, feeling the influence of both Persian literature and the contiguous literatures of India. Both main literatures, from the second half of the nineteenth century, have shown themselves to be sensitive to genres, movements and stylistic features imported from Europe. Khushal Khan Khattak of the 17th century is considered the national poet. Other notable poets include Rabi'a Balkhi, Jami, Rahman Baba, Khalilullah Khalili, and Parween Pazhwak. Holidays and festivals Afghanistan's official New Year starts with Nowruz, an ancient tradition that started as a Zoroastrian celebration in present-day Iran, and with which it shares the annual celebration along with several other countries. It occurs every year at the vernal equinox. In Afghanistan, Nowruz is typically celebrated with music and dance, as well as holding buzkashi tournaments. Yaldā, another nationally celebrated ancient tradition, commemorates the ancient goddess Mithra and marks the longest night of the year on the eve of the winter solstice (; usually falling on 20 or 21 December), during which families gather together to recite poetry and eat fruit. As a predominantly Muslim country, Islamic events and festivals such as Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Ashura are widely celebrated annually in Afghanistan. The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is celebrated by the Sikh community and the Hindu festival Diwali by the Hindu community. National Independence Day is celebrated on 19 August to mark the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and the country's full independence. Several international celebrations are also officially held in Afghanistan, such as International Workers' Day and International Women's Day. Some regional festivals include the Pamir Festival, which celebrates the culture of the Wakhi and Kyrgyz peoples, the Red Flower Festival (during Nowruz) in Mazar-i-Sharif and the Damboora Festival in Bamyan Province. Sports Sport in Afghanistan is managed by the Afghan Sports Federation. Cricket and association football are the two most popular sports in the country. The Afghan Sports Federation promotes cricket, association football, basketball, volleyball, golf, handball, boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting, bodybuilding, track and field, skating, bowling, snooker, chess, and other sports. The Afghanistan national basketball team won the first team sports title at the 2010 South Asian Games. In 2012, the country's 3x3 basketball team won the gold medal at the 2012 Asian Beach Games. In 2013, Afghanistan's football team followed as it won the SAFF Championship. The Afghan national cricket team, which was formed in 2001, won the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup. It won the ACC Twenty20 Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. The team played in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 Cricket World Cups. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the official governing body of the sport and is headquartered in Kabul. The Alokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground serves as the nation's main cricket stadium. There are several other stadiums throughout the country, including the Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium near Jalalabad. Domestically, cricket is played between teams from different provinces. The Afghanistan national football team has been competing in international football since 1941. The national team plays its home games at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, while football in Afghanistan is governed by the Afghanistan Football Federation. The national team has never competed or qualified for the FIFA World Cup but won an international football trophy in 2013. The country also has a national team in the sport of futsal, a 5-a-side variation of football. The traditional and the national sport of Afghanistan is buzkashi, particularly popular in the north. It is similar to polo, played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. The Afghan Hound (a type of running dog) originated in Afghanistan and was used in wolf hunting. See also Outline of Afghanistan Explanatory notes References Citations General and cited sources Further reading External links Afghanistan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Research Guide to Afghanistan 1709 establishments in Asia Central Asian countries Countries in Asia Emirates Iranian Plateau Islamic states Landlocked countries Least developed countries Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Member states of the United Nations Pashto-speaking countries and territories Countries and territories where Persian is an official language South Asian countries States and territories established in 1709 States and territories established in 1747 Theocracies Totalitarian states

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania

Albania

Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. The country is located in the Balkans on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Spanning an area of , it displays a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. The country's landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains, to fertile lowland plains extending from the coasts of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. In ancient times, the Illyrians inhabited northern and central regions of Albania, whilst Epirotes inhabited the south. Several important ancient Greek colonies were also established on the coast. In the 2nd century BCE, the region was annexed by the Roman Republic, and after the division of the Roman Empire it became part of Byzantium. The first known Albanian autonomous principality – Arbanon – was established in the 12th century. The Kingdom of Albania, Principality of Albania and Albania Veneta were formed between the 13th and 15th centuries in different parts of the country, alongside other Albanian principalities and political entities. In the late 15th century, Albania became part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, when the modern Albanian state declared independence. In 1939, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy, which became Greater Albania, and then a protectorate of Nazi Germany during World War II. Following the war, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania was formed, which lasted until the Revolutions of 1991 concluded with the fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania. Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. It is a developing country, ranking 67th in the Human Development Index, with an upper-middle income economy dominated by the service sector, followed by manufacturing. It went through a process of transition following the end of communism in 1990, from centralised planning to a market-based economy. Albania provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, NATO, WTO, COE, OSCE, and OIC. It has been an official candidate for membership in the European Union since 2014. It is one of the founding members of the Energy Community, including the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean. Name The historical origins of the term "Albania" can be traced back to medieval Latin, with its foundations believed to be associated with the Illyrian tribe of the Albani. This connection gains further support from the work of the Ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy during the 2nd century AD, where he included the settlement of Albanopolis situated to the northeast of Durrës. The presence of a medieval settlement named Albanon or Arbanon hints at the possibility of historical continuity. However, the precise relationship between these historical references and the question of whether Albanopolis was synonymous with Albanon remains a subject of scholarly debate. The Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates, in his 11th century historical account, provides the earliest undisputed reference to the Albanians, when he mentions them having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1079. Additionally, he identified the Arbanitai as subjects under the governance of the Duke of Dyrrachium. In the Middle Ages, Albania was denoted as or by its inhabitants, who identified themselves as or . Albanians employ the terms or when referring to their nation, designations that trace their historical origins to the 14th century. However, it was not until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that these terms gradually superseded and among the Albanians. These two expressions are widely interpreted to symbolise "Children of the Eagles" and "Land of the Eagles". History Prehistory Mesolithic habitation in Albania has been evidenced in several open air sites which during that period were close to the Adriatic coastline and in cave sites. Mesolithic objects found in a cave near Xarrë include flint and jasper objects along with fossilised animal bones, while those discoveries at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of the Aurignacian culture. The Neolithic era in Albania began around 7000 BCE and is evidenced in finds which indicate domestication of sheep and goats and small-scale agriculture. A part of the Neolithic population may have been the same as the Mesolithic population of the southern Balkans like in the Konispol cave where the Mesolithic stratum co-exists with Pre-Pottery Neolithic finds. Cardium pottery culture appears in coastal Albania and across the Adriatic after 6500 BCE, while the settlements of the interior took part in the processes which formed Starčevo culture. The Indo-Europeanization of Albania in the context of the IE-ization of the western Balkans began after 2800 BCE. The presence of the Early Bronze Age tumuli in the vicinity of later Apollonia dates to 2679±174 calBCE (2852-2505 calBCE). These burial mounds belong to the southern expression of the Adriatic-Ljubljana culture (related to later Cetina culture) which moved southwards along the Adriatic from the northern Balkans. The same community built similar mounds in Montenegro (Rakića Kuće) and northern Albania (Shtoj). The first archaeogenetic find related to the IE-ization of Albania involves a man with predominantly Yamnaya ancestry buried in a tumulus of northeastern Albania which dates to 2663–2472 calBCE. During the Middle Bronze Age, Cetina culture sites and finds appear in Albania. Cetina culture moved southwards across the Adriatic from the Cetina valley of Dalmatia. In Albania, Cetina finds are concentrated around southern Lake Shkodër and appear typically in tumulus cemeteries like in Shkrel and Shtoj and hillforts like Gajtan (Shkodër) as well as cave sites like Blaz, Nezir and Keputa (central Albania) and lake basin sites like Sovjan (southeastern Albania). Antiquity The incorporated territory of Albania was historically inhabited by Indo-European peoples, amongst them numerous Illyrian and Epirote tribes. There were also several Greek colonies. The territory referred to as Illyria corresponded roughly to the area east of the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean Sea extending in the south to the mouth of the Vjosë. The first account of the Illyrian groups comes from Periplus of the Euxine Sea, a Greek text written in the 4th century BC. The Bryges were also present in central Albania, while the south was inhabited by the Epirote Chaonians, whose capital was at Phoenice. Other colonies such as Apollonia and Epidamnos were established by Greek city-states on the coast by the 7th century BC. The Illyrian Taulanti were a powerful Illyrian tribe that were among the earliest recorded tribes in the area. They lived in a area that corresponds much of present-day Albania. Together with the Dardanian ruler Cleitus, Glaucias, the ruler of the Taulantian kingdom, fought against Alexander the Great at the Battle of Pelium in 335 BC. As the time passed, the ruler of Ancient Macedonia, Cassander of Macedon captured Apollonia and crossed the river Genusus () in 314 BC. A few years later Glaucias laid siege to Apollonia and captured the Greek colony of Epidamnos. The Illyrian Ardiaei tribe, centred in Montenegro, ruled over most of the territory of northern Albania. Their Ardiaean Kingdom reached its greatest extent under King Agron, the son of Pleuratus II. Agron extended his rule over other neighbouring tribes as well. Following Agron's death in 230 BC, his wife, Teuta, inherited the Ardiaean kingdom. Teuta's forces extended their operations further southwards to the Ionian Sea. In 229 BC, Rome declared war on the kingdom for extensively plundering Roman ships. The war ended in Illyrian defeat in 227 BC. Teuta was eventually succeeded by Gentius in 181 BC. Gentius clashed with the Romans in 168 BC, initiating the Third Illyrian War. The conflict resulted in Roman conquest of the region by 167 BC. The Romans split the region into three administrative divisions. Middle Ages The Roman Empire was split in 395 upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire in part because of the increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions. From the 6th century into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and largely absorbed the indigenous Greeks, Illyrians and Thracians in the Balkans; thus, the Illyrians were mentioned for the last time in historical records in the 7th century. In the 11th century, the Great Schism formalised the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Church that is reflected in Albania through the emergence of a Catholic north and Orthodox south. The Albanian people inhabited the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of River Shkumbin and established the Principality of Arbanon in 1190 under the leadership of Progon of Kruja. The realm was succeeded by his sons Gjin and Dhimitri. Upon the death of Dhimiter, the territory came under the rule of the Albanian-Greek Gregory Kamonas and subsequently under the Golem of Kruja. In the 13th century, the principality was dissolved. Arbanon is considered to be the first sketch of an Albanian state, that retained a semi-autonomous status as the western extremity of the Byzantine Empire, under the Byzantine Doukai of Epirus or Laskarids of Nicaea. Towards the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, Serbs and Venetians started to take possession over the territory. The ethnogenesis of the Albanians is uncertain; however, the first undisputed mention of Albanians dates back in historical records from 1079 or 1080 in a work by Michael Attaliates, who referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople. At this point the Albanians were fully Christianised. After the dissolution of Arbanon, Charles of Anjou concluded an agreement with the Albanian rulers, promising to protect them and their ancient liberties. In 1272, he established the Kingdom of Albania and conquered regions back from the Despotate of Epirus. The kingdom claimed all of central Albania territory from Dyrrhachium along the Adriatic Sea coast down to Butrint. A catholic political structure was a basis for the papal plans of spreading Catholicism in the Balkan Peninsula. This plan found also the support of Helen of Anjou, a cousin of Charles of Anjou. Around 30 Catholic churches and monasteries were built during her rule mainly in northern Albania. Internal power struggles within the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century enabled Serbs' most powerful medieval ruler, Stefan Dusan, to establish a short-lived empire that included all of Albania except Durrës. In 1367, various Albanian rulers established the Despotate of Arta. During that time, several Albanian principalities were created, notably the Principality of Albania, Principality of Kastrioti, Lordship of Berat and Principality of Dukagjini. In the first half of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire invaded most of Albania, and the League of Lezhë was held under Skanderbeg as a ruler, who became the national hero of the Albanian medieval history. Ottoman Empire With the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire continued an extended period of conquest and expansion with its borders going deep into Southeast Europe. They reached the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast in 1385 and erected their garrisons across Southern Albania in 1415 and then occupied most of Albania in 1431. Thousands of Albanians consequently fled to Western Europe, particularly to Calabria, Naples, Ragusa and Sicily, whereby others sought protection at the often inaccessible Mountains of Albania. The Albanians, as Christians, were considered an inferior class of people, and as such they were subjected to heavy taxes among others by the Devshirme system that allowed the Sultan to collect a requisite percentage of Christian adolescents from their families to compose the Janissary. The Ottoman conquest was also accompanied with the gradual process of Islamisation and the rapid construction of mosques. A prosperous and longstanding revolution erupted after the formation of the Assembly of Lezhë until the Siege of Shkodër under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, multiple times defeating major Ottoman armies led by Sultans Murad II and Mehmed II. Skanderbeg managed to gather several of the Albanian principals, amongst them the Arianitis, Dukagjinis, Zaharias and Thopias, and establish a centralised authority over most of the non-conquered territories, becoming the Lord of Albania. Skanderbeg consistently pursued the goal relentlessly but rather unsuccessfully to constitute a European coalition against the Ottomans. He thwarted every attempt by the Ottomans to regain Albania, which they envisioned as a springboard for the invasion of Western Europe. His unequal fight against them won financial and military aid from the Papacy and Naples, Venice and Ragusa. When the Ottomans were gaining a firm foothold in the region, Albanian towns were organised into four principal sanjaks. The government fostered trade by settling a sizeable Jewish colony of refugees fleeing persecution in Spain. The city of Vlorë saw passing through its ports imported merchandise from Europe such as velvets, cotton goods, mohairs, carpets, spices and leather from Bursa and Constantinople. Some citizens of Vlorë even had business associates throughout Europe. The phenomenon of Islamisation among the Albanians became primarily widespread from the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. Islam offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. However, motives for conversion were, according to some scholars, diverse depending on the context though the lack of source material does not help when investigating such issues. Because of increasing suppression of Catholicism, most Catholic Albanians converted in the 17th century, while Orthodox Albanians followed suit mainly in the following century. Since the Albanians were seen as strategically important, they made up a significant proportion of the Ottoman military and bureaucracy. Many Muslim Albanians attained important political and military positions and culturally contributed to the broader Muslim world. Enjoying this privileged position, they held various high administrative positions with over two dozen Albanian Grand Viziers. Others included members of the prominent Köprülü family, Zagan Pasha, Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Ali Pasha of Tepelena. Furthermore, two sultans, Bayezid II and Mehmed III, both had mothers of Albanian origin. Rilindja The Albanian Renaissance was a period with its roots in the late 18th century and continuing into the 19th century, during which the Albanian people gathered spiritual and intellectual strength for an independent cultural and political life within an independent nation. Modern Albanian culture flourished too, especially Albanian literature and arts, and was frequently linked to the influences of the Romanticism and Enlightenment principles. Prior to the rise of nationalism, Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or conscience by the Albanian people. The victory of Russia over the Ottoman Empire following the Russian-Ottoman Wars resulted the execution of the Treaty of San Stefano which overlooked to assign Albanian-populated lands to the Slavic and Greek neighbours. However, the United Kingdom and Austro-Hungarian Empire consequently blocked the arrangement and caused the Treaty of Berlin. From this point, Albanians started to organise themselves with the goal to protect and unite the Albanian-populated lands into a unitary nation, leading to the formation of the League of Prizren. The league had initially the assistance of the Ottoman authorities whose position was based on the religious solidarity of Muslim people and landlords connected with the Ottoman administration. They favoured and protected the Muslim solidarity and called for defence of Muslim lands simultaneously constituting the reason for titling the league Committee of the Real Muslims. Approximately 300 Muslims participated in the assembly composed by delegates from Bosnia, the administrator of the Sanjak of Prizren as representatives of the central authorities and no delegates from Vilayet of Scutari. Signed by only 47 Muslim deputies, the league issued the Kararname that contained a proclamation that the people from northern Albania, Epirus and Bosnia and Herzegovina are willing to defend the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire by all possible means against the troops of Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. Ottomans authorities cancelled their assistance when the league, under Abdyl Frashëri, became focused on working towards Albanian autonomy and requested merging four vilayets, including Kosovo, Shkodër, Monastir and Ioannina, into an unified vilayet, the Albanian Vilayet. The league used military force to prevent the annexing areas of Plav and Gusinje assigned to Montenegro. After several successful battles with Montenegrin troops, such as the Battle of Novšiće, the league was forced to retreat from their contested regions. The league was later defeated by the Ottoman army sent by the sultan. Independence Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on 28 November 1912, accompanied with the establishment of the Senate and Government by the Assembly of Vlorë on 4 December 1912. Its sovereignty was recognised by the Conference of London. On 29 July 1913, the Treaty of London delineated the borders of the country and its neighbours, leaving many Albanians outside Albania, predominantly partitioned between Montenegro, Serbia and Greece. Headquartered in Vlorë, the International Commission of Control was established on 15 October 1913 to take care of the administration of newly established Albania, until its own political institutions were in order. The International Gendarmerie was established as the first law enforcement agency of the Principality of Albania. In November, the first gendarmerie members arrived in the country. Prince of Albania Wilhelm of Wied (Princ Vilhelm Vidi) was selected as the first prince of the principality. On 7 March, he arrived in the provisional capital of Durrës and started to organise his government, appointing Turhan Pasha Përmeti to form the first Albanian cabinet. In November 1913, the Albanian pro-Ottoman forces had offered the throne of Albania to the Ottoman war Minister of Albanian origin, Ahmed Izzet Pasha. The pro-Ottoman peasants believed that the new regime was a tool of the six Christian Great Powers and local landowners, that owned half of the arable land. In February 1914, the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was proclaimed in Gjirokastër by the local Greek population against incorporation to Albania. This initiative was short-lived, and in 1921 the southern provinces were incorporated into the Albanian Principality. Meanwhile, the revolt of Albanian peasants against the new Albanian regime erupted under the leadership of the group of Muslim clerics gathered around Essad Pasha Toptani, who proclaimed himself the saviour of Albania and Islam. In order to gain support of the Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern part of Albania, Prince Wied appointed their leader, Prênk Bibë Doda, to be the foreign minister of the Principality of Albania. In May and June 1914, the International Gendarmerie was joined by Isa Boletini and his men, mostly from Kosovo, and northern Mirdita Catholics, were defeated by the rebels who captured most of Central Albania by the end of August 1914. The regime of Prince Wied collapsed, and he left the country on 3 September 1914. First Republic The interwar period in Albania was marked by persistent economic and social difficulties, political instability and foreign interventions. After World War I, Albania lacked an established government and internationally recognised borders, rendering it vulnerable to neighboring entities such as Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia, all of which sought to expand their influence. This led to political uncertainty, highlighted in 1918 when the Congress of Durrës sought Paris Peace Conference protection but was denied, further complicating Albania's position on the international stage. Territorial tensions escalated as Yugoslavia, particularly Serbia, sought control of northern Albania, while Greece aimed dominance in southern Albania. The situation deteriorated in 1919 when the Serbs launched attacks on Albanian inhabitants, among others in Gusinje and Plav, resulting in massacres and large-scale displacement. Meanwhile, Italian influence continued to expand during this time driven by economic interests and political ambitions. Fan Noli, renowned for his idealism, assumed the role of Prime Minister in the year of 1924, with a vision to institute a Western-style constitutional government, abolish feudalism, counter Italian influence and enhance critical sectors including infrastructure, education and healthcare. He faced resistance from former allies, who had assisted in the removal of Zog from power, and struggled to secure the foreign aid to implement his agenda. Noli's decision to establish diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, an adversary of the Serbian elite, ignited allegations of bolshevism from Belgrade. This, in turn, led to increased pressure from Italy and culminated in Zog's restoration to authority. Subsequently in 1928, Zogu transitioned Albania from a republic to a monarchy that garnered backing from Fascist Italy, with Zog assuming the title of King Zog I. Key constitutional changes dissolved the Senate and established a unicameral National Assembly, while preserving Zog's authoritative powers. In 1939, Italy led by Benito Mussolini, launched a military invasion of Albania, resulting to the exile of Zog and the creation of an Italian protectorate. As World War II progressed, Italy aimed to expand its territorial dominion in the Balkans, including territorial claims on regions of Greece (Chameria), Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. These ambitions laid the foundation of Greater Albania, which aimed to unite all areas with Albanian-majority populations into a single country. In 1943, as Italy's control declined, Nazi Germany assumed control of Albania, subjecting Albanians to forced labor, economic exploitation and repression under German rule. The tide shifted in 1944 when the Albanian partisan forces, under the leadership of Enver Hoxha and other communist leaders, successfully liberated Albania from German occupation. Communism The establishment of the People's Republic of Albania with the leadership of Enver Hoxha characterised a significant epoch in the modern history of Albania. Hoxha's regime embraced Marxism–Leninism ideologies and implemented authoritarian policies, including the prohibition of religious practices, severe restrictions on travel and the abolition of private property rights. It was also defined by a persistent pattern of purges, extensive repression, instances of betrayal and a hostility towards external influences. Any form of opposition or resistance to his rule was met with expeditious and severe consequences, such as internal exile, extended imprisonment and execution. The regime confronted a multitude of challenges in Albania that encompassed widespread poverty, illiteracy, health crises and gender inequality. As a response, Hoxha initiated a modernisation initiative aimed at attaining economic and social liberation and transforming the country into an industrial society. The regime placed a high priority on the diversification of the economy through a programme of Soviet-style industrialisation, comprehensive infrastructure development such as the introduction of a transformative railway system, expansion of education and healthcare services, elimination of adult illiteracy and targeted advancements in areas such as women's rights. The diplomatic history of Albania during the communism was characterised by notable diplomatic conflicts. Initially aligned with Yugoslavia as a satellite state, the relationship deteriorated as Yugoslavia aimed to incorporate Albania within its territory. Subsequently, Albania established relations with the Soviet Union and engaged trade agreements with other Eastern European countries, but experienced disagreements over Soviet policies, leading to strained ties with Moscow and a diplomatic separation in 1961. Simultaneously, tensions with the West also heightened due to Albania's refusal to hold free elections and allegations of Western support for Anti-Communist uprisings. Albania's enduring partnership was with China as it sided with Beijing during the Sino-Soviet conflict, resulting in severed ties with the Soviet Union and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact in response to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, their relations stagnated in the 1970, prompting both sides to reassess their commitment, and Albania actively reduced its dependence on China. Under Hoxha's regime, Albania underwent a widespread campaign targeting religious clergy of various faiths, resulting in public persecution and executions, particularly targeting Muslims, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox adherents. In 1946, religious estates underwent nationalisation, coinciding with the closure or transformation of religious institutions into various other purposes. The culmination occurred in 1976 when Albania attained the status of being the world's first constitutional atheist state. Under this regime, Albanians were forced to renounce their religious beliefs, adopt a secular way of life and embrace a socialist ideology. Fourth Republic After enduring four decades of communism paired with the revolutions of 1989, Albania witnessed a notable rise in political activism, particularly among the students, which ultimately lead to a transformation in the prevailing order. Subsequent to the attainment of widespread in the first multi-party elections of 1991, the communist party maintained a stronghold in the parliament until their defeat in the parliamentary elections of 1992 directed by the Democratic Party. Considerable economic and financial resources were devoted to pyramid schemes that were widely supported by the government. The schemes swept up somewhere between one sixth and one third of the population of the country. Despite the warnings of the International Monetary Fund, Sali Berisha defended the schemes as large investment firms, leading more people to redirect their remittances and sell their homes and cattle for cash to deposit in the schemes. The schemes began to collapse in late 1996, leading many of the investors to join initially peaceful protests against the government, requesting their money back. The protests turned violent in February 1997 as government forces responded by firing on the demonstrators. In March, the Police and Republican Guard deserted, leaving their armouries open. These were promptly emptied by militias and criminal gangs. The resulting civil war caused a wave of evacuations of foreign nationals and refugees. The crisis led both Aleksandër Meksi and Sali Berisha to resign from office in the wake of the general election. In April 1997, Operation Alba, a UN peacekeeping force led by Italy, entered the country with two goals exclusively to assist with the evacuation of expatriates and to secure the ground for international organisations. The main international organisation that was involved was the Western European Union's multinational Albanian Police element, which worked with the government to restructure the judicial system and simultaneously the Albanian police. Contemporary Following the disintegration of the communist system, Albania embarked on an active path towards Westernisation with the ambition to obtain membership in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A notable milestone was reached in 2009 when the country attained membership in NATO, marking a pioneering achievement among the nations of Southeast Europe. In adherence to its vision for further integration into the EU, it formally applied for membership on 28 April 2009. Another milestone was reached on 24 June 2014, when the country was granted official candidate status. Edi Rama of the Socialist Party won both the 2013 and 2017 parliamentary elections. As Prime Minister, he implemented numerous reforms focused on modernising the economy, as well as democratising state institutions, including the country's judiciary and law enforcement. Unemployment has been steadily reduced, with Albania achieving the 4th lowest unemployment rate in the Balkans. Rama has also placed gender equality at the centre of his agenda; since 2017 almost 50% of the ministers are female, the largest number of women serving in the country's history. During the 2021 parliamentary elections, the ruling Socialist Party led by Edi Rama secured its third consecutive victory, winning nearly half of votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone. On 26 November 2019, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake ravaged Albania with the epicentre positioned approximately southwest of the town of Mamurras. The tremor was felt in Tirana and in places as far away as Taranto, Italy, and Belgrade, Serbia, while the most affected areas were the coastal city of Durrës and the village of Kodër-Thumanë. Comprehensive response to the earthquake included substantial humanitarian aid from the Albanian diaspora and various countries around the world. On 9 March 2020, COVID-19 was confirmed to have spread to Albania. From March to June 2020, the government declared a state of emergency as a measure to limit the rapid spread of the pandemic in the country. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on 11 January 2021, however, as of 11 August 2021, the total number of vaccines administered so far in Albania amounts to 1,280,239 doses. Environment Geography With an area of , Albania is situated along the Mediterranean Sea on the Balkan Peninsula in South and Southeast Europe. The country is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the west, Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is positioned between latitudes 42° and 39° N, and longitudes 21° and 19° E. Geographic coordinates include Vërmosh at 42° 35' 34" northern latitude as the northernmost point, Konispol at 39° 40' 0" northern latitude as the southernmost point, Sazan at 19° 16' 50" eastern longitude as the westernmost point and Vërnik at 21° 1' 26" eastern longitude as the easternmost point. Mount Korab, rising at above the Adriatic, is the highest point, while the Mediterranean Sea, at , is the lowest point. The country extends from east to west and around from north to south. Albania possesses a diverse and varied landscape with mountains and hills that traverse its territory in various directions. The country is home to extensive mountain ranges, including the Albanian Alps in the north, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest and the Skanderbeg Mountains in the centre. In the northwest, the country boasts the remarkable Lake of Shkodër, recognised as the largest lake in Southern Europe. Towards the southeast, the Lake of Ohrid emerges, renowned as one of the world's oldest continuously existing lakes. Further to the south, the expanse includes the Large and Small Lake of Prespa, distinguished as some of the highest positioned lakes in the Balkans. Rivers rise mostly in the east of Albania and discharge into the Adriatic Sea but as well as into the Ionian Sea to a lesser extent. The longest river in the country, measured from its mouth to its source, is the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin. Of particular concern is the Vjosë, which represents one of the last intact large river systems in Europe. Climate The climate of Albania exhibits a distinguished level of variability and diversity due to the differences in latitude, longitude and altitude. Albania experiences a Mediterranean and Continental climate, characterised by the presence of four distinct seasons. According to the Köppen classification, Albania encompasses five primary climatic types, spanning from Mediterranean and subtropical in the western half to oceanic, continental and subarctic in the eastern half of the country. The coastal regions along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas in Albania are acknowledged as the warmest areas, while the northern and eastern regions encompassing the Albanian Alps and the Korab Mountains are recognised as the coldest areas in the country. Throughout the year, the average monthly temperatures fluctuate, ranging from during the winter months to in the summer months. Notably, the highest recorded temperature of was observed in Kuçovë on 18 July 1973, while the lowest temperature of was recorded in Shtyllë, Librazhd on 9 January 2017. Albania receives most of the precipitation in winter months and less in summer months. The average precipitation is about . The mean annual precipitation ranges between and depending on geographical location. The northwestern and southeastern highlands receive the intenser amount of precipitation, whilst the northeastern and southwestern highlands as well as the Western Lowlands the more limited amount. The Albanian Alps in the far north of the country are considered to be among the most humid regions of Europe, receiving at least of rain annually. Four glaciers within these mountains were discovered at a relatively low altitude of , which is extremely rare for such a southerly latitude. Biodiversity A biodiversity hotspot, Albania possesses an exceptionally rich and contrasting biodiversity on account of its geographical location at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and the great diversity in its climatic, geological and hydrological conditions. Because of remoteness, the mountains and hills of Albania are endowed with forests, trees and grasses that are essential to the lives for a wide variety of animals, among others for two of the most endangered species of the country, the lynx and brown bear, as well as the wildcat, grey wolf, red fox, golden jackal, Egyptian vulture and golden eagle, the latter constituting the national animal of the country. The estuaries, wetlands and lakes are extraordinarily important for the greater flamingo, pygmy cormorant and the extremely rare and perhaps the most iconic bird of the country, the dalmatian pelican. Of particular importance are the Mediterranean monk seal, loggerhead sea turtle and green sea turtle that use to nest on the country's coastal waters and shores. In terms of phytogeography, Albania is part of the Boreal Kingdom and stretches specifically within the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal and Mediterranean Region. Its territory can be subdivided into four terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic realm namely within the Illyrian deciduous forests, Balkan mixed forests, Pindus Mountains mixed forests and Dinaric Mountains mixed forests. Approximately 3,500 different species of plants can be found in Albania which refers principally to a Mediterranean and Eurasian character. The country maintains a vibrant tradition of herbal and medicinal practices. At the minimum 300 plants growing locally are used in the preparation of herbs and medicines. The trees within the forests are primarily fir, oak, beech and pine. Conservation Albania has been an active participant in numerous international agreements and conventions aimed at strengthing its commitment to the preservation and sustainable management of biological diversity. Since 1994, the country is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its associated Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols. To uphold these commitments, it has developed and implemented a comprehensive National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). Furthermore, Albania has established a partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), advancing its conservation efforts on both national and international scales. Guided by the IUCN, the country has made substantial progress in the foundation of protected areas within its boundaries, encompassing 12 national parks among others Butrint, Karaburun-Sazan, Llogara, Prespa and Vjosa. As a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, Albania has granted special recognition upon four wetlands, designating them as Wetlands of International Importance, including Buna-Shkodër, Butrint, Karavasta and Prespa. The country's dedication to protection extends further into the sphere of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves, operating within the framework of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, evidenced by its engagement in the Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. Furthermore, Albania is host to two natural World Heritage Sites, which encompass the Ohrid region and both the Gashi River and Rrajca as part of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. Protected areas The protected areas of Albania are areas designated and managed by the Albanian government. There are 12 national parks, 4 ramsar sites, 1 biosphere reserve and 786 other types of conservation reserves in Albania. Located in the north, the Albanian Alps National Park, comprising the former Theth National Park and Valbonë Valley National Park, is surrounded amidst the towering peaks of the Albanian Alps. In the east, portions of the rugged Korab, Nemërçka and Shebenik Mountains are conserved within the boundaries of Fir of Hotovë-Dangëlli National Park, Shebenik National Park and Prespa National Park, with the latter encompassing Albania's share of the Great and Small Lakes of Prespa. To the south, the Ceraunian Mountains define the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, shaping the landscape of Llogara National Park, which extends into the Karaburun Peninsula, forming the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park. Further southward lies Butrint National Park, occupying a peninsula surrounded by the Lake of Butrint and the Channel of Vivari. In the west, stretching along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast, the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park boasts the extensive Lagoon of Karavasta, one of the largest lagoon systems in the Mediterranean Sea. Notably, Europe's first wild river national park, Vjosa National Park, safeguards the Vjosa River and its primary tributaries, which originates in the Pindus Mountains and flows to the Adriatic Sea. Dajti Mountain National Park, Lurë-Dejë Mountain National Park and Tomorr Mountain National Park protect the mountainous terrain of the center of Albania, including the Tomorr and Skanderbeg Mountains. Environmental issues Environmental issues in Albania notably encompass air and water pollution, climate change impacts, waste management shortcomings, biodiversity loss and imperative for nature conservation. Climate change is predicted to exert significant impacts on the quality of life in Albania. The country is recognised as vulnerable to climate change impacts, ranked 79 among 181 countries in the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index of 2020. Factors that account for the country's vulnerability to climate change risks include geological and hydrological hazards, including earthquakes, flooding, fires, landslides, torrential rains, river and coastal erosion. As a party to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, Albania is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 which, along with national policies, will help to mitigate the impacts of the climate change. The country has a moderate and improving performance in the Environmental Performance Index with an overall ranking of 62 out of 180 countries in 2022. Albania's ranking has, however, decreased since its highest placement at position 15 in the Environmental Performance Index of 2012. In 2019, Albania had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.77 from 10, ranking it 64th globally out of 172 countries. Politics Since declaring independence in 1912, Albania has experienced a significant political transformation, traversing through distinct periods that included a monarchical rule, a communist regime and the eventual establishment of a democratic order. In 1998, Albania transitioned into a sovereign parliamentary constitutional republic, marking a fundamental milestone in its political evolution. Its governance structure operates under a constitution that serves as the principal document of the country. The constitution is grounded in the principle of the separation of powers, with three arms of government that encompass the legislative embodied in the Parliament, the executive led by the President as the ceremonial head of state and the Prime Minister as the functional head of government, and the judiciary with a hierarchy of courts, including the constitutional and supreme courts as well as multiple appeal and administrative courts. Albania's legal system is structured to protect the political rights of its people, regardless of their ethnic, linguistic, racial or religious affiliations. Despite these principles, there are significant human rights concerns in Albania that demand attention. These concerns include issues related to the independence of the judiciary, the absence of a free media sector and the enduring problem of corruption within various governmental bodies, law enforcement agencies and other institutions. However, as Albania pursues its path towards European Union (EU) membership, active efforts are being made to achieve substantial improvements in these areas to align with EU criteria and standards. Foreign relations Emerging from decades of isolation during the communism, Albania has adopted a foreign policy orientation centered on active cooperation and engagement in international affairs. At the core of Albania's foreign policies lie a set of objectives, which encompass the commitment to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the cultivation of diplomatic ties with other countries, advocating for international recognition of Kosovo, addressing the concerns related to the expulsion of Cham Albanians, pursuing Euro-Atlantic integration and protecting the rights of the Albanians in Kosovo, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and the diaspora. The external affairs of Albania underscore the country's dedication to regional stability and integration into major international institutions. Albania became a member of the United Nations (UN) in 1955, shortly after emerging from a period of isolation during the communist era. The country reached a major achievement in its foreign policy by securing membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2009. Since obtaining candidate status in 2014, the country has also embarked on a comprehensive reform agenda to align itself with European Union (EU) accession standards, with the objective of becoming an EU member state. Albania and Kosovo maintain a fraternal relationship strengthened by their substantial cultural, ethnical and historical ties. Both countries foster enduring diplomatic ties, with Albania actively supporting Kosovo's development and international integration efforts. Its fundamental contribution to Kosovo's path to independence is underscored by its early recognition of Kosovo's sovereignty in 2008. Furthermore, both governments hold annual joint meetings, displayed by the inaugural meeting in 2014, which serves as an official platform to enhance bilateral cooperation and reinforce their joint commitment to policies that promote the stability and prosperity of the broader Albanian region. Military The Albanian Armed Forces consist of Land, Air and Naval Forces and constitute the military and paramilitary forces of the country. They are led by a commander-in-chief under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence and by the President as the supreme commander during wartime. However, in times of peace its powers are executed through the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister. The chief purpose of the armed forces of Albania is the defence of the independence, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country, as well as the participation in humanitarian, combat, non-combat and peace support operations. Military service is voluntary since 2010 with the age of 19 being the legal minimum age for the duty. Albania has committed to increase the participations in multinational operations. Since the fall of communism, the country has participated in six international missions but only one United Nations mission in Georgia, where it sent three military observers. Since February 2008, Albania has participated officially in NATO's Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean Sea. It was invited to join NATO on 3 April 2008, and it became a full member on 2 April 2009. Albania reduced the number of active troops from 65,000 in 1988 to 14,500 in 2009. The military now consists mainly of a small fleet of aircraft and sea vessels. Increasing the military budget was one of the most important conditions for NATO integration. As of 1996 military spending was an estimated 1.5% of the country's GDP, only to peak in 2009 at 2% and fall again to 1.5%. Administrative divisions Albania is defined within a territorial area of in the Balkan Peninsula. It is informally divided into three regions, the Northern, Central and Southern Regions. Since its Declaration of Independence in 1912, Albania has reformed its internal organization 21 times. Presently, the primary administrative units are the twelve constituent counties (), which hold equal status under the law. Counties had previously been used in the 1950s and were recreated on 31 July 2000 to unify the 36 districts () of that time. The largest county in Albania by population is Tirana County with over 800,000 people. The smallest county, by population, is Gjirokastër County with over 70,000 people. The largest in the county, by area, is Korçë County encompassing of the southeast of Albania. The smallest county, by area, is Durrës County with an area of in the west of Albania. The counties are made up of 61 second-level divisions known as municipalities (). The municipalities are the first level of local governance, responsible for local needs and law enforcement. They unified and simplified the previous system of urban and rural municipalities or communes () in 2015. For smaller issues of local government, the municipalities are organized into 373 administrative units (/). There are also 2980 villages (), neighborhoods or wards (), and localities () previously used as administrative units. Economy The transition from a socialist planned economy to a capitalist mixed economy in Albania has been largely successful. The country has a developing mixed economy classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income economy. In 2016, it had the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the Balkans with an estimated value of 14.7%. Its largest trading partners are Italy, Greece, China, Spain, Kosovo and the United States. The lek (ALL) is the country's currency and is pegged at approximately 132.51 lek per euro. The cities of Tirana and Durrës constitute the economic and financial heart of Albania due to their high population, modern infrastructure and strategic geographical location. The country's most important infrastructure facilities take course through both of the cities, connecting the north to the south as well as the west to the east. Among the largest companies are the petroleum Taçi Oil, Albpetrol, ARMO and Kastrati, the mineral AlbChrome, the cement Antea, the investment BALFIN Group and the technology Albtelecom, Vodafone, Telekom Albania and others. In 2012, Albania's GDP per capita stood at 30% of the European Union average, while GDP (PPP) per capita was 35%. Albania was one of three countries in Europe to record an economic growth in the first quarter of 2010 after the global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund predicted 2.6% growth for Albania in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011. According to Forbes, , the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was growing at 2.8%. The country had a trade balance of −9.7% and unemployment rate of 14.7%. Foreign direct investment has increased significantly in recent years as the government has embarked on an ambitious programme to improve the business climate through fiscal and legislative reforms. Primary sector Agriculture in the country is based on small to medium-sized family-owned dispersed units. It remains a significant sector of the economy of Albania. It employs 41% of the population, and about 24.31% of the land is used for agricultural purposes. One of the earliest farming sites in Europe has been found in the southeast of the country. As part of the pre-accession process of Albania to the European Union, farmers are being aided through IPA funds to improve Albanian agriculture standards. Albania produces significant amounts of fruits (apples, olives, grapes, oranges, lemons, apricots, peaches, cherries, figs, sour cherries, plums, and strawberries), vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, maize, onions, and wheat), sugar beets, tobacco, meat, honey, dairy products, traditional medicine and aromatic plants. Further, the country is a worldwide significant producer of salvia, rosemary and yellow gentian. The country's proximity to the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea give the underdeveloped fishing industry great potential. The World Bank and European Community economists report that, Albania's fishing industry has good potential to generate export earnings because prices in the nearby Greek and Italian markets are many times higher than those in the Albanian market. The fish available off the coasts of the country are carp, trout, sea bream, mussels and crustaceans. Albania has one of Europe's longest histories of viticulture. Today's region was one of the few places where vine was naturally grown during the ice age. The oldest found seeds in the region are 4,000 to 6,000 years old. In 2009, the nation produced an estimated 17,500 tonnes of wine. Secondary sector The secondary sector of Albania has undergone many changes and diversification since the collapse of the communist regime in the country. It is very diversified, from electronics, manufacturing, textiles, to food, cement, mining, and energy. The Antea Cement plant in Fushë-Krujë is considered one of the largest industrial greenfield investments in the country. Albanian oil and gas represents of the most promising, albeit strictly regulated, sectors of its economy. Albania has the second largest oil deposits in the Balkan peninsula after Romania, and the largest oil reserves in Europe. The Albpetrol company is owned by the Albanian state and monitors the state petroleum agreements in the country. The textile industry has seen an extensive expansion by approaching companies from the European Union (EU) in Albania. According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) , the textile production marked an annual growth of 5.3% and an annual turnover of around 1.5 billion euros. Albania is a significant minerals producer and is ranked among the world's leading chromium producers and exporters. The nation is also a notable producer of copper, nickel and coal. The Batra mine, Bulqizë mine, and Thekna mine are among the most recognised Albanian mines that are still in operation. Tertiary sector The tertiary sector represents the fastest growing sector of the country's economy. 36% of the population work in the service sector which contributes to 65% of the country's GDP. Ever since the end of the 20th century, the banking industry is a major component of the tertiary sector and remains in good conditions overall due to privatisation and the commendable monetary policy. Previously one of the most isolated and controlled countries in the world, telecommunication industry represents nowadays another major contributor to the sector. It developed largely through privatisation and subsequent investment by both domestic and foreign investors. Eagle, Vodafone and Telekom Albania are the leading telecommunications service providers in the country. Tourism is recognised as an industry of national importance and has been steadily increasing since the beginnings of the 21st century. It directly accounted for 8.4% of GDP in 2016 though including indirect contributions pushes the proportion to 26%. In the same year, the country received approximately 4.74 million visitors mostly from across Europe and the United States as well. The increase of foreign visitors has been dramatic. Albania had only 500,000 visitors in 2005, while in 2012 had an estimated 4.2 million, an increase of 740 percent in only 7 years. In 2015, tourism in summer increased by 25 percent in contrast the previous year according to the country's tourism agency. In 2011, Lonely Planet named as a top travel destination, while The New York Times placed Albania as number 4 global touristic destination in 2014. The bulk of the tourist industry is concentrated along the Adriatic and Ionian Sea in the west of the country. However, the Albanian Riviera in the southwest has the most scenic and pristine beaches; its coastline has a considerable length of . The coast has a particular character because it is rich in varieties of virgin beaches, capes, coves, covered bays, lagoons, small gravel beaches, sea caves and many landforms. Some parts of this seaside are very clean ecologically, which represent in this prospective unexplored areas, which are very rare within the Mediterranean. Other attractions include the mountainous areas such as the Albanian Alps, Ceraunian Mountains and Korab Mountains but also the historical cities of Berat, Durrës, Gjirokastër, Sarandë, Shkodër and Korçë. Transport Transportation in Albania is managed within the functions of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and entities such as the Albanian Road Authority (ARRSH), responsible for the construction and maintenance of the highways and motorways in Albania, as well as the Albanian Aviation Authority (AAC), with the responsibility of coordinating civil aviation and airports in the country. The international airport of Tirana is the premier air gateway to the country, and is also the principal hub for Albania's national flag carrier airline, Air Albania. The airport carried more than 3.3 million passengers in 2019 with connections to many destinations in other countries around Europe, Africa and Asia. The country plans to progressively increase the number of airports especially in the south with possible locations in Sarandë, Gjirokastër and Vlorë. The highways and motorways in Albania are properly maintained and often still under construction and renovation. The Autostrada 1 (A1) represents an integral transportation corridor in Albania and the longest motorway of the country. It will prospectively link Durrës on the Adriatic Sea across Pristina in Kosovo with the Pan-European Corridor X in Serbia. The Autostrada 2 (A2) is part of the Adriatic–Ionian Corridor as well as the Pan-European Corridor VIII and connects Fier with Vlorë. The Autostrada 3 (A3) is currently under construction and will connect, after its completion, Tirana and Elbasan with the Pan-European Corridor VIII. When all three corridors are completed, Albania will have an estimated of highway linking it with all of its neighbouring countries. Durrës is the busiest and largest seaport in the country, followed by Vlorë, Shëngjin and Sarandë. , it is as one of the largest passenger ports on the Adriatic Sea with annual passenger volume of approximately 1.5 million. The principal ports serve a system of ferries connecting Albania with numerous islands and coastal cities in Croatia, Greece and Italy. The rail network is administered by the national railway company Hekurudha Shqiptare which was extensively promoted by the dictator Enver Hoxha. There has been a considerable increase in private car ownership and bus usage while rail use decreased since the end of communism. However, a new railway line from Tirana and its airport to Durrës is currently planned. The specific location of this railway, connecting the most populated urban areas in Albania, makes it an important economic development project. Infrastructure Education In the country, education is secular, free, compulsory and based on three levels of education segmented in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The academic year is apportioned into two semesters beginning in September or October, and ending in June or July. Albanian serves as the primary language of instruction in all academic institutions across the country. The study of a first foreign language is mandatory and taught most often at elementary and bilingual schools. The languages taught in schools are English, Italian, French and German. The country has a school life expectancy of 16 years and a literacy rate of 98.7%, with 99.2% for males and 98.3% for females. Compulsory primary education is divided into two levels, elementary and secondary school, from grade one to five and six to nine, respectively. Pupils are required to attend school from the age of six until they turn 16. Upon successful completion of primary education, all pupils are entitled to attend high schools with specialising in any particular field including arts, sports, languages, sciences or technology. The country's tertiary education, an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education, has undergone a thorough reformation and restructuring in compliance with the principles of the Bologna Process. There is a significant number of private and public institutions of higher education well dispersed in the major cities of Albania. Studies in tertiary education are organised at three successive levels which include the bachelor, master and doctorate. Health The constitution of Albania guarantees equal, free and universal health care for all its citizens. The health care system of the country is currently organised in three levels, among others primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, and is in a process of modernisation and development. The life expectancy at birth in Albania is at 77.8 years and ranks 37th in the world outperforming several developed countries. The average healthy life expectancy is at 68.8 years and ranks as well 37th in the world. The country's infant mortality rate is estimated at 12 per 1,000 live births in 2015. In 2000, the country had the 55th best healthcare performance in the world, as defined by the World Health Organization. Cardiovascular disease remain the principal cause of death in the country accounting 52% of total deaths. Accidents, injuries, malignant and respiratory diseases are other primary causes of death. Neuropsychiatric disease has also increased due to recent demographic, social and economic changes in the country. In 2009, the country had a fruit and vegetable supply of 886 grams per capita per day, the fifth highest supply in Europe. In comparison to other developed and developing countries, Albania has a relatively low rate of obesity probably thanks to the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. According to World Health Organization data from 2016, 21.7% of adults in the country are clinically overweight, with a Body mass index (BMI) score of 25 or more. Energy Due to its geographical location and natural resources, Albania has a wide variety of energy resources ranging from gas, oil and coal, to wind, solar and water as well as other renewable sources. According to the 2023 Energy Transition Index (ETI) published by the World Economic Forum, the country was ranked at position number 21 globally highlighting the notable progress in its energy transition agenda. Currently, the electricity generation sector of Albania is dependent on hydroelectricity simultaneously ranking fifth in the world in percentage terms. The Drin, located in the north, hosts four hydroelectric power stations, including Fierza, Koman, Skavica and Vau i Dejës. Two other power stations, such as the Banjë and Moglicë, are located along the Devoll in the south. Albania has considerable deposits of oil. It has the 10th largest oil reserves in Europe and the 58th in the world. The country's main petroleum deposits are located around the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast and Myzeqe Plain within the Western Lowlands, where the country's largest reserve is located. Patos-Marinza, also located within the area, is the largest onshore oil field in Europe. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), part of the planned Southern Gas Corridor, runs for across Albania's territory before entering the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast approximately northwest of Fier. The water resources of Albania are particularly abundant in all the regions of the country and comprise lakes, rivers, springs and groundwater aquifers. The country's available average quantity of fresh water is estimated at per inhabitant per year, which is one of the highest rates in Europe. According to the data presented by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) in 2015, about 93% of the country's total population had access to improved sanitation. Media The freedom of press and speech, and the right to free expression is guaranteed in the constitution of Albania. Albania was ranked 84th on the Press Freedom Index of 2020 compiled by the Reporters Without Borders, with its score steadily declining since 2003. Nevertheless, in the 2020 report of Freedom in the World, the Freedom House classified the freedoms of press and speech in Albania as partly free from political interference and manipulation. Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) is the national broadcaster corporation of Albania operating numerous television and radio stations in the country. The three major private broadcaster corporations are Top Channel, Televizioni Klan and Vizion Plus whose content are distributed throughout Albania and beyond its territory in Kosovo and other Albanian-speaking territories. Albanian cinema has its roots in the 20th century and developed after the country's declaration of independence. The first movie theater exclusively devoted to showing motion pictures was built in 1912 in Shkodër. During the Peoples Republic of Albania, Albanian cinema developed rapidly with the inauguration of the Kinostudio Shqipëria e Re in Tirana. In 1953, the Albanian-Soviet epic film, the Great Warrior Skanderbeg, was released chronicling the life and fight of the medieval Albanian hero Skanderbeg. It went on to win the international prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. In 2003, the Tirana International Film Festival was established, the largest film festival in the country. The Durrës Amphitheatre is host to the Durrës International Film Festival, the second largest film festival. Technology After the fall of communism in 1991, human resources in sciences and technology in Albania have drastically decreased. As of various reports, during 1991 to 2005 approximately 50% of the professors and scientists of the universities and science institutions in the country have left Albania. In 2009, the government approved the National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation in Albania covering the period 2009 to 2015. It aims to triple public spending on research and development to 0.6% of GDP and augment the share of GDE from foreign sources, including the framework programmes for research of the European Union, to the point where it covers 40% of research spending, among others. Albania was ranked 83rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2023. Telecommunication represents one of the fastest growing and dynamic sectors in Albania. Vodafone Albania, Telekom Albania and Albtelecom are the three large providers of mobile and internet in Albania. As of the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) in 2018, the country had approximately 2.7 million active mobile users with almost 1.8 million active broadband subscribers. Vodafone Albania alone served more than 931,000 mobile users, Telekom Albania had about 605,000 users and Albtelecom had more than 272,000 users. In January 2023, Albania launched its first two satellites, Albania 1 and Albania 2, into orbit, in what was regarded as a milestone effort in monitoring the country's territory and identifying illegal activities. Demography As defined by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the population of Albania was estimated in 2020 at 2,845,955. The country's total fertility rate of 1.51 children born per woman is one of the lowest in the world. Its population density stands at 259 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy at birth is 78.5 years; 75.8 years for males and 81.4 years for females. The country is the 8th most populous country in the Balkans and ranks as the 137th most populous country in the world. The country's population rose steadily from 2.5 million in 1979 until 1989, when it peaked at 3.1 million. Since then, the population has continually decreased every year. It is forecast that the population will continue shrinking for the next decade at least, depending on the actual birth rate and the level of net migration. In 2022, over 46,000 people migrated out of Albania, a 10% increase over the previous year. The explanation for the recent population decrease is the fall of communism in Albania in the late twentieth century. That period was marked by economic mass emigration from Albania to Greece, Italy and the United States. The migration affected the country's internal population distribution. It decreased particularly in the north and south, while it increased in the centre within the cities of Tirana and Durrës. Migration abroad has continued in recent years, particularly of the young and educated. As much as a third of those born in the country's borders now live outside of it, making Albania one of the countries with the highest rate of outmigration relative to its population in the world. In 2022 the birth rate was 20% lower than in 2021, largely due to emigration of people of childbearing age. About 53.4% of the country's population lives in cities. The three largest counties by population account for half of the total population. Almost 30% of the total population is found in Tirana County followed by Fier County with 11% and Durrës County with 10%. Over one million people are concentrated in Tirana and Durrës, making it the largest urban area in Albania. Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula and ranks seventh with a population about 400,000. Minorities Albania recognises nine national or cultural minorities: Aromanian, Greek, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serb, Roma, Egyptian, Bosnian and Bulgarian peoples. Other Albanian minorities are the Gorani people and Jews. Contrary to official statistics that show an over 97 per cent Albanian majority in the country, minority groups (such as Greeks, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Roma and Aromanians) have frequently disputed the official numbers, asserting a higher percentage of the country's population. According to the disputed 2011 census, ethnic affiliation was as follows: Albanians 2,312,356 (82.6% of the total), Greeks 24,243 (0.9%), Macedonians 5,512 (0.2%), Montenegrins 366 (0.01%), Aromanians 8,266 (0.30%), Romani 8,301 (0.3%), Balkan Egyptians 3,368 (0.1%), other ethnicities 2,644 (0.1%), no declared ethnicity 390,938 (14.0%), and not relevant 44,144 (1.6%). On the quality of the specific data the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities stated that "the results of the census should be viewed with the utmost caution and calls on the authorities not to rely exclusively on the data on nationality collected during the census in determining its policy on the protection of national minorities". Regarding the Greeks, estimates vary between 60,000 and 300,000 ethnic Greeks in Albania. According to Ian Jeffries, most Western sources put the number at around 200,000. The 300,000 mark is supported by Greek government as well. The CIA World Factbook estimates the Greek minority to constitute 0.9% of the population. The US State Department estimates that Greeks make up 1.17%, and other minorities 0.23%, of the population. The latter questions the validity of the census data about the Greek minority, as measurements have been affected by boycott. Language The official language of the country is Albanian which is spoken by the vast majority of the country's population. Its standard spoken and written form is revised and merged from the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, though it is notably based more on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin river is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Among minority languages, Greek is the second most-spoken language in the country, with 0.5 to 3% of the population speaking it as first language, mainly in the country's south where its speakers are concentrated. Other languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Albania include Aromanian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Gorani, and Roma. Macedonian is official in the Pustec Municipality in East Albania. According to the 2011 population census, 2,765,610 or 98.8% of the population declared Albanian as their mother tongue. Because of large migration flows from Albania, over half of Albanians during their life learn a second language. The main foreign language known is English with 40.0%, followed by Italian with 27.8% and Greek with 22.9%. The English speakers were mostly young people, the knowledge of Italian is stable in every age group, while there is a decrease of the speakers of Greek in the youngest group. Among young people aged 25 or less, English, German and Turkish have seen rising interest after 2000. Italian and French have had a stable interest, while Greek has lost much of its previous interest. The trends are linked with cultural and economic factors. Young people have shown a growing interest in the German language in recent years. Some of them go to Germany for studying or various experiences. Albania and Germany have agreements for cooperating in helping young people of the two countries know both cultures better. Due to a sharp rise in economic relations with Turkey, interest in learning Turkish, in particular among young people, has been growing on a yearly basis. Religion Albania is a secular and religiously diverse country with no official religion and thus, freedom of religion, belief and conscience are guaranteed under the country's constitution. As of the 2011 census, there were 1,587,608 (56.7%) Sunni Muslims, 280,921 (10.03%) Catholics, 188,992 (6.75%) Eastern Orthodox, 58,628 (2.09%) Bektashi Muslims, 3,797 (0.14%) Evangelicals, 1,919 (0.07%) other Christians, 602 (0.02%) of other religions and 153,630 (5.49%) believers without denomination in Albania. 69,995 people (2.5%) were irreligious while 386,024 (13.79%) did not declare their religion. Albania is nevertheless ranked among the least religious countries in the world. Religion constitute an important role in the lives of only 39% of the country's population. In another report, 56% considered themselves religious, 30% considered themselves non-religious, while 9% defined themselves as convinced atheists. 80% believed in God. The preliminary results of the 2011 census seemed to give widely different results, with 70% of respondents refusing to declare belief in any of the listed faiths. The Albanian Orthodox Church officially refused to recognize the results, claiming that 24% of the total population adhered to its faith. Some Muslim Community officials expressed unhappiness with the data claiming that many Muslims were not counted and that the number of adherents numbered some 70% of the Albanian population. The Albanian Catholic Bishops Conference also cast doubts on the census, complaining that many of its believers were not contacted. The Muslim Albanians are spread throughout the country. Orthodox and Bektashis are mostly found in the south, whereas Catholics mainly live in the north. In 2008, there were 694 Catholic churches and 425 orthodox churches, 568 mosques and 70 bektashi tekkes in the country. During modern times, the Albanian republican, monarchic and later communist regimes followed a systematic policy of separating religion from official functions and cultural life. The country has never had an official religion either as a republic or as a kingdom. In the 20th century, the clergy of all faiths was weakened under the monarchy and ultimately eradicated during the 1950s and 1960s, under the state policy of obliterating all organised religion from the territories of Albania. The communist regime persecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions and entirely banned religion. The country was then officially declared to be the world's first atheist state. Religious freedom has returned, however, since the end of communism. Islam survived communist era persecution and reemerged in the modern era as a practised religion in Albania. Some smaller Christian sects in Albania include Evangelicals and several Protestant communities including Seventh-day Adventist Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses. The first recorded Protestant of Albania was Said Toptani, who travelled around Europe and returned to Tirana in 1853, where he preached Protestantism. The first evangelical Protestants appeared in the 19th century and the Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1892. Nowadays, it has 160 member congregations from different Protestant denominations. Following mass emigration to Israel after the fall of communism, there are only 200 Albanian Jews left in the country. Culture Symbols The red and black national colours are displayed on the flag of Albania that is adorned with a double-headed eagle as the foremost recognised national symbol of Albania. With the black eagle portraying bravery and strength, the red field symbolises the fortitude and sacrifices of the Albanian people. The eagle is linked with the legacy of the national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, renowned as Skanderbeg, who led a prosperous resistance movement against Ottoman rule. Rooted in the Middle Ages, it emerged as a heraldic symbol in the Principality of Arbër and among notable Albanian dynasties such as the Dukagjini, Kastrioti, Muzaka and Thopia clans. Amid the Albanian Renaissance, marking the resurgence of Albanian national identity and aspirations for independence, the Albanian eagle regained its prominence. Its importance reached its culmination with Albania's declaration of independence in 1912, when Ismail Qemali raised it as the national flag in Vlorë. The coat of arms of Albania is an adaptation of the flag of Albania and the seal of Skanderbeg. The coat comprises the black double-headed eagle positioned at the center of a red field. Above the eagle, it carries the helmet of Skanderbeg that is crowned with the head of a golden horned goat. , which translates to "You Albania, give me honor, give me the name Albanian", is the national motto of Albania. It finds its foundation in the legacy of national poet Naim Frashëri, who held a renowned role during the Albanian Renaissance. The national anthem of Albania, "", was composed by Asdreni and adopted as such following Albania's independence in 1912. Clothing Albanian traditional clothing, with its contrasting variations for the northern Gheg and southern Tosk Albanians, is a testament to Albania's history, cultural diversity and ethnic identity. Gheg men wear a light-colored shirt paired with wide loose-fitting trousers referred to as the Tirq. These trousers are securely fastened by a wide woven belt, the Brez. An integral component of their costume is the Xhamadan, a woolen red velvet vest adorned with folkloric motifs and gold patterns. They also wear a distinctive dome-shaped hat known as the Qeleshe, crafted from wool, with its origins tracing back to the Illyrians. Conversely, Tosk men opt for the Fustanella, a knee-length garment designated as the national costume, typically white with pleats, accompanied by a white shirt. They also wear a beige or dark blue Xhamadan reminiscent of the Gheg attire. To complete their attire, men wear knee-high socks referred to as Çorape and leather shoes known as Opinga. The attire of Gheg and Tosk women is renowned for its rich palette of colors and intricate filigree detailing, displayed across various components including ear ornaments, finger rings, necklaces, belt buckles and buttons. Key components include a long, light-toned shirt paired with an apron, often accompanied by a woolen or felt mantle referred to as the Xhoka. Additional upper garments, such as the Dollama or Mintan, may be layered, along with a headscarf known as Kapica or Shall. A distinctive variation incorporates a pair of aprons, including the Pështjellak at the rear and the Paranik at the front. Integral to the traditional attire of Gheg women is the ancient Xhubleta. Dedicated efforts have been undertaken to preserve and promote the dress, acknowledging its significance as an emblem of Albanian heritage. As a testament to its importance, the Xhubleta has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The distinctive bell-shaped garment is fashioned in black and enriched with embroidered ethnic Albanian motifs, showcasing the remarkable craftsmanship of northern Albania. Its crafting process involves multiple intricate stages, encompassing the preparation of shajak fabric and the precise cutting techniques. Art and architecture The artistic history of Albania has been particularly influenced by a multitude of ancient and medieval people, traditions and religions. It covers a broad spectrum with mediums and disciplines that include painting, pottery, sculpture, ceramics and architecture all of them exemplifying a great variety in style and shape, in different regions and period. The rise of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empire in the Middle Ages was accompanied by a corresponding growth in Christian and Islamic art in the lands of Albania which are apparent in examples of architecture and mosaics throughout the country. Centuries later, the Albanian Renaissance proved crucial to the emancipation of the modern Albanian culture and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of literature and art whereas artists sought to return to the ideals of Impressionism and Romanticism. However, Onufri, Kolë Idromeno, David Selenica, Kostandin Shpataraku and the Zografi Brothers are the most eminent representatives of Albanian art. The architecture of Albania reflects the legacy of various civilisations tracing back to the classical antiquity. Major cities in Albania have evolved from within the castle to include dwellings, religious and commercial structures, with constant redesigning of town squares and evolution of building techniques. Nowadays, the cities and towns reflect a whole spectrum of various architectural styles. In the 20th century, many historical as well as sacred buildings bearing the ancient influence were demolished during the communist era. Ancient architecture is found throughout Albania and most visible in Byllis, Amantia, Phoenice, Apollonia, Butrint, Antigonia, Shkodër and Durrës. Considering the long period of rule of the Byzantine Empire, they introduced castles, citadels, churches and monasteries with spectacular wealth of visible murals and frescos. Perhaps the best known examples can be found in the southern Albanian cities and surroundings of Korçë, Berat, Voskopojë and Gjirokastër. Involving the introduction of Ottoman architecture there was a development of mosques and other Islamic buildings, particularly seen in Berat and Gjirokastër. A productive period of Historicism, Art Nouveau and Neoclassicism merged into the 19th century, best exemplified in Korçë. The 20th century brought new architectural styles such as the modern Italian style, which is present in Tirana such as the Skanderbeg Square and Ministries. It is also present in Shkodër, Vlorë, Sarandë and Durrës. Moreover, other towns received their present-day Albania-unique appearance through various cultural or economic influences. Socialist classicism arrived during the communist era in Albania after the Second World War. At this period many socialist-styled complexes, wide roads and factories were constructed, while town squares were redesigned and numerous of historic and important buildings demolished. Notable examples of that style include the Mother Teresa Square, Pyramid of Tirana, Palace of Congresses and so on. Three Albanian archaeological sites are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These include the ancient remains of Butrint, the medieval Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastër, and Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region site shared with North Macedonia since 2019. Furthermore, the royal Illyrian tombs, the remains of Apollonia, the ancient Amphitheatre of Durrës and the Fortress of Bashtovë has been included on the tentative list of Albania. Cuisine Throughout the centuries, Albanian cuisine has been widely influenced by Albanian culture, geography and history, and as such, different parts of the country enjoy specific regional cuisines. Cooking traditions especially vary between the north and the south, owing to differing topography and climate that essentially contribute to the excellent growth conditions for a wide array of herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Albanians produce and use many varieties of fruits such as lemons, oranges, figs, and most notably, olives, which are perhaps the most important element of Albanian cooking. Spices and other herbs such as basil, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, and thyme are widely used, as are vegetables such as garlic, onions, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, as well as legumes of all types. With a coastline along the Adriatic and Ionian in the Mediterranean Sea, fish, crustaceans, and seafood are a popular and an integral part of the Albanian diet. Otherwise, lamb is the traditional meat for different holidays and religious festivals for both Christians and Muslims, although poultry, beef, and pork are also in plentiful supply. Tavë kosi ("soured milk casserole") is the national dish of Albania, consisting of lamb and rice baked under a thick, tart veil of yoghurt. Fërgesë is another national dish, made up of peppers, tomatoes, and cottage cheese. Pite is also popular, a baked pastry with a filling of a mixture of spinach and gjizë (curd) or mish (ground meat). Petulla, a traditional fried dough, is also a popular speciality, and is served with powdered sugar or feta cheese and different sorts of fruit jams. Flia consists of multiple crêpe-like layers brushed with cream and served with sour cream. Krofne, similar to Berliner doughnuts, are filled with jam, or chocolate and often eaten during winter. Coffee is an integral part of the Albanian lifestyle. The country has more coffee houses per capita than any other country in the world. Tea is also enjoyed both at home or outside at cafés, bars, or restaurants. Çaj Mali (Sideritis tea) is enormously beloved, and a part of the daily routine for most Albanians. It is cultivated across Southern Albania and noted for its medicinal properties. Black tea is also popular. Albanian wine is also common throughout the country, and has been cultivated for thousands of years. Albania has a long and ancient history of wine production, and belongs to the Old World of wine producing countries. Music Albanian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity, and continues to play a major part in overall Albanian music. Folk music can be divided into two stylistic groups, mainly the northern Gheg varieties, and southern Lab and Tosk varieties. Northern and southern traditions are contrasted by a rugged tone from the north, and the more relaxed southern form of music. Many songs concern events from Albanian history and culture, including traditional themes of honour, hospitality, treachery, and revenge. The first compilation of Albanian folk music was made by two Himariot musicians, Neço Muka and Koço Çakali, in Paris, during their work with Albanian soprano Tefta Tashko-Koço. Several gramophone compilations were recorded at the time by the three artists, which eventually led to the recognition of Albanian iso-polyphony as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. is a traditional Albanian song contest organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). The festival is celebrated annually since its inauguration in 1962 and has launched the careers of some of Albania's most successful singers including Vaçe Zela and Parashqevi Simaku. It is significantly a music competition among Albanian performers presenting unreleased songs in premiere, composed by Albanian authors and voted by juries or by public. Contemporary artists Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, Era Istrefi, Dua Lipa, Ava Max, Bleona, Elvana Gjata, Ermonela Jaho, and Inva Mula have achieved international recognition for their music, while soprano Ermonela Jaho has been described by some as the "world's most acclaimed soprano". Albanian opera singer Saimir Pirgu was nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award. Literature The cultural renaissance was first of all expressed through the development of the Albanian language in the area of church texts and publications. The Protestant reforms invigorated hopes for the development of the local language and literary tradition, when cleric Gjon Buzuku translated the Catholic liturgy into Albanian, trying to do for Albanian what Martin Luther had done for German. Meshari (The Missal) written by Gjon Buzuku was published in 1555 and is considered one of the first literary work of written Albanian during the Middle Ages. The refined level of the language and the stabilised orthography must be the result of an earlier tradition of written Albanian, a tradition that is not well understood. However, there is some fragmented evidence, pre-dating Buzuku, which indicates that Albanian was written from at least the 14th century. Albanian writings from these centuries must not have been religious texts only, but historical chronicles too. They are mentioned by the humanist Marin Barleti, who in his book Siege of Shkodër (Rrethimi i Shkodrës) from 1504, confirms that he leafed through such chronicles written in the language of the people (in vernacula lingua) as well as his famous biography of Skanderbeg Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis (History of Skanderbeg) from 1508. The History of Skanderbeg is still the foundation of Skanderbeg studies and is considered an Albanian cultural treasure, vital to the formation of Albanian national self-consciousness. During the 16th and the 17th centuries, the catechism (E mbësuame krishterë) (Christian Teachings) from 1592 written by Lekë Matrënga, (Doktrina e krishterë) (The Christian Doctrine) from 1618 and (Rituale romanum) 1621 by Pjetër Budi, the first writer of original Albanian prose and poetry, an apology for George Castriot (1636) by Frang Bardhi, who also published a dictionary and folklore creations, the theological-philosophical treaty Cuneus Prophetarum (The Band of Prophets) (1685) by Pjetër Bogdani, the most universal personality of Albanian Middle Ages, were published in Albanian. The most famous Albanian writer in the 20th and 21st century is probably Ismail Kadare. Sports Albania participated at the Olympic Games in 1972 for the first time. The country made their Winter Olympic Games debut in 2006. Albania missed the next four games, two of them due to the 1980 and 1984 boycotts, but returned for the 1992 games in Barcelona. Since then, Albania have participated in all games. Albania normally competes in events that include swimming, athletics, weightlifting, shooting and wrestling. The country have been represented by the National Olympic Committee of Albania since 1972. The nation has participated at the Mediterranean Games since the games of 1987 in Syria. The Albanian athletes have won a total of 43 (8 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze) medals from 1987 to 2013. Popular sports in Albania include football, weightlifting, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, rugby union and gymnastics. Football is by far the most popular sport in Albania. It is governed by the Football Association of Albania (, F.SH.F.), which has membership in FIFA and UEFA. The Albania national football team, ranking 51st in the World in 2017 (highest 22nd on 22 August 2015) have won the 1946 Balkan Cup and the Malta Rothmans International Tournament 2000, but had never participated in any major UEFA or FIFA tournament, until UEFA Euro 2016, Albania's first ever appearance at the continental tournament and at a major men's football tournament. Albania scored their first ever goal in a major tournament and secured their first ever win in European Championship when they beat Romania by 1–0 in a UEFA Euro 2016 match on 19 June 2016. The most successful football clubs are Skënderbeu, KF Tirana, Dinamo Tirana, Partizani and Vllaznia. Weightlifting is one of the most successful individual sport for the Albanians, with the national team winning medals at the European Weightlifting Championships and the rest international competitions. Albanian weightlifters have won a total of 16 medals at the European Championships with 1 of them being gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze. In the World Weightlifting Championships, the Albanian weightlifting team has won in 1972 a gold in 2002 a silver and in 2011 a bronze medal. Diaspora Historically, the Albanian people have established several communities in many regions throughout Southern Europe. The Albanian diaspora has been formed since the late Middle Ages, when they emigrated to places such as Italy, especially in Sicily and Calabria, and Greece to escape either various socio-political difficulties or the Ottoman conquest of Albania. Following the fall of communism, large numbers of Albanians have migrated to countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Scandinavia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Albanian minorities are present in the neighbouring territories such as the west of North Macedonia, the east of Montenegro, Kosovo in its entirety and southern Serbia. In Kosovo, Albanians are the largest ethnic group in the country. Altogether, the number of ethnic Albanians living abroad is estimated to be higher than the total population inside Albania. See also Outline of Albania Bibliography of Albania Notes References Further reading History of the Party of Labor of Albania. Tirana: Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies, 1971. 691 p. External links albania.al president.al kryeministria.al parlament.al Albania at The World Factbook by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Countries and territories where Albanian is an official language Balkan countries Countries in Europe Member states of NATO Member states of the Council of Europe Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Member states of the United Nations Republics States and territories established in 1912

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur%20astronomy

Amateur astronomy

Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies. Amateur astronomers do not use the field of astronomy as their primary source of income or support, and usually have no professional degree in astrophysics or advanced academic training in the subject. Most amateurs are hobbyists, while others have a high degree of experience in astronomy and may often assist and work alongside professional astronomers. Many astronomers have studied the sky throughout history in an amateur framework; however, since the beginning of the twentieth century, professional astronomy has become an activity clearly distinguished from amateur astronomy and associated activities. Amateur astronomers typically view the sky at night, when most celestial objects and astronomical events are visible, but others observe during the daytime by viewing the Sun and solar eclipses. Some just look at the sky using nothing more than their eyes or binoculars, but more dedicated amateurs often use portable telescopes or telescopes situated in their private or club observatories. Amateurs can also join as members of amateur astronomical societies, which can advise, educate or guide them towards ways of finding and observing celestial objects. They can also promote the science of astronomy among the general public. Objectives Collectively, amateur astronomers observe a variety of celestial objects and phenomena. Common targets of amateur astronomers include the Sun, the Moon, planets, stars, comets, meteor showers, and a variety of deep sky objects such as star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. Many amateurs like to specialise in observing particular objects, types of objects, or types of events which interest them. One branch of amateur astronomy, amateur astrophotography, involves the taking of photos of the night sky. Astrophotography has become more popular with the introduction of far easier to use equipment including, digital cameras, DSLR cameras and relatively sophisticated purpose built high quality CCD cameras. Most amateur astronomers work at visible wavelengths, but a small minority experiment with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. An early pioneer of radio astronomy was Grote Reber, an amateur astronomer who constructed the first purpose built radio telescope in the late 1930s to follow up on the discovery of radio wavelength emissions from space by Karl Jansky. Non-visual amateur astronomy includes the use of infrared filters on conventional telescopes, and also the use of radio telescopes. Some amateur astronomers use home-made radio telescopes, while others use radio telescopes that were originally built for astronomical research but have since been made available for use by amateurs. The One-Mile Telescope is one such example. Common tools Amateur astronomers use a range of instruments to study the sky, depending on a combination of their interests and resources. Methods include simply looking at the night sky with the naked eye, using binoculars, and using a variety of optical telescopes of varying power and quality, as well as additional sophisticated equipment, such as cameras, to study light from the sky in both the visual and non-visual parts of the spectrum. To further improve studying the visual and non-visual part of the spectrum, amateur astronomers go to rural areas to get away from light pollution. Commercial telescopes are available, new and used, but it is also common for amateur astronomers to build (or commission the building of) their own custom telescopes. Some people even focus on amateur telescope making as their primary interest within the hobby of amateur astronomy. Although specialized and experienced amateur astronomers tend to acquire more specialized and more powerful equipment over time, relatively simple equipment is often preferred for certain tasks. Binoculars, for instance, although generally of lower power than the majority of telescopes, also tend to provide a wider field of view, which is preferable for looking at some objects in the night sky. Recent models of iPhones have introduced a “night mode” option when taking pictures as well, that allows you to increase exposure, which is a period of time the picture is being taken for. This optimizes focus on light in the frame which is why it is used primarily at night. Amateur astronomers also use star charts that, depending on experience and intentions, may range from simple planispheres through to detailed charts of very specific areas of the night sky. A range of astronomy software is available and used by amateur astronomers, including software that generates maps of the sky, software to assist with astrophotography, observation scheduling software, and software to perform various calculations pertaining to astronomical phenomena. Amateur astronomers often like to keep records of their observations, which usually takes the form of an observing log. Observing logs typically record details about which objects were observed and when, as well as describing the details that were seen. Sketching is sometimes used within logs, and photographic records of observations have also been used in recent times. The information gathered is used to help studies and interactions between amateur astronomers in yearly gatherings. Although not professional information or credible, it is a way for the hobby lovers to share their new sightings and experiences. The popularity of imaging among amateurs has led to large numbers of web sites being written by individuals about their images and equipment. Much of the social interaction of amateur astronomy occurs on mailing lists or discussion groups. Discussion group servers host numerous astronomy lists. A great deal of the commerce of amateur astronomy, the buying and selling of equipment, occurs online. Many amateurs use online tools to plan their nightly observing sessions, using tools such as the Clear Sky Chart. Common techniques While a number of interesting celestial objects are readily identified by the naked eye, sometimes with the aid of a star chart, many others are so faint or inconspicuous that technical means are necessary to locate them. Although many methods are used in amateur astronomy, most are variations of a few specific techniques. Star hopping Star hopping is a method often used by amateur astronomers with low-tech equipment such as binoculars or a manually driven telescope. It involves the use of maps (or memory) to locate known landmark stars, and "hopping" between them, often with the aid of a finderscope. Because of its simplicity, star hopping is a very common method for finding objects that are close to naked-eye stars. More advanced methods of locating objects in the sky include telescope mounts with setting circles, which assist with pointing telescopes to positions in the sky that are known to contain objects of interest, and GOTO telescopes, which are fully automated telescopes that are capable of locating objects on demand (having first been calibrated). Mobile apps The advent of mobile applications for use in smartphones has led to the creation of many dedicated apps. These apps allow any user to easily locate celestial objects of interest by simply pointing the smartphone device in that direction in the sky. These apps make use of the inbuilt hardware in the phone, such as GPS location and gyroscope. Useful information about the pointed object like celestial coordinates, the name of the object, its constellation, etc. are provided for a quick reference. Some paid versions give more information. These apps are gradually getting into regular use during observing, for the alignment process of telescopes. Setting circles Setting circles are angular measurement scales that can be placed on the two main rotation axes of some telescopes. Since the widespread adoption of digital setting circles, any classical engraved setting circle is now specifically identified as an "analog setting circle" (ASC). By knowing the coordinates of an object (usually given in equatorial coordinates), the telescope user can use the setting circle to align (i.e., point) the telescope in the appropriate direction before looking through its eyepiece. A computerized setting circle is called a "digital setting circle" (DSC). Although digital setting circles can be used to display a telescope's RA and Dec coordinates, they are not simply a digital read-out of what can be seen on the telescope's analog setting circles. As with go-to telescopes, digital setting circle computers (commercial names include Argo Navis, Sky Commander, and NGC Max) contain databases of tens of thousands of celestial objects and projections of planet positions. To find a celestial object in a telescope equipped with a DSC computer, one does not need to look up the specific RA and Dec coordinates in a book or other resource, and then adjust the telescope to those numerical readings. Rather, the object is chosen from the electronic database, which causes distance values and arrow markers to appear in the display that indicate the distance and direction to move the telescope. The telescope is moved until the two angular distance values reach zero, indicating that the telescope is properly aligned. When both the RA and Dec axes are thus "zeroed out", the object should be in the eyepiece. Many DSCs, like go-to systems, can also work in conjunction with laptop sky programs. Computerized systems provide the further advantage of computing coordinate precession. Traditional printed sources are subtitled by the epoch year, which refers to the positions of celestial objects at a given time to the nearest year (e.g., J2005, J2007). Most such printed sources have been updated for intervals of only about every fifty years (e.g., J1900, J1950, J2000). Computerized sources, on the other hand, are able to calculate the right ascension and declination of the "epoch of date" to the exact instant of observation. GoTo telescopes GOTO telescopes have become more popular since the 1980s as technology has improved and prices have been reduced. With these computer-driven telescopes, the user typically enters the name of the item of interest and the mechanics of the telescope point the telescope towards that item automatically. They have several notable advantages for amateur astronomers intent on research. For example, GOTO telescopes tend to be faster for locating items of interest than star hopping, allowing more time for studying of the object. GOTO also allows manufacturers to add equatorial tracking to mechanically simpler alt-azimuth telescope mounts, allowing them to produce an overall less expensive product. GOTO telescopes usually have to be calibrated using alignment stars in order to provide accurate tracking and positioning. However, several telescope manufacturers have recently developed telescope systems that are calibrated with the use of built-in GPS, decreasing the time it takes to set up a telescope at the start of an observing session. Remote-controlled telescopes With the development of fast Internet in the last part of the 20th century along with advances in computer controlled telescope mounts and CCD cameras "Remote Telescope" astronomy is now a viable means for amateur astronomers not aligned with major telescope facilities to partake in research and deep sky imaging. This enables anyone to control a telescope a great distance away in a dark location. The observer can image through the telescope using CCD cameras. The digital data collected by the telescope is then transmitted and displayed to the user by means of the Internet. An example of a digital remote telescope operation for public use via the Internet is the Bareket observatory, and there are telescope farms in New Mexico, Australia and Atacama in Chile. Imaging techniques Amateur astronomers engage in many imaging techniques including film, DSLR, LRGB, and CCD astrophotography. Because CCD imagers are linear, image processing may be used to subtract away the effects of light pollution, which has increased the popularity of astrophotography in urban areas. Narrowband filters may also be used to minimize light pollution. Scientific research Scientific research is most often not the main goal for many amateur astronomers, unlike professional astronomers. Work of scientific merit is possible, however, and many amateurs successfully contribute to the knowledge base of professional astronomers. Astronomy is sometimes promoted as one of the few remaining sciences for which amateurs can still contribute useful data. To recognize this, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annually gives Amateur Achievement Awards for significant contributions to astronomy by amateurs. The majority of scientific contributions by amateur astronomers are in the area of data collection. In particular, this applies where large numbers of amateur astronomers with small telescopes are more effective than the relatively small number of large telescopes that are available to professional astronomers. Several organizations, such as the American Association of Variable Star Observers and the British Astronomical Association, exist to help coordinate these contributions. Amateur astronomers often contribute toward activities such as monitoring the changes in brightness of variable stars and supernovae, helping to track asteroids, and observing occultations to determine both the shape of asteroids and the shape of the terrain on the apparent edge of the Moon as seen from Earth. With more advanced equipment, but still cheap in comparison to professional setups, amateur astronomers can measure the light spectrum emitted from astronomical objects, which can yield high-quality scientific data if the measurements are performed with due care. A relatively recent role for amateur astronomers is searching for overlooked phenomena (e.g., Kreutz Sungrazers) in the vast libraries of digital images and other data captured by Earth and space based observatories, much of which is available over the Internet. In the past and present, amateur astronomers have played a major role in discovering new comets. Recently however, funding of projects such as the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research and Near Earth Asteroid Tracking projects has meant that most comets are now discovered by automated systems long before it is possible for amateurs to see them. Societies There are a large number of amateur astronomical societies around the world, that serve as a meeting point for those interested in amateur astronomy. Members range from active observers with their own equipment to "armchair astronomers" who are simply interested in the topic. Societies range widely in their goals and activities, which may depend on a variety of factors such as geographic spread, local circumstances, size, and membership. For example, a small local society located in dark countryside may focus on practical observing and star parties, whereas a large one based in a major city might have numerous members but be limited by light pollution and thus hold regular indoor meetings with guest speakers instead. Major national or international societies generally publish their own journal or newsletter, and some hold large multi-day meetings akin to a scientific conference or convention. They may also have sections devoted to particular topics, such as lunar observation or amateur telescope making. Notable amateur astronomers George Alcock, discovered several comets and novae. Thomas Bopp, shared the discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 with unemployed PhD physicist Alan Hale. Robert Burnham Jr. (1931–1993), author of the Celestial Handbook. Andrew Ainslie Common (1841–1903), built his own very large reflecting telescopes and demonstrated that photography could record astronomical features invisible to the human eye. Robert E. Cox (1917–1989) who conducted the "Gleanings for ATMs" column in Sky & Telescope magazine for 21 years. John Dobson (1915–2014), whose name is associated with the Dobsonian telescope. Robert Owen Evans (1937-2022) was an amateur astronomer who currently holds the all-time record for visual discoveries of supernovae. Clinton B. Ford (1913–1992), who specialized in the observation of variable stars. John Ellard Gore (1845–1910), who specialized in the observation of variable stars. Edward Halbach (1909–2011), who specialized in the observation of variable stars. Will Hay, the famous comedian and actor, who discovered a white spot on Saturn. Walter Scott Houston (1912–1993) who wrote the "Deep-Sky Wonders" column in Sky & Telescope magazine for almost 50 years. Albert G. Ingalls (1888–1958), editor of Amateur Telescope Making, Vols. 1–3 and "The Amateur Scientist". Peter Jalowiczor (born in 1966) discovered four exoplanets. David H. Levy discovered or co-discovered 22 comets including Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, the most for any individual. Terry Lovejoy discovered five comets in the 21st century and developed modifications to DSLR cameras for astrophotography. Sir Patrick Moore (1923–2012), presenter of the BBC's long-running The Sky at Night and author of many books on astronomy. Leslie Peltier (1900–1980), a prolific discoverer of comets and well-known observer of variable stars. John M. Pierce (1886–1958) was one of the founders of the Springfield Telescope Makers. Russell W. Porter (1871–1949) founded Stellafane and has been referred to as the "founder". Grote Reber (1911–2002), pioneer of radio astronomy constructing the first purpose built radio telescope and conducted the first sky survey in the radio frequency. Isaac Roberts (1829–1904), early experimenter in astronomical photography. Discoveries with major contributions by amateur astronomers Cygnus A (1939) is a radio galaxy and one of the strongest radio sources on the sky. Dramatic period decrease in T Ursae Minoris using AAVSO observations (1995). McNeil's Nebula (2004) is a variable nebula. XO-1b (2006) is an exoplanet. Tidal streams around NGC 5907 (2008). Voorwerpjes (2009) is a type of quasar ionization echo. Pea Galaxies (2009) are a type of galaxy. Most recent (2010) outburst of U Scorpii. Kronberger 61 (2011) is a planetary nebula. Speca (2011) is a spiral galaxy containing contain DRAGNs (Double Radio-source Associated with Galactic Nucleus). 2011 HM102 (2013) is a Neptune Trojan. PH1b (2013) is an extrasolar planet in a circumbinary orbit in a quadruple star system. PH2b (2013) is an extrasolar gas giant planet located in its parent star's habitable zone. J1649+2635 (2014) is a spiral galaxy containing contain DRAGNs (Double Radio-source Associated with Galactic Nucleus). Yellowballs (2015) are a type of compact star-forming region. 9Spitch (2015) is a distant gravitationally lensed galaxy with high star-forming rate. NGC 253-dw2 (2016) is a dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy candidate undergoing tidal disruption around the nearby galaxy NGC 253. The galaxy was discovered by an amateur astronomer with a small-aperture amateur telescope. KIC 8462852 (2016) is an F-type star showing unusual dimming events. HD 74389 (2016) contains a debris disk. It is the first debris disk discovered around a star with a companion white dwarf. AWI0005x3s (2016) is the oldest M-dwarf with a debris disk detected in a moving group at the time of the discovery. PSR J1913+1102 (2016) is a binary neutron star with the highest total mass at the time of the discovery. Donatiello I (2016) a nearby spheroidal dwarf galaxy discovered by the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. It is also the first galaxy to be named after an amateur astronomer. Transiting Exocomets (2017) are comets in an extrasolar system blocking some of the starlight while transiting in front of the extra-solar star. K2-138 (2018) is a planetary system with five confirmed planets in an unbroken 3:2-resonance chain. Supernova 2016gkg (2018) was observed by an amateur astronomer shortly after it began to erupt. PSR J1744−7619 (2018) is the first Pulsar to be detected only in gamma-rays and not in radio-waves. STEVE (2018) is an atmospheric phenomenon. K2-288Bb (2019) is an extrasolar planet in the habitable zone around a M-star, which belongs to a binary system. LSPM J0207+3331 (2019) is an old white dwarf containing a debris disk with two components. Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov (2019) is the first interstellar comet. Kojima-1Lb (confirmed in 2019) is a Neptune-sized exoplanet discovered by an amateur astronomer with the microlensing method. Kojima-1 is the brightest microlensing host discovered. WISE2150-7520AB (2019/2020) is a pair of brown dwarfs with the lowest binding energy at a total mass smaller than 0.1 solar masses not associated with a young cluster. GJ 3470 c (2020) is the first exoplanet candidate completely discovered by amateurs. Unlike Peter Jalowiczor, Kojima-1Lb and XO-1b, GJ 3470 c was fully discovered by an amateur in a project led by amateur astronomers. Pisces VII/Triangulum IIII (Psc VIII/Tri III) is an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy in Messier 31 system, a possible satellite of Messier 33. It is the second discovery credited to the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello, already discoverer of the dwarf galaxy Donatiello I. Donatiello II, Donatiello III and Donatiello IV, three new satellites of the nearby galaxy NGC 253, discovered in 2021 by the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. With these three new dwarf galaxies, Donatiello I and Pisces VII, his total discoveries in this topic are five. Pegasus V/Andromeda XXXIV (Peg V/And XXXIV) an ultrafaint dwarf in the constellation of Pegasus located ~260 kpc from Messier 31 (Andromeda Galaxy) in the outskirts of its halo. Peg V was initially identified in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys by the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. Prizes recognizing amateur astronomers Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award See also Astronomical object Caldwell catalogue A list of astronomical objects for observation by amateur astronomers compiled by Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore. Clear Sky Chart Weather forecasts designed for amateur astronomers. List of astronomical societies List of telescope parts and construction Messier catalogue A set of astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771, which is still used by many amateurs as an observing list. Observation Observational astronomy School Astronomical Olympiad by Correspondence Sidewalk astronomy Skygazing Star party References Further reading External links Amateur Astronomy Magazine Articles containing video clips Citizen science

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido

Aikido

Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit". According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness. Morihei Ueshiba used the phrase to refer to this principle. Aikido's fundamental principles include: (entering), , (breathing control), (triangular principle) and (turning) movements that redirect the opponent's attack momentum. Its curriculum comprises various techniques, primarily throws and joint locks. It also includes a weapons system encompassing the , and . Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the Ōmoto-kyō religion. Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term . Ueshiba's senior students have different approaches to aikido, depending partly on when they studied with him. Today, aikido is found all over the world in a number of styles, with broad ranges of interpretation and emphasis. However, they all share techniques formulated by Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker. Etymology and basic philosophy The word "aikido" is formed of three kanji:  –  – harmony, unifying  –  – energy, spirit  –  – way, path The term does not readily appear in the Japanese language outside the scope of budō. This has led to many possible interpretations of the word. () is mainly used in compounds to mean 'combine, unite, join together, meet', examples being (combined/united), (composition), (unite/combine/join together), (union/alliance/association), (combine/unify), and (mutual agreement). There is an idea of reciprocity, (to get to know one another), (talk/discussion/negotiation), and (meet by appointment). () is often used to describe a feeling or emotive action, as in ('I feel X', as in terms of thinking but with less cognitive reasoning), and (feeling/sensation); it is used to mean energy or force, as in (electricity) and (magnetism); it can also refer to qualities or aspects of people or things, as in (spirit/trait/temperament). The characters aeteological history can be traced back to the much older Chinese character of () that is used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine and acupunture. The term in Aikido is found in many other Japanese martial arts such as, judo and kendo, and in various non-martial arts, such as Japanese calligraphy (), flower arranging () and tea ceremony ( or ). Therefore, from a purely literal interpretation, aikido is the "Way of combining forces" or "Way of unifying energy", in which the term refers to the martial arts principle or tactic of blending with an attacker's movements for the purpose of controlling their actions with minimal effort. One applies by understanding the rhythm and intent of the attacker to find the optimal position and timing to apply a counter-technique. History Aikido was created by (1883–1969), referred to by some aikido practitioners as (Great Teacher). The term aikido was coined in the 20th century. Ueshiba envisioned aikido not only as the synthesis of his martial training, but as an expression of his personal philosophy of universal peace and reconciliation. During Ueshiba's lifetime and continuing today, aikido has evolved from the that Ueshiba studied into a variety of expressions by martial artists throughout the world. Initial development Ueshiba developed aikido primarily during the late 1920s through the 1930s through the synthesis of the older martial arts that he had studied. The core martial art from which aikido derives is Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, which Ueshiba studied directly with Takeda Sōkaku, the reviver of that art. Additionally, Ueshiba is known to have studied Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū with Tozawa Tokusaburō in Tokyo in 1901, Gotōha Yagyū Shingan-ryū under Nakai Masakatsu in Sakai from 1903 to 1908, and judo with (1894–1972) in Tanabe in 1911. The art of is the primary technical influence on aikido. Along with empty-handed throwing and joint-locking techniques, Ueshiba incorporated training movements with weapons, such as those for the spear (), short staff (), and possibly the . Aikido also derives much of its technical structure from the art of swordsmanship (). Ueshiba moved to Hokkaidō in 1912, and began studying under Takeda Sokaku in 1915; His official association with Daitō-ryū continued until 1937. However, during the latter part of that period, Ueshiba had already begun to distance himself from Takeda and the . At that time Ueshiba referred to his martial art as "Aiki Budō". It is unclear exactly when Ueshiba began using the name "aikido", but it became the official name of the art in 1942 when the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society () was engaged in a government sponsored reorganization and centralization of Japanese martial arts. Religious influences After Ueshiba left Hokkaidō in 1919, he met and was profoundly influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader of the Ōmoto-kyō religion (a neo-Shinto movement) in Ayabe. One of the primary features of Ōmoto-kyō is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This idea was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and harmlessly redirect it. In an ideal resolution, not only is the receiver unharmed, but so is the attacker. In addition to the effect on his spiritual growth, the connection with Deguchi gave Ueshiba entry to elite political and military circles as a martial artist. As a result of this exposure, he was able to attract not only financial backing but also gifted students. Several of these students would found their own styles of aikido. International dissemination Aikido was first introduced to the rest of the world in 1951 by Minoru Mochizuki with a visit to France, where he demonstrated aikido techniques to judo students. He was followed by Tadashi Abe in 1952, who came as the official Aikikai Hombu representative, remaining in France for seven years. Kenji Tomiki toured with a delegation of various martial arts through 15 continental states of the United States in 1953. Later that year, Koichi Tohei was sent by Aikikai Hombu to Hawaii for a full year, where he set up several dōjō. This trip was followed by several subsequent visits and is considered the formal introduction of aikido to the United States. The United Kingdom followed in 1955; Italy in 1964 by Hiroshi Tada; and Germany in 1965 by Katsuaki Asai. Designated the "Official Delegate for Europe and Africa" by Morihei Ueshiba, Masamichi Noro arrived in France in September 1961. Seiichi Sugano was appointed to introduce aikido to Australia in 1965. Today there are aikido dōjō throughout the world. Proliferation of independent organizations The largest aikido organization is the Aikikai Foundation, which remains under the control of the Ueshiba family. However, aikido has developed into many styles, most of which were formed by Morihei Ueshiba's major students. The earliest independent styles to emerge were Yoseikan Aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931, Yoshinkan Aikido, founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955, and Shodokan Aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967. The emergence of these styles pre-dated Ueshiba's death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan Aikido, however, was controversial, since it introduced a unique rule-based competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido. After Ueshiba's death in 1969, two more major styles emerged. Significant controversy arose with the departure of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo's chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, and the organization that governs it, the Ki Society (). A final major style evolved from Ueshiba's retirement in Iwama, Ibaraki and the teaching methodology of long term student Morihiro Saito. It is unofficially referred to as the "Iwama style", and at one point a number of its followers formed a loose network of schools they called Iwama Ryu. Although Iwama style practitioners remained part of the Aikikai until Saito's death in 2002, followers of Saito subsequently split into two groups. One remained with the Aikikai and the other formed the independent Shinshin Aikishuren Kai in 2004 around Saito's son Hitohiro Saito. Today, the major styles of aikido are each run by a separate governing organization, have their own in Japan, and are taught throughout the world. The study of is an important component of aikido. The term does not specifically refer to either physical or mental training, as it encompasses both. The kanji for was written in its older form as up until the Japanese governmental writing reforms after World War II, and now is more prevalently seen in its modern form of . This form has the removal of the eight directions denoting the pre and post natal energies of (Chinese – ) also known in the Art of Aikido as "Source energy". The character for is used in everyday Japanese terms, such as , or . has many meanings, including "ambience", "mind", "mood", or "intention and action", however, in traditional martial arts and medicine it is often referred to in its more general terminology as "life energy". Gozo Shioda's Yoshinkan Aikido, considered one of the "hard styles", largely follows Ueshiba's teachings from before World War II, and surmises that the secret to lies in timing and the application of the whole body's strength to a single point. In later years, Ueshiba's application of in aikido took on a softer, more gentle feel. This concept was known as Takemusu Aiki, and many of his later students teach about from this perspective. Koichi Tohei's Ki Society centers almost exclusively around the study of the empirical (albeit subjective) experience of , with students' proficiency in aikido techniques and development ranked separately. Training In aikido, as in virtually all Japanese martial arts, there are both physical and mental aspects of training. The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques. Because a substantial portion of any aikido curriculum consists of throws, beginners learn how to safely fall or roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense consist of throws and pins. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and techniques with weapons. Fitness Physical training goals pursued in conjunction with aikido include controlled relaxation, correct movement of joints such as hips and shoulders, flexibility, and endurance, with less emphasis on strength training. In aikido, pushing or extending movements are much more common than pulling or contracting movements. This distinction can be applied to general fitness goals for the aikido practitioner. In aikido, specific muscles or muscle groups are not isolated and worked to improve tone, mass, or power. Aikido-related training emphasizes the use of coordinated whole-body movement and balance similar to yoga or pilates. For example, many dōjōs begin each class with , which may include stretching and (break falls). Roles of and Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing pre-arranged forms () rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern is for the receiver of the technique () to initiate an attack against the person who applies the technique—the , or (depending on aikido style), also referred to as (when applying a throwing technique), who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique. Both halves of the technique, that of and that of , are considered essential to aikido training. Both are studying aikido principles of blending and adaptation. learns to blend with and control attacking energy, while learns to become calm and flexible in the disadvantageous, off-balance positions in which places them. This "receiving" of the technique is called . continuously seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities (e.g., an exposed side), while uses position and timing to keep off-balance and vulnerable. In more advanced training, will sometimes apply to regain balance and pin or throw . refers to the act of receiving a technique. Good involves attention to the technique, the partner, and the immediate environment—it is considered an active part of the process of learning aikido. The method of falling itself is also important, and is a way for the practitioner to receive an aikido technique safely and minimize risk of injury. Initial attacks Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack, so students must learn to deliver various types of attacks to be able to practice aikido with a partner. Although attacks are not studied as thoroughly as in striking-based arts, attacks with intent (such as a strong strike or an immobilizing grab) are needed to study correct and effective application of technique. Many of the of aikido resemble cuts from a sword or other grasped object, which indicate its origins in techniques intended for armed combat. Other techniques, which explicitly appear to be punches (), are practiced as thrusts with a knife or sword. Kicks are generally reserved for upper-level variations; reasons cited include that falls from kicks are especially dangerous, and that kicks (high kicks in particular) were uncommon during the types of combat prevalent in feudal Japan. Some basic strikes include: is a vertical knifehand strike to the head. In training, this is usually directed at the forehead or the crown for safety, but more dangerous versions of this attack target the bridge of the nose and the maxillary sinus. is a diagonal knifehand strike to the side of the head or neck. is a punch to the torso. Specific targets include the chest, abdomen, and solar plexus, sometimes referred to as , or . is a punch to the face, sometimes referred to as . Beginners in particular often practice techniques from grabs, both because they are safer and because it is easier to feel the energy and the direction of the movement of force of a hold than it is for a strike. Some grabs are historically derived from being held while trying to draw a weapon, whereupon a technique could then be used to free oneself and immobilize or strike the attacker while they are grabbing the defender. The following are examples of some basic grabs: , when one hand grabs one wrist. , when both hands grab one wrist; sometimes referred to as , when both hands grab both wrists; sometimes referred to as . when one shoulder is grabbed. , when both shoulders are grabbed. It is sometimes combined with an overhead strike as . , when the lapel is grabbed; sometimes referred to as . Basic techniques The following are a sample of the basic or widely practiced throws and pins. Many of these techniques derive from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but some others were invented by Morihei Ueshiba. The precise terminology for some may vary between organisations and styles; the following are the terms used by the Aikikai Foundation. Note that despite the names of the first five techniques listed, they are not universally taught in numeric order. , a control technique using one hand on the elbow and one hand near the wrist which leverages to the ground. This grip applies pressure into the ulnar nerve at the wrist. is a pronating wristlock that torques the arm and applies painful nerve pressure. (There is an adductive wristlock or Z-lock in the version.) is a rotational wristlock that directs upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. is a shoulder control technique similar to , but with both hands gripping the forearm. The knuckles (from the palm side) are applied to the recipient's radial nerve against the periosteum of the forearm bone. is a technique that is visually similar to , but with an inverted grip of the wrist, medial rotation of the arm and shoulder, and downward pressure on the elbow. Common in knife and other weapon take-aways. is a throw during which 's hand is folded back past the shoulder, locking the shoulder joint. is a supinating wristlock-throw that stretches the extensor digitorum. is a loosely used umbrella term for various types of mechanically unrelated techniques; generally do not use joint locks like other techniques. , throws in which moves through the space occupied by . The classic form superficially resembles a "clothesline" technique. , a throw in which, beginning with , moving forward, sweeps one hand low ("earth") and the other high ("heaven"), which unbalances so that he or she easily topples over. , aikido's version of the hip throw; drops their hips lower than those of , then flips over the resultant fulcrum. or , a throw that locks the arms against each other (the kanji for "10" is a cross-shape: ). is a throw in which sweeps 's arm back until it locks the shoulder joint, then uses forward pressure to throw them. Implementations Aikido makes use of body movement () to blend the movement of with the movement of . For example, an "entering" () technique consists of movements inward towards , while a technique uses a pivoting motion. Additionally, an technique takes place in front of , whereas an technique takes place to their side; a technique is applied with motion to the front of , and a version is applied with motion towards the rear of , usually by incorporating a turning or pivoting motion. Finally, most techniques can be performed while in a seated posture (). Techniques where both and are standing are called , techniques where both start off in are called , and techniques performed with standing and sitting are called (). From these few basic techniques, there are numerous of possible implementations. For example, can be applied to an opponent moving forward with a strike (perhaps with an type of movement to redirect the incoming force), or to an opponent who has already struck and is now moving back to reestablish distance (perhaps an version). Specific aikido are typically referred to with the formula "attack-technique(-modifier)"; , for example, refers to any technique executed when is holding one wrist. This could be further specified as (referring to any forward-moving technique from that grab). are strikes (or feints) employed during an aikido technique. Some view as attacks against "vital points" meant to cause damage in and of themselves. For instance, Gozo Shioda described using in a brawl to quickly down a gang's leader. Others consider , especially to the face, to be methods of distraction meant to enable other techniques; a strike, even if it is blocked, can startle the target and break their concentration. Additionally, the target may also become unbalanced while attempting to avoid a strike (by jerking the head back, for example) which may allow for an easier throw. Many sayings about are attributed to Morihei Ueshiba, who considered them an essential element of technique. Weapons Weapons training in aikido traditionally includes the short staff () (these techniques closely resemble the use of the bayonet, or Jūkendō), the wooden sword (), and the knife (). Some schools incorporate firearm-disarming techniques, where either weapon-taking and/or weapon-retention may be taught. Some schools, such as the Iwama style of Morihiro Saito, usually spend substantial time practicing with both and , under the names of , and , respectively. The founder developed many of the empty-handed techniques from traditional sword, spear and bayonet movements. Consequently, the practice of the weapons arts gives insight into the origin of techniques and movements, and reinforces the concepts of distance, timing, foot movement, presence and connectedness with one's training partner(s). Multiple attackers and One feature of aikido is training to defend against multiple attackers, often called , or . Freestyle practice with multiple attackers called is a key part of most curricula and is required for the higher-level ranks. exercises a person's ability to intuitively perform techniques in an unstructured environment. Strategic choice of techniques, based on how they reposition the student relative to other attackers, is important in training. For instance, an technique might be used to neutralise the current attacker while turning to face attackers approaching from behind. In Shodokan Aikido, differs in that it is not performed with multiple persons with defined roles of defender and attacker, but between two people, where both participants attack, defend, and counter at will. In this respect it resembles judo . Injuries In applying a technique during training, it is the responsibility of to prevent injury to by employing a speed and force of application that is appropriate with their partner's proficiency in . When injuries (especially to the joints) occur, they are often the result of a misjudging the ability of to receive the throw or pin. A study of injuries in the martial arts showed that the type of injuries varied considerably from one art to the other. Soft tissue injuries are one of the most common types of injuries found within aikido, as well as joint strain and stubbed fingers and toes. Several deaths from head-and-neck injuries, caused by aggressive in a hazing context, have been reported. Mental training Aikido training is mental as well as physical, emphasizing the ability to relax the mind and body even under the stress of dangerous situations. This is necessary to enable the practitioner to perform the 'enter-and-blend' movements that underlie aikido techniques, wherein an attack is met with confidence and directness. Morihei Ueshiba once remarked that one "must be willing to receive 99% of an opponent's attack and stare death in the face" in order to execute techniques without hesitation. As a martial art concerned not only with fighting proficiency but with the betterment of daily life, this mental aspect is of key importance to aikido practitioners. Uniforms and ranking Aikido practitioners (commonly called outside Japan) generally progress by promotion through a series of "grades" (), followed by a series of "degrees" (), pursuant to formal testing procedures. Some aikido organizations use belts to distinguish practitioners' grades, often simply white and black belts to distinguish and grades, although some use various belt colors. Testing requirements vary, so a particular rank in one organization is not comparable or interchangeable with the rank of another. Some dōjōs have an age requirement before students can take the rank exam. The uniform worn for practicing aikido () is similar to the training uniform () used in most other modern martial arts; simple trousers and a wraparound jacket, usually white. Both thick ("judo-style"), and thin ("karate-style") cotton tops are used. Aikido-specific tops are available with shorter sleeves which reach to just below the elbow. Most aikido systems add a pair of wide pleated black or indigo trousers known as (used also in Naginatajutsu, kendo, and iaido). In many schools, the wearing of is reserved for practitioners with ranks or for instructors, while others allow all practitioners to wear a regardless of rank. Aikido styles Aikido styles vary in their intention as due to its holistic nature. The most common differences noted in aikido, when observed externally, relate to the intensity and realism of training. Stanley Pranin has observed that some criticism may stem from weak attacks from , allowing for a conditioned response from , resulting in underdevelopment of the skills needed for the safe and effective practice of both partners. To counteract this, some styles allow students to become less compliant over time, but, in keeping with the core philosophies, this is after having demonstrated proficiency in being able to protect themselves and their training partners. Shodokan Aikido addresses the issue by practicing in a competitive format. Such adaptations are debated between styles, with some maintaining that there is no need to adjust their methods because either the criticisms are unjustified, or that they are not training for self-defense or combat effectiveness, but spiritual, fitness or other reasons. Reasons for the difference and diversity of teachings, intention, and forms of aikido can be traced to the shift in training focus after the end of Ueshiba's seclusion in Iwama from 1942 to the mid-1950s, as he increasingly emphasized the spiritual and philosophical aspects of aikido. As a result, strikes to vital points by , entering () and initiation of techniques by , the distinction between (front side) and (back side) techniques, and the use of weapons, were all de-emphasized or eliminated from practice. Conversely, some styles of aikido place less importance on the spiritual practices emphasized by Ueshiba. According to Minoru Shibata of Aikido Journal: O-Sensei's aikido was not a continuation and extension of the old and has a distinct discontinuity with past martial and philosophical concepts. In other words, aikido practitioners who focus on aikido's roots in traditional or are said to be diverging from what Ueshiba taught, as some critics urge practitioners: [Ueshiba's] transcendence to the spiritual and universal reality were the fundamentals of the paradigm that he demonstrated. References External links AikiWeb Aikido Information site on aikido, with essays, forums, gallery, reviews, columns, wiki and other information. Japanese martial arts Dō Articles containing video clips

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion

Abortion

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of all pregnancies. When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently "induced miscarriage". The unmodified word abortion generally refers to an induced abortion. The reasons why women have abortions are diverse and vary across the world. Reasons include maternal health, an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feeling they are too young, wishing to complete education or advance a career, and not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest. When done legally in industrialized societies, induced abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine. In the United States, the risk of maternal mortality is 14 times lower after induced abortion than after childbirth. Unsafe abortions—those performed by people lacking the necessary skills, or in inadequately resourced settings—are responsible for between 5-13% of maternal deaths, especially in the developing world. However, medication abortions that are self-managed are highly effective and safe throughout the first trimester. Public health data shows that making safe abortion legal and accessible reduces maternal deaths. Modern methods use medication or surgery for abortions. The drug mifepristone in combination with prostaglandin appears to be as safe and effective as surgery during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. The most common surgical technique involves dilating the cervix and using a suction device. Birth control, such as the pill or intrauterine devices, can be used immediately following abortion. When performed legally and safely on a woman who desires it, induced abortions do not increase the risk of long-term mental or physical problems. In contrast, unsafe abortions performed by unskilled individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities cause between 22,000 and 44,000 deaths and 6.9 million hospital admissions each year. The World Health Organization states that "access to legal, safe and comprehensive abortion care, including post-abortion care, is essential for the attainment of the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health". Historically, abortions have been attempted using herbal medicines, sharp tools, forceful massage, or other traditional methods. Around 73 million abortions are performed each year in the world, with about 45% done unsafely. Abortion rates changed little between 2003 and 2008, before which they decreased for at least two decades as access to family planning and birth control increased. , 37% of the world's women had access to legal abortions without limits as to reason. Countries that permit abortions have different limits on how late in pregnancy abortion is allowed. Abortion rates are similar between countries that restrict abortion and countries that broadly allow it, though this is partly because countries which restrict abortion tend to have higher unintended pregnancy rates. Globally, there has been a widespread trend towards greater legal access to abortion since 1973, but there remains debate with regard to moral, religious, ethical, and legal issues. Those who oppose abortion often argue that an embryo or fetus is a person with a right to life, and thus equate it with murder. Those who support its legality often argue that it is a woman's reproductive right. Others favor legal and accessible abortion as a public health measure. Abortion laws and views of the procedure are different around the world. In some countries abortion is legal and women have the right to make the choice about abortion. In some areas, abortion is legal only in specific cases such as rape, fetal defects, poverty, risk to a woman's health, or incest. Types Induced Approximately 205 million pregnancies occur each year worldwide. Over a third are unintended and about a fifth end in induced abortion. Most abortions result from unintended pregnancies. In the United Kingdom, 1 to 2% of abortions are done due to genetic problems in the fetus. A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in several ways. The manner selected often depends upon the gestational age of the embryo or fetus, which increases in size as the pregnancy progresses. Specific procedures may also be selected due to legality, regional availability, and doctor or a woman's personal preference. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or elective. An abortion is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion when it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman; to prevent harm to the woman's physical or mental health; to terminate a pregnancy where indications are that the child will have a significantly increased chance of mortality or morbidity; or to selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple pregnancy. An abortion is referred to as an elective or voluntary abortion when it is performed at the request of the woman for non-medical reasons. Confusion sometimes arises over the term elective because "elective surgery" generally refers to all scheduled surgery, whether medically necessary or not. Spontaneous Miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion, is the unintentional expulsion of an embryo or fetus before the 24th week of gestation. A pregnancy that ends before 37 weeks of gestation resulting in a live-born infant is a "premature birth" or a "preterm birth". When a fetus dies in utero after viability, or during delivery, it is usually termed "stillborn". Premature births and stillbirths are generally not considered to be miscarriages, although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap. Studies of pregnant women in the US and China have shown that between 40% and 60% of embryos do not progress to birth. The vast majority of miscarriages occur before the woman is aware that she is pregnant, and many pregnancies spontaneously abort before medical practitioners can detect an embryo. Between 15% and 30% of known pregnancies end in clinically apparent miscarriage, depending upon the age and health of the pregnant woman. 80% of these spontaneous abortions happen in the first trimester. The most common cause of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester is chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo or fetus, accounting for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy losses. Other causes include vascular disease (such as lupus), diabetes, other hormonal problems, infection, and abnormalities of the uterus. Advancing maternal age and a woman's history of previous spontaneous abortions are the two leading factors associated with a greater risk of spontaneous abortion. A spontaneous abortion can also be caused by accidental trauma; intentional trauma or stress to cause miscarriage is considered induced abortion or feticide. Methods Medical Medical abortions are those induced by abortifacient pharmaceuticals. Medical abortion became an alternative method of abortion with the availability of prostaglandin analogs in the 1970s and the antiprogestogen mifepristone (also known as RU-486) in the 1980s. The most common early first trimester medical abortion regimens use mifepristone in combination with misoprostol (or sometimes another prostaglandin analog, gemeprost) up to 10 weeks (70 days) gestational age, methotrexate in combination with a prostaglandin analog up to 7 weeks gestation, or a prostaglandin analog alone. Mifepristone–misoprostol combination regimens work faster and are more effective at later gestational ages than methotrexate–misoprostol combination regimens, and combination regimens are more effective than misoprostol alone, particularly in the second trimester. Medical abortion regimens involving mifepristone followed by misoprostol in the cheek between 24 and 48 hours later are effective when performed before 70 days' gestation. In very early abortions, up to 7 weeks gestation, medical abortion using a mifepristone–misoprostol combination regimen is considered to be more effective than surgical abortion (vacuum aspiration), especially when clinical practice does not include detailed inspection of aspirated tissue. Early medical abortion regimens using mifepristone, followed 24–48 hours later by buccal or vaginal misoprostol are 98% effective up to 9 weeks gestational age; from 9 to 10 weeks efficacy decreases modestly to 94%. If medical abortion fails, surgical abortion must be used to complete the procedure. Early medical abortions account for the majority of abortions before 9 weeks gestation in Britain, France, Switzerland, United States, and the Nordic countries. Medical abortion regimens using mifepristone in combination with a prostaglandin analog are the most common methods used for second trimester abortions in Canada, most of Europe, China and India, in contrast to the United States where 96% of second trimester abortions are performed surgically by dilation and evacuation. A 2020 Cochrane Systematic Review concluded that providing women with medications to take home to complete the second stage of the procedure for an early medical abortion results in an effective abortion. Further research is required to determine if self-administered medical abortion is as safe as provider-administered medical abortion, where a health care professional is present to help manage the medical abortion. Safely permitting women to self-administer abortion medication has the potential to improve access to abortion. Other research gaps that were identified include how to best support women who choose to take the medication home for a self-administered abortion. Surgical Up to 15 weeks' gestation, suction-aspiration or vacuum aspiration are the most common surgical methods of induced abortion. Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) consists of removing the fetus or embryo, placenta, and membranes by suction using a manual syringe, while electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) uses an electric pump. These techniques can both be used very early in pregnancy. MVA can be used up to 14 weeks but is more often used earlier in the U.S. EVA can be used later. MVA, also known as "mini-suction" and "menstrual extraction", or EVA can be used in very early pregnancy when cervical dilation may not be required. Dilation and curettage (D&C) refers to opening the cervix (dilation) and removing tissue (curettage) via suction or sharp instruments. D&C is a standard gynecological procedure performed for a variety of reasons, including examination of the uterine lining for possible malignancy, investigation of abnormal bleeding, and abortion. The World Health Organization recommends sharp curettage only when suction aspiration is unavailable. Dilation and evacuation (D&E), used after 12 to 16 weeks, consists of opening the cervix and emptying the uterus using surgical instruments and suction. D&E is performed vaginally and does not require an incision. Intact dilation and extraction (D&X) refers to a variant of D&E sometimes used after 18 to 20 weeks when removal of an intact fetus improves surgical safety or for other reasons. Abortion may also be performed surgically by hysterotomy or gravid hysterectomy. Hysterotomy abortion is a procedure similar to a caesarean section and is performed under general anesthesia. It requires a smaller incision than a caesarean section and can be used during later stages of pregnancy. Gravid hysterectomy refers to removal of the whole uterus while still containing the pregnancy. Hysterotomy and hysterectomy are associated with much higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality than D&E or induction abortion. First trimester procedures can generally be performed using local anesthesia, while second trimester methods may require deep sedation or general anesthesia. Labor induction abortion In places lacking the necessary medical skill for dilation and extraction, or when preferred by practitioners, an abortion can be induced by first inducing labor and then inducing fetal demise if necessary. This is sometimes called "induced miscarriage". This procedure may be performed from 13 weeks gestation to the third trimester. Although it is very uncommon in the United States, more than 80% of induced abortions throughout the second trimester are labor-induced abortions in Sweden and other nearby countries. Only limited data are available comparing labor-induced abortion with the dilation and extraction method. Unlike D&E, labor-induced abortions after 18 weeks may be complicated by the occurrence of brief fetal survival, which may be legally characterized as live birth. For this reason, labor-induced abortion is legally risky in the United States. Other methods Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk medicine. Among these are: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinct silphium. In 1978, one woman in Colorado died and another developed organ damage when they attempted to terminate their pregnancies by taking pennyroyal oil. Because the indiscriminant use of herbs as abortifacients can cause serious—even lethal—side effects, such as multiple organ failure, such use is not recommended by physicians. Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if severe, can cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing miscarriage. In Southeast Asia, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion through forceful abdominal massage. One of the bas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia depicts a demon performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld. Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol and insertion of non-surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These and other methods to terminate pregnancy may be called "induced miscarriage". Such methods are rarely used in countries where surgical abortion is legal and available. Safety The health risks of abortion depend principally upon whether the procedure is performed safely or unsafely. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines unsafe abortions as those performed by unskilled individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities. Legal abortions performed in the developed world are among the safest procedures in medicine. In the United States as of 2012, abortion was estimated to be about 14 times safer for women than childbirth. CDC estimated in 2019 that US pregnancy-related mortality was 17.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, while the US abortion mortality rate is 0.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 procedures. In the UK, guidelines of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists state that "Women should be advised that abortion is generally safer than continuing a pregnancy to term." Worldwide, on average, abortion is safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. A 2007 study reported that "26% of all pregnancies worldwide are terminated by induced abortion," whereas "deaths from improperly performed [abortion] procedures constitute 13% of maternal mortality globally." In Indonesia in 2000 it was estimated that 2 million pregnancies ended in abortion, 4.5 million pregnancies were carried to term, and 14-16 percent of maternal deaths resulted from abortion. In the US from 2000 to 2009, abortion had a mortality rate lower than plastic surgery, lower or similar to running a marathon, and about equivalent to traveling in a passenger car. Five years after seeking abortion services, women who gave birth after being denied an abortion reported worse health than women who had either first or second trimester abortions. The risk of abortion-related mortality increases with gestational age, but remains lower than that of childbirth. Outpatient abortion is as safe from 64 to 70 days' gestation as it before 63 days. There is little difference in terms of safety and efficacy between medical abortion using a combined regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol and surgical abortion (vacuum aspiration) in early first trimester abortions up to 10 weeks gestation. Medical abortion using the prostaglandin analog misoprostol alone is less effective and more painful than medical abortion using a combined regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol or surgical abortion. Vacuum aspiration in the first trimester is the safest method of surgical abortion, and can be performed in a primary care office, abortion clinic, or hospital. Complications, which are rare, can include uterine perforation, pelvic infection, and retained products of conception requiring a second procedure to evacuate. Infections account for one-third of abortion-related deaths in the United States. The rate of complications of vacuum aspiration abortion in the first trimester is similar regardless of whether the procedure is performed in a hospital, surgical center, or office. Preventive antibiotics (such as doxycycline or metronidazole) are typically given before abortion procedures, as they are believed to substantially reduce the risk of postoperative uterine infection; however, antibiotics are not routinely given with abortion pills. The rate of failed procedures does not appear to vary significantly depending on whether the abortion is performed by a doctor or a mid-level practitioner. Complications after second trimester abortion are similar to those after first trimester abortion, and depend somewhat on the method chosen. The risk of death from abortion approaches roughly half the risk of death from childbirth the farther along a woman is in pregnancy; from one in a million before 9 weeks gestation to nearly one in ten thousand at 21 weeks or more (as measured from the last menstrual period). It appears that having had a prior surgical uterine evacuation (whether because of induced abortion or treatment of miscarriage) correlates with a small increase in the risk of preterm birth in future pregnancies. The studies supporting this did not control for factors not related to abortion or miscarriage, and hence the causes of this correlation have not been determined, although multiple possibilities have been suggested. Some purported risks of abortion are promoted primarily by anti-abortion groups, but lack scientific support. For example, the question of a link between induced abortion and breast cancer has been investigated extensively. Major medical and scientific bodies (including the WHO, National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Royal College of OBGYN and American Congress of OBGYN) have concluded that abortion does not cause breast cancer. In the past even illegality has not automatically meant that the abortions were unsafe. Referring to the U.S., historian Linda Gordon states: "In fact, illegal abortions in this country have an impressive safety record." According to Rickie Solinger, Authors Jerome Bates and Edward Zawadzki describe the case of an illegal abortionist in the eastern U.S. in the early 20th century who was proud of having successfully completed 13,844 abortions without any fatality. In 1870s New York City the famous abortionist/midwife Madame Restell (Anna Trow Lohman) appears to have lost very few women among her more than 100,000 patients—a lower mortality rate than the childbirth mortality rate at the time. In 1936, the prominent professor of obstetrics and gynecology Frederick J. Taussig wrote that a cause of increasing mortality during the years of illegality in the U.S. was that Mental health Current evidence finds no relationship between most induced abortions and mental health problems other than those expected for any unwanted pregnancy. A report by the American Psychological Association concluded that a woman's first abortion is not a threat to mental health when carried out in the first trimester, with such women no more likely to have mental-health problems than those carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term; the mental-health outcome of a woman's second or greater abortion is less certain. Some older reviews concluded that abortion was associated with an increased risk of psychological problems; however, later reviews of the medical literature found that they did not use an appropriate control group. When a control group is utilized, receiving abortion is not associated with adverse psychological outcomes. However, women seeking abortion who are denied access to abortion have an increase in anxiety after the denial. Although some studies show negative mental-health outcomes in women who choose abortions after the first trimester because of fetal abnormalities, more rigorous research would be needed to show this conclusively. Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by anti-abortion advocates as a separate condition called "post-abortion syndrome", but this is not recognized by medical or psychological professionals in the United States. A 2020 long term-study among US women found that about 99% of women felt that they made the right decision five years after they had an abortion. Relief was the primary emotion with few women feeling sadness or guilt. Social stigma was a main factor predicting negative emotions and regret years later. Unsafe abortion Women seeking an abortion may use unsafe methods, especially when it is legally restricted. They may attempt self-induced abortion or seek the help of a person without proper medical training or facilities. This can lead to severe complications, such as incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and damage to internal organs. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of injury and death among women worldwide. Although data are imprecise, it is estimated that approximately 20 million unsafe abortions are performed annually, with 97% taking place in developing countries. Unsafe abortions are believed to result in millions of injuries. Estimates of deaths vary according to methodology, and have ranged from 37,000 to 70,000 in the past decade; deaths from unsafe abortion account for around 13% of all maternal deaths. The World Health Organization believes that mortality has fallen since the 1990s. To reduce the number of unsafe abortions, public health organizations have generally advocated emphasizing the legalization of abortion, training of medical personnel, and ensuring access to reproductive-health services. A major factor in whether abortions are performed safely or not is the legal standing of abortion. Countries with restrictive abortion laws have higher rates of unsafe abortion and similar overall abortion rates compared to those where abortion is legal and available. For example, the 1996 legalization of abortion in South Africa had an immediate positive impact on the frequency of abortion-related complications, with abortion-related deaths dropping by more than 90%. Similar reductions in maternal mortality have been observed after other countries have liberalized their abortion laws, such as Romania and Nepal. A 2011 study concluded that in the United States, some state-level anti-abortion laws are correlated with lower rates of abortion in that state. The analysis, however, did not take into account travel to other states without such laws to obtain an abortion. In addition, a lack of access to effective contraception contributes to unsafe abortion. It has been estimated that the incidence of unsafe abortion could be reduced by up to 75% (from 20 million to 5 million annually) if modern family planning and maternal health services were readily available globally. Rates of such abortions may be difficult to measure because they can be reported variously as miscarriage, "induced miscarriage", "menstrual regulation", "mini-abortion", and "regulation of a delayed/suspended menstruation". Forty percent of the world's women are able to access therapeutic and elective abortions within gestational limits, while an additional 35 percent have access to legal abortion if they meet certain physical, mental, or socioeconomic criteria. While maternal mortality seldom results from safe abortions, unsafe abortions result in 70,000 deaths and 5 million disabilities per year. Complications of unsafe abortion account for approximately an eighth of maternal mortalities worldwide, though this varies by region. Secondary infertility caused by an unsafe abortion affects an estimated 24 million women. The rate of unsafe abortions has increased from 44% to 49% between 1995 and 2008. Health education, access to family planning, and improvements in health care during and after abortion have been proposed to address consequences of unsafe abortion. Incidence There are two commonly used methods of measuring the incidence of abortion: Abortion rate – number of abortions annually per 1,000 women between 15 and 44 years of age; some sources use a range of 15–49. Abortion percentage – number of abortions out of 100 known pregnancies; pregnancies include live births, abortions, and miscarriages. In many places, where abortion is illegal or carries a heavy social stigma, medical reporting of abortion is not reliable. For this reason, estimates of the incidence of abortion must be made without determining certainty related to standard error. The number of abortions performed worldwide seems to have remained stable in the early 2000s, with 41.6 million having been performed in 2003 and 43.8 million having been performed in 2008. The abortion rate worldwide was 28 per 1000 women per year, though it was 24 per 1000 women per year for developed countries and 29 per 1000 women per year for developing countries. The same 2012 study indicated that in 2008, the estimated abortion percentage of known pregnancies was at 21% worldwide, with 26% in developed countries and 20% in developing countries. On average, the incidence of abortion is similar in countries with restrictive abortion laws and those with more liberal access to abortion. Restrictive abortion laws are associated with increases in the percentage of abortions performed unsafely. The unsafe abortion rate in developing countries is partly attributable to lack of access to modern contraceptives; according to the Guttmacher Institute, providing access to contraceptives would result in about 14.5 million fewer unsafe abortions and 38,000 fewer deaths from unsafe abortion annually worldwide. The rate of legal, induced abortion varies extensively worldwide. According to the report of employees of Guttmacher Institute it ranged from 7 per 1000 women per year (Germany and Switzerland) to 30 per 1000 women per year (Estonia) in countries with complete statistics in 2008. The proportion of pregnancies that ended in induced abortion ranged from about 10% (Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland) to 30% (Estonia) in the same group, though it might be as high as 36% in Hungary and Romania, whose statistics were deemed incomplete. An American study in 2002 concluded that about half of women having abortions were using a form of contraception at the time of becoming pregnant. Inconsistent use was reported by half of those using condoms and three-quarters of those using the birth control pill; 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or breakage. The Guttmacher Institute estimated that "most abortions in the United States are obtained by minority women" because minority women "have much higher rates of unintended pregnancy". In a 2022 analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, while people of color comprise 44% of the population in Mississippi, 59% of the population in Texas, 42% of the population in Louisiana (by the state Health Department), and 35% of the population in Alabama, they comprise 80%, 74%, 72%, and 70% of those receiving abortions. The abortion rate may also be expressed as the average number of abortions a woman has during her reproductive years; this is referred to as total abortion rate (TAR). Gestational age and method Abortion rates also vary depending on the stage of pregnancy and the method practiced. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 26% of reported legal induced abortions in the United States were known to have been obtained at less than 6 weeks' gestation, 18% at 7 weeks, 15% at 8 weeks, 18% at 9 through 10 weeks, 10% at 11 through 12 weeks, 6% at 13 through 15 weeks, 4% at 16 through 20 weeks and 1% at more than 21 weeks. 91% of these were classified as having been done by "curettage" (suction-aspiration, dilation and curettage, dilation and evacuation), 8% by "medical" means (mifepristone), >1% by "intrauterine instillation" (saline or prostaglandin), and 1% by "other" (including hysterotomy and hysterectomy). According to the CDC, due to data collection difficulties the data must be viewed as tentative and some fetal deaths reported beyond 20 weeks may be natural deaths erroneously classified as abortions if the removal of the dead fetus is accomplished by the same procedure as an induced abortion. The Guttmacher Institute estimated there were 2,200 intact dilation and extraction procedures in the US during 2000; this accounts for <0.2% of the total number of abortions performed that year. Similarly, in England and Wales in 2006, 89% of terminations occurred at or under 12 weeks, 9% between 13 and 19 weeks, and 2% at or over 20 weeks. 64% of those reported were by vacuum aspiration, 6% by D&E, and 30% were medical. There are more second trimester abortions in developing countries such as China, India and Vietnam than in developed countries. There are both medical and non-medical reasons to have an abortion later in pregnancy (after 20 weeks). A study was conducted from 2008 to 2010 at the University of California San Francisco where more than 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if there were any. This study found that almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect that they were pregnant until later in their pregnancy. Other barriers to abortion care found in the study included lack of information about where to access an abortion, difficulties with transportation, lack of insurance coverage, and inability to pay for the abortion procedure. Medical reasons for seeking an abortion later in pregnancy include fetal anomalies and health risk to the pregnant person. There are diagnostic tests that can diagnose Down Syndrome or cystic fibrosis as early as 10 weeks into gestation, but structural fetal anomalies are often detected much later in pregnancy. A proportion of structural fetal anomalies are lethal, which means that the fetus will almost certainly die before or shortly after birth. Life-threatening conditions may also develop later in pregnancy, such as early severe preeclampsia, newly diagnosed cancer in need of urgent treatment, and intrauterine infection (chorioamnionitis), which often occurs along with premature rupture of the amniotic sac (PPROM). If serious medical conditions such as these arise before the fetus is viable, the person carrying the pregnancy may pursue an abortion to preserve their own health. Motivation Personal The reasons why women have abortions are diverse and vary across the world. Some of the reasons may include an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feeling they are too young, and the wish to complete education or advance a career. Additional reasons include not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest. Societal Some abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the preference for children of a specific sex or race, disapproval of single or early motherhood, stigmatization of people with disabilities, insufficient economic support for families, lack of access to or rejection of contraceptive methods, or efforts toward population control (such as China's one-child policy). These factors can sometimes result in compulsory abortion or sex-selective abortion. Maternal and fetal health An additional factor is maternal health which was listed as the main reason by about a third of women in 3 of 27 countries and about 7% of women in a further 7 of these 27 countries. In the U.S., the Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton: "ruled that the state's interest in the life of the fetus became compelling only at the point of viability, defined as the point at which the fetus can survive independently of its mother. Even after the point of viability, the state cannot favor the life of the fetus over the life or health of the pregnant woman. Under the right of privacy, physicians must be free to use their "medical judgment for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." On the same day that the Court decided Roe, it also decided Doe v. Bolton, in which the Court defined health very broadly: "The medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age—relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment." Public opinion shifted in America following television personality Sherri Finkbine's discovery during her fifth month of pregnancy that she had been exposed to thalidomide. Unable to obtain a legal abortion in the United States, she traveled to Sweden. From 1962 to 1965, an outbreak of German measles left 15,000 babies with severe birth defects. In 1967, the American Medical Association publicly supported liberalization of abortion laws. A National Opinion Research Center poll in 1965 showed 73% supported abortion when the mother's life was at risk, 57% when birth defects were present and 59% for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Cancer The rate of cancer during pregnancy is 0.02–1%, and in many cases, cancer of the mother leads to consideration of abortion to protect the life of the mother, or in response to the potential damage that may occur to the fetus during treatment. This is particularly true for cervical cancer, the most common type of which occurs in 1 of every 2,000–13,000 pregnancies, for which initiation of treatment "cannot co-exist with preservation of fetal life (unless neoadjuvant chemotherapy is chosen)". Very early stage cervical cancers (I and IIa) may be treated by radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection, radiation therapy, or both, while later stages are treated by radiotherapy. Chemotherapy may be used simultaneously. Treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy also involves fetal considerations, because lumpectomy is discouraged in favor of modified radical mastectomy unless late-term pregnancy allows follow-up radiation therapy to be administered after the birth. Exposure to a single chemotherapy drug is estimated to cause a 7.5–17% risk of teratogenic effects on the fetus, with higher risks for multiple drug treatments. Treatment with more than 40 Gy of radiation usually causes spontaneous abortion. Exposure to much lower doses during the first trimester, especially 8 to 15 weeks of development, can cause intellectual disability or microcephaly, and exposure at this or subsequent stages can cause reduced intrauterine growth and birth weight. Exposures above 0.005–0.025 Gy cause a dose-dependent reduction in IQ. It is possible to greatly reduce exposure to radiation with abdominal shielding, depending on how far the area to be irradiated is from the fetus. The process of birth itself may also put the mother at risk. According to Li et al., "[v]aginal delivery may result in dissemination of neoplastic cells into lymphovascular channels, haemorrhage, cervical laceration and implantation of malignant cells in the episiotomy site, while abdominal delivery may delay the initiation of non-surgical treatment." History and religion Since ancient times, abortions have been done using a number of methods, including herbal medicines acting as abortifacients, sharp tools through the use of force, or through other traditional medicine methods. Induced abortion has a long history and can be traced back to civilizations as varied as ancient China (abortifacient knowledge is often attributed to the mythological ruler Shennong), ancient India since its Vedic age, ancient Egypt with its Ebers Papyrus (), and the Roman Empire in the time of Juvenal (). One of the earliest known artistic representations of abortion is in a bas relief at Angkor Wat (). Found in a series of friezes that represent judgment after death in Hindu and Buddhist culture, it depicts the technique of abdominal abortion. In Judaism (), the fetus is not considered to have a human soul until it is safely outside of the woman, is viable, and has taken its first breath. The fetus is considered valuable property of the woman and not a human life while in the womb (). While Judaism encourages people to be fruitful and multiply by having children, abortion is allowed and is deemed necessary when a pregnant woman's life is in danger. Several religions, including Judaism, which disagree that human life begins at conception, support the legality of abortion on religious freedom grounds. In Islam, abortion is traditionally permitted until a point in time when Muslims believe the soul enters the fetus, considered by various theologians to be at conception, 40 days after conception, 120 days after conception, or quickening. Abortion is largely heavily restricted or forbidden in areas of high Islamic faith such as the Middle East and North Africa. Some medical scholars and abortion opponents have suggested that the Hippocratic Oath forbade physicians in Ancient Greece from performing abortions; other scholars disagree with this interpretation, and state that the medical texts of Hippocratic Corpus contain descriptions of abortive techniques right alongside the Oath. The physician Scribonius Largus wrote in 43 CE that the Hippocratic Oath prohibits abortion, as did Soranus of Ephesus, although apparently not all doctors adhered to it strictly at the time. According to Soranus' 1st or 2nd century CE work Gynaecology, one party of medical practitioners banished all abortives as required by the Hippocratic Oath; the other party to which he belonged was willing to prescribe abortions only for the sake of the mother's health. In Politics (350 BCE), Aristotle condemned infanticide as a means of population control. He preferred abortion in such cases, with the restriction that it "must be practised on it before it has developed sensation and life; for the line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive." In the Catholic Church, opinion was divided on how serious abortion was in comparison with such acts as contraception, oral sex, and sex in marriage for pleasure rather than procreation. The Catholic Church did not begin vigorously opposing abortion until the 19th century. As early as ~100 CE, the Didache taught that abortion was sinful. Several historians argue that prior to the 19th century most Catholic authors did not regard termination of pregnancy before quickening or ensoulment as an abortion. Among these authors were the Doctors of the Church, such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V ( 1585–1590) was the only Pope before Pope Pius IX (in his 1869 bull, Apostolicae Sedis) to institute a Church policy labeling all abortion as homicide and condemning abortion regardless of the stage of pregnancy. Sixtus V's pronouncement was reversed in 1591 by Pope Gregory XIV. In the recodification of 1917 Code of Canon Law, Apostolicae Sedis was strengthened, in part to remove a possible reading that excluded excommunication of the mother. Statements made in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the codified summary of the Church's teachings, considers abortion from the moment of conception as homicide and called for the end of legal abortion. Denominations that support abortion rights with some limits include the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Presbyterian Church USA. A 2014 Guttmacher survey of abortion patients in the United States found that many reported a religious affiliation: 24% were Catholic while 30% were Protestant. A 1995 survey reported that Catholic women are as likely as the general population to terminate a pregnancy, Protestants are less likely to do so, and evangelical Christians are the least likely to do so. A 2019 Pew Research Center study found that most Christian denominations were against overturning Roe v. Wade, which in the United States legalized abortion, at around 70%, except White Evangelicals at 35%. Abortion has been a fairly common practice, and was not always illegal or controversial until the 19th century. Under common law, including early English common law dating back to Edward Coke in 1648, abortion was generally permitted before quickening (14–26 weeks after conception, or between the fourth and sixth month), and at women's discretion; it was whether abortion was performed after quickening that determined if it was a crime. In Europe and North America, abortion techniques advanced starting in the 17th century; the conservatism of most in the medical profession with regards to sexual matters prevented the wide expansion of abortion techniques. Other medical practitioners in addition to some physicians advertised their services, and they were not widely regulated until the 19th century when the practice, sometimes called restellism, was banned in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Some 19th-century physicians, one of the most famous and consequential being American Horatio Storer, argued for anti-abortion laws on racist and misogynist as well as moral grounds. Church groups were also highly influential in anti-abortion movements, and religious groups more so since the 20th century. Some of the early anti-abortion laws punished only the doctor or abortionist, and while women could be criminally tried for a self-induced abortion, they were rarely prosecuted in general. In the United States, some argued that abortion was more dangerous than childbirth until about 1930 when incremental improvements in abortion procedures relative to childbirth made abortion safer. Others maintain that in the 19th century early abortions under the hygienic conditions in which midwives usually worked were relatively safe. Several scholars argue that, despite improved medical procedures, the period from the 1930s until the 1970s saw more zealous enforcement of anti-abortion laws, alongside an increasing control of abortion providers by organized crime. In 1920, Soviet Russia became the first country to legalize abortion after Lenin insisted that no woman be forced to give birth. Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) would follow suit to legalize certain or all forms of abortion. In Nazi Germany (1935), a law permitted abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill", while women considered of German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions. Beginning in the second half of the 20th century, abortion was legalized in a greater number of countries. In Japan, abortion was first legalized by the 1948 "Eugenics Protection Law" meant to prevent the births of "inferior" humans. , due to Japan's continuing strongly patriarchal culture and traditional views on women's societal roles, women who want an abortion must normally get written permission from their partner. Society and culture Abortion debate Induced abortion has long been the source of considerable debate. Ethical, moral, philosophical, biological, religious and legal issues surrounding abortion are related to value systems. Opinions of abortion may be about fetal rights, governmental authority, and women's rights. In both public and private debate, arguments presented in favor of or against abortion access focus on either the moral permissibility of an induced abortion, or the justification of laws permitting or restricting abortion. The World Medical Association Declaration on Therapeutic Abortion notes, "circumstances bringing the interests of a mother into conflict with the interests of her unborn child create a dilemma and raise the question as to whether or not the pregnancy should be deliberately terminated." Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by groups advocating one of these two positions. Groups who favor greater legal restrictions on abortion, including complete prohibition, most often describe themselves as "pro-life" while groups who are against such legal restrictions describe themselves as "pro-choice". Modern abortion law Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural factors continue to influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human rights that sometimes constitute the basis for the existence or absence of abortion laws. In jurisdictions where abortion is legal, certain requirements must often be met before a woman may obtain a legal abortion (an abortion performed without the woman's consent is considered feticide). These requirements usually depend on the age of the fetus, often using a trimester-based system to regulate the window of legality, or as in the U.S., on a doctor's evaluation of the fetus' viability. Some jurisdictions require a waiting period before the procedure, prescribe the distribution of information on fetal development, or require that parents be contacted if their minor daughter requests an abortion. Other jurisdictions may require that a woman obtain the consent of the fetus' father before aborting the fetus, that abortion providers inform women of health risks of the procedure—sometimes including "risks" not supported by the medical literature—and that multiple medical authorities certify that the abortion is either medically or socially necessary. Many restrictions are waived in emergency situations. China, which has ended their one-child policy, and now has a two child policy, has at times incorporated mandatory abortions as part of their population control strategy. Other jurisdictions ban abortion almost entirely. Many, but not all, of these allow legal abortions in a variety of circumstances. These circumstances vary based on jurisdiction, but may include whether the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, the fetus' development is impaired, the woman's physical or mental well-being is endangered, or socioeconomic considerations make childbirth a hardship. In countries where abortion is banned entirely, such as Nicaragua, medical authorities have recorded rises in maternal death directly and indirectly due to pregnancy as well as deaths due to doctors' fears of prosecution if they treat other gynecological emergencies. Some countries, such as Bangladesh, that nominally ban abortion, may also support clinics that perform abortions under the guise of menstrual hygiene. This is also a terminology in traditional medicine. In places where abortion is illegal or carries heavy social stigma, pregnant women may engage in medical tourism and travel to countries where they can terminate their pregnancies. Women without the means to travel can resort to providers of illegal abortions or attempt to perform an abortion by themselves. The organization Women on Waves has been providing education about medical abortions since 1999. The NGO created a mobile medical clinic inside a shipping container, which then travels on rented ships to countries with restrictive abortion laws. Because the ships are registered in the Netherlands, Dutch law prevails when the ship is in international waters. While in port, the organization provides free workshops and education; while in international waters, medical personnel are legally able to prescribe medical abortion drugs and counseling. Sex-selective abortion Sonography and amniocentesis allow parents to determine sex before childbirth. The development of this technology has led to sex-selective abortion, or the termination of a fetus based on its sex. The selective termination of a female fetus is most common. Sex-selective abortion is partially responsible for the noticeable disparities between the birth rates of male and female children in some countries. The preference for male children is reported in many areas of Asia, and abortion used to limit female births has been reported in Taiwan, South Korea, India, and China. This deviation from the standard birth rates of males and females occurs despite the fact that the country in question may have officially banned sex-selective abortion or even sex-screening. In China, a historical preference for a male child has been exacerbated by the one-child policy, which was enacted in 1979. Many countries have taken legislative steps to reduce the incidence of sex-selective abortion. At the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 over 180 states agreed to eliminate "all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference", conditions also condemned by a PACE resolution in 2011. The World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with other United Nations agencies, have found that measures to restrict access to abortion in an effort to reduce sex-selective abortions have unintended negative consequences, largely stemming from the fact that women may seek or be coerced into seeking unsafe, extralegal abortions. On the other hand, measures to reduce gender inequality can reduce the prevalence of such abortions without attendant negative consequences. Anti-abortion violence In a number of cases, abortion providers and these facilities have been subjected to various forms of violence, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, stalking, assault, arson, and bombing. Anti-abortion violence is classified by both governmental and scholarly sources as terrorism. In the U.S. and Canada, over 8,000 incidents of violence, trespassing, and death threats have been recorded by providers since 1977, including over 200 bombings/arsons and hundreds of assaults. The majority of abortion opponents have not been involved in violent acts. In the United States, four physicians who performed abortions have been murdered: David Gunn (1993), John Britton (1994), Barnett Slepian (1998), and George Tiller (2009). Also murdered, in the U.S. and Australia, have been other personnel at abortion clinics, including receptionists and security guards such as James Barrett, Shannon Lowney, Lee Ann Nichols, and Robert Sanderson. Woundings (e.g., Garson Romalis) and attempted murders have also taken place in the United States and Canada. Hundreds of bombings, arsons, acid attacks, invasions, and incidents of vandalism against abortion providers have occurred. Notable perpetrators of anti-abortion violence include Eric Robert Rudolph, Scott Roeder, Shelley Shannon, and Paul Jennings Hill, the first person to be executed in the United States for murdering an abortion provider. Legal protection of access to abortion has been brought into some countries where abortion is legal. These laws typically seek to protect abortion clinics from obstruction, vandalism, picketing, and other actions, or to protect women and employees of such facilities from threats and harassment. Far more common than physical violence is psychological pressure. In 2003, Chris Danze organized anti-abortion organizations throughout Texas to prevent the construction of a Planned Parenthood facility in Austin. The organizations released the personal information online of those involved with construction, sent them up to 1200 phone calls a day and contacted their churches. Some protestors record women entering clinics on camera. Non-human examples Spontaneous abortion occurs in various animals. For example, in sheep it may be caused by stress or physical exertion, such as crowding through doors or being chased by dogs. In cows, abortion may be caused by contagious disease, such as brucellosis or Campylobacter, but can often be controlled by vaccination. Eating pine needles can also induce abortions in cows. Several plants, including broomweed, skunk cabbage, poison hemlock, and tree tobacco, are known to cause fetal deformities and abortion in cattle and in sheep and goats. In horses, a fetus may be aborted or resorbed if it has lethal white syndrome (congenital intestinal aganglionosis). Foal embryos that are homozygous for the dominant white gene (WW) are theorized to also be aborted or resorbed before birth. In many species of sharks and rays, stress-induced abortions occur frequently on capture. Viral infection can cause abortion in dogs. Cats can experience spontaneous abortion for many reasons, including hormonal imbalance. A combined abortion and spaying is performed on pregnant cats, especially in trap–neuter–return programs, to prevent unwanted kittens from being born. Female rodents may terminate a pregnancy when exposed to the smell of a male not responsible for the pregnancy, known as the Bruce effect. Abortion may also be induced in animals, in the context of animal husbandry. For example, abortion may be induced in mares that have been mated improperly, or that have been purchased by owners who did not realize the mares were pregnant, or that are pregnant with twin foals. Feticide can occur in horses and zebras due to male harassment of pregnant mares or forced copulation, although the frequency in the wild has been questioned. Male gray langur monkeys may attack females following male takeover, causing miscarriage. See also Abortion doula Forced abortion Indirect abortion Notes References Bibliography External links First-trimester abortion in women with medical conditions. US Department of Health and Human Services Safe abortion: Technical & policy guidance for health systems, World Health Organization (2015) Human reproduction Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate Wikipedia emergency medicine articles ready to translate

784

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred%20Korzybski

Alfred Korzybski

Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (, ; July 3, 1879 – March 1, 1950) was a Polish-American independent scholar who developed a field called general semantics, which he viewed as both distinct from, and more encompassing than, the field of semantics. He argued that human knowledge of the world is limited both by the human nervous system and the languages humans have developed, and thus no one can have direct access to reality, given that the most we can know is that which is filtered through the brain's responses to reality. His best known dictum is "The map is not the territory". Early life and career Born in Warsaw, Vistula Country, which was then part of the Russian Empire, Korzybski belonged to an aristocratic Polish family whose members had worked as mathematicians, scientists, and engineers for generations. He learned the Polish language at home and the Russian language in schools, and having a French and German governess, he became fluent in four languages as a child. Korzybski studied engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. During the First World War (1914–1918) Korzybski served as an intelligence officer in the Russian Army. After being wounded in a leg and suffering other injuries, he moved to North America in 1916 (first to Canada, then to the United States) to coordinate the shipment of artillery to Russia. He also lectured to Polish-American audiences about the conflict, promoting the sale of war bonds. After the war he decided to remain in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1940. He met Mira Edgerly, a painter of portraits on ivory, shortly after the 1918 Armistice; They married in January 1919; the marriage lasted until his death. E. P. Dutton published Korzybski's first book, Manhood of Humanity, in 1921. In this work he proposed and explained in detail a new theory of humankind: mankind as a "time-binding" class of life (humans perform time binding by the transmission of knowledge and abstractions through time which become accreted in cultures). In 1925 and 1926, Korzybski observed psychiatric patients at St. Elizabeth's hospital in D.C. under the supervision of William Alanson White. General semantics Korzybski's work culminated in the initiation of a discipline that he named general semantics (GS). This should not be confused with semantics. The basic principles of general semantics, which include time-binding, are described in the publication Science and Sanity, published in 1933. In 1938, Korzybski founded the Institute of General Semantics in Chicago. The post-World War II housing shortage in Chicago cost him the institute's building lease, so in 1946 he moved the institute to Lakeville, Connecticut, U.S., where he directed it until his death in 1950. Korzybski maintained that humans are limited in what they know by (1) the structure of their nervous systems, and (2) the structure of their languages. Humans cannot experience the world directly, but only through their "abstractions" (nonverbal impressions or "gleanings" derived from the nervous system, and verbal indicators expressed and derived from language). These sometimes mislead us about what is the truth. Our understanding sometimes lacks similarity of structure with what is actually happening. He sought to train our awareness of abstracting, using techniques he had derived from his study of mathematics and science. He called this awareness, this goal of his system, "consciousness of abstracting". His system included the promotion of attitudes such as "I don't know; let's see," in order that we may better discover or reflect on its realities as revealed by modern science. Another technique involved becoming inwardly and outwardly quiet, an experience he termed, "silence on the objective levels". "To be" Many devotees and critics of Korzybski reduced his rather complex system to a simple matter of what he said about the verb form "is" of the general verb "to be." His system, however, is based primarily on such terminology as the different "orders of abstraction," and formulations such as "consciousness of abstracting." The contention that Korzybski opposed the use of the verb "to be" would be a profound exaggeration. He thought that certain uses of the verb "to be", called the "is of identity" and the "is of predication", were faulty in structure, e.g., a statement such as, "Elizabeth is a fool" (said of a person named "Elizabeth" who has done something that we regard as foolish). In Korzybski's system, one's assessment of Elizabeth belongs to a higher order of abstraction than Elizabeth herself. Korzybski's remedy was to deny identity; in this example, to be aware continually that "Elizabeth" is not what we call her. We find Elizabeth not in the verbal domain, the world of words, but the nonverbal domain (the two, he said, amount to different orders of abstraction). This was expressed by Korzybski's most famous premise, "the map is not the territory". Note that this premise uses the phrase "is not", a form of "to be"; this and many other examples show that he did not intend to abandon "to be" as such. In fact, he said explicitly that there were no structural problems with the verb "to be" when used as an auxiliary verb or when used to state existence or location. It was even acceptable at times to use the faulty forms of the verb "to be," as long as one was aware of their structural limitations. Anecdotes One day, Korzybski was giving a lecture to a group of students, and he interrupted the lesson suddenly in order to retrieve a packet of biscuits, wrapped in white paper, from his briefcase. He muttered that he just had to eat something, and he asked the students on the seats in the front row if they would also like a biscuit. A few students took a biscuit. "Nice biscuit, don't you think," said Korzybski, while he took a second one. The students were chewing vigorously. Then he tore the white paper from the biscuits, in order to reveal the original packaging. On it was a big picture of a dog's head and the words "Dog Cookies." The students looked at the package, and were shocked. Two of them wanted to vomit, put their hands in front of their mouths, and ran out of the lecture hall to the toilet. "You see," Korzybski remarked, "I have just demonstrated that people don't just eat food, but also words, and that the taste of the former is often outdone by the taste of the latter." William Burroughs went to a Korzybski workshop in the autumn of 1939. He was 25 years old, and paid $40. His fellow students—there were 38 in all—included young Samuel I. Hayakawa (later to become a Republican member of the U.S. Senate) and Wendell Johnson (founder of the Monster Study). Influence Korzybski was well received in numerous disciplines, as evidenced by the positive reactions from leading figures in the sciences and humanities in the 1940s and 1950s. These include author Robert A. Heinlein naming a character after him in his 1940 short story "Blowups Happen", and science fiction writer A. E. van Vogt in his novel "The World of Null-A", published in 1948. Korzybski's ideas influenced philosopher Alan Watts who used his phrase "the map is not the territory" in lectures. Writer Robert Anton Wilson was also deeply influenced by Korzybski's ideas. As reported in the third edition of Science and Sanity, in World War II the US Army used Korzybski's system to treat battle fatigue in Europe, under the supervision of Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, who went on to become the psychiatrist in charge of the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. Some of the General Semantics tradition was continued by Samuel I. Hayakawa. Publications 1921 Manhood of Humanity: The Science and Art of Human Engineering, E.P. Dutton, New York, USA 1933 Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, Science Press Printing Co., Lancaster, Pa., USA See also Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture Concept and object E-Prime Institute of General Semantics Robert Pula Structural differential Neuro Linguistic Programming References Further reading Kodish, Bruce. 2011. Korzybski: A Biography. Pasadena, CA: Extensional Publishing. softcover, 978-09700664-28 hardcover. Kodish, Bruce and Susan Presby Kodish. 2011. Drive Yourself Sane: Using the Uncommon Sense of General Semantics, Third Edition. Pasadena, CA: Extensional Publishing. Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity, foreword by Edward Kasner, notes by M. Kendig, Institute of General Semantics, 1950, hardcover, 2nd edition, 391 pages, . (Copy of the first edition.) Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, Alfred Korzybski, preface by Robert P. Pula, Institute of General Semantics, 1994, hardcover, 5th edition, . (Full text online.) Alfred Korzybski, Collected Writings 1920-1950, Institute of General Semantics, 1990, hardcover, Montagu, M. F. A. (1953). Time-binding and the concept of culture. The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Sep., 1953), pp. 148–155. Murray, E. (1950). In memoriam: Alfred H. Korzybski. Sociometry, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Feb., 1950), pp. 76–77. External links Alfred Korzybski and Gestalt Therapy Website Australian General Semantics Society Institute of General Semantics Finding aid to Alfred Korzybski papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 1879 births 1950 deaths Writers from Warsaw Clan Abdank Polish emigrants to the United States Polish engineers 20th-century Polish philosophers Polish mathematicians Linguists from Poland General semantics People from Lakeville, Connecticut

789

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterales

Asterales

Asterales () is an order of dicotyledonous flowering plants that includes the large family Asteraceae (or Compositae) known for composite flowers made of florets, and ten families related to the Asteraceae. While asterids in general are characterized by fused petals, composite flowers consisting of many florets create the false appearance of separate petals (as found in the rosids). The order is cosmopolitan (plants found throughout most of the world including desert and frigid zones), and includes mostly herbaceous species, although a small number of trees (such as the Lobelia deckenii, the giant lobelia, and Dendrosenecio, giant groundsels) and shrubs are also present. Asterales are organisms that seem to have evolved from one common ancestor. Asterales share characteristics on morphological and biochemical levels. Synapomorphies (a character that is shared by two or more groups through evolutionary development) include the presence in the plants of oligosaccharide inulin, a nutrient storage molecule used instead of starch; and unique stamen morphology. The stamens are usually found around the style, either aggregated densely or fused into a tube, probably an adaptation in association with the plunger (brush; or secondary) pollination that is common among the families of the order, wherein pollen is collected and stored on the length of the pistil. Taxonomy The name and order Asterales is botanically venerable, dating back to at least 1926 in the Hutchinson system of plant taxonomy when it contained only five families, of which only two are retained in the APG III classification. Under the Cronquist system of taxonomic classification of flowering plants, Asteraceae was the only family in the group, but newer systems (such as APG II and APG III) have expanded it to 11. In the classification system of Rolf Dahlgren the Asterales were in the superorder Asteriflorae (also called Asteranae). The order Asterales currently includes 11 families, the largest of which are the Asteraceae, with about 25,000 species, and the Campanulaceae (bellflowers), with about 2,000 species. The remaining families count together for less than 1500 species. The two large families are cosmopolitan, with many of their species found in the Northern Hemisphere, and the smaller families are usually confined to Australia and the adjacent areas, or sometimes South America. Only the Asteraceae have composite flower heads; the other families do not, but share other characteristics such as storage of inulin that define the 11 families as more closely related to each other than to other plant families or orders such as the rosids. The phylogenetic tree according to APG III for the Campanulid clade is as below. Phylogeny Although most extant species of Asteraceae are herbaceous, the examination of the basal members in the family suggests that the common ancestor of the family was an arborescent plant, a tree or shrub, perhaps adapted to dry conditions, radiating from South America. Less can be said about the Asterales themselves with certainty, although since several families in Asterales contain trees, the ancestral member is most likely to have been a tree or shrub. Because all clades are represented in the Southern Hemisphere but many not in the Northern Hemisphere, it is natural to conjecture that there is a common southern origin to them. Asterales are angiosperms, flowering plants that appeared about 140 million years ago. The Asterales order probably originated in the Cretaceous (145 – 66 Mya) on the supercontinent Gondwana which broke up from 184 – 80 Mya, forming the area that is now Australia, South America, Africa, India and Antarctica. Asterales contain about 14% of eudicot diversity. From an analysis of relationships and diversities within the Asterales and with their superorders, estimates of the age of the beginning of the Asterales have been made, which range from 116 Mya to 82Mya. However few fossils have been found, of the Menyanthaceae-Asteraceae clade in the Oligocene, about 29 Mya. Fossil evidence of the Asterales is rare and belongs to rather recent epochs, so the precise estimation of the order's age is quite difficult. An Oligocene (34 – 23 Mya) pollen is known for Asteraceae and Goodeniaceae, and seeds from Oligocene and Miocene (23 – 5.3 Mya) are known for Menyanthaceae and Campanulaceae respectively. Biogeography The core Asterales are Stylidiaceae (six genera), APA clade (Alseuosmiaceae, Phellinaceae and Argophyllaceae, together seven genera), MGCA clade (Menyanthaceae, Goodeniaceae, Calyceraceae, in total twenty genera), and Asteraceae (about sixteen hundred genera). Other Asterales are Rousseaceae (four genera), Campanulaceae (eighty-four genera) and Pentaphragmataceae (one genus). All Asterales families are represented in the Southern Hemisphere; however, Asteraceae and Campanulaceae are cosmopolitan and Menyanthaceae nearly so. Uses The Asterales, by dint of being a super-set of the family Asteraceae, include some species grown for food, including the sunflower (Helianthus annuus), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and chicory (Cichorium). Many are also used as spices and traditional medicines. Asterales are common plants and have many known uses. For example, pyrethrum (derived from Old World members of the genus Chrysanthemum) is a natural insecticide with minimal environmental impact. Wormwood, derived from a genus that includes the sagebrush, is used as a source of flavoring for absinthe, a bitter classical liquor of European origin. References Further reading W. S. Judd, C. S. Campbell, E. A. Kellogg, P. F. Stevens, M. J. Donoghue (2002). Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach, 2nd edition. pp. 476–486 (Asterales). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts. . External links Angiosperm orders

794

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allocution

Allocution

An allocution, or allocutus, is a formal statement made to the court by the defendant who has been found guilty prior to being sentenced. It is part of the criminal procedure in some jurisdictions using common law. Concept An allocution allows the defendant to explain why the sentence should be lenient. In plea bargains, an allocution may be required of the defendant. The defendant explicitly admits specifically and in detail the actions and their reasons in exchange for a reduced sentence. In principle, that removes any doubt as to the exact nature of the defendant's guilt in the matter. The term "allocution" is used generally only in jurisdictions in the United States, but there are vaguely similar processes in other common law countries. In many other jurisdictions, it is for the defense lawyer to mitigate on their client's behalf, and the defendant rarely has the opportunity to speak. Australia In Australia, the term allocutus is used by the Clerk of Arraigns or another formal associate of the court. It is generally phrased as, "Prisoner at the Bar, you have been found Guilty by a jury of your peers of the offense of XYZ. Do you have anything to say as to why the sentence of this Court should not now be passed upon you?" The defense counsel will then make a plea in mitigation (also called submissions on penalty) in an attempt to mitigate the relative seriousness of the offense and heavily refer to and rely upon the defendant's previous good character and good works, if any. The right to make a plea in mitigation is absolute. If a judge or magistrate refuses to hear such a plea or does not properly consider it, the sentence can be overturned on appeal. United States In most of the United States, defendants are allowed the opportunity to allocute before a sentence is passed. Some jurisdictions hold that as an absolute right. In its absence, a sentence but not the conviction may be overturned, resulting in the need for a new sentencing hearing. In the federal system, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 32(i)(4) provides that the court must "address the defendant personally in order to permit the defendant to speak or present any information to mitigate the sentence." The federal public defender recommends that defendants speak in terms of how a lenient sentence will be sufficient but not greater than necessary to comply with the statutory directives set forth in . See also Confession (law) References Criminal procedure Evidence law

795

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affidavit

Affidavit

An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public or commissioner of oaths. An affidavit is a type of verified statement or showing, or in other words, it contains a verification, which means that it is made under oath on penalty of perjury, and this serves as evidence for its veracity and is required in court proceedings. Definition An affidavit is typically defined as a written declaration or statement that is sworn or affirmed before a person who has authority to administer an oath. There is no general defined form for an affidavit, although for some proceedings an affidavit must satisfy legal or statutory requirements in order to be considered. An affidavit may include, a commencement which identifies the affiant; an attestation clause, usually a jurat, at the end certifying that the affiant made the statement under oath on the specified date; signatures of the affiant and person who administered the oath. In some cases, an introductory clause, called a preamble, is added attesting that the affiant personally appeared before the authenticating authority. An affidavit may also recite that the statement it records was made under penalty of perjury. An affidavit that is prepared for use within the context of litigation may also include a caption that identifies the venue and parties to the relevant judicial proceedings. Worldwide Australia On 2 March 2016, the High Court of Australia held that the ACT Uniform Evidence Legislation is neutral in the way sworn evidence and unsworn evidence is treated as being of equal weight. United Kingdom The term "affidavit" is used in the UK. According the UK government website, “The affidavit can be sworn or affirmed by a solicitor, notary or commissioner for oaths (for a charge) or by an authorised member of court staff.” India In Indian law, although an affidavit may be taken as proof of the facts stated therein, the courts have no jurisdiction to admit evidence by way of affidavit. Affidavit is not treated as "evidence" within the meaning of Section 3 of the Evidence Act. However, it was held by the Supreme Court that an affidavit can be used as evidence only if the court so orders for sufficient reasons, namely, the right of the opposite party to have the deponent produced for cross-examination. Therefore, an affidavit cannot ordinarily be used as evidence in absence of a specific order of the court. Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, under the Oaths Ordinance, with the exception of a court-martial, a person may submit an affidavit signed in the presence of a commissioner for oaths or a justice of the peace. Ireland Affidavits are made in a similar way as to England and Wales, although "make oath" is sometimes omitted. An affirmed affidavit may be substituted for an sworn affidavit in most cases for those opposed to swearing oaths. The person making the affidavit is known as the deponent and signs the affidavit. The affidavit concludes in the standard format "sworn/affirmed (declared) before me, [name of commissioner for oaths/solicitor], a commissioner for oaths (solicitor), on the [date] at [location] in the county/city of [county/city], and I know the deponent", and it is signed and stamped by the commissioner for oaths. It is important that the Commissioner states his/her name clearly, sometimes documents are rejected when the name cannot be ascertained. In August 2020, a new method of filing affidavits came into force. Under Section 21 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 witnesses are no longer required to swear before God or make an affirmation when filing an affidavit. Instead, witnesses will make a non-religious “statement of truth” and, if it is breached, will be liable for up to one year in prison if convicted summarily or, upon conviction on indictment, to a maximum fine of €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both. This is designed to replace affidavits and statutory declarations in situations where the electronic means of lodgement or filing of documents with the Court provided for in Section 20 is utilised. As of January 2022, it has yet to be adopted widely, and it is expected it will not be used for some time by lay litigants who will still lodge papers in person. United States In American jurisprudence, under the rules for hearsay, admission of an unsupported affidavit as evidence is unusual (especially if the affiant is not available for cross-examination) with regard to material facts which may be dispositive of the matter at bar. Affidavits from persons who are dead or otherwise incapacitated, or who cannot be located or made to appear, may be accepted by the court, but usually only in the presence of corroborating evidence. An affidavit which reflected a better grasp of the facts close in time to the actual events may be used to refresh a witness's recollection. Materials used to refresh recollection are admissible as evidence. If the affiant is a party in the case, the affiant's opponent may be successful in having the affidavit admitted as evidence, as statements by a party-opponent are admissible through an exception to the hearsay rule. Affidavits are typically included in the response to interrogatories. Requests for admissions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36, however, are not required to be sworn. When a person signs an affidavit, that person is eligible to take the stand at a trial or evidentiary hearing. One party may wish to summon the affiant to verify the contents of the affidavit, while the other party may want to cross-examine the affiant about the affidavit. Some types of motions will not be accepted by the court unless accompanied by an independent sworn statement or other evidence in support of the need for the motion. In such a case, a court will accept an affidavit from the filing attorney in support of the motion, as certain assumptions are made, to wit: The affidavit in place of sworn testimony promotes judicial economy. The lawyer is an officer of the court and knows that a false swearing by them, if found out, could be grounds for severe penalty up to and including disbarment. The lawyer if called upon would be able to present independent and more detailed evidence to prove the facts set forth in his affidavit. Affidavits should not be confused with unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury. In federal courts and about 20 states as of 2006, unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury are authorized by statute as acceptable in lieu of affidavits. The key differences are that an unsworn declaration does not bear the jurat of a notary public and the declarant is not required to swear an oath or affirmation. Rather, the signature of the declarant under a carefully worded phrase binding them to the truth of their statements "under penalty of perjury" is deemed as a matter of law to be sufficiently solemn to remind the declarant of their duty to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The point of such affidavit substitution statutes is that unsworn declarations can be prepared and executed far more quickly and economically than affidavits, in that the witness need not meet personally with a notary public for the notarization process. The acceptance of an affidavit by one society does not confirm its acceptance as a legal document in other jurisdictions. Equally, the acceptance that a lawyer is an officer of the court (for swearing the affidavit) is not a given. This matter is addressed by the use of the apostille, a means of certifying the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille, are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention. Thus most affidavits now require to be apostilled if used for cross border issues. See also Declaration (law) Deposition (law) Fishman Affidavit, a well-known example of an affidavit Performativity Statutory declaration Sworn declaration References Evidence law Legal documents Notary

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred%20Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director, despite five nominations. Hitchcock initially trained as a technical clerk and copywriter before entering the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer. His directorial debut was the British-German silent film The Pleasure Garden (1925). His first successful film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), helped to shape the thriller genre, and Blackmail (1929) was the first British "talkie". His thrillers The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938) are ranked among the greatest British films of the 20th century. By 1939, he had international recognition and producer David O. Selznick persuaded him to move to Hollywood. A string of successful films followed, including Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Notorious (1946). Rebecca won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Hitchcock nominated as Best Director. He also received Oscar nominations for Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), Rear Window (1954) and Psycho (1960). Hitchcock's other notable films include Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964), all of which were also financially successful and are highly regarded by film historians. Hitchcock made multiple films with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including four with Cary Grant, four with James Stewart, three with Ingrid Bergman and three consecutively with Grace Kelly. Hitchcock became an American citizen in 1955. In 2012, Hitchcock's psychological thriller Vertigo, starring Stewart, displaced Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) as the British Film Institute's greatest film ever made based on its world-wide poll of hundreds of film critics. , nine of his films had been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, including his personal favourite, Shadow of a Doubt (1943). He received the BAFTA Fellowship in 1971, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979, and was knighted in December of that year, four months before his death on 29 April 1980. Biography Early life: 1899–1919 Early childhood and education Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on 13 August 1899 in the flat above his parents' leased greengrocer's shop at 517 High Road in Leytonstone, which was then part of Essex (now on the outskirts of East London). He was the son of Emma Jane (née Whelan; 1863–1942) and William Edgar Hitchcock (1862–1914), and had an older brother named William Daniel (1890–1943) and an older sister named Ellen Kathleen (1892–1979) who used the nickname "Nellie". His parents were both Roman Catholics with partial Irish ancestry. His father was a greengrocer, as his grandfather had been. There was a large extended family, including uncle John Hitchcock with his five-bedroom Victorian house on Campion Road in Putney, complete with a maid, cook, chauffeur, and gardener. Every summer, his uncle rented a seaside house for the family in Cliftonville. Hitchcock said that he first became class-conscious there, noticing the differences between tourists and locals. Describing himself as a well-behaved boy — his father called him his "little lamb without a spot" — Hitchcock said he could not remember ever having had a playmate. One of his favourite stories for interviewers was about his father sending him to the local police station with a note when he was five; the policeman looked at the note and locked him in a cell for a few minutes, saying, "This is what we do to naughty boys." The experience left him with a lifelong phobia of law enforcement, and he told Tom Snyder in 1973 that he was "scared stiff of anything ... to do with the law" and that he would refuse to even drive a car in case he got a parking ticket. When he was six, the family moved to Limehouse and leased two stores at 130 and 175 Salmon Lane, which they ran as a fish-and-chip shop and fishmongers' respectively; they lived above the former. Hitchcock attended his first school, the Howrah House Convent in Poplar, which he entered in 1907, at age 7. According to biographer Patrick McGilligan, he stayed at Howrah House for at most two years. He also attended a convent school, the Wode Street School "for the daughters of gentlemen and little boys" run by the Faithful Companions of Jesus. He then attended a primary school near his home and was for a short time a boarder at Salesian College in Battersea. The family moved again when Hitchcock was eleven, this time to Stepney, and on 5 October 1910 he was sent to St Ignatius College in Stamford Hill, a Jesuit grammar school with a reputation for discipline. As corporal punishment, the priests used a flat, hard, springy tool made of gutta-percha and known as a "ferula" which struck the whole palm; punishment was always at the end of the day, so the boys had to sit through classes anticipating the punishment if they had been written up for it. He later said that this is where he developed his sense of fear. The school register lists his year of birth as 1900 rather than 1899; biographer Donald Spoto says he was deliberately enrolled as a ten-year-old because he was a year behind with his schooling. While biographer Gene Adair reports that Hitchcock was "an average, or slightly above-average, pupil", Hitchcock said that he was "usually among the four or five at the top of the class"; at the end of his first year, his work in Latin, English, French and religious education was noted. He told Peter Bogdanovich: "The Jesuits taught me organisation, control and, to some degree, analysis." Hitchcock's favourite subject was geography and he became interested in maps and the timetables of trains, trams and buses; according to John Russell Taylor, he could recite all the stops on the Orient Express. He had a particular interest in London trams. An overwhelming majority of his films include rail or tram scenes, in particular The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train and Number Seventeen. A clapperboard shows the number of the scene and the number of takes, and Hitchcock would often take the two numbers on the clapperboard and whisper the London tram route names. For example, if the clapperboard showed "Scene 23; Take 3", he would whisper "Woodford, Hampstead"Woodford being the terminus of the route 23 tram, and Hampstead the end of route 3. Henley's Hitchcock told his parents that he wanted to be an engineer, and on 25 July 1913, he left St Ignatius and enrolled in night classes at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in Poplar. In a book-length interview in 1962, he told François Truffaut that he had studied "mechanics, electricity, acoustics, and navigation". Then, on 12 December 1914, his father, who had been suffering from emphysema and kidney disease, died at the age of 52. To support himself and his mother — his older siblings had left home by then — Hitchcock took a job, for 15 shillings a week (£ in ), as a technical clerk at the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company in Blomfield Street, near London Wall. He continued night classes, this time in art history, painting, economics and political science. His older brother ran the family shops, while he and his mother continued to live in Salmon Lane. Hitchcock was too young to enlist when the First World War started in July 1914, and when he reached the required age of 18 in 1917, he received a C3 classification ("free from serious organic disease, able to stand service conditions in garrisons at home ... only suitable for sedentary work"). He joined a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers and took part in theoretical briefings, weekend drills and exercises. John Russell Taylor wrote that, in one session of practical exercises in Hyde Park, Hitchcock was required to wear puttees. He could never master wrapping them around his legs, and they repeatedly fell down around his ankles. After the war, Hitchcock took an interest in creative writing. In June 1919, he became a founding editor and business manager of Henley's in-house publication, The Henley Telegraph (sixpence a copy), to which he submitted several short stories. Henley's promoted him to the advertising department, where he wrote copy and drew graphics for electric cable advertisements. He enjoyed the job and would stay late at the office to examine the proofs; he told Truffaut that this was his "first step toward cinema". He enjoyed watching films, especially American cinema, and from the age of 16 read the trade papers; he watched Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith and Buster Keaton, and particularly liked Fritz Lang's Der müde Tod (1921). Inter-war career: 1919–1939 Famous Players–Lasky While still at Henley's, he read in a trade paper that Famous Players–Lasky, the production arm of Paramount Pictures, was opening a studio in London. They were planning to film The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli, so he produced some drawings for the title cards and sent his work to the studio. They hired him, and in 1919 he began working for Islington Studios in Poole Street, Hoxton, as a title-card designer. Donald Spoto wrote that most of the staff were Americans with strict job specifications, but the English workers were encouraged to try their hand at anything, which meant that Hitchcock gained experience as a co-writer, art director and production manager on at least 18 silent films. The Times wrote in February 1922 about the studio's "special art title department under the supervision of Mr. A. J. Hitchcock". His work included Number 13 (1922), also known as Mrs. Peabody; it was cancelled because of financial problems - the few finished scenes are lost — and Always Tell Your Wife (1923), which he and Seymour Hicks finished together when Hicks was about to give up on it. Hicks wrote later about being helped by "a fat youth who was in charge of the property room ... [n]one other than Alfred Hitchcock". Gainsborough Pictures and work in Germany When Paramount pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock was hired as an assistant director by a new firm run in the same location by Michael Balcon, later known as Gainsborough Pictures. Hitchcock worked on Woman to Woman (1923) with the director Graham Cutts, designing the set, writing the script and producing. He said: "It was the first film that I had really got my hands onto." The editor and "script girl" on Woman to Woman was Alma Reville, his future wife. He also worked as an assistant to Cutts on The White Shadow (1924), The Passionate Adventure (1924), The Blackguard (1925) and The Prude's Fall (1925). The Blackguard was produced at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, where Hitchcock watched part of the making of F. W. Murnau's The Last Laugh (1924). He was impressed with Murnau's work, and later used many of his techniques for the set design in his own productions. In the summer of 1925, Balcon asked Hitchcock to direct The Pleasure Garden (1925), starring Virginia Valli, a co-production of Gainsborough and the German firm Emelka at the Geiselgasteig studio near Munich. Reville, by then Hitchcock's fiancée, was assistant director-editor. Although the film was a commercial flop, Balcon liked Hitchcock's work; a Daily Express headline called him the "Young man with a master mind". Production of The Pleasure Garden encountered obstacles which Hitchcock would later learn from: on arrival to Brenner Pass, he failed to declare his film stock to customs and it was confiscated; one actress could not enter the water for a scene because she was on her period; budget overruns meant that he had to borrow money from the actors. Hitchcock also needed a translator to give instructions to the cast and crew. In Germany, Hitchcock observed the nuances of German cinema and filmmaking which had a big influence on him. When he was not working, he would visit Berlin's art galleries, concerts and museums. He would also meet with actors, writers and producers to build connections. Balcon asked him to direct a second film in Munich, The Mountain Eagle (1926), based on an original story titled Fear o' God. The film is lost, and Hitchcock called it "a very bad movie". A year later, Hitchcock wrote and directed The Ring; although the screenplay was credited solely to his name, Elliot Stannard assisted him with the writing. The Ring garnered positive reviews; the Bioscope critic called it "the most magnificent British film ever made". When he returned to England, Hitchcock was one of the early members of the London Film Society, newly formed in 1925. Through the Society, he became fascinated by the work by Soviet filmmakers: Dziga Vertov, Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin. He would also socialise with fellow English filmmakers Ivor Montagu, Adrian Brunel and Walter Mycroft. Hitchcock established himself as a name director with his first thriller, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927). The film concerns the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-style serial killer who, wearing a black cloak and carrying a black bag, is murdering young blonde women in London, and only on Tuesdays. A landlady suspects that her lodger is the killer, but he turns out to be innocent. Hitchcock had wanted the leading man to be guilty, or for the film at least to end ambiguously, but the star was Ivor Novello, a matinée idol, and the "star system" meant that Novello could not be the villain. Hitchcock told Truffaut: "You have to clearly spell it out in big letters: 'He is innocent.'" (He had the same problem years later with Cary Grant in Suspicion (1941).) Released in January 1927, The Lodger was a commercial and critical success in the UK. Upon its release, the trade journal Bioscope wrote: "It is possible that this film is the finest British production ever made". Hitchcock told Truffaut that the film was the first of his to be influenced by German Expressionism: "In truth, you might almost say that The Lodger was my first picture." He made his first cameo appearance in the film, sitting in a newsroom. Marriage On 2 December 1926, Hitchcock married the English screenwriter Alma Reville at the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington. The couple honeymooned in Paris, Lake Como and St. Moritz, before returning to London to live in a leased flat on the top two floors of 153 Cromwell Road, Kensington. Reville, who was born just hours after Hitchcock, converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, apparently at the insistence of Hitchcock's mother; she was baptised on 31 May 1927 and confirmed at Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Francis Bourne on 5 June. In 1928, when they learned that Reville was pregnant, the Hitchcocks purchased "Winter's Grace", a Tudor farmhouse set in eleven acres on Stroud Lane, Shamley Green, Surrey, for £2,500. Their daughter and only child, Patricia Alma Hitchcock, was born on 7 July that year. Patricia died on 9 August 2021 at 93. Reville became her husband's closest collaborator; Charles Champlin wrote in 1982: "The Hitchcock touch had four hands, and two were Alma's." When Hitchcock accepted the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979, he said that he wanted to mention "four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter, Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville." Reville wrote or co-wrote on many of Hitchcock's films, including Shadow of a Doubt, Suspicion and The 39 Steps. Early sound films Hitchcock began work on his tenth film, Blackmail (1929), when its production company, British International Pictures (BIP), converted its Elstree studios to sound. The film was the first British "talkie"; this followed the rapid development of sound films in the United States, from the use of brief sound segments in The Jazz Singer (1927) to the first full sound feature Lights of New York (1928). Blackmail began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences, with the climax taking place on the dome of the British Museum. It also features one of his longest cameo appearances, which shows him being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book on the London Underground. In the PBS series The Men Who Made The Movies, Hitchcock explained how he used early sound recording as a special element of the film, stressing the word "knife" in a conversation with the woman suspected of murder. During this period, Hitchcock directed segments for a BIP revue, Elstree Calling (1930), and directed a short film, An Elastic Affair (1930), featuring two Film Weekly scholarship winners. An Elastic Affair is one of the lost films. In 1933, Hitchcock signed a multi-film contract with Gaumont-British, once again working for Michael Balcon. His first film for the company, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), was a success; his second, The 39 Steps (1935), was acclaimed in the UK, and gained him recognition in the United States. It also established the quintessential English "Hitchcock blonde" (Madeleine Carroll) as the template for his succession of ice-cold, elegant leading ladies. Screenwriter Robert Towne remarked: "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps". John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps on which the film is loosely based, met with Hitchcock on set, and attended the high-profile premiere at the New Gallery Cinema in London. Upon viewing the film, the author said it had improved on the book. This film was one of the first to introduce the "MacGuffin" plot device, a term coined by the English screenwriter Angus MacPhail. The MacGuffin is an item or goal the protagonist is pursuing, one that otherwise has no narrative value; in The 39 Steps, the MacGuffin is a stolen set of design plans. Hitchcock released two spy thrillers in 1936. Sabotage was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel, The Secret Agent (1907), about a woman who discovers that her husband is a terrorist, and Secret Agent, based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1928) by W. Somerset Maugham. At this time, Hitchcock also became notorious for pranks against the cast and crew. These jokes ranged from simple and innocent to crazy and maniacal. For instance, he hosted a dinner party where he dyed all the food blue because he claimed there weren't enough blue foods. He also had a horse delivered to the dressing room of his friend, actor Gerald du Maurier. Hitchcock followed up with Young and Innocent in 1937, a crime thriller based on the 1936 novel A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey. Starring Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney, the film was relatively enjoyable for the cast and crew to make. To meet distribution purposes in America, the film's runtime was cut and this included removal of one of Hitchcock's favourite scenes: a children's tea party which becomes menacing to the protagonists. Hitchcock's next major success was The Lady Vanishes (1938), "one of the greatest train movies from the genre's golden era", according to Philip French, in which Miss Froy (May Whitty), a British spy posing as a governess, disappears on a train journey through the fictional European country of Bandrika. The film saw Hitchcock receive the 1938 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director. Benjamin Crisler of the New York Times wrote in June 1938: "Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not: Magna Carta, the Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest director of screen melodramas in the world." The film was based on the novel The Wheel Spins (1936) written by Ethel Lina White. By 1938, Hitchcock was aware that he had reached his peak in Britain. He had received numerous offers from producers in the United States, but he turned them all down because he disliked the contractual obligations or thought the projects were repellent. However, producer David O. Selznick offered him a concrete proposal to make a film based on the sinking of , which was eventually shelved, but Selznick persuaded Hitchcock to come to Hollywood. In July 1938, Hitchcock flew to New York, and found that he was already a celebrity; he was featured in magazines and gave interviews to radio stations. In Hollywood, Hitchcock met Selznick for the first time. Selznick offered him a four-film contract, approximately $40,000 for each picture (). Early Hollywood years: 1939–1945 Selznick contract Selznick signed Hitchcock to a seven-year contract beginning in April 1939, and the Hitchcocks moved to Hollywood. The Hitchcocks lived in a spacious flat on Wilshire Boulevard, and slowly acclimatised themselves to the Los Angeles area. He and his wife Alma kept a low profile, and were not interested in attending parties or being celebrities. Hitchcock discovered his taste for fine food in West Hollywood, but still carried on his way of life from England. He was impressed with Hollywood's filmmaking culture, expansive budgets and efficiency, compared to the limits that he had often faced in Britain. In June that year, Life called him the "greatest master of melodrama in screen history". Although Hitchcock and Selznick respected each other, their working arrangements were sometimes difficult. Selznick suffered from constant financial problems, and Hitchcock was often unhappy about Selznick's creative control and interference over his films. Selznick was also displeased with Hitchcock's method of shooting just what was in the script, and nothing more, which meant that the film could not be cut and remade differently at a later time. As well as complaining about Hitchcock's "goddamn jigsaw cutting", their personalities were mismatched: Hitchcock was reserved whereas Selznick was flamboyant. Eventually, Selznick generously lent Hitchcock to the larger film studios. Selznick made only a few films each year, as did fellow independent producer Samuel Goldwyn, so he did not always have projects for Hitchcock to direct. Goldwyn had also negotiated with Hitchcock on a possible contract, only to be outbid by Selznick. In a later interview, Hitchcock said: "[Selznick] was the Big Producer. ... Producer was king. The most flattering thing Mr. Selznick ever said about me—and it shows you the amount of control—he said I was the 'only director' he'd 'trust with a film'." Hitchcock approached American cinema cautiously; his first American film was set in England in which the "Americanness" of the characters was incidental: Rebecca (1940) was set in a Hollywood version of England's Cornwall and based on a novel by English novelist Daphne du Maurier. Selznick insisted on a faithful adaptation of the book, and disagreed with Hitchcock with the use of humour. The film, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, concerns an unnamed naïve young woman who marries a widowed aristocrat. She lives in his large English country house, and struggles with the lingering reputation of his elegant and worldly first wife Rebecca, who died under mysterious circumstances. The film won Best Picture at the 13th Academy Awards; the statuette was given to producer Selznick. Hitchcock received his first nomination for Best Director, his first of five such nominations. Hitchcock's second American film was the thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940), set in Europe, based on Vincent Sheean's book Personal History (1935) and produced by Walter Wanger. It was nominated for Best Picture that year. Hitchcock felt uneasy living and working in Hollywood while Britain was at war; his concern resulted in a film that overtly supported the British war effort. Filmed in 1939, it was inspired by the rapidly changing events in Europe, as covered by an American newspaper reporter played by Joel McCrea. By mixing footage of European scenes with scenes filmed on a Hollywood backlot, the film avoided direct references to Nazism, Nazi Germany and Germans, to comply with the Motion Picture Production Code at the time. Early war years In September 1940, the Hitchcocks bought the Cornwall Ranch near Scotts Valley, California, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Their primary residence was an English-style home in Bel Air, purchased in 1942. Hitchcock's films were diverse during this period, ranging from the romantic comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) to the bleak film noir Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Suspicion (1941) marked Hitchcock's first film as a producer and director. It is set in England; Hitchcock used the north coast of Santa Cruz for the English coastline sequence. The film is the first of four in which Cary Grant was cast by Hitchcock, and it is one of the rare occasions that Grant plays a sinister character. Grant plays Johnnie Aysgarth, an English conman whose actions raise suspicion and anxiety in his shy young English wife, Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine). In one scene, Hitchcock placed a light inside a glass of milk, perhaps poisoned, that Grant is bringing to his wife; the light ensures that the audience's attention is on the glass. Grant's character is actually a killer, as per written in the book, Before the Fact by Francis Iles, but the studio felt that Grant's image would be tarnished by that. Hitchcock therefore settled for an ambiguous finale, although he would have preferred to end with the wife's murder. Fontaine won Best Actress for her performance. Saboteur (1942) is the first of two films that Hitchcock made for Universal Studios during the decade. Hitchcock wanted Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck or Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney to star, but was forced by Universal to use Universal contract player Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane, a freelancer who signed a one-picture deal with the studio, both known for their work in comedies and light dramas. The story depicts a confrontation between a suspected saboteur (Cummings) and a real saboteur (Norman Lloyd) atop the Statue of Liberty. Hitchcock took a three-day tour of New York City to scout for Saboteurs filming locations. He also directed Have You Heard? (1942), a photographic dramatisation for Life magazine of the dangers of rumours during wartime. In 1943, he wrote a mystery story for Look, "The Murder of Monty Woolley", a sequence of captioned photographs inviting the reader to find clues to the murderer's identity; Hitchcock cast the performers as themselves, such as Woolley, Doris Merrick and make-up man Guy Pearce. Back in England, Hitchcock's mother Emma was severely ill; she died on 26 September 1942 at age 79. Hitchcock never spoke publicly about his mother, but his assistant said that he admired her. Four months later, on 4 January 1943, his brother William died of an overdose at age 52. Hitchcock was not very close to William, but his death made Hitchcock conscious about his own eating and drinking habits. He was overweight and suffering from back aches. His New Year's resolution in 1943 was to take his diet seriously with the help of a physician. In January that year, Shadow of a Doubt was released, which Hitchcock had fond memories of making. In the film, Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) suspects her beloved uncle Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) of being a serial killer. Hitchcock filmed extensively on location, this time in the Northern California city of Santa Rosa. At 20th Century Fox, Hitchcock approached John Steinbeck with an idea for a film, which recorded the experiences of the survivors of a German U-boat attack. Steinbeck began work on the script for what would become Lifeboat (1944). However, Steinbeck was unhappy with the film and asked that his name be removed from the credits, to no avail. The idea was rewritten as a short story by Harry Sylvester and published in Collier's in 1943. The action sequences were shot in a small boat in the studio water tank. The locale posed problems for Hitchcock's traditional cameo appearance; it was solved by having Hitchcock's image appear in a newspaper that William Bendix is reading in the boat, showing the director in a before-and-after advertisement for "Reduco-Obesity Slayer". He told Truffaut in 1962: Hitchcock's typical dinner before his weight loss had been a roast chicken, boiled ham, potatoes, bread, vegetables, relishes, salad, dessert, a bottle of wine and some brandy. To lose weight, his diet consisted of black coffee for breakfast and lunch, and steak and salad for dinner, but it was hard to maintain; Donald Spoto wrote that his weight fluctuated considerably over the next 40 years. At the end of 1943, despite the weight loss, the Occidental Insurance Company of Los Angeles refused his application for life insurance. Wartime non-fiction films Hitchcock returned to the UK for an extended visit in late 1943 and early 1944. While there he made two short propaganda films, Bon Voyage (1944) and Aventure Malgache (1944), for the Ministry of Information. In June and July 1945, Hitchcock served as "treatment advisor" on a Holocaust documentary that used Allied Forces footage of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. The film was assembled in London and produced by Sidney Bernstein of the Ministry of Information, who brought Hitchcock (a friend of his) on board. It was originally intended to be broadcast to the Germans, but the British government deemed it too traumatic to be shown to a shocked post-war population. Instead, it was transferred in 1952 from the British War Office film vaults to London's Imperial War Museum and remained unreleased until 1985, when an edited version was broadcast as an episode of PBS Frontline, under the title the Imperial War Museum had given it: Memory of the Camps. The full-length version of the film, German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, was restored in 2014 by scholars at the Imperial War Museum. Post-war Hollywood years: 1945–1953 Later Selznick films Hitchcock worked for David Selznick again when he directed Spellbound (1945), which explores psychoanalysis and features a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí. The dream sequence as it appears in the film is ten minutes shorter than was originally envisioned; Selznick edited it to make it "play" more effectively. Gregory Peck plays amnesiac Dr. Anthony Edwardes under the treatment of analyst Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), who falls in love with him while trying to unlock his repressed past. Two point-of-view shots were achieved by building a large wooden hand (which would appear to belong to the character whose point of view the camera took) and out-sized props for it to hold: a bucket-sized glass of milk and a large wooden gun. For added novelty and impact, the climactic gunshot was hand-coloured red on some copies of the black-and-white film. The original musical score by Miklós Rózsa makes use of the theremin, and some of it was later adapted by the composer into Rozsa's Piano Concerto Op. 31 (1967) for piano and orchestra. The spy film Notorious followed next in 1946. Hitchcock told François Truffaut that Selznick sold him, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant and Ben Hecht's screenplay, to RKO Radio Pictures as a "package" for $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) because of cost overruns on Selznick's Duel in the Sun (1946). Notorious stars Bergman and Grant, both Hitchcock collaborators, and features a plot about Nazis, uranium and South America. His prescient use of uranium as a plot device led to him being briefly placed under surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Patrick McGilligan, in or around March 1945, Hitchcock and Hecht consulted Robert Millikan of the California Institute of Technology about the development of a uranium bomb. Selznick complained that the notion was "science fiction", only to be confronted by the news of the detonation of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945. Transatlantic Pictures Hitchcock formed an independent production company, Transatlantic Pictures, with his friend Sidney Bernstein. He made two films with Transatlantic, one of which was his first colour film. With Rope (1948), Hitchcock experimented with marshalling suspense in a confined environment, as he had done earlier with Lifeboat. The film appears as a very limited number of continuous shots, but it was actually shot in 10 ranging from to 10 minutes each; a 10-minute length of film was the most that a camera's film magazine could hold at the time. Some transitions between reels were hidden by having a dark object fill the entire screen for a moment. Hitchcock used those points to hide the cut, and began the next take with the camera in the same place. The film features James Stewart in the leading role, and was the first of four films that Stewart made with Hitchcock. It was inspired by the Leopold and Loeb case of the 1920s. Critical response at the time was mixed. Under Capricorn (1949), set in 19th-century Australia, also uses the short-lived technique of long takes, but to a more limited extent. He again used Technicolor in this production, then returned to black-and-white for several years. Transatlantic Pictures became inactive after the last two films. Hitchcock filmed Stage Fright (1950) at Elstree Studios in England, where he had worked during his British International Pictures contract many years before. He paired one of Warner Bros.' most popular stars, Jane Wyman, with the expatriate German actor Marlene Dietrich and used several prominent British actors, including Michael Wilding, Richard Todd and Alastair Sim. This was Hitchcock's first proper production for Warner Bros., which had distributed Rope and Under Capricorn, because Transatlantic Pictures was experiencing financial difficulties. His thriller Strangers on a Train (1951) was based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. Hitchcock combined many elements from his preceding films. He approached Dashiell Hammett to write the dialogue, but Raymond Chandler took over, then left over disagreements with the director. In the film, two men casually meet, one of whom speculates on a foolproof method to murder; he suggests that two people, each wishing to do away with someone, should each perform the other's murder. Farley Granger's role was as the innocent victim of the scheme, while Robert Walker, previously known for "boy-next-door" roles, played the villain. I Confess (1953) was set in Quebec with Montgomery Clift as a Catholic priest. Peak years: 1954–1964 Dial M for Murder and Rear Window I Confess was followed by three colour films starring Grace Kelly: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). In Dial M for Murder, Ray Milland plays the villain who tries to murder his unfaithful wife (Kelly) for her money. She kills the hired assassin in self-defence, so Milland manipulates the evidence to make it look like murder. Her lover, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), and Police Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) save her from execution. Hitchcock experimented with 3D cinematography for Dial M for Murder. Hitchcock moved to Paramount Pictures and filmed Rear Window (1954), starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, as well as Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr. Stewart's character is a photographer named Jeff (based on Robert Capa) who must temporarily use a wheelchair. Out of boredom, he begins observing his neighbours across the courtyard, then becomes convinced that one of them (Raymond Burr) has murdered his wife. Jeff eventually manages to convince his policeman buddy (Wendell Corey) and his girlfriend (Kelly). As with Lifeboat and Rope, the principal characters are depicted in confined or cramped quarters, in this case Stewart's studio apartment. Hitchcock uses close-ups of Stewart's face to show his character's reactions, "from the comic voyeurism directed at his neighbours to his helpless terror watching Kelly and Burr in the villain's apartment". Alfred Hitchcock Presents From 1955 to 1965, Hitchcock was the host of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. With his droll delivery, gallows humour and iconic image, the series made Hitchcock a celebrity. The title-sequence of the show pictured a minimalist caricature of his profile (he drew it himself; it is composed of only nine strokes), which his real silhouette then filled. The series theme tune was Funeral March of a Marionette by the French composer Charles Gounod (1818–1893). His introductions always included some sort of wry humour, such as the description of a recent multi-person execution hampered by having only one electric chair, while two are shown with a sign "Two chairs—no waiting!" He directed 18 episodes of the series, which aired from 1955 to 1965. It became The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1962, and NBC broadcast the final episode on 10 May 1965. In the 1980s, a new version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents was produced for television, making use of Hitchcock's original introductions in a colourised form. Hitchcock's success in television spawned a set of short-story collections in his name; these included Alfred Hitchcock's Anthology, Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV, and Tales My Mother Never Told Me. In 1956, HSD Publications also licensed the director's name to create Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, a monthly digest specialising in crime and detective fiction. Hitchcock's television series were very profitable, and his foreign-language versions of books were bringing revenues of up to $100,000 a year (). From To Catch a Thief to Vertigo In 1955, Hitchcock became a United States citizen. In the same year, his third Grace Kelly film, To Catch a Thief, was released; it is set in the French Riviera, and stars Kelly and Cary Grant. Grant plays retired thief John Robie, who becomes the prime suspect for a spate of robberies in the Riviera. A thrill-seeking American heiress played by Kelly surmises his true identity and tries to seduce him. "Despite the obvious age disparity between Grant and Kelly and a lightweight plot, the witty script (loaded with double entendres) and the good-natured acting proved a commercial success." It was Hitchcock's last film with Kelly; she married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, and ended her film career afterward. Hitchcock then remade his own 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956. This time, the film starred James Stewart and Doris Day, who sang the theme song "Que Sera, Sera", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became a big hit. They play a couple whose son is kidnapped to prevent them from interfering with an assassination. As in the 1934 film, the climax takes place at the Royal Albert Hall. The Wrong Man (1956), Hitchcock's final film for Warner Bros., is a low-key black-and-white production based on a real-life case of mistaken identity reported in Life magazine in 1953. This was the only film of Hitchcock to star Henry Fonda, playing a Stork Club musician mistaken for a liquor store thief, who is arrested and tried for robbery while his wife (Vera Miles) emotionally collapses under the strain. Hitchcock told Truffaut that his lifelong fear of the police attracted him to the subject and was embedded in many scenes. While directing episodes for Alfred Hitchcock Presents during the summer of 1957, Hitchcock was admitted to hospital for hernia and gallstones, and had to have his gallbladder removed. Following a successful surgery, he immediately returned to work to prepare for his next project. Vertigo (1958) again starred James Stewart, with Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes. He had wanted Vera Miles to play the lead, but she was pregnant. He told Oriana Fallaci: "I was offering her a big part, the chance to become a beautiful sophisticated blonde, a real actress. We'd have spent a heap of dollars on it, and she has the bad taste to get pregnant. I hate pregnant women, because then they have children." In Vertigo, Stewart plays Scottie, a former police investigator suffering from acrophobia, who becomes obsessed with a woman he has been hired to shadow (Novak). Scottie's obsession leads to tragedy, and this time Hitchcock did not opt for a happy ending. Some critics, including Donald Spoto and Roger Ebert, agree that Vertigo is the director's most personal and revealing film, dealing with the Pygmalion-like obsessions of a man who moulds a woman into the person he desires. Vertigo explores more frankly and at greater length his interest in the relation between sex and death, than any other work in his filmography. Vertigo contains a camera technique developed by Irmin Roberts, commonly referred to as a dolly zoom, which has been copied by many filmmakers. The film premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and Hitchcock won the Silver Seashell prize. Vertigo is considered a classic, but it attracted mixed reviews and poor box-office receipts at the time; the critic from Variety opined that the film was "too slow and too long". Bosley Crowther of the New York Times thought it was "devilishly far-fetched", but praised the cast performances and Hitchcock's direction. The picture was also the last collaboration between Stewart and Hitchcock. In the 2002 Sight & Sound polls, it ranked just behind Citizen Kane (1941); ten years later, in the same magazine, critics chose it as the best film ever made. North by Northwest and Psycho After Vertigo, the rest of 1958 was a difficult year for Hitchcock. During pre-production of North by Northwest (1959), which was a "slow" and "agonising" process, his wife Alma was diagnosed with cancer. While she was in hospital, Hitchcock kept himself occupied with his television work and would visit her every day. Alma underwent surgery and made a full recovery, but it caused Hitchcock to imagine, for the first time, life without her. Hitchcock followed up with three more successful films, which are also recognised as among his best: North by Northwest, Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). In North by Northwest, Cary Grant portrays Roger Thornhill, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who is mistaken for a government secret agent. He is pursued across the United States by enemy agents, including Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint). At first, Thornhill believes Kendall is helping him, but then realises that she is an enemy agent; he later learns that she is working undercover for the CIA. During its opening two-week run at Radio City Music Hall, the film grossed $404,056 (equivalent to $ million in ), setting a non-holiday gross record for that theatre. Time magazine called the film "smoothly troweled and thoroughly entertaining". Psycho (1960) is arguably Hitchcock's best-known film. Based on Robert Bloch's 1959 novel Psycho, which was inspired by the case of Ed Gein, the film was produced on a tight budget of $800,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) and shot in black-and-white on a spare set using crew members from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The unprecedented violence of the shower scene, the early death of the heroine, and the innocent lives extinguished by a disturbed murderer became the hallmarks of a new horror-film genre. The film proved popular with audiences, with lines stretching outside theatres as viewers waited for the next showing. It broke box-office records in the United Kingdom, France, South America, the United States and Canada, and was a moderate success in Australia for a brief period. Psycho was the most profitable of Hitchcock's career, and he personally earned in excess of $15 million (equivalent to $ million in ). He subsequently swapped his rights to Psycho and his TV anthology for 150,000 shares of MCA, making him the third largest shareholder and his own boss at Universal, in theory at least, although that did not stop studio interference. Following the first film, Psycho became an American horror franchise: Psycho II, Psycho III, Bates Motel, Psycho IV: The Beginning and a colour 1998 remake of the original. Truffaut interview On 13 August 1962, Hitchcock's 63rd birthday, the French director François Truffaut began a 50-hour interview of Hitchcock, filmed over eight days at Universal Studios, during which Hitchcock agreed to answer 500 questions. It took four years to transcribe the tapes and organise the images; it was published as a book in 1967, which Truffaut nicknamed the "Hitchbook". The audio tapes were used as the basis of a documentary in 2015. Truffaut sought the interview because it was clear to him that Hitchcock was not simply the mass-market entertainer the American media made him out to be. It was obvious from his films, Truffaut wrote, that Hitchcock had "given more thought to the potential of his art than any of his colleagues". He compared the interview to "Oedipus' consultation of the oracle". The Birds The film scholar Peter William Evans wrote that The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) are regarded as "undisputed masterpieces". Hitchcock had intended to film Marnie first, and in March 1962 it was announced that Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco since 1956, would come out of retirement to star in it. When Kelly asked Hitchcock to postpone Marnie until 1963 or 1964, he recruited Evan Hunter, author of The Blackboard Jungle (1954), to develop a screenplay based on a Daphne du Maurier short story, "The Birds" (1952), which Hitchcock had republished in his My Favorites in Suspense (1959). He hired Tippi Hedren to play the lead role. It was her first role; she had been a model in New York when Hitchcock saw her, in October 1961, in an NBC television advert for Sego, a diet drink: "I signed her because she is a classic beauty. Movies don't have them any more. Grace Kelly was the last." He insisted, without explanation, that her first name be written in single quotation marks: 'Tippi'. In The Birds, Melanie Daniels, a young socialite, meets lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a bird shop; Jessica Tandy plays his possessive mother. Hedren visits him in Bodega Bay (where The Birds was filmed) carrying a pair of lovebirds as a gift. Suddenly waves of birds start gathering, watching, and attacking. The question: "What do the birds want?" is left unanswered. Hitchcock made the film with equipment from the Revue Studio, which made Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He said it was his most technically challenging film, using a combination of trained and mechanical birds against a backdrop of wild ones. Every shot was sketched in advance. An HBO/BBC television film, The Girl (2012), depicted Hedren's experiences on set; she said that Hitchcock became obsessed with her and sexually harassed her. He reportedly isolated her from the rest of the crew, had her followed, whispered obscenities to her, had her handwriting analysed and had a ramp built from his private office directly into her trailer. Diane Baker, her co-star in Marnie, said: "[N]othing could have been more horrible for me than to arrive on that movie set and to see her being treated the way she was." While filming the attack scene in the attic — which took a week to film — she was placed in a caged room while two men wearing elbow-length protective gloves threw live birds at her. Toward the end of the week, to stop the birds' flying away from her too soon, one leg of each bird was attached by nylon thread to elastic bands sewn inside her clothes. She broke down after a bird cut her lower eyelid, and filming was halted on doctor's orders. Marnie In June 1962, Grace Kelly announced that she had decided against appearing in Marnie (1964). Hedren had signed an exclusive seven-year, $500-a-week contract with Hitchcock in October 1961, and he decided to cast her in the lead role opposite Sean Connery. In 2016, describing Hedren's performance as "one of the greatest in the history of cinema", Richard Brody called the film a "story of sexual violence" inflicted on the character played by Hedren: "The film is, to put it simply, sick, and it's so because Hitchcock was sick. He suffered all his life from furious sexual desire, suffered from the lack of its gratification, suffered from the inability to transform fantasy into reality, and then went ahead and did so virtually, by way of his art." A 1964 New York Times review called it Hitchcock's "most disappointing film in years", citing Hedren's and Connery's lack of experience, an amateurish script and "glaringly fake cardboard backdrops". In the film, Marnie Edgar (Hedren) steals $10,000 from her employer and goes on the run. She applies for a job at Mark Rutland's (Connery) company in Philadelphia and steals from there too. Earlier, she is shown having a panic attack during a thunderstorm and fearing the colour red. Mark tracks her down and blackmails her into marrying him. She explains that she does not want to be touched, but during the "honeymoon", Mark rapes her. Marnie and Mark discover that Marnie's mother had been a prostitute when Marnie was a child, and that, while the mother was fighting with a client during a thunderstorm — the mother believed the client had tried to molest Marnie — Marnie had killed the client to save her mother. Cured of her fears when she remembers what happened, she decides to stay with Mark. Hitchcock told cinematographer Robert Burks that the camera had to be placed as close as possible to Hedren when he filmed her face. Evan Hunter, the screenwriter of The Birds who was writing Marnie too, explained to Hitchcock that, if Mark loved Marnie, he would comfort her, not rape her. Hitchcock reportedly replied: "Evan, when he sticks it in her, I want that camera right on her face!" When Hunter submitted two versions of the script, one without the rape scene, Hitchcock replaced him with Jay Presson Allen. Later years: 1966–1980 Final films Failing health reduced Hitchcock's output during the last two decades of his life. Biographer Stephen Rebello claimed Universal imposed two films on him, Torn Curtain (1966) and Topaz (1969), the latter of which is based on a Leon Uris novel, partly set in Cuba. Both were spy thrillers with Cold War-related themes. Torn Curtain, with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, precipitated the bitter end of the twelve-year collaboration between Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann. Hitchcock was unhappy with Herrmann's score and replaced him with John Addison, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. Upon release, Torn Curtain was a box office disappointment, and Topaz was disliked by both critics and the studio. Hitchcock returned to Britain to make his penultimate film, Frenzy (1972), based on the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square (1966). After two espionage films, the plot marked a return to the murder-thriller genre. Richard Blaney (Jon Finch), a volatile barman with a history of explosive anger, becomes the prime suspect in the investigation into the "Necktie Murders", which are actually committed by his friend Bob Rusk (Barry Foster). This time, Hitchcock makes the victim and villain kindreds, rather than opposites, as in Strangers on a Train. In Frenzy, Hitchcock allowed nudity for the first time. Two scenes show naked women, one of whom is being raped and strangled; Donald Spoto called the latter "one of the most repellent examples of a detailed murder in the history of film". Both actors, Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Anna Massey, refused to do the scenes, so models were used instead. Biographers have noted that Hitchcock had always pushed the limits of film censorship, often managing to fool Joseph Breen, the head of the Motion Picture Production Code. Hitchcock would add subtle hints of improprieties forbidden by censorship until the mid-1960s. Yet, Patrick McGilligan wrote that Breen and others often realised that Hitchcock was inserting such material and were actually amused, as well as alarmed by Hitchcock's "inescapable inferences". Family Plot (1976) was Hitchcock's last film. It relates the escapades of "Madam" Blanche Tyler, played by Barbara Harris, a fraudulent spiritualist, and her taxi-driver lover Bruce Dern, making a living from her phony powers. While Family Plot was based on the Victor Canning novel The Rainbird Pattern (1972), the novel's tone is more sinister. Screenwriter Ernest Lehman originally wrote the film, under the working title Deception, with a dark tone but was pushed to a lighter, more comical tone by Hitchcock where it took the name Deceit, then finally, Family Plot. Knighthood and death Toward the end of his life, Hitchcock was working on the script for a spy thriller, The Short Night, collaborating with James Costigan, Ernest Lehman and David Freeman. Despite preliminary work, it was never filmed. Hitchcock's health was declining and he was worried about his wife, who had suffered a stroke. The screenplay was eventually published in Freeman's book The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock (1999). Having refused a CBE in 1962, Hitchcock was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1980 New Year Honours. He was too ill to travel to London—he had a pacemaker and was being given cortisone injections for his arthritis—so on 3 January 1980 the British consul general presented him with the papers at Universal Studios. Asked by a reporter after the ceremony why it had taken the Queen so long, Hitchcock quipped, "I suppose it was a matter of carelessness." Cary Grant, Janet Leigh and others attended a luncheon afterwards. His last public appearance was on 16 March 1980, when he introduced the next year's winner of the American Film Institute award. He died of kidney failure the following month, on 29 April, in his Bel Air home. Donald Spoto, one of Hitchcock's biographers, wrote that Hitchcock had declined to see a priest, but according to Jesuit priest Mark Henninger, he and another priest, Tom Sullivan, celebrated Mass at the filmmaker's home, and Sullivan heard his confession. Hitchcock was survived by his wife and daughter. His funeral was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills on 30 April, after which his body was cremated. His remains were scattered over the Pacific Ocean on 10 May 1980. Filmmaking Style and themes The "Hitchcockian" style includes the use of editing and camera movement to mimic a person's gaze, thereby turning viewers into voyeurs, and framing shots to maximise anxiety and fear. The film critic Robin Wood wrote that the meaning of a Hitchcock film "is there in the method, in the progression from shot to shot. A Hitchcock film is an organism, with the whole implied in every detail and every detail related to the whole." Hitchcock's film production career evolved from small-scale silent films to financially significant sound films. Hitchcock remarked that he was influenced by early filmmakers George Méliès, D.W. Griffith and Alice Guy-Blaché. His silent films between 1925 and 1929 were in the crime and suspense genres, but also included melodramas and comedies. Whilst visual storytelling was pertinent during the silent era, even after the arrival of sound, Hitchcock still relied on visuals in cinema; he referred to this emphasis on visual storytelling as "pure cinema". In Britain, he honed his craft so that by the time he moved to Hollywood, the director had perfected his style and camera techniques. Hitchcock later said that his British work was the "sensation of cinema", whereas the American phase was when his "ideas were fertilised". Scholar Robin Wood writes that the director's first two films, The Pleasure Garden and The Mountain Eagle, were influenced by German Expressionism. Afterward, he discovered Soviet cinema, and Sergei Eisenstein's and Vsevolod Pudovkin's theories of montage. 1926's The Lodger was inspired by both German and Soviet aesthetics, styles which solidified the rest of his career. Although Hitchcock's work in the 1920s found some success, several British reviewers criticised Hitchcock's films for being unoriginal and conceited. Raymond Durgnat opined that Hitchcock's films were carefully and intelligently constructed, but thought they can be shallow and rarely present a "coherent worldview". Earning the title "Master of Suspense", the director experimented with ways to generate tension in his work. He said, "My suspense work comes out of creating nightmares for the audience. And I play with an audience. I make them gasp and surprise them and shock them. When you have a nightmare, it's awfully vivid if you're dreaming that you're being led to the electric chair. Then you're as happy as can be when you wake up because you're relieved." During filming of North by Northwest, Hitchcock explained his reasons for recreating the set of Mount Rushmore: "The audience responds in proportion to how realistic you make it. One of the dramatic reasons for this type of photography is to get it looking so natural that the audience gets involved and believes, for the time being, what's going on up there on the screen." In a 1963 interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, Hitchcock was asked how in spite of appearing to be a pleasant, innocuous man, he seemed to enjoy making films involving suspense and terrifying crime. He responded: Hitchcock's films, from the silent to the sound era, contained a number of recurring themes that he is famous for. His films explored audience as a voyeur, notably in Rear Window, Marnie and Psycho. He understood that human beings enjoy voyeuristic activities and made the audience participate in it through the character's actions. Of his fifty-three films, eleven revolved around stories of mistaken identity, where an innocent protagonist is accused of a crime and is pursued by police. In most cases, it is an ordinary, everyday person who finds themselves in a dangerous situation. Hitchcock told Truffaut: "That's because the theme of the innocent man being accused, I feel, provides the audience with a greater sense of danger. It's easier for them to identify with him than with a guilty man on the run." One of his constant themes were the struggle of a personality torn between "order and chaos"; known as the notion of "double", which is a comparison or contrast between two characters or objects: the double representing a dark or evil side. According to Robin Wood, Hitchcock retained a feeling of ambivalence towards homosexuality, despite working with gay actors throughout his career. Donald Spoto suggests that Hitchcock's sexually repressive childhood may have contributed to his exploration of deviancy. During the 1950s, the Motion Picture Production Code prohibited direct references to homosexuality but the director was known for his subtle references, and pushing the boundaries of the censors. Moreover, Shadow of a Doubt has a double incest theme through the storyline, expressed implicitly through images. Author Jane Sloan argues that Hitchcock was drawn to both conventional and unconventional sexual expression in his work, and the theme of marriage was usually presented in a "bleak and skeptical" manner. It was also not until after his mother's death in 1942, that Hitchcock portrayed motherly figures as "notorious monster-mothers". The espionage backdrop, and murders committed by characters with psychopathic tendencies were common themes too. In Hitchcock's depiction of villains and murderers, they were usually charming and friendly, forcing viewers to identify with them. The director's strict childhood and Jesuit education may have led to his distrust of authoritarian figures such as policemen and politicians; a theme which he has explored. Also, he used the "MacGuffin"—the use of an object, person or event to keep the plot moving along even if it was non-essential to the story. Some examples include the microfilm in North by Northwest and the stolen $40,000 in Psycho. Hitchcock appears briefly in most of his own films. For example, he is seen struggling to get a double bass onto a train (Strangers on a Train), walking dogs out of a pet shop (The Birds), fixing a neighbour's clock (Rear Window), as a shadow (Family Plot), sitting at a table in a photograph (Dial M for Murder), and riding a bus (North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief). Representation of women Hitchcock's portrayal of women has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Bidisha wrote in The Guardian in 2010: "There's the vamp, the tramp, the snitch, the witch, the slink, the double-crosser and, best of all, the demon mommy. Don't worry, they all get punished in the end." In a widely cited essay in 1975, Laura Mulvey introduced the idea of the male gaze; the view of the spectator in Hitchcock's films, she argued, is that of the heterosexual male protagonist. "The female characters in his films reflected the same qualities over and over again", Roger Ebert wrote in 1996: "They were blonde. They were icy and remote. They were imprisoned in costumes that subtly combined fashion with fetishism. They mesmerised the men, who often had physical or psychological handicaps. Sooner or later, every Hitchcock woman was humiliated." The victims in The Lodger are all blondes. In The 39 Steps, Madeleine Carroll is put in handcuffs. Ingrid Bergman, whom Hitchcock directed three times (Spellbound, Notorious, and Under Capricorn), is dark blonde. In Rear Window, Lisa (Grace Kelly) risks her life by breaking into Lars Thorwald's apartment. In To Catch a Thief, Francie (also Kelly) offers to help a man she believes is a burglar. In Vertigo and North by Northwest respectively, Kim Novak and Eva Marie Saint play the blonde heroines. In Psycho, Janet Leigh's character steals $40,000 and is murdered by Norman Bates, a reclusive psychopath. Tippi Hedren, a blonde, appears to be the focus of the attacks in The Birds. In Marnie, the title character, again played by Hedren, is a thief. In Topaz, French actresses Dany Robin as Stafford's wife and Claude Jade as Stafford's daughter are blonde heroines, the mistress was played by brunette Karin Dor. Hitchcock's last blonde heroine was Barbara Harris as a phony psychic turned amateur sleuth in Family Plot (1976), his final film. In the same film, the diamond smuggler played by Karen Black wears a long blonde wig in several scenes. Hitchcock's films often feature characters struggling in their relationships with their mothers, such as Norman Bates in Psycho. In North by Northwest, Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is an innocent man ridiculed by his mother for insisting that shadowy, murderous men are after him. In The Birds, the Rod Taylor character, an innocent man, finds his world under attack by vicious birds, and struggles to free himself from a clinging mother (Jessica Tandy). The killer in Frenzy has a loathing of women but idolises his mother. The villain Bruno in Strangers on a Train hates his father, but has an incredibly close relationship with his mother (played by Marion Lorne). Sebastian (Claude Rains) in Notorious has a clearly conflicting relationship with his mother, who is (rightly) suspicious of his new bride, Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman). Relationship with actors Hitchcock became known for having remarked that "actors should be treated like cattle". During the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), Carole Lombard brought three cows onto the set wearing the name tags of Lombard, Robert Montgomery, and Gene Raymond, the stars of the film, to surprise him. In an episode of The Dick Cavett Show, originally broadcast on 8 June 1972, Dick Cavett stated as fact that Hitchcock had once called actors cattle. Hitchcock responded by saying that, at one time, he had been accused of calling actors cattle. "I said that I would never say such an unfeeling, rude thing about actors at all. What I probably said, was that all actors should be treated like cattle...In a nice way of course." He then described Carole Lombard's joke, with a smile. Hitchcock believed that actors should concentrate on their performances and leave work on script and character to the directors and screenwriters. He told Bryan Forbes in 1967: "I remember discussing with a method actor how he was taught and so forth. He said, 'We're taught using improvisation. We are given an idea and then we are turned loose to develop in any way we want to.' I said, 'That's not acting. That's writing.'" Recalling their experiences on Lifeboat for Charles Chandler, author of It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock A Personal Biography, Walter Slezak said that Hitchcock "knew more about how to help an actor than any director I ever worked with", and Hume Cronyn dismissed the idea that Hitchcock was not concerned with his actors as "utterly fallacious", describing at length the process of rehearsing and filming Lifeboat. Critics observed that, despite his reputation as a man who disliked actors, actors who worked with him often gave brilliant performances. He used the same actors in many of his films; Cary Grant and James Stewart both worked with Hitchcock four times, and Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly three. James Mason said that Hitchcock regarded actors as "animated props". For Hitchcock, the actors were part of the film's setting. He told François Truffaut: "The chief requisite for an actor is the ability to do nothing well, which is by no means as easy as it sounds. He should be willing to be used and wholly integrated into the picture by the director and the camera. He must allow the camera to determine the proper emphasis and the most effective dramatic highlights." Writing, storyboards and production Hitchcock planned his scripts in detail with his writers. In Writing with Hitchcock (2001), Steven DeRosa noted that Hitchcock supervised them through every draft, asking that they tell the story visually. Hitchcock told Roger Ebert in 1969: Hitchcock's films were extensively storyboarded to the finest detail. He was reported to have never even bothered looking through the viewfinder, since he did not need to, although in publicity photos he was shown doing so. He also used this as an excuse to never have to change his films from his initial vision. If a studio asked him to change a film, he would claim that it was already shot in a single way, and that there were no alternative takes to consider. This view of Hitchcock as a director who relied more on pre-production than on the actual production itself has been challenged by Bill Krohn, the American correspondent of French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, in his book Hitchcock at Work. After investigating script revisions, notes to other production personnel written by or to Hitchcock, and other production material, Krohn observed that Hitchcock's work often deviated from how the screenplay was written or how the film was originally envisioned. He noted that the myth of storyboards in relation to Hitchcock, often regurgitated by generations of commentators on his films, was to a great degree perpetuated by Hitchcock himself or the publicity arm of the studios. For example, the celebrated crop-spraying sequence of North by Northwest was not storyboarded at all. After the scene was filmed, the publicity department asked Hitchcock to make storyboards to promote the film, and Hitchcock in turn hired an artist to match the scenes in detail. Even when storyboards were made, scenes that were shot differed from them significantly. Krohn's analysis of the production of Hitchcock classics like Notorious reveals that Hitchcock was flexible enough to change a film's conception during its production. Another example Krohn notes is the American remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, whose shooting schedule commenced without a finished script and moreover went over schedule, something that, as Krohn notes, was not an uncommon occurrence on many of Hitchcock's films, including Strangers on a Train and Topaz. While Hitchcock did do a great deal of preparation for all his films, he was fully cognisant that the actual film-making process often deviated from the best-laid plans and was flexible to adapt to the changes and needs of production as his films were not free from the normal hassles faced and common routines used during many other film productions. Krohn's work also sheds light on Hitchcock's practice of generally shooting in chronological order, which he notes sent many films over budget and over schedule and, more importantly, differed from the standard operating procedure of Hollywood in the Studio System Era. Equally important is Hitchcock's tendency to shoot alternative takes of scenes. This differed from coverage in that the films were not necessarily shot from varying angles so as to give the editor options to shape the film how they chose (often under the producer's aegis). Rather they represented Hitchcock's tendency to give himself options in the editing room, where he would provide advice to his editors after viewing a rough cut of the work. According to Krohn, this and a great deal of other information revealed through his research of Hitchcock's personal papers, script revisions and the like refute the notion of Hitchcock as a director who was always in control of his films, whose vision of his films did not change during production, which Krohn notes has remained the central long-standing myth of Alfred Hitchcock. Both his fastidiousness and attention to detail also found their way into each film poster for his films. Hitchcock preferred to work with the best talent of his day—film poster designers such as Bill Gold and Saul Bass—who would produce posters that accurately represented his films. Legacy Awards and honours Hitchcock was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 8 February 1960 with two stars: one for television and a second for motion pictures. In 1978, John Russell Taylor described him as "the most universally recognizable person in the world" and "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius". In 2002, MovieMaker named him the most influential director of all time, and a 2007 The Daily Telegraph critics' poll ranked him Britain's greatest director. David Gritten, the newspaper's film critic, wrote: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." In 1992, the Sight & Sound Critics' Poll ranked Hitchcock at No. 4 in its list of "Top 10 Directors" of all time. In 2002, Hitchcock was ranked second in the critics' top ten poll and fifth in the directors' top ten poll in the list of "The Greatest Directors of All Time" compiled by Sight & Sound. Hitchcock was voted the "Greatest Director of 20th Century" in a poll conducted by Japanese film magazine kinema Junpo. In 1996, Entertainment Weekly ranked Hitchcock at No. 1 in its "50 Greatest Directors" list. Hitchcock was ranked at No. 2 on Empires "Top 40 Greatest Directors of All-Time" list in 2005. In 2007, Total Film ranked Hitchcock at No. 1 on its "100 Greatest Film Directors Ever" list. He won two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards, and five lifetime achievement awards, including the first BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award and, in 1979, an AFI Life Achievement Award. He was nominated five times for an Academy Award for Best Director. Rebecca, nominated for eleven Oscars, won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1940; another Hitchcock film, Foreign Correspondent, was also nominated that year. By 2021, nine of his films had been selected for preservation by the US National Film Registry: Rebecca (1940; inducted 2018), Shadow of a Doubt (1943; inducted 1991), Notorious (1946; inducted 2006), Strangers on a Train (1951; inducted 2021), Rear Window (1954; inducted 1997), Vertigo (1958; inducted 1989), North by Northwest (1959; inducted 1995), Psycho (1960; inducted 1992) and The Birds (1963; inducted 2016). In 2012, Hitchcock was selected by artist Sir Peter Blake, author of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, to appear in a new version of the cover, along with other British cultural figures, and he was featured that year in a BBC Radio 4 series, The New Elizabethans, as someone "whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and given the age its character". In June 2013 nine restored versions of Hitchcock's early silent films, including The Pleasure Garden (1925), were shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre; known as "The Hitchcock 9", the travelling tribute was organised by the British Film Institute. Archives The Alfred Hitchcock Collection is housed at the Academy Film Archive in Hollywood, California. It includes home movies, 16mm film shot on the set of Blackmail (1929) and Frenzy (1972), and the earliest known colour footage of Hitchcock. The Academy Film Archive has preserved many of his home movies. The Alfred Hitchcock Papers are housed at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. The David O. Selznick and the Ernest Lehman collections housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in Austin, Texas, contain material related to Hitchcock's work on the production of The Paradine Case, Rebecca, Spellbound, North by Northwest and Family Plot. Hitchcock portrayals Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock (2012) Toby Jones in The Girl (2012) Roger Ashton-Griffiths in Grace of Monaco (2014) EpicLLOYD in the YouTube comedy series Epic Rap Battles of History. (2014) Filmography FilmsSilent filmsSound filmsSee also Alfred Hitchcock's unrealized projects List of Alfred Hitchcock cameo appearances List of film director and actor collaborations Notes and sources Notes References Works citedBiographies (chronological) Miscellaneous''' Further reading Articles Hitchcock's Style – BFI Screenonline Alfred Hitchcock: England's Biggest and Best Director Goes to Hollywood – Life, 20 November 1939, p. 33-43 Alfred Hitchcock Now Says Actors Are Children, Not Cattle – Boston Globe, 1 June 1958, p. A-11 'Twas Alfred Hitchcock Week in London – Variety, 17 August 1966, p. 16 Books Deflem, Mathieu. 2016. "Alfred Hitchcock: Visions of Guilt and Innocence." pp. 203–227 in Framing Law and Crime: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, edited by Caroline Joan S. Picart, Michael Hviid Jacobsen, and Cecil Greek. Latham, MD; Madison, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield; Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Slavoj Žižek et al.:Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock'', London and New York, Verso, 2nd ed.. 2010. External links Alfred Hitchcock at the British Film Institute 1899 births 1980 deaths 20th-century English screenwriters AFI Life Achievement Award recipients Articles containing video clips BAFTA fellows British Army personnel of World War I Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Deaths from kidney failure Directors Guild of America Award winners Edgar Award winners English emigrants to the United States English expatriates in the United States English film directors English film producers English male screenwriters English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics English television directors English television producers Film directors from London Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from California Film producers from London German-language film directors Horror film directors Horror film producers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Essex People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield People from Bel Air, Los Angeles People from Leytonstone People with acquired American citizenship People with multiple nationality Recipients of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Royal Engineers soldiers Silent film directors Silent film screenwriters

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam ( , , ; literally, "The Dam on the River Amstel") is the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 921,402 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its large number of canals, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River that was dammed to control flooding; the city's name derives from a local linguistic variation of the word dam. Originally a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of production of secular art. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The canals of Amsterdam and the 19-20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are both on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sloten, annexed in 1921 by the municipality of Amsterdam, is the oldest part of the city, dating to the 9th century. The city has a long tradition of openness, liberalism, and tolerance. Cycling is key to the city's modern character, and there are numerous biking paths and lanes spread throughout the entire city. Amsterdam's main attractions include its historic canals; the , the state museum with a vast collection of Dutch Golden Age art; the Van Gogh Museum; the Dam Square, where the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and former city hall () are located; the Amsterdam Museum; Stedelijk Museum, with modern art; Hermitage Amsterdam, the concert hall; the Anne Frank House; the , the Heineken Experience, the ; Hortus Botanicus, NEMO, the red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops. The city is also well known for its nightlife and festival activity; with several of its nightclubs (, Paradiso) among the world's most famous. Primarily known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow canal houses with gabled façades; well-preserved legacies of the city's 17th-century Golden Age, and the establishment of the Van Gogh Museum, displaying the work of the famous Dutch modern artist, have attracted millions of visitors to Amsterdam annually. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, founded in 1602, is considered the oldest "modern" securities market stock exchange in the world. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters in the city, including: the Philips conglomerate, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, TomTom, and ING. Many of the world's largest companies are based in Amsterdam or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as leading technology companies Uber, Netflix and Tesla. In 2022, Amsterdam was ranked the ninth-best city in the world to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer. The city was ranked 4th place globally as top tech hub in the Savills Tech Cities 2019 report (2nd in Europe), and 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Port of Amsterdam is the fifth largest in Europe. The KLM hub and Amsterdam's main airport, Schiphol, is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, the third busiest in Europe, and the 11th busiest airport in the world. The Dutch capital is considered one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with at least 177 nationalities represented. Immigration and ethnic segregation in Amsterdam is a current issue. A few of Amsterdam's notable residents throughout its history include painters Rembrandt and Vincent van Gogh, seventeenth-century philosophers Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, René Descartes, and the Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank. History Prehistory Due to its geographical location in what used to be wet peatland, the founding of Amsterdam is later than other urban centres in the Low Countries. However, around the area of what later became Amsterdam, farmers settled as early as three millennia ago. They lived along the prehistoric IJ river and upstream of its tributary Amstel. The prehistoric IJ was a shallow and quiet stream in peatland behind beach ridges. This secluded area was able to grow into an important local settlement centre, especially in the late Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Roman Age. Neolithic and Roman artefacts have also been found in the prehistoric Amstel bedding under Amsterdam's Damrak and Rokin, such as shards of Bell Beaker culture pottery (2200-2000 BC) and a granite grinding stone (2700-2750 BC), but the location of these artefacts around the river banks of the Amstel probably point to a presence of a modest semi-permanent or seasonal settlement. Until water issues were controlled, a permanent settlement would not have been possible, since the river mouth and the banks of the Amstel in this period in time were too wet for permanent habitation. Founding The origins of Amsterdam are linked to the development of a dam on the Amstel River called Amestelle, meaning 'watery area', from Aa(m) 'river' + stelle 'site at a shoreline', 'river bank'. In this area, land reclamation started as early as the late 10th century. Amestelle was located along a side arm of the IJ. This side arm took the name from the eponymous land: Amstel. Amestelle was inhabited by farmers, who lived more inland and more upstream, where the land was not as wet as at the banks of the downstream river mouth. These farmers were starting the reclamation around upstream Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, and later at the other side of the river at Amstelveen. The Van Amstel family, known in documents by this name since 1019, held the stewardship in this northwestern nook of the ecclesiastical district of the bishop of Utrecht. The family later served also under the count of Holland. A major turning point in the development of the Amstel river mouth was the All Saint's Flood of 1170. In an extremely short period of time, the shallow river IJ turned into a wide estuary, which from then on offered the Amstel an open connection to the Zuiderzee, IJssel and waterways further afield. This made the water flow of the Amstel more active, so excess water could be drained better. With drier banks, the downstream Amstel mouth became attractive for permanent habitation. Moreover, the river had grown from an insignificant peat stream into a junction of international waterways. A settlement was built here immediately after the landscape change of 1170. Right from the start of its foundation it focused on traffic, production and trade; not on farming, as opposed to how communities had lived further upstream for the past 200 years and northward for thousands of years. The construction of a dam at the mouth of the Amstel, eponymously named Dam, is historically estimated to have occurred between 1264 and 1275. The settlement first appeared in a document from 1275, concerning a road toll granted by the count of Holland Floris V to the residents apud Amestelledamme 'at the dam in the Amstel' or 'at the dam of Amstelland'. This allowed the inhabitants of the village to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks and dams. This was a move in a years-long struggle for power in the area between the count of Holland and the Amstel family who governed the area on behalf of the bishop of Utrecht. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam. Middle Ages The bishop of Utrecht granted Amsterdam zone rights in either 1300 or 1306. Het Mirakel van Amsterdam in 1345, rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage. During the heydays of the Stille Omgang, which became the expression of the pilgrimage after the Protestant Reformation, up to 90,000 pilgrims came to Amsterdam. From the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League. From the 15th century on the city established an independent trade route with the Baltic Sea in grain and timber, cutting out the Hanseatic League as middlemen. The city became the staple market of Europe for bulk cargo. This was made possible due to innovations in the herring fishery, from which Amsterdam reaped great wealth. Herring had demand in markets all around Europe. Inventions of on-board gibbing and the haringbuis in 1415, made longer voyages feasible, and hence enabled Dutch fishermen to follow the herring shoals far from the coasts, giving them a monopoly in the industry. The herring industry relied on international trade cooperation and large initial investments in ships, which needed many highly skilled and unskilled workers cooperating, which required the import of the necessary raw materials to turn an unfinished product into a marketable one, which required merchants to then sell it throughout the continent and book-keepers and accountants to divide the profit. In short, the herring industry was setting up the foundations for what would later become the transcontinental trade system and the Dutch Golden Age, with Amsterdam at its centre, hence the saying "Amsterdam is built on Herring bones". Conflict with Spain The Low Countries were part of the Hapsburg inheritance and came under the Spanish monarchy in the early sixteenth century. The Dutch rebelled against Philip II of Spain, who led a defense of Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. The main reasons for the uprising were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the religious persecution of Protestants by the newly introduced Inquisition. The revolt escalated into the Eighty Years' War, which ultimately led to Dutch independence. Strongly pushed by Dutch Revolt leader William the Silent, the Dutch Republic became known for its relative religious tolerance. Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, Protestant Huguenots from France, prosperous merchants and printers from Flanders, and economic and religious refugees from the Spanish-controlled parts of the Low Countries found safety in Amsterdam. The influx of Flemish printers and the city's intellectual tolerance made Amsterdam a centre for the European free press. Centre of the Dutch Golden Age During the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced what is considered its Golden Age, during which it became the wealthiest city in the Western world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, the Caribbean, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company. These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became Dutch colonies. Amsterdam was Europe's most important hub for the shipment of goods and was the leading financial centre of the Western world. In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company became the world's first stock exchange by trading in its own shares. The Bank of Amsterdam started operations in 1609, acting as a full-service bank for Dutch merchant bankers and as a reserve bank. Beginning during this period, Amsterdam also became involved in the trade in African slaves. The city was a major destination port for Dutch slave ships beginning in the 17th century, which lasted until the United Netherlands abolished the Dutch involvement in the trade in 1814 under pressure by the British government. Amsterdam was also a member of the Society of Suriname, an organization founded to oversee the management of Surinam, a Dutch slave colony. On 1 July 2021, the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, apologized for the city's involvement in the African slave trade, which had contributed to the city's wealth. Decline and modernization Amsterdam's prosperity declined during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The wars of the Dutch Republic with England (latterly, Great Britain) and France took their toll on the city. During the Napoleonic Wars, Amsterdam's significance reached its lowest point, with Holland being absorbed into the French Empire. However, the later establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 marked a turning point. The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. New museums, a railway station, and the were built; in this same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine, and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the North Sea. Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world. In 1906, Joseph Conrad gave a brief description of Amsterdam as seen from the seaside, in The Mirror of the Sea. 20th century–present Shortly before the First World War, the city started to expand again, and new suburbs were built. Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam suffered a food shortage, and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed. These riots are known as the Aardappeloproer (Potato rebellion). People started looting stores and warehouses in order to get supplies, mainly food. On 1 January 1921, after a flood in 1916, the depleted municipalities of Durgerdam, Holysloot, Zunderdorp and Schellingwoude, all lying north of Amsterdam, were, at their own request, annexed to the city. Between the wars, the city continued to expand, most notably to the west of the Jordaan district in the Frederik Hendrikbuurt and surrounding neighbourhoods. Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and took control of the country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to a high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps, of whom some 60,000 lived in Amsterdam. In response, the Dutch Communist Party organized the February strike attended by 300,000 people to protest against the raids. The most famous deportee was the young Jewish girl Anne Frank, who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. At the end of the Second World War, communication with the rest of the country broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Many citizens traveled to the countryside to forage. Dogs, cats, raw sugar beets, and tulip bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive. Many trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and wood was taken from the houses, apartments and other buildings of deported Jews. The city was finally liberated by Canadian forces on 5 May 1945, shortly before the end of the war in Europe. Many new suburbs, such as Osdorp, Slotervaart, Slotermeer and Geuzenveld, were built in the years after the Second World War. These suburbs contained many public parks and wide-open spaces, and the new buildings provided improved housing conditions with larger and brighter rooms, gardens, and balconies. Because of the war and other events of the 20th century, almost the entire city centre had fallen into disrepair. As society was changing, politicians and other influential figures made plans to redesign large parts of it. There was an increasing demand for office buildings, and also for new roads, as the automobile became available to most people. A metro started operating in 1977 between the new suburb of Bijlmermeer in the city's Zuidoost (southeast) exclave and the centre of Amsterdam. Further plans were to build a new highway above the metro to connect Amsterdam Centraal and the city centre with other parts of the city. The required large-scale demolitions began in Amsterdam's former Jewish neighborhood. Smaller streets, such as the Jodenbreestraat and Weesperstraat, were widened and almost all houses and buildings were demolished. At the peak of the demolition, the Nieuwmarktrellen (Nieuwmarkt Riots) broke out; the rioters expressed their fury about the demolition caused by the restructuring of the city. As a result, the demolition was stopped and the highway into the city's centre was never fully built; only the metro was completed. Only a few streets remained widened. The new city hall was built on the almost completely demolished Waterlooplein. Meanwhile, large private organizations, such as Stadsherstel Amsterdam, were founded to restore the entire city centre. Although the success of this struggle is visible today, efforts for further restoration are still ongoing. The entire city centre has reattained its former splendour and, as a whole, is now a protected area. Many of its buildings have become monuments, and in July 2010 the Grachtengordel (the three concentric canals: Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the 21st century, the Amsterdam city centre has attracted large numbers of tourists: between 2012 and 2015, the annual number of visitors rose from 10 to 17 million. Real estate prices have surged, and local shops are making way for tourist-oriented ones, making the centre unaffordable for the city's inhabitants. These developments have evoked comparisons with Venice, a city thought to be overwhelmed by the tourist influx. Construction of a new metro line connecting the part of the city north of the IJ to its southern part was started in 2003. The project was controversial because its cost had exceeded its budget by a factor of three by 2008, because of fears of damage to buildings in the centre, and because construction had to be halted and restarted multiple times. The new metro line was completed in 2018. Since 2014, renewed focus has been given to urban regeneration and renewal, especially in areas directly bordering the city centre, such as Frederik Hendrikbuurt. This urban renewal and expansion of the traditional centre of the city—with the construction on artificial islands of the new eastern IJburg neighbourhood—is part of the Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040 initiative. Geography Amsterdam is located in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, the capital of which is not Amsterdam, but rather Haarlem. The river Amstel ends in the city centre and connects to a large number of canals that eventually terminate in the IJ. Amsterdam is about below sea level. The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large polders. An artificial forest, Amsterdamse Bos, is in the southwest. Amsterdam is connected to the North Sea through the long North Sea Canal. Amsterdam is intensely urbanised, as is the Amsterdam metropolitan area surrounding the city. Comprising of land, the city proper has 4,457 inhabitants per km2 and 2,275 houses per km2. Parks and nature reserves make up 12% of Amsterdam's land area. Water Amsterdam has more than of canals, most of which are navigable by boat. The city's three main canals are the Prinsengracht, Herengracht and Keizersgracht. In the Middle Ages, Amsterdam was surrounded by a moat, called the Singel, which now forms the innermost ring in the city, and gives the city centre a horseshoe shape. The city is also served by a seaport. It has been compared with Venice, due to its division into about 90 islands, which are linked by more than 1,200 bridges. Climate Amsterdam has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) strongly influenced by its proximity to the North Sea to the west, with prevailing westerly winds. Amsterdam, as well as most of the North Holland province, lies in USDA Hardiness zone 8b. Frosts mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent. Even then, because Amsterdam is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water, as well as having a significant heat-island effect, nights rarely fall below , while it could easily be in Hilversum, southeast. Summers are moderately warm with a number of hot and humid days with occasional rain every month. The average daily high in August is , and or higher is only measured on average on 2.5 days, placing Amsterdam in AHS Heat Zone 2. The record extremes range from to . Days with more than of precipitation are common, on average 133 days per year. Amsterdam's average annual precipitation is . A large part of this precipitation falls as light rain or brief showers. Cloudy and damp days are common during the cooler months of October through March. Demographics Historical population In 1300, Amsterdam's population was around 1,000 people. While many towns in Holland experienced population decline during the 15th and 16th centuries, Amsterdam's population grew, mainly due to the rise of the profitable Baltic maritime trade especially in grain after the Burgundian victory in the Dutch–Hanseatic War in 1441. The population of Amsterdam was only modest compared to the towns and cities of Flanders and Brabant, which comprised the most urbanized area of the Low Countries. This changed when, during the Dutch Revolt, many people from the Southern Netherlands fled to the North, especially after Antwerp fell to Spanish forces in 1585. Jews from Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe similarly settled in Amsterdam, as did Germans and Scandinavians. In thirty years, Amsterdam's population more than doubled between 1585 and 1610. By 1600, its population was around 50,000. During the 1660s, Amsterdam's population reached 200,000. The city's growth levelled off and the population stabilized around 240,000 for most of the 18th century. In 1750, Amsterdam was the fourth largest city in Western Europe, behind London (676,000), Paris (560,000) and Naples (324,000). This was all the more remarkable as Amsterdam was neither the capital city nor the seat of government of the Dutch Republic, which itself was a much smaller state than Great Britain, France or the Ottoman Empire. In contrast to those other metropolises, Amsterdam was also surrounded by large towns such as Leiden (about 67,000), Rotterdam (45,000), Haarlem (38,000) and Utrecht (30,000). The city's population declined in the early 19th century, dipping under 200,000 in 1820. By the second half of the 19th century, industrialization spurred renewed growth. Amsterdam's population hit an all-time high of 872,000 in 1959, before declining in the following decades due to government-sponsored suburbanisation to so-called groeikernen (growth centres) such as Purmerend and Almere. Between 1970 and 1980, Amsterdam experienced its sharp population decline, peaking at a net loss of 25,000 people in 1973. By 1985 the city had only 675,570 residents. This was soon followed by reurbanization and gentrification, leading to renewed population growth in the 2010s. Also in the 2010s, much of Amsterdam's population growth was due to immigration to the city. Immigration In the 16th and 17th century, non-Dutch immigrants to Amsterdam were mostly Protestant Huguenots and Flemings, Sephardic Jews, and Westphalians. Huguenots came after the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, while the Flemish Protestants came during the Eighty Years' War against Catholic Spain. The Westphalians came to Amsterdam mostly for economic reasons; their influx continued through the 18th and 19th centuries. Before the Second World War, 10% of the city population was Jewish. Just twenty percent of them survived the Holocaust. The first mass immigration in the 20th century was by people from Indonesia, who came to Amsterdam after the independence of the Dutch East Indies in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s guest workers from Turkey, Morocco, Italy, and Spain emigrated to Amsterdam. After the independence of Suriname in 1975, a large wave of Surinamese settled in Amsterdam, mostly in the Bijlmer area. Other immigrants, including refugees asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants, came from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, many 'old' Amsterdammers moved to 'new' cities like Almere and Purmerend, prompted by the third Land-use planning bill of the Dutch Government. This bill promoted suburbanization and arranged for new developments in so-called "groeikernen", literally cores of growth. Young professionals and artists moved into neighborhoods De Pijp and the Jordaan abandoned by these Amsterdammers. The non-Western immigrants settled mostly in the social housing projects in Amsterdam-West and the Bijlmer. Today, people of non-Western origin make up approximately one-fifth of the population of Amsterdam, and more than 30% of the city's children. A slight majority of the residents of Amsterdam have at least one parent who was born outside the country. However, a much larger majority has at least one parent who was born inside the country (intercultural marriages are common in the city). Thus, while the demographics are changing, the city still has an ethnic Dutch majority. Only one in three inhabitants under 15 is an autochthon, or a person who has two parents of Dutch origin. Segregation along ethnic lines is clearly visible, with people of non-Western origin, considered a separate group by Statistics Netherlands, concentrating in specific neighborhoods especially in Nieuw-West, Zeeburg, Bijlmer and in certain areas of Amsterdam-Noord. In 2000, Christians formed the largest religious group in the city (28% of the population). The next largest religion was Islam (8%), most of whose followers were Sunni. In 2015, Christians formed the largest religious group in the city (28% of the population). The next largest religion was Islam (7.1%), most of whose followers were Sunni. Religion In 1578, the largely Catholic city of Amsterdam joined the revolt against Spanish rule, late in comparison to other major northern Dutch cities. Catholic priests were driven out of the city. Following the Dutch takeover, all churches were converted to Protestant worship. Calvinism was declared the main religion. It was forbidden to openly profess Roman Catholicism and the Catholic hierarchy was prohibited until mid-19th century. This led to the establishment of clandestine churches, covert religious buildings hidden in pre-existing buildings. Catholics, some Jews and dissenting Protestants worshipped in such buildings. A large influx of foreigners of many religions came to 17th-century Amsterdam, in particular Sefardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, Huguenots from France, Lutherans, Mennonites, as well as Protestants from across the Netherlands. This led to the establishment of many non-Dutch-speaking churches. In 1603, the Jewish received permission to practice their religion in the city. In 1639, the first synagogue was consecrated. The Jews came to call the town 'Jerusalem of the West'. As they became established in the city, other Christian denominations used converted Catholic chapels to conduct their own services. The oldest English-language church congregation in the world outside the United Kingdom is found at the Begijnhof. Regular services there are still offered in English under the auspices of the Church of Scotland. Being Calvinists, the Huguenots soon integrated into the Dutch Reformed Church, though often retaining their own congregations. Some, commonly referred by the moniker 'Walloon', are recognizable today as they offer occasional services in French. In the second half of the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced an influx of Ashkenazim, Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. Jews often fled the pogroms in those areas. The first Ashkenazis who arrived in Amsterdam were refugees from the Khmelnytsky Uprising occurring in Ukraine and the Thirty Years' War, which devastated much of Central Europe. They not only founded their own synagogues, but had a strong influence on the 'Amsterdam dialect' adding a large Yiddish local vocabulary. Despite an absence of an official Jewish ghetto, most Jews preferred to live in the eastern part, which used to be the centre of medieval Amsterdam. The main street of this Jewish neighbourhood was Jodenbreestraat. The neighbourhood comprised the Waterlooplein and the Nieuwmarkt. Buildings in this neighbourhood fell into disrepair after the Second World War a large section of the neighbourhood was demolished during the construction of the metro system. This led to riots, and as a result the original plans for large-scale reconstruction were abandoned by the government. The neighbourhood was rebuilt with smaller-scale residence buildings on the basis of its original layout. Catholic churches in Amsterdam have been constructed since the restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in 1853. One of the principal architects behind the city's Catholic churches, Cuypers, was also responsible for the Amsterdam Centraal station and the . In 1924, the Catholic Church hosted the International Eucharistic Congress in Amsterdam; numerous Catholic prelates visited the city, where festivities were held in churches and stadiums. Catholic processions on the public streets, however, were still forbidden under law at the time. Only in the 20th century was Amsterdam's relation to Catholicism normalised, but despite its far larger population size, the episcopal see of the city was placed in the provincial town of Haarlem. Historically, Amsterdam has been predominantly Christian, in 1900 Christians formed the largest religious group in the city (70% of the population), Dutch Reformed Church formed 45% of the city population, while the Catholic Church formed 25% of the city population. In recent times, religious demographics in Amsterdam have been changed by immigration from former colonies. Hinduism has been introduced from the Hindu diaspora from Suriname and several distinct branches of Islam have been brought from various parts of the world. Islam is now the largest non-Christian religion in Amsterdam. The large community of Ghanaian immigrants have established African churches, often in parking garages in the Bijlmer area. Diversity and immigration Amsterdam experienced an influx of religions and cultures after the Second World War. With 180 different nationalities, Amsterdam is home to one of the widest varieties of nationalities of any city in the world. The proportion of the population of immigrant origin in the city proper is about 50% and 88% of the population are Dutch citizens. Amsterdam has been one of the municipalities in the Netherlands which provided immigrants with extensive and free Dutch-language courses, which have benefited many immigrants. Inhabitants by origin Cityscape and architecture Amsterdam fans out south from the Amsterdam Centraal station and Damrak, the main street off the station. The oldest area of the town is known as De Wallen (English: "The Quays"). It lies to the east of Damrak and contains the city's famous red-light district. To the south of De Wallen is the old Jewish quarter of Waterlooplein. The medieval and colonial age canals of Amsterdam, known as grachten, embraces the heart of the city where homes have interesting gables. Beyond the Grachtengordel are the former working-class areas of Jordaan and de Pijp. The Museumplein with the city's major museums, the Vondelpark, a 19th-century park named after the Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel, as well as the Plantage neighbourhood, with the zoo, are also located outside the Grachtengordel. Several parts of the city and the surrounding urban area are polders. This can be recognised by the suffix -meer which means lake, as in Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer and Watergraafsmeer. Canals The Amsterdam canal system is the result of conscious city planning. In the early 17th century, when immigration was at a peak, a comprehensive plan was developed that was based on four concentric half-circles of canals with their ends emerging at the IJ bay. Known as the Grachtengordel, three of the canals were mostly for residential development: the Herengracht (where "Heren" refers to Heren Regeerders van de stad Amsterdam, ruling lords of Amsterdam, whilst gracht means canal, so that the name can be roughly translated as "Canal of the Lords"), Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal) and Prinsengracht (Prince's Canal). The fourth and outermost canal is the Singelgracht, which is often not mentioned on maps because it is a collective name for all canals in the outer ring. The Singelgracht should not be confused with the oldest and innermost canal, the Singel. The canals served for defense, water management and transport. The defenses took the form of a moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points, but otherwise no masonry superstructures. The original plans have been lost, so historians, such as Ed Taverne, need to speculate on the original intentions: it is thought that the considerations of the layout were purely practical and defensive rather than ornamental. Construction started in 1613 and proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the layout, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it – and not from the centre outwards, as a popular myth has it. The canal construction in the southern sector was completed by 1656. Subsequently, the construction of residential buildings proceeded slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, has never been implemented. In the following centuries, the land was used for parks, senior citizens' homes, theatres, other public facilities, and waterways without much planning. Over the years, several canals have been filled in, becoming streets or squares, such as the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and the Spui. Expansion After the development of Amsterdam's canals in the 17th century, the city did not grow beyond its borders for two centuries. During the 19th century, Samuel Sarphati devised a plan based on the grandeur of Paris and London at that time. The plan envisaged the construction of new houses, public buildings and streets just outside the Grachtengordel. The main aim of the plan, however, was to improve public health. Although the plan did not expand the city, it did produce some of the largest public buildings to date, like the Paleis voor Volksvlijt. Following Sarphati, civil engineers Jacobus van Niftrik and Jan Kalff designed an entire ring of 19th-century neighbourhoods surrounding the city's centre, with the city preserving the ownership of all land outside the 17th-century limit, thus firmly controlling development. Most of these neighbourhoods became home to the working class. In response to overcrowding, two plans were designed at the beginning of the 20th century which were very different from anything Amsterdam had ever seen before: Plan Zuid (designed by the architect Berlage) and West. These plans involved the development of new neighbourhoods consisting of housing blocks for all social classes. After the Second World War, large new neighbourhoods were built in the western, southeastern, and northern parts of the city. These new neighbourhoods were built to relieve the city's shortage of living space and give people affordable houses with modern conveniences. The neighbourhoods consisted mainly of large housing blocks located among green spaces, connected to wide roads, making the neighbourhoods easily accessible by motor car. The western suburbs which were built in that period are collectively called the Westelijke Tuinsteden. The area to the southeast of the city built during the same period is known as the Bijlmer. Architecture Amsterdam has a rich architectural history. The oldest building in Amsterdam is the Oude Kerk (English: Old Church), at the heart of the Wallen, consecrated in 1306. The oldest wooden building is Het Houten Huys at the Begijnhof. It was constructed around 1425 and is one of only two existing wooden buildings. It is also one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Amsterdam. The oldest stone building of the Netherlands, The Moriaan is built in 's-Hertogenbosch. In the 16th century, wooden buildings were razed and replaced with brick ones. During this period, many buildings were constructed in the architectural style of the Renaissance. Buildings of this period are very recognisable with their stepped gable façades, which is the common Dutch Renaissance style. Amsterdam quickly developed its own Renaissance architecture. These buildings were built according to the principles of the architect Hendrick de Keyser. One of the most striking buildings designed by Hendrick de Keyser is the Westerkerk. In the 17th century baroque architecture became very popular, as it was elsewhere in Europe. This roughly coincided with Amsterdam's Golden Age. The leading architects of this style in Amsterdam were Jacob van Campen, Philips Vingboons and Daniel Stalpaert. Philip Vingboons designed splendid merchants' houses throughout the city. A famous building in baroque style in Amsterdam is the Royal Palace on Dam Square. Throughout the 18th century, Amsterdam was heavily influenced by French culture. This is reflected in the architecture of that period. Around 1815, architects broke with the baroque style and started building in different neo-styles. Most Gothic style buildings date from that era and are therefore said to be built in a neo-gothic style. At the end of the 19th century, the Jugendstil or Art Nouveau style became popular and many new buildings were constructed in this architectural style. Since Amsterdam expanded rapidly during this period, new buildings adjacent to the city centre were also built in this style. The houses in the vicinity of the Museum Square in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid are an example of Jugendstil. The last style that was popular in Amsterdam before the modern era was Art Deco. Amsterdam had its own version of the style, which was called the Amsterdamse School. Whole districts were built this style, such as the Rivierenbuurt. A notable feature of the façades of buildings designed in Amsterdamse School is that they are highly decorated and ornate, with oddly shaped windows and doors. The old city centre is the focal point of all the architectural styles before the end of the 19th century. Jugendstil and Georgian are mostly found outside the city's centre in the neighbourhoods built in the early 20th century, although there are also some striking examples of these styles in the city centre. Most historic buildings in the city centre and nearby are houses, such as the famous merchants' houses lining the canals. Parks and recreational areas Amsterdam has many parks, open spaces, and squares throughout the city. The Vondelpark, the largest park in the city, is located in the Oud-Zuid neighbourhood and is named after the 17th-century Amsterdam author Joost van den Vondel. Yearly, the park has around 10 million visitors. In the park is an open-air theatre, a playground and several horeca facilities. In the Zuid borough, is the Beatrixpark, named after Queen Beatrix. Between Amsterdam and Amstelveen is the Amsterdamse Bos ("Amsterdam Forest"), the largest recreational area in Amsterdam. Annually, almost 4.5 million people visit the park, which has a size of 1.000 hectares and is approximately three times the size of Central Park. The Amstelpark in the Zuid borough houses the Rieker windmill, which dates to 1636. Other parks include the Sarphatipark in the De Pijp neighbourhood, the Oosterpark in the Oost borough and the Westerpark in the Westerpark neighbourhood. The city has three beaches: Nemo Beach, Citybeach "Het stenen hoofd" (Silodam) and Blijburg, all located in the Centrum borough. The city has many open squares (plein in Dutch). The namesake of the city as the site of the original dam, Dam Square, is the main city square and has the Royal Palace and National Monument. Museumplein hosts various museums, including the , Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum. Other squares include Rembrandtplein, Muntplein, Nieuwmarkt, Leidseplein, Spui and Waterlooplein. Also, near to Amsterdam is the Nekkeveld estate conservation project. Economy Amsterdam is the financial and business capital of the Netherlands. According to the 2007 European Cities Monitor (ECM) – an annual location survey of Europe's leading companies carried out by global real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield – Amsterdam is one of the top European cities in which to locate an international business, ranking fifth in the survey. with the survey determining London, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona as the four European cities surpassing Amsterdam in this regard. A substantial number of large corporations and banks' headquarters are located in the Amsterdam area, including: AkzoNobel, Heineken International, ING Group, ABN AMRO, TomTom, Delta Lloyd Group, Booking.com and Philips. Although many small offices remain along the historic canals, centrally based companies have increasingly relocated outside Amsterdam's city centre. Consequently, the Zuidas (English: South Axis) has become the new financial and legal hub of Amsterdam, with the country's five largest law firms and several subsidiaries of large consulting firms, such as Boston Consulting Group and Accenture, as well as the World Trade Centre (Amsterdam) located in the Zuidas district. In addition to the Zuidas, there are three smaller financial districts in Amsterdam: around Amsterdam Sloterdijk railway station. Where one can find the offices of several newspapers, such as De Telegraaf. as well as those of Deloitte, the Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (municipal public transport company), and the Dutch tax offices (Belastingdienst); around the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam Zuidoost, with the headquarters of ING Group; around the Amstel railway station in the Amsterdam-Oost district to the east of the historical city. Amsterdam's tallest building, the Rembrandt Tower, is located here. As are the headquarters of Philips, the Dutch multinational conglomerate. Amsterdam has been a leading city to reduce the use of raw materials and has created a plan to become a circular city by 2050. The adjoining municipality of Amstelveen is the location of KPMG International's global headquarters. Other non-Dutch companies have chosen to settle in communities surrounding Amsterdam since they allow freehold property ownership, whereas Amsterdam retains ground rent. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX), now part of Euronext, is the world's oldest stock exchange and, due to Brexit, has overtaken LSE as the largest bourse in Europe. It is near Dam Square in the city centre. Port of Amsterdam The Port of Amsterdam is the fourth-largest port in Europe, the 38th largest port in the world and the second-largest port in the Netherlands by metric tons of cargo. In 2014, the Port of Amsterdam had a cargo throughput of 97,4 million tons of cargo, which was mostly bulk cargo. Amsterdam has the biggest cruise port in the Netherlands with more than 150 cruise ships every year. In 2019, the new lock in IJmuiden opened; since then, the port has been able to grow to 125 million tonnes in capacity. Tourism Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, receiving more than 5.34 million international visitors annually; this is excluding the 16 million day-trippers visiting the city every year. The number of visitors has been growing steadily over the past decade. This can be attributed to an increasing number of European visitors. Two-thirds of the hotels are located in the city's centre. Hotels with four or five stars contribute 42% of the total beds available and 41% of the overnight stays in Amsterdam. The room occupation rate was 85% in 2017, up from 78% in 2006. The majority of tourists (74%) originate from Europe. The largest group of non-European visitors come from the United States, accounting for 14% of the total. Certain years have a theme in Amsterdam to attract extra tourists. For example, the year 2006 was designated "Rembrandt 400", to celebrate the 400th birthday of Rembrandt van Rijn. Some hotels offer special arrangements or activities during these years. The average number of guests per year staying at the four campsites around the city range from 12,000 to 65,000. In 2023, the city began running a campaign to dissuade British men between the ages of 18 and 35 from coming to the city as tourists. The ad shows young men being handcuffed by police and is part of a new campaign to clean up the city's reputation. On May 25, 2023, in a bid to crackdown on wild tourist behaviour, the city banned weed smoking in public areas in and around the red light district. De Wallen (red-light district) De Wallen, also known as Walletjes or Rosse Buurt, is a designated area for legalised prostitution and is Amsterdam's largest and best-known red-light district. This neighbourhood has become a famous attraction for tourists. It consists of a network of canals, streets, and alleys containing several hundred small, one-room apartments rented by sex workers who offer their services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. In recent years, the city government has been closing and repurposing the famous red-light district windows in an effort to clean up the area and reduce the amount of party and sex tourism. Retail Shops in Amsterdam range from large high-end department stores such as founded in 1870 to small speciality shops. Amsterdam's high-end shops are found in the streets P.C. Hooftstraat and Cornelis Schuytstraat, which are located in the vicinity of the Vondelpark. One of Amsterdam's busiest high streets is the narrow, medieval Kalverstraat in the heart of the city. Other shopping areas include the Negen Straatjes and Haarlemmerdijk and Haarlemmerstraat. Negen Straatjes are nine narrow streets within the Grachtengordel, the concentric canal system of Amsterdam. The Negen Straatjes differ from other shopping districts with the presence of a large diversity of privately owned shops. The Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk were voted best shopping street in the Netherlands in 2011. These streets have as the Negen Straatjes a large diversity of privately owned shops. However, as the Negen Straatjes are dominated by fashion stores, the Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk offer a wide variety of stores, just to name some specialities: candy and other food-related stores, lingerie, sneakers, wedding clothing, interior shops, books, Italian deli's, racing and mountain bikes, skatewear, etc. The city also features a large number of open-air markets such as the Albert Cuyp Market, Westerstraat-markt, Ten Katemarkt, and Dappermarkt. Some of these markets are held daily, like the Albert Cuypmarkt and the Dappermarkt. Others, like the Westerstraatmarkt, are held every week. Fashion Several fashion brands and designers are based in Amsterdam. Fashion designers include Iris van Herpen, Mart Visser, Viktor & Rolf, Marlies Dekkers and Frans Molenaar. Fashion models like Yfke Sturm, Doutzen Kroes and Kim Noorda started their careers in Amsterdam. Amsterdam has its garment centre in the World Fashion Center. Fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin were born in Amsterdam. Culture During the later part of the 16th century, Amsterdam's Rederijkerskamer (Chamber of rhetoric) organised contests between different Chambers in the reading of poetry and drama. In 1637, Schouwburg, the first theatre in Amsterdam was built, opening on 3 January 1638. The first ballet performances in the Netherlands were given in Schouwburg in 1642 with the Ballet of the Five Senses. In the 18th century, French theatre became popular. While Amsterdam was under the influence of German music in the 19th century there were few national opera productions; the Hollandse Opera of Amsterdam was built in 1888 for the specific purpose of promoting Dutch opera. In the 19th century, popular culture was centred on the Nes area in Amsterdam (mainly vaudeville and music-hall). An improved metronome was invented in 1812 by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel. The (1885) and Stedelijk Museum (1895) were built and opened. In 1888, the Concertgebouworkest orchestra was established. With the 20th century came cinema, radio and television. Though most studios are located in Hilversum and Aalsmeer, Amsterdam's influence on programming is very strong. Many people who work in the television industry live in Amsterdam. Also, the headquarters of the Dutch SBS Broadcasting Group is located in Amsterdam. Museums The most important museums of Amsterdam are located on the Museumplein (Museum Square), located at the southwestern side of the Rijksmuseum. It was created in the last quarter of the 19th century on the grounds of the former World's fair. The northeastern part of the square is bordered by the large Rijksmuseum. In front of the Rijksmuseum on the square itself is a long, rectangular pond. This is transformed into an ice rink in winter. The northwestern part of the square is bordered by the Van Gogh Museum, House of Bols Cocktail & Genever Experience and Coster Diamonds. The southwestern border of the Museum Square is the Van Baerlestraat, which is a major thoroughfare in this part of Amsterdam. The Concertgebouw is located across this street from the square. To the southeast of the square are several large houses, one of which contains the American consulate. A parking garage can be found underneath the square, as well as a supermarket. The Museumplein is covered almost entirely with a lawn, except for the northeastern part of the square which is covered with gravel. The current appearance of the square was realised in 1999, when the square was remodelled. The square itself is the most prominent site in Amsterdam for festivals and outdoor concerts, especially in the summer. Plans were made in 2008 to remodel the square again because many inhabitants of Amsterdam are not happy with its current appearance. The possesses the largest and most important collection of classical Dutch art. It opened in 1885. Its collection consists of nearly one million objects. The artist most associated with Amsterdam is Rembrandt, whose work, and the work of his pupils, is displayed in the Rijksmuseum. Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch is one of the top pieces of art of the museum. It also houses paintings from artists like Bartholomeus van der Helst, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Ferdinand Bol, Albert Cuyp, Jacob van Ruisdael and Paulus Potter. Aside from paintings, the collection consists of a large variety of decorative art. This ranges from Delftware to giant doll-houses from the 17th century. The architect of the gothic revival building was P.J.H. Cuypers. The museum underwent a 10-year, 375 million euro renovation starting in 2003. The full collection was reopened to the public on 13 April 2013 and the Rijksmuseum has remained the most visited museum in Amsterdam with 2.2 million visitors in 2016 and 2.16 million in 2017. Van Gogh lived in Amsterdam for a short while and there is a museum dedicated to his work. The museum is housed in one of the few modern buildings in this area of Amsterdam. The building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld. This building is where the permanent collection is displayed. A new building was added to the museum in 1999. This building, known as the performance wing, was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. Its purpose is to house temporary exhibitions of the museum. Some of Van Gogh's most famous paintings, like The Potato Eaters and Sunflowers, are in the collection. The Van Gogh museum is the second most visited museum in Amsterdam, not far behind the Rijksmuseum in terms of the number of visits, being approximately 2.1 million in 2016, for example. Next to the Van Gogh museum stands the Stedelijk Museum. This is Amsterdam's most important museum of modern art. The museum is as old as the square it borders and was opened in 1895. The permanent collection consists of works of art from artists like Piet Mondrian, Karel Appel, and Kazimir Malevich. After renovations lasting several years, the museum opened in September 2012 with a new composite extension that has been called 'The Bathtub' due to its resemblance to one. Amsterdam contains many other museums throughout the city. They range from small museums such as the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum), the Anne Frank House, and the Rembrandt House Museum, to the very large, like the Tropenmuseum (Museum of the Tropics), Amsterdam Museum (formerly known as Amsterdam Historical Museum), Hermitage Amsterdam (a dependency of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg) and the Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum). The modern-styled Nemo is dedicated to child-friendly science exhibitions. Music Amsterdam's musical culture includes a large collection of songs that treat the city nostalgically and lovingly. The 1949 song "Aan de Amsterdamse grachten" ("On the canals of Amsterdam") was performed and recorded by many artists, including John Kraaijkamp Sr.; the best-known version is probably that by Wim Sonneveld (1962). In the 1950s Johnny Jordaan rose to fame with "Geef mij maar Amsterdam" ("I prefer Amsterdam"), which praises the city above all others (explicitly Paris); Jordaan sang especially about his own neighbourhood, the Jordaan ("Bij ons in de Jordaan"). Colleagues and contemporaries of Johnny include Tante Leen and Manke Nelis. Another notable Amsterdam song is "Amsterdam" by Jacques Brel (1964). A 2011 poll by Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool that Trio Bier's "Oude Wolf" was voted "Amsterdams lijflied". Notable Amsterdam bands from the modern era include the Osdorp Posse and The Ex. AFAS Live (formerly known as the Heineken Music Hall) is a concert hall located near the Johan Cruyff Arena (known as the Amsterdam Arena until 2018). Its main purpose is to serve as a podium for pop concerts for big audiences. Many famous international artists have performed there. Two other notable venues, Paradiso and the are located near the Leidseplein. Both focus on broad programming, ranging from indie rock to hip hop, R&B, and other popular genres. Other more subcultural music venues are OCCII, OT301, De Nieuwe Anita, Winston Kingdom, and Zaal 100. Jazz has a strong following in Amsterdam, with the Bimhuis being the premier venue. In 2012, Ziggo Dome was opened, also near Amsterdam Arena, a state-of-the-art indoor music arena. AFAS Live is also host to many electronic dance music festivals, alongside many other venues. Armin van Buuren and Tiesto, some of the worlds leading Trance DJ's hail from the Netherlands and frequently perform in Amsterdam. Each year in October, the city hosts the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) which is one of the leading electronic music conferences and one of the biggest club festivals for electronic music in the world, attracting over 350,000 visitors each year. Another popular dance festival is 5daysoff, which takes place in the venues Paradiso and . In the summertime, there are several big outdoor dance parties in or nearby Amsterdam, such as Awakenings, Dance Valley, Mystery Land, Loveland, A Day at the Park, Welcome to the Future, and Valtifest. Amsterdam has a world-class symphony orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Their home is the , which is across the Van Baerlestraat from the Museum Square. It is considered by critics to be a concert hall with some of the best acoustics in the world. The building contains three halls, Grote Zaal, Kleine Zaal, and Spiegelzaal. Some nine hundred concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, making it one of the most-visited concert halls in the world. The opera house of Amsterdam is located adjacent to the city hall. Therefore, the two buildings combined are often called the Stopera, (a word originally coined by protesters against it very construction: Stop the Opera[-house]). This huge modern complex, opened in 1986, lies in the former Jewish neighbourhood at Waterlooplein next to the river Amstel. The Stopera is the home base of Dutch National Opera, Dutch National Ballet and the Holland Symfonia. Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ is a concert hall, which is located in the IJ near the central station. Its concerts perform mostly modern classical music. Located adjacent to it, is the Bimhuis, a concert hall for improvised and Jazz music. Performing arts Amsterdam has three main theatre buildings. The Stadsschouwburg at the Leidseplein is the home base of Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The current building dates from 1894. Most plays are performed in the Grote Zaal (Great Hall). The normal program of events encompasses all sorts of theatrical forms. In 2009, the new hall of the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Toneelgroep Amsterdam and Melkweg opened, and the renovation of the front end of the theatre was ready. The Dutch National Opera and Ballet (formerly known as Het Muziektheater), dating from 1986, is the principal opera house and home to Dutch National Opera and Dutch National Ballet. Royal Theatre Carré was built as a permanent circus theatre in 1887 and is currently mainly used for musicals, cabaret performances, and pop concerts. The recently re-opened DeLaMar Theater houses more commercial plays and musicals. A new theatre has also moved into the Amsterdam scene in 2014, joining other established venues: Theater Amsterdam is located in the west part of Amsterdam, on the Danzigerkade. It is housed in a modern building with a panoramic view over the harbour. The theatre is the first-ever purpose-built venue to showcase a single play entitled ANNE, the play based on Anne Frank's life. On the east side of town, there is a small theatre in a converted bathhouse, the Badhuistheater. The theatre often has English programming. The Netherlands has a tradition of cabaret or kleinkunst, which combines music, storytelling, commentary, theatre and comedy. Cabaret dates back to the 1930s and artists like Wim Kan, Wim Sonneveld and Toon Hermans were pioneers of this form of art in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam is the Kleinkunstacademie (English: Cabaret Academy) and Nederlied Kleinkunstkoor (English: Cabaret Choir). Contemporary popular artists are Youp van 't Hek, Freek de Jonge, Herman Finkers, Hans Teeuwen, Theo Maassen, Herman van Veen, Najib Amhali, Raoul Heertje, Jörgen Raymann, Brigitte Kaandorp and Comedytrain. The English spoken comedy scene was established with the founding of Boom Chicago in 1993. They have their own theatre at Leidseplein. Nightlife Amsterdam is famous for its vibrant and diverse nightlife. Amsterdam has many cafés (bars). They range from large and modern to small and cosy. The typical Bruine Kroeg (brown café) breathe a more old fashioned atmosphere with dimmed lights, candles, and somewhat older clientele. These brown cafés mostly offer a wide range of local and international artisanal beers. Most cafés have terraces in summertime. A common sight on the Leidseplein during summer is a square full of terraces packed with people drinking beer or wine. Many restaurants can be found in Amsterdam as well. Since Amsterdam is a multicultural city, a lot of different ethnic restaurants can be found. Restaurants range from being rather luxurious and expensive to being ordinary and affordable. Amsterdam also possesses many discothèques. The two main nightlife areas for tourists are the Leidseplein and the Rembrandtplein. The Paradiso, and Sugar Factory are cultural centres, which turn into discothèques on some nights. Examples of discothèques near the Rembrandtplein are the Escape, Air, John Doe and Club Abe. Also noteworthy are Panama, Hotel Arena (East), TrouwAmsterdam and Studio 80. In recent years '24-hour' clubs opened their doors, most notably Radion De School, Shelter and Marktkantine. Bimhuis located near the Central Station, with its rich programming hosting the best in the field is considered one of the best jazz clubs in the world. The Reguliersdwarsstraat is the main street for the LGBT community and nightlife. Festivals In 2008, there were 140 festivals and events in Amsterdam. During the same year, Amsterdam was designated as the World Book Capital for one year by UNESCO. Famous festivals and events in Amsterdam include: Koningsdag (which was named Koninginnedag until the crowning of King Willem-Alexander in 2013) (King's Day – Queen's Day); the Holland Festival for the performing arts; the yearly Prinsengrachtconcert (classical concerto on the Prinsen canal) in August; the 'Stille Omgang' (a silent Roman Catholic evening procession held every March); Amsterdam Gay Pride; The Cannabis Cup; and the Uitmarkt. On Koningsdag—that is held each year on 27 April—hundreds of thousands of people travel to Amsterdam to celebrate with the city's residents. The entire city becomes overcrowded with people buying products from the freemarket, or visiting one of the many music concerts. The yearly Holland Festival attracts international artists and visitors from all over Europe. Amsterdam Gay Pride is a yearly local LGBT parade of boats in Amsterdam's canals, held on the first Saturday in August. The annual Uitmarkt is a three-day cultural event at the start of the cultural season in late August. It offers previews of many different artists, such as musicians and poets, who perform on podia. Sports Amsterdam is home of the Eredivisie football club AFC Ajax. The stadium Johan Cruyff Arena is the home of Ajax. It is located in the south-east of the city next to the new Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA railway station. Before moving to their current location in 1996, Ajax played their regular matches in the now demolished De Meer Stadion in the eastern part of the city or in the Olympic Stadium. In 1928, Amsterdam hosted the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Stadium built for the occasion has been completely restored and is now used for cultural and sporting events, such as the Amsterdam Marathon. In 1920, Amsterdam assisted in hosting some of the sailing events for the Summer Olympics held in neighbouring Antwerp, Belgium by hosting events at Buiten IJ. The city holds the Dam to Dam Run, a race from Amsterdam to Zaandam, as well as the Amsterdam Marathon. The ice hockey team Amstel Tijgers play in the Jaap Eden ice rink. The team competes in the Dutch ice hockey premier league. Speed skating championships have been held on the 400-meter lane of this ice rink. Amsterdam holds two American football franchises: the Amsterdam Crusaders and the Amsterdam Panthers. The Amsterdam Pirates baseball team competes in the Dutch Major League. There are three field hockey teams: Amsterdam, Pinoké and Hurley, who play their matches around the Wagener Stadium in the nearby city of Amstelveen. The basketball team MyGuide Amsterdam competes in the Dutch premier division and play their games in the Sporthallen Zuid. There is one rugby club in Amsterdam, which also hosts sports training classes such as RTC (Rugby Talenten Centrum or Rugby Talent Centre) and the National Rugby stadium. Since 1999, the city of Amsterdam honours the best sportsmen and women at the Amsterdam Sports Awards. Boxer Raymond Joval and field hockey midfielder Carole Thate were the first to receive the awards, in 1999. Amsterdam hosted the World Gymnaestrada in 1991 and will do so again in 2023. Politics The city of Amsterdam is a municipality under the Dutch Municipalities Act. It is governed by a directly elected municipal council, a municipal executive board and a mayor. Since 1981, the municipality of Amsterdam has gradually been divided into semi-autonomous boroughs, called stadsdelen or 'districts'. Over time, a total of 15 boroughs were created. In May 2010, under a major reform, the number of Amsterdam boroughs was reduced to eight: Amsterdam-Centrum covering the city centre including the canal belt, Amsterdam-Noord consisting of the neighbourhoods north of the IJ lake, Amsterdam-Oost in the east, Amsterdam-Zuid in the south, Amsterdam-West in the west, Amsterdam Nieuw-West in the far west, Amsterdam Zuidoost in the southeast, and Westpoort covering the Port of Amsterdam area. City government As with all Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is governed by a directly elected municipal council, a municipal executive board and a government appointed mayor (burgemeester). The mayor is a member of the municipal executive board, but also has individual responsibilities in maintaining public order. On 27 June 2018, Femke Halsema (former member of House of Representatives for GroenLinks from 1998 to 2011) was appointed as the first woman to be Mayor of Amsterdam by the King's Commissioner of North Holland for a six-year term after being nominated by the Amsterdam municipal council and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She replaces Eberhard van der Laan (Labour Party) who was the Mayor of Amsterdam from 2010 until his death in October 2017. After the 2014 municipal council elections, a governing majority of D66, VVD and SP was formed – the first coalition without the Labour Party since World War II. Next to the Mayor, the municipal executive board consists of eight wethouders ('alderpersons') appointed by the municipal council: four D66 alderpersons, two VVD alderpersons and two SP alderpersons. On 18 September 2017, it was announced by Eberhard van der Laan in an open letter to Amsterdam citizens that Kajsa Ollongren would take up his office as acting Mayor of Amsterdam with immediate effect due to ill health. Ollongren was succeeded as acting Mayor by Eric van der Burg on 26 October 2017 and by Jozias van Aartsen on 4 December 2017. Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into eight boroughs, called stadsdelen or 'districts', and the urban area of Weesp, a system that was implemented gradually in the 1980s to improve local governance. The boroughs are responsible for many activities that had previously been run by the central city. In 2010, the number of Amsterdam boroughs reached fifteen. Fourteen of those had their own district council (deelraad), elected by a popular vote. The fifteenth, Westpoort, covers the harbour of Amsterdam and had very few residents. Therefore, it was governed by the central municipal council. Under the borough system, municipal decisions are made at borough level, except for those affairs pertaining to the whole city such as major infrastructure projects, which are the jurisdiction of the central municipal authorities. In 2010, the borough system was restructured, in which many smaller boroughs merged into larger boroughs. In 2014, under a reform of the Dutch Municipalities Act, the Amsterdam boroughs lost much of their autonomous status, as their district councils were abolished. The municipal council of Amsterdam voted to maintain the borough system by replacing the district councils with smaller, but still directly elected district committees (bestuurscommissies). Under a municipal ordinance, the new district committees were granted responsibilities through delegation of regulatory and executive powers by the central municipal council. Metropolitan area "Amsterdam" is usually understood to refer to the municipality of Amsterdam. Colloquially, some areas within the municipality, such as the town of Durgerdam, may not be considered part of Amsterdam. Statistics Netherlands uses three other definitions of Amsterdam: metropolitan agglomeration Amsterdam (Grootstedelijke Agglomeratie Amsterdam, not to be confused with Grootstedelijk Gebied Amsterdam, a synonym of Groot Amsterdam), Greater Amsterdam (Groot Amsterdam, a COROP region) and the urban region Amsterdam (Stadsgewest Amsterdam). The Amsterdam Department for Research and Statistics uses a fourth conurbation, namely the Stadsregio Amsterdam ('City Region of Amsterdam'). The city region is similar to Greater Amsterdam but includes the municipalities of Zaanstad and Wormerland. It excludes Graft-De Rijp. The smallest of these areas is the municipality of Amsterdam with a population of about 870,000 in 2021. The larger conurbation had a population of over one million. It includes the municipalities of Zaanstad, Wormerland, Oostzaan, Diemen and Amstelveen only, as well as the municipality of Amsterdam. Greater Amsterdam includes 15 municipalities, and had a population of 1,400,000 in 2021. Though much larger in area, the population of this area is only slightly larger, because the definition excludes the relatively populous municipality of Zaanstad. The largest area by population, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (Dutch: Metropoolregio Amsterdam), has a population of 2,33 million. It includes for instance Zaanstad, Wormerland, Muiden, Abcoude, Haarlem, Almere and Lelystad but excludes Graft-De Rijp. Amsterdam is part of the conglomerate metropolitan area Randstad, with a total population of 6,659,300 inhabitants. Of these various metropolitan area configurations, only the Stadsregio Amsterdam (City Region of Amsterdam) has a formal governmental status. Its responsibilities include regional spatial planning and the metropolitan public transport concessions. National capital Under the Dutch Constitution, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. Since the 1983 constitutional revision, the constitution mentions "Amsterdam" and "capital" in chapter 2, article 32: The king's confirmation by oath and his coronation take place in "the capital Amsterdam" ("de hoofdstad Amsterdam"). Previous versions of the constitution only mentioned "the city of Amsterdam" ("de stad Amsterdam"). For a royal investiture, therefore, the States General of the Netherlands (the Dutch Parliament) meets for a ceremonial joint session in Amsterdam. The ceremony traditionally takes place at the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam Square, immediately after the former monarch has signed the act of abdication at the nearby Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Normally, however, the Parliament sits in The Hague, the city which has historically been the seat of the Dutch government, the Dutch monarchy, and the Dutch supreme court. Foreign embassies are also located in The Hague. Symbols The coat of arms of Amsterdam is composed of several historical elements. First and centre are three St Andrew's crosses, aligned in a vertical band on the city's shield (although Amsterdam's patron saint was Saint Nicholas). These St Andrew's crosses can also be found on the city shields of neighbours Amstelveen and Ouder-Amstel. This part of the coat of arms is the basis of the flag of Amsterdam, flown by the city government, but also as civil ensign for ships registered in Amsterdam. Second is the Imperial Crown of Austria. In 1489, out of gratitude for services and loans, Maximilian I awarded Amsterdam the right to adorn its coat of arms with the king's crown. Then, in 1508, this was replaced with Maximilian's imperial crown when he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In the early years of the 17th century, Maximilian's crown in Amsterdam's coat of arms was again replaced, this time with the crown of Emperor Rudolph II, a crown that became the Imperial Crown of Austria. The lions date from the late 16th century, when city and province became part of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Last came the city's official motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig ("Heroic, Determined, Merciful"), bestowed on the city in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina, in recognition of the city's bravery during the Second World War. Transport Metro, tram and bus Currently, there are sixteen tram routes and five metro routes. All are operated by municipal public transport operator Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB), which also runs the city bus network. Four fare-free GVB ferries carry pedestrians and cyclists across the IJ lake to the borough of Amsterdam-Noord, and two fare-charging ferries run east and west along the harbour. There are also privately operated water taxis, a water bus, a boat sharing operation, electric rental boats and canal cruises, that transport people along Amsterdam's waterways. Regional buses, and some suburban buses, are operated by Connexxion and EBS. International coach services are provided by Eurolines from Amsterdam Amstel railway station, IDBUS from Amsterdam Sloterdijk railway station, and Megabus from the Zuiderzeeweg in the east of the city. In order to facilitate easier transport to the centre of Amsterdam, the city has various P+R Locations where people can park their car at an affordable price and transfer to one of the numerous public transport lines. Car Amsterdam was intended in 1932 to be the hub, a kind of Kilometre Zero, of the highway system of the Netherlands, with freeways numbered One to Eight planned to originate from the city. The outbreak of the Second World War and shifting priorities led to the current situation, where only roads A1, A2, and A4 originate from Amsterdam according to the original plan. The A3 to Rotterdam was cancelled in 1970 in order to conserve the Groene Hart. Road A8, leading north to Zaandam and the A10 Ringroad were opened between 1968 and 1974. Besides the A1, A2, A4 and A8, several freeways, such as the A7 and A6, carry traffic mainly bound for Amsterdam. The A10 ringroad surrounding the city connects Amsterdam with the Dutch national network of freeways. Interchanges on the A10 allow cars to enter the city by transferring to one of the 18 city roads, numbered S101 through to S118. These city roads are regional roads without grade separation, and sometimes without a central reservation. Most are accessible by cyclists. The S100 Centrumring is a smaller ringroad circumnavigating the city's centre. In the city centre, driving a car is discouraged. Parking fees are expensive, and many streets are closed to cars or are one-way. The local government sponsors carsharing and carpooling initiatives such as Autodelen and Meerijden.nu. The local government has also started removing parking spaces in the city, with the goal of removing 10,000 spaces (roughly 1,500 per year) by 2025. National rail Amsterdam is served by ten stations of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways). Five are intercity stops: Sloterdijk, Zuid, Amstel, Bijlmer ArenA and Amsterdam Centraal. The stations for local services are: Lelylaan, RAI, Holendrecht, Muiderpoort and Science Park. Amsterdam Centraal is also an international railway station. From the station there are regular services to destinations such as Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Among these trains are international trains of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Amsterdam-Berlin), the Eurostar (Amsterdam-Brussels-London), Thalys (Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris/Lille), and Intercity-Express (Amsterdam–Cologne–Frankfurt). Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is less than 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal station and is served by domestic and international intercity trains, such as Thalys, Eurostar and Intercity Brussel. Schiphol is the largest airport in the Netherlands, the third-largest in Europe, and the 14th-largest in the world in terms of passengers. It handles over 68 million passengers per year and is the home base of four airlines, KLM, Transavia, Martinair and Arkefly. , Schiphol was the fifth busiest airport in the world measured by international passenger numbers. This airport is 4 meters below sea level. Although Schiphol is internationally known as Amsterdam Schiphol Airport it actually lies in the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmermeer, southwest of the city. Cycling Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world and is a centre of bicycle culture with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages (fietsenstalling) which can be used. According to the most recent figures published by Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2015 the 442.693 households (850.000 residents) in Amsterdam together owned 847.000 bicycles – 1.91 bicycle per household. Theft is widespreadin 2011, about 83,000 bicycles were stolen in Amsterdam. Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam's small size, the of bike paths, the flat terrain, and the inconvenience of driving an automobile. Education Amsterdam has two universities: the University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam, UvA), and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). Other institutions for higher education include an art school – Gerrit Rietveld Academie, a university of applied sciences – the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, and the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. Amsterdam's International Institute of Social History is one of the world's largest documentary and research institutions concerning social history, and especially the history of the labour movement. Amsterdam's Hortus Botanicus, founded in the early 17th century, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, with many old and rare specimens, among them the coffee plant that served as the parent for the entire coffee culture in Central and South America. There are over 200 primary schools in Amsterdam. Some of these primary schools base their teachings on particular pedagogic theories like the various Montessori schools. The biggest Montessori high school in Amsterdam is the Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam. Many schools, however, are based on religion. This used to be primarily Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations, but with the influx of Muslim immigrants, there has been a rise in the number of Islamic schools. Jewish schools can be found in the southern suburbs of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is noted for having five independent grammar schools (Dutch: gymnasia), the Vossius Gymnasium, Barlaeus Gymnasium, St. Ignatius Gymnasium, Het 4e Gymnasium and the Cygnus Gymnasium where a classical curriculum including Latin and classical Greek is taught. Though believed until recently by many to be an anachronistic and elitist concept that would soon die out, the gymnasia have recently experienced a revival, leading to the formation of a fourth and fifth grammar school in which the three aforementioned schools participate. Most secondary schools in Amsterdam offer a variety of different levels of education in the same school. The city also has various colleges ranging from art and design to politics and economics which are mostly also available for students coming from other countries. Schools for foreign nationals in Amsterdam include the Amsterdam International Community School, British School of Amsterdam, Albert Einstein International School Amsterdam, Lycée Vincent van Gogh La Haye-Amsterdam primary campus (French school), International School of Amsterdam, and the Japanese School of Amsterdam. Notable people Media Amsterdam is a prominent centre for national and international media. Some locally based newspapers include Het Parool, a national daily paper; De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily newspaper; the daily newspapers Trouw, de Volkskrant and NRC; De Groene Amsterdammer, a weekly newspaper; the free newspapers Metro and The Holland Times (printed in English). Amsterdam is home to the second-largest Dutch commercial TV group SBS Broadcasting Group, consisting of TV-stations SBS 6, Net 5 and Veronica. However, Amsterdam is not considered 'the media city of the Netherlands'. The town of Hilversum, south-east of Amsterdam, has been crowned with this unofficial title. Hilversum is the principal centre for radio and television broadcasting in the Netherlands. Radio Netherlands, heard worldwide via shortwave radio since the 1920s, is also based there. Hilversum is home to an extensive complex of audio and television studios belonging to the national broadcast production company NOS, as well as to the studios and offices of all the Dutch public broadcasting organisations and many commercial TV production companies. In 2012, the music video of Far East Movement, 'Live My Life', was filmed in various parts of Amsterdam. Also, several movies were filmed in Amsterdam, such as James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever, Ocean's Twelve, Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Hitman's Bodyguard. Amsterdam is also featured in John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars, which has been made into a film as well that partly takes place in Amsterdam. Housing From the late 1960s onwards many buildings in Amsterdam have been squatted both for housing and for using as social centres. A number of these squats have legalised and become well known, such as OCCII, OT301, Paradiso and Vrankrijk. Sister cities Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, 2007 Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, 2011 See also List of populated places in the Netherlands List of cities, towns and villages in North Holland List of cities in the Netherlands by province List of national capitals List of national capitals by latitude List of capital cities by elevation List of national capitals by population van Dam References Citations Literature Charles Caspers & Peter Jan Margry (2017), Het Mirakel van Amsterdam. Biografie van een betwiste devotie (Amsterdam, Prometheus). Further reading de Waard, M., ed. Imagining Global Amsterdam: History, Culture, and Geography in a World City. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2013. Feddes, Fred. A Millenium of Amsterdam: Spatial History of a Marvelous City. Bussum: Thoth 2012. Jonker, Joost. Merchants, Bankers, Middlemen: The Amsterdam Money Market during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 1996 Shorto, Russell. Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City. New York: Vintage Books 2014. External links Amsterdam.nl – Official government site I amsterdam – Portal for international visitors Tourist information about Amsterdam () – website of the Netherlands Capitals in Europe Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of North Holland Olympic cycling venues Populated places established in the 13th century Populated places in North Holland Port cities and towns in the Netherlands Port cities and towns of the North Sea Venues of the 1928 Summer Olympics Populated lakeshore places in the Netherlands

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztlan%20Underground

Aztlan Underground

Aztlan Underground is a band from Los Angeles, California that combines Hip-Hop, Punk Rock, Jazz, and electronic music with Chicano and Native American themes, and indigenous instrumentation. They are often cited as progenitors of Chicano rap. Background The band traces its roots to the late-1980s hardcore scene in the Eastside of Los Angeles. They have played rapcore, with elements of punk, hip hop, rock, funk, jazz, indigenous music, and spoken word. Indigenous drums, flutes, and rattles are also commonly used in their music. Their lyrics often address the family and economic issues faced by the Chicano community, and they have been noted as activists for that community. As an example of the politically active and culturally important artists in Los Angeles in the 1990s, Aztlan Underground appeared on Culture Clash on Fox in 1993; and was part of Breaking Out, a concert on pay per view in 1998, The band was featured in the independent films Algun Dia and Frontierland in the 1990s, and on the upcoming Studio 49. The band has been mentioned or featured in various newspapers and magazines: the Vancouver Sun, New Times, BLU Magazine (an underground hip hop magazine), BAM Magazine, La Banda Elastica Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times calendar section. The band is also the subject of a chapter in the book It's Not About a Salary, by Brian Cross. Aztlan Underground remains active in the community, lending their voice to annual events such as The Farce of July, and the recent movement to recognize Indigenous People's Day in Los Angeles and beyond. In addition to forming their own label, Xicano Records and Film, Aztlan Underground were signed to the Basque record label Esan Ozenki in 1999 which enabled them to tour Spain extensively and perform in France and Portugal. Aztlan Underground have also performed in Canada, Australia, and Venezuela. The band has been recognized for their music with nominations in the New Times 1998 "Best Latin Influenced" category, the BAM Magazine 1999 "Best Rock en Español" category, and the LA Weekly 1999 "Best Hip Hop" category. The release of their eponymous third album on August 29, 2009 was met with positive reviews and earned the band four Native American Music Award (NAMMY) nominations in 2010. Discography Decolonize Year:1995 "Teteu Innan" "Killing Season" "Lost Souls" "My Blood Is Red" "Natural Enemy" "Sacred Circle" "Blood On Your Hands" "Interlude" "Aug 2 the 9" "Indigena" "Lyrical Drive By" Sub-Verses Year:1998 "Permiso" "They Move In Silence" "No Soy Animal" "Killing Season" "Blood On Your Hands" "Reality Check" "Lemon Pledge" "Revolution" "Preachers of the Blind State" "Lyrical Drive-By" "Nahui Ollin" "How to Catch a Bullet" "Ik Otik" "Obsolete Man" "Decolonize" "War Flowers" Aztlan Underground Year: 2009 "Moztlitta" "Be God" "Light Shines" "Prey" "In the Field" "9 10 11 12" "Smell the Dead" "Sprung" "Medicine" "Acabando" "Crescent Moon" See also Chicano rap Native American hip hop Rapcore Chicano rock References External links Myspace link Facebook page Native American rappers American rappers of Mexican descent Musical groups from Los Angeles West Coast hip hop musicians

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor%20neuron%20diseases

Motor neuron diseases

Motor neuron diseases or motor neurone diseases (MNDs) are a group of rare neurodegenerative disorders that selectively affect motor neurons, the cells which control voluntary muscles of the body. They include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), progressive bulbar palsy (PBP), pseudobulbar palsy, progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and monomelic amyotrophy (MMA), as well as some rarer variants resembling ALS. Motor neuron diseases affect both children and adults. While each motor neuron disease affects patients differently, they all cause movement-related symptoms, mainly muscle weakness. Most of these diseases seem to occur randomly without known causes, but some forms are inherited. Studies into these inherited forms have led to discoveries of various genes (e.g. SOD1) that are thought to be important in understanding how the disease occurs. Symptoms of motor neuron diseases can be first seen at birth or can come on slowly later in life. Most of these diseases worsen over time; while some, such as ALS, shorten one's life expectancy, others do not. Currently, there are no approved treatments for the majority of motor neuron disorders, and care is mostly symptomatic. Signs and symptoms Signs and symptoms depend on the specific disease, but motor neuron diseases typically manifest as a group of movement-related symptoms. They come on slowly, and worsen over the course of more than three months. Various patterns of muscle weakness are seen, and muscle cramps and spasms may occur. One can have difficulty breathing with climbing stairs (exertion), difficulty breathing when lying down (orthopnea), or even respiratory failure if breathing muscles become involved. Bulbar symptoms, including difficulty speaking (dysarthria), difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), and excessive saliva production (sialorrhea), can also occur. Sensation, or the ability to feel, is typically not affected. Emotional disturbance (e.g. pseudobulbar affect) and cognitive and behavioural changes (e.g. problems in word fluency, decision-making, and memory) are also seen. There can be lower motor neuron findings (e.g. muscle wasting, muscle twitching), upper motor neuron findings (e.g. brisk reflexes, Babinski reflex, Hoffman's reflex, increased muscle tone), or both. Motor neuron diseases are seen both in children and adults. Those that affect children tend to be inherited or familial, and their symptoms are either present at birth or appear before learning to walk. Those that affect adults tend to appear after age 40. The clinical course depends on the specific disease, but most progress or worsen over the course of months. Some are fatal (e.g. ALS), while others are not (e.g. PLS). Patterns of weakness Various patterns of muscle weakness occur in different motor neuron diseases. Weakness can be symmetric or asymmetric, and it can occur in body parts that are distal, proximal, or both. According to Statland et al., there are three main weakness patterns that are seen in motor neuron diseases, which are: Asymmetric distal weakness without sensory loss (e.g. ALS, PLS, PMA, MMA) Symmetric weakness without sensory loss (e.g. PMA, PLS) Symmetric focal midline proximal weakness (neck, trunk, bulbar involvement; e.g. ALS, PBP, PLS) Lower and upper motor neuron findings Motor neuron diseases are on a spectrum in terms of upper and lower motor neuron involvement. Some have just lower or upper motor neuron findings, while others have a mix of both. Lower motor neuron (LMN) findings include muscle atrophy and fasciculations, and upper motor neuron (UMN) findings include hyperreflexia, spasticity, muscle spasm, and abnormal reflexes. Pure upper motor neuron diseases, or those with just UMN findings, include PLS. Pure lower motor neuron diseases, or those with just LMN findings, include PMA. Motor neuron diseases with both UMN and LMN findings include both familial and sporadic ALS. Causes Most cases are sporadic and their causes are usually not known. It is thought that environmental, toxic, viral, or genetic factors may be involved. DNA damage TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), is a critical component of the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) enzymatic pathway that repairs DNA double-strand breaks in pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons. TDP-43 is rapidly recruited to double-strand breaks where it acts as a scaffold for the recruitment of the XRCC4-DNA ligase protein complex that then acts to repair double-strand breaks. About 95% of ALS patients have abnormalities in the nucleus-cytoplasmic localization in spinal motor neurons of TDP43. In TDP-43 depleted human neural stem cell-derived motor neurons, as well as in sporadic ALS patients' spinal cord specimens there is significant double-strand break accumulation and reduced levels of NHEJ. Associated risk factors In adults, men are more commonly affected than women. Diagnosis Differential diagnosis can be challenging due to the number of overlapping symptoms, shared between several motor neuron diseases. Frequently, the diagnosis is based on clinical findings (i.e. LMN vs. UMN signs and symptoms, patterns of weakness), family history of MND, and a variation of tests, many of which are used to rule out disease mimics, which can manifest with identical symptoms. Classification Motor neuron disease describes a collection of clinical disorders, characterized by progressive muscle weakness and the degeneration of the motor neuron on electrophysiological testing. The term "motor neuron disease" has varying meanings in different countries. Similarly, the literature inconsistently classifies which degenerative motor neuron disorders can be included under the umbrella term "motor neuron disease". The four main types of MND are marked (*) in the table below. All types of MND can be differentiated by two defining characteristics: Is the disease sporadic or inherited? Is there involvement of the upper motor neurons (UMN), the lower motor neurons (LMN), or both? Sporadic or acquired MNDs occur in patients with no family history of degenerative motor neuron disease. Inherited or genetic MNDs adhere to one of the following inheritance patterns: autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked. Some disorders, like ALS, can occur sporadically (85%) or can have a genetic cause (15%) with the same clinical symptoms and progression of disease. UMNs are motor neurons that project from the cortex down to the brainstem or spinal cord. LMNs originate in the anterior horns of the spinal cord and synapse on peripheral muscles. Both motor neurons are necessary for the strong contraction of a muscle, but damage to an UMN can be distinguished from damage to a LMN by physical exam. Tests Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests: Analysis of the fluid from around the brain and spinal cord could reveal signs of an infection or inflammation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI of the brain and spinal cord is recommended in patients with UMN signs and symptoms to explore other causes, such as a tumor, inflammation, or lack of blood supply (stroke). Electromyogram (EMG) & nerve conduction study (NCS): The EMG, which evaluates muscle function, and NCS, which evaluates nerve function, are performed together in patients with LMN signs. For patients with MND affecting the LMNs, the EMG will show evidence of: (1) acute denervation, which is ongoing as motor neurons degenerate, and (2) chronic denervation and reinnervation of the muscle, as the remaining motor neurons attempt to fill in for lost motor neurons. By contrast, the NCS in these patients is usually normal. It can show a low compound muscle action potential (CMAP), which results from the loss of motor neurons, but the sensory neurons should remain unaffected. Tissue biopsy: Taking a small sample of a muscle or nerve may be necessary if the EMG/NCS is not specific enough to rule out other causes of progressive muscle weakness, but it is rarely used. Treatment There are no known curative treatments for the majority of motor neuron disorders. Please refer to the articles on individual disorders for more details. Prognosis The table below lists life expectancy for patients who are diagnosed with MND. Terminology In the United States and Canada, the term motor neuron disease usually refers to the group of disorders while amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is frequently called Lou Gehrig's disease. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term motor neuron(e) disease is used for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, although is not uncommon to refer to the entire group. While MND refers to a specific subset of similar diseases, there are numerous other diseases of motor neurons that are referred to collectively as "motor neuron disorders", for instance the diseases belonging to the spinal muscular atrophies group. However, they are not classified as "motor neuron diseases" by the 11th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which is the definition followed in this article. See also Spinal muscular atrophies Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies References External links Motor neuron diseases Rare diseases Systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABBA

ABBA

ABBA ( , ; formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish pop supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982, and in 2022. In , ABBA were 's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Waterloo", which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition's history as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the contest. During the band's main active years, it consisted of two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. With the increase of their popularity, their personal lives suffered, which eventually resulted in the collapse of both marriages. The relationship changes were reflected in the group's music, with later compositions featuring darker and more introspective lyrics. After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued their success writing music for multiple audiences including stage, musicals and movies, while Fältskog and Lyngstad pursued solo careers. Ten years after the group broke up, a compilation, ABBA Gold, was released becoming a worldwide best-seller. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into Mamma Mia!, a stage musical that toured worldwide and, as of April 2022, is still in the top-ten longest running productions on both Broadway (closed in 2015) and the West End (still running). A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year. A sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was released in 2018. In 2016, the group reunited and started working on a digital avatar concert tour. Newly recorded songs were announced in 2018. Voyage, their first new album in 40 years, was released on 5 November 2021 to positive critical reviews and strong sales in numerous countries. ABBA Voyage, a concert residency featuring ABBA as virtual avatars, opened in May 2022 in London. ABBA are among the best-selling music artists in history, with record sales estimated to be between 150 million to 385 million sold worldwide and the group were ranked 3rd best-selling singles artists in the United Kingdom with a total of 11.3 million singles sold by 3 November 2012. In May 2023 ABBA were awarded the BRIT Billion Award which celebrates those who have surpassed the milestone of one billion UK streams in their career. ABBA were the first group from a non-English-speaking country to achieve consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Republic of Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are the best-selling Swedish band of all time and the best-selling band originating in continental Europe. ABBA had eight consecutive number-one albums in the UK. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin America and recorded a collection of their hit songs in Spanish. ABBA were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the first recording artists to receive this honour from outside an Anglophonic country. In 2015, their song "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Recording Academy's Grammy Hall of Fame. History 1958–1970: Before ABBA Member origins and collaboration Benny Andersson (born 16 December 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden) became (at age 18) a member of a popular Swedish pop-rock group, the Hep Stars, that performed, among other things, covers of international hits. The Hep Stars were known as "the Swedish Beatles". They also set up Hep House, their equivalent of Apple Corps. Andersson played the keyboard and eventually started writing original songs for his band, many of which became major hits, including "No Response", which hit number three in 1965, and "Sunny Girl", "Wedding", and "Consolation", all of which hit number one in 1966. Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote his first Svensktoppen entry, "Sagan om lilla Sofie" ("The tale of Little Sophie") in 1968. Björn Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden) also began his musical career at the age of 18 (as a singer and guitarist), when he fronted the Hootenanny Singers, a popular Swedish folk–skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing English-language songs for his group and even had a brief solo career alongside. The Hootenanny Singers and the Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring. In June 1966, Ulvaeus and Andersson decided to write a song together. Their first attempt was "Isn't It Easy to Say", a song that was later recorded by the Hep Stars. Stig Anderson was the manager of the Hootenanny Singers and founder of the Polar Music label. He saw potential in the collaboration, and encouraged them to write more. The two also began playing occasionally with the other's bands on stage and on record, although it was not until 1969 that the pair wrote and produced some of their first real hits together: "Ljuva sextital" ("Sweet Sixties"), recorded by Brita Borg, and the Hep Stars' 1969 hit "Speleman" ("Fiddler"). Andersson wrote and submitted the song "Hej, Clown" for Melodifestivalen 1969, the national festival to select the Swedish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. The song tied for first place, but re-voting relegated Andersson's song to second place. On that occasion Andersson briefly met his future spouse, singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who also participated in the contest. A month later, the two had become a couple. As their respective bands began to break up during 1969, Andersson and Ulvaeus teamed up and recorded their first album together in 1970, called Lycka ("Happiness"), which included original songs sung by both men. Their partners were often present in the recording studio, and sometimes added backing vocals; Fältskog even co-wrote a song with the two. Ulvaeus still occasionally recorded and performed with the Hootenanny Singers until the middle of 1974, and Andersson took part in producing their records. Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen in Ballangen, Norway) sang from the age of 13 with various dance bands, and worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. She also formed her own band, the Anni-Frid Four. In the middle of 1967, she won a national talent competition with "En ledig dag" ("A Day Off"), a Swedish version of the bossa nova song "A Day in Portofino", which is included in the EMI compilation Frida 1967–1972. The first prize was a recording contract with EMI Sweden and to perform live on the most popular TV shows in the country. This TV performance, among many others, is included in the -hour documentary Frida – The DVD. Lyngstad released several schlager style singles on EMI with mixed success. When Benny Andersson started to produce her recordings in 1971, she had her first number-one single, "Min egen stad" ("My Own Town"), written by Benny and featuring all the future ABBA members on backing vocals. Lyngstad toured and performed regularly in the folkpark circuit and made appearances on radio and TV. She had a second number-one single with "Man Vill Ju Leva Lite Dessemellan" in late 1972. She had met Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest, and Fältskog during a TV show in early 1968. Lyngstad linked up with her future bandmates in 1969. On 1 March 1969, she participated in the Melodifestival, where she met Andersson for the first time. A few weeks later they met again during a concert tour in southern Sweden and they soon became a couple. Andersson produced her single "Peter Pan" in September 1969—her first collaboration with Benny & Björn, as they had written the song. Andersson would then produce Lyngstad's debut studio album, Frida, which was released in March 1971. Lyngstad also played in several revues and cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 and 1973. After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975, Frida ensam, which included the original Swedish rendition of "Fernando", a hit on the Swedish radio charts before the English version was released by ABBA. Agnetha Fältskog (born 5 April 1950 in Jönköping, Sweden) sang with a local dance band headed by Bernt Enghardt who sent a demo recording of the band to Karl-Gerhard Lundkvist. The demo tape featured a song written and sung by Agnetha: "Jag var så kär" ("I Was So in Love"). Lundkvist was so impressed with her voice that he was convinced she would be a star. After going through considerable effort to locate the singer, he arranged for Agnetha to come to Stockholm and to record two of her own songs. This led to Agnetha at the age of 18 having a number-one record in Sweden with a self-composed song, which later went on to sell over 80,000 copies. She was soon noticed by the critics and songwriters as a talented singer/songwriter of schlager style songs. Fältskog's main inspiration in her early years was singers such as Connie Francis. Along with her own compositions, she recorded covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish folkparks. Most of her biggest hits were self-composed, which was quite unusual for a female singer in the 1960s. Agnetha released four solo LPs between 1968 and 1971. She had many successful singles in the Swedish charts. During filming of a Swedish TV special in May 1969, Fältskog met Ulvaeus and they married on 6 July 1971. Fältskog and Ulvaeus eventually were involved in each other's recording sessions, and soon even Andersson and Lyngstad added backing vocals to Fältskog's third studio album, Som jag är ("As I Am") (1970). In 1972, Fältskog starred as Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar and attracted favourable reviews. Between 1967 and 1975, Fältskog released five studio albums. First live performance and the start of "Festfolket" An attempt at combining their talents occurred in April 1970 when the two couples went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus. What started as singing for fun on the beach ended up as an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on the island. Andersson and Ulvaeus were at this time recording their first album together, Lycka, which was to be released in September 1970. Fältskog and Lyngstad added backing vocals on several tracks during June, and the idea of their working together saw them launch a stage act, "Festfolket" (which translates from Swedish to "Party People" and in pronunciation also "engaged couples"), on 1 November 1970 in Gothenburg. The cabaret show attracted generally negative reviews, except for the performance of the Andersson and Ulvaeus hit "Hej, gamle man" ("Hello, Old Man")–the first Björn and Benny recording to feature all four. They also performed solo numbers from respective albums, but the lukewarm reception convinced the foursome to shelve plans for working together for the time being, and each soon concentrated on individual projects again. First record together "Hej, gamle man" "Hej, gamle man", a song about an old Salvation Army soldier, became the quartet's first hit. The record was credited to Björn & Benny and reached number five on the sales charts and number one on Svensktoppen, staying on the latter chart (which was not a chart linked to sales or airplay) for 15 weeks. It was during 1971 that the four artists began working together more, adding vocals to the others' recordings. Fältskog, Andersson and Ulvaeus toured together in May, while Lyngstad toured on her own. Frequent recording sessions brought the foursome closer together during the summer. 1970–1973: Forming the group After the 1970 release of Lycka, two more singles credited to "Björn & Benny" were released in Sweden, "Det kan ingen doktor hjälpa" ("No Doctor Can Help with That") and "Tänk om jorden vore ung" ("Imagine If Earth Was Young"), with more prominent vocals by Fältskog and Lyngstad–and moderate chart success. Fältskog and Ulvaeus, now married, started performing together with Andersson on a regular basis at the Swedish folkparks in the middle of 1971. Stig Anderson, founder and owner of Polar Music, was determined to break into the mainstream international market with music by Andersson and Ulvaeus. "One day the pair of you will write a song that becomes a worldwide hit," he predicted. Stig Anderson encouraged Ulvaeus and Andersson to write a song for Melodifestivalen, and after two rejected entries in 1971, Andersson and Ulvaeus submitted their new song "Säg det med en sång" ("Say It with a Song") for the 1972 contest, choosing newcomer Lena Anderson to perform. The song came in third place, encouraging Stig Anderson, and became a hit in Sweden. The first signs of foreign success came as a surprise, as the Andersson and Ulvaeus single "She's My Kind of Girl" was released through Epic Records in Japan in March 1972, giving the duo a Top 10 hit. Two more singles were released in Japan, "En Carousel" ("En Karusell" in Scandinavia, an earlier version of "Merry-Go-Round") and "Love Has Its Ways" (a song they wrote with Kōichi Morita). First hit as Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid Ulvaeus and Andersson persevered with their songwriting and experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements. "People Need Love" was released in June 1972, featuring guest vocals by the women, who were now given much greater prominence. Stig Anderson released it as a single, credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. The song peaked at number 17 in the Swedish combined single and album charts, enough to convince them they were on to something. "People Need Love" also became the first record to chart for the quartet in the United States, where it peaked at number 114 on the Cashbox singles chart and number 117 on the Record World singles chart. Labelled as Björn & Benny (with Svenska Flicka) meaning Swedish Girl, it was released there through Playboy Records. According to Stig Anderson, "People Need Love" could have been a much bigger American hit, but a small label like Playboy Records did not have the distribution resources to meet the demand for the single from retailers and radio programmers. "Ring Ring" In 1973, the band and their manager Stig Anderson decided to have another try at Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Ring Ring". The studio sessions were handled by Michael B. Tretow, who experimented with a "wall of sound" production technique that became a distinctive new sound thereafter associated with ABBA. Stig Anderson arranged an English translation of the lyrics by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and they thought this would be a success. However, on 10 February 1973, the song came third in Melodifestivalen; thus it never reached the Eurovision Song Contest itself. Nevertheless, the group released their debut studio album, also called Ring Ring. The album did well and the "Ring Ring" single was a hit in many parts of Europe and also in South Africa. However, Stig Anderson felt that the true breakthrough could only come with a UK or US hit. When Agnetha Fältskog gave birth to her daughter Linda in 1973, she was replaced for a short period by Inger Brundin on a trip to West Germany. Official naming In 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA (a palindrome). At first, this was a play on words, as Abba is also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in Sweden, and itself an abbreviation. However, since the fish-canners were unknown outside Sweden, Anderson came to believe the name would work in international markets. A competition to find a suitable name for the group was held in a Gothenburg newspaper and it was officially announced in the summer that the group were to be known as "ABBA". The group negotiated with the canners for the rights to the name. Fred Bronson reported for Billboard that Fältskog told him in a 1988 interview that "[ABBA] had to ask permission and the factory said, 'O.K., as long as you don't make us feel ashamed for what you're doing. "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's first name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid, although there has never been any official confirmation of who each letter in the sequence refers to. The earliest known example of "ABBA" written on paper is on a recording session sheet from the Metronome Studio in Stockholm dated 16 October 1973. This was first written as "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida", but was subsequently crossed out with "ABBA" written in large letters on top. Official logo Their official logo, distinct with the backward "B", was designed by Rune Söderqvist, who designed most of ABBA's record sleeves. The ambigram first appeared on the French compilation album, Golden Double Album, released in May 1976 by Disques Vogue, and would henceforth be used for all official releases. The idea for the official logo was made by the German photographer on a velvet jumpsuit photo shoot for the teenage magazine Bravo. In the photo, the ABBA members held giant initial letters of their names. After the pictures were made, Heilemann found out that Benny Andersson reversed his letter "B;" this prompted discussions about the mirrored "B", and the members of ABBA agreed on the mirrored letter. From 1976 onward, the first "B" in the logo version of the name was "mirror-image" reversed on the band's promotional material, thus becoming the group's registered trademark. Following their acquisition of the group's catalogue, PolyGram began using variations of the ABBA logo, employing a different font. In 1992, Polygram added a crown emblem to it for the first release of the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits compilation. After Universal Music purchased PolyGram (and, thus, ABBA's label Polar Music International), control of the group's catalogue returned to Stockholm. Since then, the original logo has been reinstated on all official products. 1973–1976: Breakthrough Eurovision Song Contest 1974 As the group entered the Melodifestivalen with "Ring Ring" but failed to qualify as the 1973 Swedish entry, Stig Anderson immediately started planning for the 1974 contest. Ulvaeus, Andersson and Stig Anderson believed in the possibilities of using the Eurovision Song Contest as a way to make the music business aware of them as songwriters, as well as the band itself. In late 1973, they were invited by Swedish television to contribute a song for the Melodifestivalen 1974 and from a number of new songs, the upbeat song "Waterloo" was chosen; the group were now inspired by the growing glam rock scene in England. ABBA won their nation's hearts on Swedish television on 9 February 1974, and with this third attempt were far more experienced and better prepared for the Eurovision Song Contest. Winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest on 6 April 1974 (and singing "Waterloo" in English instead of their native tongue) gave ABBA the chance to tour Europe and perform on major television shows; thus the band saw the "Waterloo" single chart in many European countries. Following their success at the Eurovision Song Contest, ABBA spent an evening of glory partying in the appropriately named first-floor Napoleon suite of The Grand Brighton Hotel. "Waterloo" was ABBA's first major hit in numerous countries, becoming their first number-one single in nine western and northern European countries, including the big markets of the UK and West Germany, and in South Africa. It also made the top ten in several other countries, including rising to number three in Spain, number four in Australia and France, and number seven in Canada. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, paving the way for their first album and their first trip as a group there. Albeit a short promotional visit, it included their first performance on American television, The Mike Douglas Show. The album Waterloo only peaked at number 145 on the Billboard 200 chart, but received unanimous high praise from the US critics: Los Angeles Times called it "a compelling and fascinating debut album that captures the spirit of mainstream pop quite effectively ... an immensely enjoyable and pleasant project", while Creem characterised it as "a perfect blend of exceptional, lovable compositions". ABBA's follow-up single, "Honey, Honey", peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, reached the top twenty in several other countries, and was a number-two hit in West Germany although it only reached the top 30 in Australia and the US. In the United Kingdom, ABBA's British record label, Epic, decided to re-release a remixed version of "Ring Ring" instead of "Honey, Honey", and a cover version of the latter by Sweet Dreams peaked at number 10. Both records debuted on the UK chart within one week of each other. "Ring Ring" failed to reach the Top 30 in the UK, increasing growing speculation that the group were simply a Eurovision one-hit wonder. Post-Eurovision In November 1974, ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing dates in Denmark, West Germany and Austria. It was not as successful as the band had hoped, since most of the venues did not sell out. Due to a lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a sole concert scheduled in Switzerland. The second leg of the tour, which took them through Scandinavia in January 1975, was very different. They played to full houses everywhere and finally got the reception they had aimed for. Live performances continued in the middle of 1975 when ABBA embarked on a fourteen open-air date tour of Sweden and Finland. Their Stockholm show at the Gröna Lund amusement park had an estimated audience of 19,200. Björn Ulvaeus later said, "If you look at the singles we released straight after Waterloo, we were trying to be more like The Sweet, a semi-glam rock group, which was stupid because we were always a pop group." In late 1974, "So Long" was released as a single in the United Kingdom but it received no airplay from Radio 1 and failed to chart in the UK; the only countries in which it was successful were Austria, Sweden and Germany, reaching the top ten in the first two and number 21 in the latter. In the middle of 1975, ABBA released "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", which again received little airplay on Radio 1, but did manage to climb to number 38 on the UK chart, while making top five in several northern and western European countries, and number one in South Africa. Later that year, the release of their self-titled third studio album ABBA and single "SOS" brought back their chart presence in the UK, where the single hit number six and the album peaked at number 13. "SOS" also became ABBA's second number-one single in Germany, their third in Australia and their first in France, plus reached number two in several other European countries, including Italy. Success was further solidified with "Mamma Mia" reaching number-one in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia and the top two in a few other western and northern European countries. In the United States, both "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "SOS" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the latter picking up the BMI Award along the way as one of the most played songs on American radio in 1975. "Mamma Mia", however, stalled at number 32. In Canada, the three songs rose to number 12, nine and 18, respectively. The success of the group in the United States had until that time been limited to single releases. By early 1976, the group already had four Top 30 singles on the US charts, but the album market proved to be tough to crack. The eponymous ABBA album generated three American hits, but it only peaked at number 165 on the Cashbox album chart and number 174 on the Billboard 200 chart. Opinions were voiced, by Creem in particular, that in the US ABBA had endured "a very sloppy promotional campaign". Nevertheless, the group enjoyed warm reviews from the American press. Cashbox went as far as saying that "there is a recurrent thread of taste and artistry inherent in Abba's marketing, creativity and presentation that makes it almost embarrassing to critique their efforts", while Creem wrote: "SOS is surrounded on this LP by so many good tunes that the mind boggles." In Australia, the airing of the music videos for "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "Mamma Mia" on the nationally broadcast TV pop show Countdown (which premiered in November 1974) saw the band rapidly gain enormous popularity, and Countdown become a key promoter of the group via their distinctive music videos. This started an immense interest for ABBA in Australia, resulting in "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" staying at number one for three weeks, then "SOS" spending a week there, followed by "Mamma Mia" staying there for ten weeks, and the album holding down the number one position for months. The three songs were also successful in nearby New Zealand with the first two topping that chart and the third reaching number two. 1976–1981: Superstardom Greatest Hits and Arrival In March 1976, the band released the compilation album Greatest Hits. It became their first UK number-one album, and also took ABBA into the Top 50 on the US album charts for the first time, eventually selling more than a million copies there. Also included on Greatest Hits was a new single, "Fernando", which went to number-one in at least thirteen countries all over the world, including the UK, Germany, France, Australia, South Africa and Mexico, and the top five in most other significant markets, including, at number four, becoming their biggest hit to date in Canada; the single went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. In Australia, "Fernando" occupied the top position for a then record breaking 14 weeks (and stayed in the chart for 40 weeks), and was the longest-running chart-topper there for over 40 years until it was overtaken by Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" in May 2017. It still remains as one of the best-selling singles of all time in Australia. Also in 1976, the group received its first international prize, with "Fernando" being chosen as the "Best Studio Recording of 1975". In the United States, "Fernando" reached the Top 10 of the Cashbox Top 100 singles chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ABBA's first American number-one single on any chart. At the same time, a compilation named The Very Best of ABBA was released in Germany, becoming a number-one album there whereas the Greatest Hits compilation which followed a few months later ascended to number two in Germany, despite all similarities with The Very Best album. The group's fourth studio album, Arrival, a number-one best-seller in parts of Europe, the UK and Australia, and a number-three hit in Canada and Japan, represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting and studio work, prompting rave reviews from more rock-oriented UK music weeklies such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express, and mostly appreciative notices from US critics. Hit after hit flowed from Arrival: "Money, Money, Money", another number-one in Germany, France, Australia and other countries of western and northern Europe, plus number two in the UK; and, "Knowing Me, Knowing You", ABBA's sixth consecutive German number-one, as well as another UK number-one, plus a top five hit in many other countries, although it was only a number nine hit in Australia and France. The real sensation was the first single, "Dancing Queen", not only topping the charts in loyal markets like the UK, Germany, Sweden, several other western and northern European countries, and Australia, but also reaching number-one in the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union and Japan, and the top ten in France, Spain and Italy. All three songs were number-one hits in Mexico. In South Africa, ABBA had astounding success with each of "Fernando", "Dancing Queen" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" being among the top 20 best-selling singles for 1976–77. In 1977, Arrival was nominated for the inaugural BRIT Award in the category "Best International Album of the Year". By this time ABBA were popular in the UK, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In Frida – The DVD, Lyngstad explains how she and Fältskog developed as singers, as ABBA's recordings grew more complex over the years. The band's mainstream popularity in the United States would remain on a comparatively smaller scale, and "Dancing Queen" became the only Billboard Hot 100 number-one single for ABBA (though it immediately became, and remains to this day, a major gay anthem) with "Knowing Me, Knowing You" later peaking at number seven; "Money, Money, Money", however, had barely charted there or in Canada (where "Knowing Me, Knowing You" had reached number five). They did, however, get three more singles to the number-one position on other Billboard US charts, including Billboard Adult Contemporary and Hot Dance Club Play). Nevertheless, Arrival finally became a true breakthrough release for ABBA on the US album market where it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold by RIAA. European and Australian tour In January 1977, ABBA embarked on their first major tour. The group's status had changed dramatically and they were clearly regarded as superstars. They opened their much anticipated tour in Oslo, Norway, on 28 January, and mounted a lavishly produced spectacle that included a few scenes from their self-written mini-operetta The Girl with the Golden Hair. The concert attracted huge media attention from across Europe and Australia. They continued the tour through Western Europe, visiting Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Essen, Hanover, and Hamburg and ending with shows in the United Kingdom in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and two sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall. Tickets for these two shows were available only by mail application and it was later revealed that the box-office received 3.5 million requests for tickets, enough to fill the venue 580 times. Along with praise ("ABBA turn out to be amazingly successful at reproducing their records", wrote Creem), there were complaints that "ABBA performed slickly...but with a zero personality coming across from a total of 16 people on stage" (Melody Maker). One of the Royal Albert Hall concerts was filmed as a reference for the filming of the Australian tour for what became ABBA: The Movie, though it is not exactly known how much of the concert was filmed. After the European leg of the tour, in March 1977, ABBA played 11 dates in Australia before a total of 160,000 people. The opening concert in Sydney at the Sydney Showground on 3 March to an audience of 20,000 was marred by torrential rain with Lyngstad slipping on the wet stage during the concert. However, all four members would later recall this concert as the most memorable of their career. Upon their arrival in Melbourne, a civic reception was held at the Melbourne Town Hall and ABBA appeared on the balcony to greet an enthusiastic crowd of 6,000. In Melbourne, the group gave three concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with 14,500 at each including the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and his family. At the first Melbourne concert, an additional 16,000 people gathered outside the fenced-off area to listen to the concert. In Adelaide, the group performed one concert at Football Park in front of 20,000 people, with another 10,000 listening outside. During the first of five concerts in Perth, there was a bomb scare with everyone having to evacuate the Entertainment Centre. The trip was accompanied by mass hysteria and unprecedented media attention ("Swedish ABBA stirs box-office in Down Under tour...and the media coverage of the quartet rivals that set to cover the upcoming Royal tour of Australia", wrote Variety), and is captured on film in ABBA: The Movie, directed by Lasse Hallström. The Australian tour and its subsequent ABBA: The Movie produced some ABBA lore, as well. Fältskog's blonde good looks had long made her the band's "pin-up girl", a role she disdained. During the Australian tour, she performed in a skin-tight white jumpsuit, causing one Australian newspaper to use the headline "Agnetha's bottom tops dull show". When asked about this at a news conference, she replied: "Don't they have bottoms in Australia?" ABBA: The Album In December 1977, ABBA followed up Arrival with the more ambitious fifth album, ABBA: The Album, released to coincide with the debut of ABBA: The Movie. Although the album was less well received by UK reviewers, it did spawn more worldwide hits: "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me", which both topped the UK charts and racked up impressive sales in most countries, although "The Name of the Game" was generally the more successful in the Nordic countries and Down Under, while "Take a Chance on Me" was more successful in North America and the German-speaking countries. "The Name of the Game" was a number two hit in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden while also making the Top 5 in Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Australia, while only peaking at numbers 10, 12 and 15 in Mexico, the US and Canada. "Take a Chance on Me" was a number one hit in Austria, Belgium and Mexico, made the Top 3 in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, while only reaching numbers 12 and 14 in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Both songs were Top 10 hits in countries as far afield as Rhodesia and South Africa, as well as in France. Although "Take a Chance on Me" did not top the American charts, it proved to be ABBA's biggest hit single there, selling more copies than "Dancing Queen". The drop in sales in Australia was felt to be inevitable by industry observers as an "Abba-Fever" that had existed there for almost three years could only last so long as adolescents would naturally begin to move away from a group so deified by both their parents and grandparents. A third single, "Eagle", was released in continental Europe and Down Under becoming a number one hit in Belgium and a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and South Africa, but barely charting Down Under. The B-side of "Eagle" was "Thank You for the Music", and it was belatedly released as an A-side single in both the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1983. "Thank You for the Music" has become one of the best loved and best known ABBA songs without being released as a single during the group's lifetime. ABBA: The Album topped the album charts in the UK, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, while ascending to the Top 5 in Australia, Germany, Austria, Finland and Rhodesia, and making the Top 10 in Canada and Japan. Sources also indicate that sales in Poland exceeded 1 million copies and that sales demand in Russia could not be met by the supply available. The album peaked at number 14 in the US. Polar Music Studio formation By 1978, ABBA were one of the biggest bands in the world. They converted a vacant cinema into the Polar Music Studio, a state-of-the-art studio in Stockholm. The studio was used by several other bands; notably Genesis' Duke, Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door and Scorpions's Lovedrive were recorded there. During May 1978, the group went to the United States for a promotional campaign, performing alongside Andy Gibb on Olivia Newton-John's TV show. Recording sessions for the single "Summer Night City" were an uphill struggle, but upon release the song became another hit for the group. The track would set the stage for ABBA's foray into disco with their next album. On 9 January 1979, the group performed "Chiquitita" at the Music for UNICEF Concert held at the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the Child. ABBA donated the copyright of this worldwide hit to the UNICEF; see Music for UNICEF Concert. The single was released the following week, and reached number-one in ten countries. North American and European tours In mid-January 1979, Ulvaeus and Fältskog announced they were getting divorced. The news caused interest from the media and led to speculation about the band's future. ABBA assured the press and their fan base they were continuing their work as a group and that the divorce would not affect them. Nonetheless, the media continued to confront them with this in interviews. To escape the media swirl and concentrate on their writing, Andersson and Ulvaeus secretly travelled to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, where for two weeks they prepared their next album's songs. The group's sixth studio album, Voulez-Vous, was released in April 1979, with its title track recorded at the famous Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, with the assistance of recording engineer Tom Dowd among others. The album topped the charts across Europe and in Japan and Mexico, hit the Top 10 in Canada and Australia and the Top 20 in the US. While none of the singles from the album reached number one on the UK chart, the lead single, "Chiquitita", and the fourth single, "I Have a Dream", both ascended to number two, and the other two, "Does Your Mother Know" and "Angeleyes" (with "Voulez-Vous", released as a double A-side) both made the top 5. All four singles reached number one in Belgium, although the last three did not chart in Sweden or Norway. "Chiquitita", which was featured in the Music for UNICEF Concert after which ABBA decided to donate half of the royalties from the song to UNICEF, topped the singles charts in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Rhodesia and New Zealand, rose to number two in Sweden, and made the Top 5 in Germany, Austria, Norway and Australia, although it only reached number 29 in the US. "I Have a Dream" was a sizeable hit reaching number one in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria, number three in South Africa, and number four in Germany, although it only reached number 64 in Australia. In Canada, "I Have a Dream" became ABBA's second number one on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart (after "Fernando" hit the top previously) although it did not chart in the US. "Does Your Mother Know", a rare song in which Ulvaeus sings lead vocals, was a Top 5 hit in the Netherlands and Finland, and a Top 10 hit in Germany, Switzerland, Australia, although it only reached number 27 in New Zealand. It did better in North America than "Chiquitita", reaching number 12 in Canada and number 19 in the US, and made the Top 20 in Japan. "Voulez-Vous" was a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands and Switzerland, a Top 20 hit in Germany and Finland, but only peaked in the 80s in Australia, Canada and the US. Also in 1979, the group released their second compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which featured a brand new track: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", which was a Top 3 hit in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Norway, and returned ABBA to the Top 10 in Australia. Greatest Hits Vol. 2 went to number one in the UK, Belgium, Canada and Japan while making the Top 5 in several other countries, but only reaching number 20 in Australia and number 46 in the US. In the Soviet Union during the late 1970s, the group were paid in oil commodities because of an embargo on the rouble. On 13 September 1979, ABBA began ABBA: The Tour at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada, with a full house of 14,000. "The voices of the band, Agnetha's high sauciness combined with round, rich lower tones of Anni-Frid, were excellent...Technically perfect, melodically correct and always in perfect pitch...The soft lower voice of Anni-Frid and the high, edgy vocals of Agnetha were stunning", raved Edmonton Journal. During the next four weeks they played a total of 17 sold-out dates, 13 in the United States and four in Canada. The last scheduled ABBA concert in the United States in Washington, D.C. was cancelled due to emotional distress Fältskog experienced during the flight from New York to Boston. The group's private plane was subjected to extreme weather conditions and was unable to land for an extended period. They appeared at the Boston Music Hall for the performance 90 minutes late. The tour ended with a show in Toronto, Canada at Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd of 18,000. "ABBA plays with surprising power and volume; but although they are loud, they're also clear, which does justice to the signature vocal sound... Anyone who's been waiting five years to see Abba will be well satisfied", wrote Record World. On 19 October 1979, the tour resumed in Western Europe where the band played 23 sold-out gigs, including six sold-out nights at London's Wembley Arena. Progression In March 1980, ABBA travelled to Japan where upon their arrival at Narita International Airport, they were besieged by thousands of fans. The group performed eleven concerts to full houses, including six shows at Tokyo's Budokan. This tour was the last "on the road" adventure of their career. In July 1980, ABBA released the single "The Winner Takes It All", the group's eighth UK chart topper (and their first since 1978). The song is widely misunderstood as being written about Ulvaeus and Fältskog's marital tribulations; Ulvaeus wrote the lyrics, but has stated they were not about his own divorce; Fältskog has repeatedly stated she was not the loser in their divorce. In the United States, the single peaked at number-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became ABBA's second Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one. It was also re-recorded by Andersson and Ulvaeus with a slightly different backing track, by French chanteuse Mireille Mathieu at the end of 1980 – as "Bravo tu as gagné", with French lyrics by Alain Boublil. In November 1980, ABBA's seventh album Super Trouper was released, which reflected a certain change in ABBA's style with more prominent use of synthesizers and increasingly personal lyrics. It set a record for the most pre-orders ever received for a UK album after one million copies were ordered before release. The second single from the album, "Super Trouper", also hit number-one in the UK, becoming the group's ninth and final UK chart-topper. Another track from the album, "Lay All Your Love on Me", released in 1981 as a Twelve-inch single only in selected territories, managed to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and peaked at number-seven on the UK singles chart becoming, at the time, the highest ever charting 12-inch release in UK chart history. Also in 1980, ABBA recorded a compilation of Spanish-language versions of their hits called Gracias Por La Música. This was released in Spanish-speaking countries as well as in Japan and Australia. The album became a major success, and along with the Spanish version of "Chiquitita", this signalled the group's breakthrough in Latin America. ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos, the Spanish equivalent of ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, was released in 1999. 1981–1982: The Visitors and later performances In January 1981, Ulvaeus married Lena Källersjö, and manager Stig Anderson celebrated his 50th birthday with a party. For this occasion, ABBA recorded the track "Hovas Vittne" (a pun on the Swedish name for Jehovah's Witness and Anderson's birthplace, Hova) as a tribute to him, and released it only on 200 red vinyl copies, to be distributed to the guests attending the party. This single has become a sought-after collectable. In mid-February 1981, Andersson and Lyngstad announced they were filing for divorce. Information surfaced that their marriage had been an uphill struggle for years, and Benny had already met another woman, Mona Nörklit, whom he married in November 1981. Andersson and Ulvaeus had songwriting sessions in early 1981, and recording sessions began in mid-March. At the end of April, the group recorded a TV special, Dick Cavett Meets ABBA with the US talk show host Dick Cavett. The Visitors, ABBA's eighth studio album, showed a songwriting maturity and depth of feeling distinctly lacking from their earlier recordings but still placing the band squarely in the pop genre, with catchy tunes and harmonies. Although not revealed at the time of its release, the album's title track, according to Ulvaeus, refers to the secret meetings held against the approval of totalitarian governments in Soviet-dominated states, while other tracks address topics like failed relationships, the threat of war, ageing, and loss of innocence. The album's only major single release, "One of Us", proved to be the last of ABBA's nine number-one singles in Germany, this being in December 1981; and the swansong of their sixteen Top 5 singles on the South African chart. "One of Us" was also ABBA's final Top 3 hit in the UK, reaching number-three on the UK Singles Chart. Although it topped the album charts across most of Europe, including Ireland, the UK and Germany, The Visitors was not as commercially successful as its predecessors, showing a commercial decline in previously loyal markets such as France, Australia and Japan. A track from the album, "When All Is Said and Done", was released as a single in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and fittingly became ABBA's final Top 40 hit in the US (debuting on the US charts on 31 December 1981), while also reaching the US Adult Contemporary Top 10, and number-four on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. The song's lyrics, as with "The Winner Takes It All" and "One of Us", dealt with the painful experience of separating from a long-term partner, though it looked at the trauma more optimistically. With the now publicised story of Andersson and Lyngstad's divorce, speculation increased of tension within the band. Also released in the United States was the title track of The Visitors, which hit the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Later recording sessions In the spring of 1982, songwriting sessions had started and the group came together for more recordings. Plans were not completely clear, but a new album was discussed and the prospect of a small tour suggested. The recording sessions in May and June 1982 were a struggle, and only three songs were eventually recorded: "You Owe Me One", "I Am the City" and "Just Like That". Andersson and Ulvaeus were not satisfied with the outcome, so the tapes were shelved and the group took a break for the summer. Back in the studio again in early August, the group had changed plans for the rest of the year: they settled for a Christmas release of a double album compilation of all their past single releases to be named The Singles: The First Ten Years. New songwriting and recording sessions took place, and during October and December, they released the singles "The Day Before You Came"/"Cassandra" and "Under Attack"/"You Owe Me One", the A-sides of which were included on the compilation album. Neither single made the Top 20 in the United Kingdom, though "The Day Before You Came" became a Top 5 hit in many European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The album went to number one in the UK and Belgium, Top 5 in the Netherlands and Germany and Top 20 in many other countries. "Under Attack", the group's final release before disbanding, was a Top 5 hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. "I Am the City" and "Just Like That" were left unreleased on The Singles: The First Ten Years for possible inclusion on the next projected studio album, though this never came to fruition. "I Am the City" was eventually released on the compilation album More ABBA Gold in 1993, while "Just Like That" has been recycled in new songs with other artists produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus. A reworked version of the verses ended up in the musical Chess. The chorus section of "Just Like That" was eventually released on a retrospective box set in 1994, as well as in the ABBA Undeleted medley featured on disc 9 of The Complete Studio Recordings. Despite a number of requests from fans, Ulvaeus and Andersson are still refusing to release ABBA's version of "Just Like That" in its entirety, even though the complete version has surfaced on bootlegs. The group travelled to London to promote The Singles: The First Ten Years in the first week of November 1982, appearing on Saturday Superstore and The Late, Late Breakfast Show, and also to West Germany in the second week, to perform on Show Express. On 19 November 1982, ABBA appeared for the last time in Sweden on the TV programme Nöjesmaskinen, and on 11 December 1982, they made their last performance ever, transmitted to the UK on Noel Edmonds' The Late, Late Breakfast Show, through a live link from a TV studio in Stockholm. Later performances Andersson and Ulvaeus began collaborating with Tim Rice in early 1983 on writing songs for the musical project Chess, while Fältskog and Lyngstad both concentrated on international solo careers. While Andersson and Ulvaeus were working on the musical, a further co-operation among the three of them came with the musical Abbacadabra that was produced in France for television. It was a children's musical using 14 ABBA songs. Alain and Daniel Boublil, who wrote Les Misérables, had been in touch with Stig Anderson about the project, and the TV musical was aired over Christmas on French TV and later a Dutch version was also broadcast. Boublil previously also wrote the French lyric for Mireille Mathieu's version of "The Winner Takes It All". Lyngstad, who had recently moved to Paris, participated in the French version, and recorded a single, "Belle", a duet with French singer Daniel Balavoine. The song was a cover of ABBA's 1976 instrumental track "Arrival". As the single "Belle" sold well in France, Cameron Mackintosh wanted to stage an English-language version of the show in London, with the French lyrics translated by David Wood and Don Black; Andersson and Ulvaeus got involved in the project, and contributed with one new song, "I Am the Seeker". "Abbacadabra" premiered on 8 December 1983 at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, to mixed reviews and full houses for eight weeks, closing on 21 January 1984. Lyngstad was also involved in this production, recording "Belle" in English as "Time", a duet with actor and singer B. A. Robertson: the single sold well, and was produced and recorded by Mike Batt. In May 1984, Lyngstad performed "I Have a Dream" with a children's choir at the United Nations Organisation Gala, in Geneva, Switzerland. All four members made their (at the time, final) public appearance as four friends more than as ABBA in January 1986, when they recorded a video of themselves performing an acoustic version of "Tivedshambo" (which was the first song written by their manager Stig Anderson), for a Swedish TV show honouring Anderson on his 55th birthday. The four had not seen each other for more than two years. That same year they also performed privately at another friend's 40th birthday: their old tour manager, Claes af Geijerstam. They sang a self-written song titled "Der Kleine Franz" that was later to resurface in Chess. Also in 1986, ABBA Live was released, featuring selections of live performances from the group's 1977 and 1979 tours. The four members were guests at the 50th birthday of Görel Hanser in 1999. Hanser was a long-time friend of all four, and also former secretary of Stig Anderson. Honouring Görel, ABBA performed a Swedish birthday song "Med en enkel tulipan" a cappella. Andersson has on several occasions performed ABBA songs. In June 1992, he and Ulvaeus appeared with U2 at a Stockholm concert, singing the chorus of "Dancing Queen", and a few years later during the final performance of the B & B in Concert in Stockholm, Andersson joined the cast for an encore at the piano. Andersson frequently adds an ABBA song to the playlist when he performs with his BAO band. He also played the piano during new recordings of the ABBA songs "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" with opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter, and "When All Is Said and Done" with Swede Viktoria Tolstoy. In 2002, Andersson and Ulvaeus both performed an a cappella rendition of the first verse of "Fernando" as they accepted their Ivor Novello award in London. Lyngstad performed and recorded an a cappella version of "Dancing Queen" with the Swedish group the Real Group in 1993, and also re-recorded "I Have a Dream" with Swiss singer Dan Daniell in 2003. Break and reunion ABBA never officially announced the end of the group or an indefinite break, but it was long considered dissolved after their final public performance together in 1982. Their final public performance together as ABBA before their 2016 reunion was on the British TV programme The Late, Late Breakfast Show (live from Stockholm) on 11 December 1982. While reminiscing on "The Day Before You Came", Ulvaeus said: "we might have continued for a while longer if that had been a number one". In January 1983, Fältskog started recording sessions for a solo album, as Lyngstad had successfully released her album Something's Going On some months earlier. Ulvaeus and Andersson, meanwhile, started songwriting sessions for the musical Chess. In interviews at the time, Björn and Benny denied the split of ABBA ("Who are we without our ladies? Initials of Brigitte Bardot?"), and Lyngstad and Fältskog kept claiming in interviews that ABBA would come together for a new album repeatedly during 1983 and 1984. Internal strife between the group and their manager escalated and the band members sold their shares in Polar Music during 1983. Except for a TV appearance in 1986, the foursome did not come together publicly again until they were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the Mamma Mia! movie on 4 July 2008. The individual members' endeavours shortly before and after their final public performance coupled with the collapse of both marriages and the lack of significant activity in the following few years after that widely suggested that the group had broken up. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph following the premiere, Ulvaeus and Andersson said that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage again. Ulvaeus said: "We will never appear on stage again. [...] There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head." However, on 3 January 2011, Fältskog, long considered to be the most reclusive member of the group and a major obstacle to any reunion, raised the possibility of reuniting for a one-off engagement. She admitted that she has not yet brought the idea up to the other three members. In April 2013, she reiterated her hopes for reunion during an interview with Die Zeit, stating: "If they ask me, I'll say yes." In a May 2013 interview, Fältskog, aged 63 at the time, stated that an ABBA reunion would never occur: "I think we have to accept that it will not happen, because we are too old and each one of us has their own life. Too many years have gone by since we stopped, and there's really no meaning in putting us together again". Fältskog further explained that the band members remained on amicable terms: "It's always nice to see each other now and then and to talk a little and to be a little nostalgic." In an April 2014 interview, Fältskog, when asked about whether the band might reunite for a new recording said: "It's difficult to talk about this because then all the news stories will be: 'ABBA is going to record another song!' But as long as we can sing and play, then why not? I would love to, but it's up to Björn and Benny." Resurgence of public interest The same year the members of ABBA went their separate ways, the French production of a "tribute" show (a children's TV musical named Abbacadabra using 14 ABBA songs) spawned new interest in the group's music. After receiving little attention during the mid-to-late-1980s, ABBA's music experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s due to the UK synth-pop duo Erasure, who released Abba-esque, a four track extended play release featuring cover versions of ABBA songs which topped several European charts in 1992. As U2 arrived in Stockholm for a concert in June of that year, the band paid homage to ABBA by inviting Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to join them on stage for a rendition of "Dancing Queen", playing guitar and keyboards. September 1992 saw the release of ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, a new compilation album. The single "Dancing Queen" received radio airplay in the UK in the middle of 1992 to promote the album. The song returned to the Top 20 of the UK singles chart in August that year, this time peaking at number 16. With sales of 30 million, Gold is the best-selling ABBA album, as well as one of the best-selling albums worldwide. With sales of 5.5 million copies it is the second-highest selling album of all time in the UK, after Queen's Greatest Hits. More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits, a follow-up to Gold, was released in 1993. In 1994, two Australian cult films caught the attention of the world's media, both focusing on admiration for ABBA: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel's Wedding. The same year, Thank You for the Music, a four-disc box set comprising all the group's hits and stand-out album tracks, was released with the involvement of all four members. "By the end of the twentieth century," American critic Chuck Klosterman wrote a decade later, "it was far more contrarian to hate ABBA than to love them." ABBA were soon recognised and embraced by other acts: Evan Dando of the Lemonheads recorded a cover version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You"; Sinéad O'Connor and Boyzone's Stephen Gately have recorded "Chiquitita"; Tanita Tikaram, Blancmange and Steven Wilson paid tribute to "The Day Before You Came". Cliff Richard covered "Lay All Your Love on Me", while Dionne Warwick, Peter Cetera, Frank Sidebottom and Celebrity Skin recorded their versions of "SOS". US alternative-rock musician Marshall Crenshaw has also been known to play a version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" in concert appearances, while legendary English Latin pop songwriter Richard Daniel Roman has recognised ABBA as a major influence. Swedish metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen covered "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" with slightly altered lyrics. Two different compilation albums of ABBA songs have been released. ABBA: A Tribute coincided with the 25th anniversary celebration and featured 17 songs, some of which were recorded especially for this release. Notable tracks include Go West's "One of Us", Army of Lovers "Hasta Mañana", Information Society's "Lay All Your Love on Me", Erasure's "Take a Chance on Me" (with MC Kinky), and Lyngstad's a cappella duet with the Real Group of "Dancing Queen". A second 12-track album was released in 1999, titled ABBAmania, with proceeds going to the Youth Music charity in England. It featured all new cover versions: notable tracks were by Madness ("Money, Money, Money"), Culture Club ("Voulez-Vous"), the Corrs ("The Winner Takes It All"), Steps ("Lay All Your Love on Me", "I Know Him So Well"), and a medley titled "Thank ABBA for the Music" performed by several artists and as featured on the Brits Awards that same year. In 1998, an ABBA tribute group was formed, the ABBA Teens, which was subsequently renamed the A-Teens to allow the group some independence. The group's first album, The ABBA Generation, consisting solely of ABBA covers reimagined as 1990s pop songs, was a worldwide success and so were subsequent albums. The group disbanded in 2004 due to a gruelling schedule and intentions to go solo. In Sweden, the growing recognition of the legacy of Andersson and Ulvaeus resulted in the 1998 B & B Concerts, a tribute concert (with Swedish singers who had worked with the songwriters through the years) showcasing not only their ABBA years, but hits both before and after ABBA. The concert was a success, and was ultimately released on CD. It later toured Scandinavia and even went to Beijing in the People's Republic of China for two concerts. In 2000 ABBA were reported to have turned down an offer of approximately one billion US dollars to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. For the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, staged in Istanbul 30 years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, all four members made cameo appearances in a special comedy video made for the interval act, titled Our Last Video Ever. Other well-known stars such as Rik Mayall, Cher and Iron Maiden's Eddie also made appearances in the video. It was not included in the official DVD release of the 2004 Eurovision contest, but was issued as a separate DVD release, retitled The Last Video at the request of the former ABBA members. The video was made using puppet models of the members of the band. The video has surpassed 13 million views on YouTube as of November 2020. In 2005, all four members of ABBA appeared at the Stockholm premiere of the musical Mamma Mia!. On 22 October 2005, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. In the same month, American singer Madonna released the single "Hung Up", which contains a sample of the keyboard melody from ABBA's 1979 song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"; the song was a smash hit, peaking at number one in at least 50 countries. On 4 July 2008, all four ABBA members were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the film Mamma Mia!. It was only the second time all of them had appeared together in public since 1986. During the appearance, they re-emphasised that they intended never to officially reunite, citing the opinion of Robert Plant that the re-formed Led Zeppelin was more like a cover band of itself than the original band. Ulvaeus stated that he wanted the band to be remembered as they were during the peak years of their success. Gold returned to number-one in the UK album charts for the fifth time on 3 August 2008. On 14 August 2008, the Mamma Mia! The Movie film soundtrack went to number-one on the US Billboard charts, ABBA's first US chart-topping album. During the band's heyday, the highest album chart position they had ever achieved in America was number 14. In November 2008, all eight studio albums, together with a ninth of rare tracks, were released as The Albums. It hit several charts, peaking at number-four in Sweden and reaching the Top 10 in several other European territories. In 2008, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in collaboration with Universal Music Group Sweden AB, released SingStar ABBA on both the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 games consoles, as part of the SingStar music video games. The PS2 version features 20 ABBA songs, while 25 songs feature on the PS3 version. On 22 January 2009, Fältskog and Lyngstad appeared together on stage to receive the Swedish music award "Rockbjörnen" (for "lifetime achievement"). In an interview, the two women expressed their gratitude for the honorary award and thanked their fans. On 25 November 2009, PRS for Music announced that the British public voted ABBA as the band they would most like to see re-form. On 27 January 2010, ABBAWORLD, a 25-room touring exhibition featuring interactive and audiovisual activities, debuted at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. According to the exhibition's website, ABBAWORLD is "approved and fully supported" by the band members. "Mamma Mia" was released as one of the first few non-premium song selections for the online RPG game Bandmaster. On 17 May 2011, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" was added as a non-premium song selection for the Bandmaster Philippines server. On 15 November 2011, Ubisoft released a dancing game called ABBA: You Can Dance for the Wii. In January 2012, Universal Music announced the re-release of ABBA's final album The Visitors, featuring a previously unheard track "From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel". A book titled ABBA: The Official Photo Book was published in early 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's Eurovision victory. The book reveals that part of the reason for the band's outrageous costumes was that Swedish tax laws at the time allowed the cost of garish outfits that were not suitable for daily wear to be tax deductible. 2016–2022: Reunion, Voyage, and ABBAtars On 20 January 2016, all four members of ABBA made a public appearance at Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm. On 6 June 2016, the quartet appeared together at a private party at Berns Salonger in Stockholm, which was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Andersson and Ulvaeus's first meeting. Fältskog and Lyngstad performed live, singing "The Way Old Friends Do" before they were joined on stage by Andersson and Ulvaeus. British manager Simon Fuller announced in a statement in October 2016 that the group would be reuniting to work on a new "digital entertainment experience". The project would feature the members in their "life-like" avatar form, called ABBAtars, based on their late 1970s tour and would be set to launch by the spring of 2019. In May 2017, a sequel to the 2008 movie Mamma Mia!, titled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was announced; the film was released on 20 July 2018. Cher, who appeared in the movie, also released Dancing Queen, an ABBA cover album, in September 2018. In June 2017, a blue plaque outside Brighton Dome was set to commemorate their 1974 Eurovision win. On 27 April 2018, all four original members of ABBA made a joint announcement that they had recorded two new songs, titled "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", to feature in a TV special set to air later that year. In September 2018, Ulvaeus stated that the two new songs, as well as the TV special, now called ABBA: Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute, would not be released until 2019. The TV special was later revealed to be scrapped by 2018, as Andersson and Ulvaeus rejected Fuller's project, and instead partnered with visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic to prepare the ABBAtars for a music video and a concert. In January 2019, it was revealed that neither song would be released before the summer. Andersson hinted at the possibility of a third song. In June 2019, Ulvaeus announced that the first new song and video containing the ABBAtars would be released in November 2019. In September, he stated in an interview that there were now five new ABBA songs to be released in 2020. In early 2020, Andersson confirmed that he was aiming for the songs to be released in September 2020. In April 2020, Ulvaeus gave an interview saying that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the avatar project had been delayed. Five out of the eight original songs written by Benny for the new album had been recorded by the two female members, and the release of a new £15 million music video with new unseen technology was under consideration. In May 2020, it was announced that ABBA's entire studio discography would be released on coloured vinyl for the first time, in a box set titled ABBA: The Studio Albums. In July 2020, Ulvaeus revealed that the release of the new ABBA recordings had been delayed until 2021. On 22 September 2020, all four ABBA members reunited at Ealing Studios in London to continue working on the avatar project and filming for the tour. Ulvaeus confirmed that the avatar tour would be scheduled for 2022. When questioned if the new recordings were definitely coming out in 2021, Björn said "There will be new music this year, that is definite, it's not a case anymore of it might happen, it will happen." On 26 August 2021, a new website was launched, with the title ABBA Voyage. On the page, visitors were prompted to subscribe "to be the first in line to hear more about ABBA Voyage". Simultaneously with the launch of the webpage, new ABBA Voyage social media accounts were launched, and billboards around London started to appear, all showing the date "02.09.21", leading to expectation of what was to be revealed on that date. On 29 August, the band officially joined TikTok with a video of Benny Andersson playing "Dancing Queen" on the piano, and media reported on a new album to be announced on 2 September. On that date, Voyage, their first new album in 40 years, was announced to be released on 5 November 2021, along with ABBA Voyage, a concert residency in a custom-built venue at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London featuring the motion capture digital avatars of the four band members alongside a 10-piece live band, starting 27 May 2022. Fältskog stated that the Voyage album and tour are likely to be their last. The announcement of the new album was accompanied by the release of the singles "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down". The music video for "I Still Have Faith in You", featuring footage of the band during their performing years and a first look at the ABBAtars, earned over a million views in its first three hours. "Don't Shut Me Down" became the first ABBA release since October 1978 to top the singles chart in Sweden. In October 2021, the third single "Just a Notion" was released, and it was announced that ABBA would split for good after the release of Voyage. However, in an interview with BBC Radio 2 on 11 November, Lyngstad stated "don't be too sure" that Voyage is the final ABBA album. Also, in an interview with BBC News on 5 November, Andersson stated "if they [the ladies] twist my arm I might change my mind." The fourth single from the album, "Little Things", was released on 3 December. In May 2022, after the premiere of ABBA Voyage, Andersson stated in an interview with Variety that "nothing is going to happen after this", confirming the residency as ABBA's final group collaboration. In April 2023, longtime ABBA guitarist Lasse Wellander died at the age of 70; Wellander played on seven of the group's nine studio albums, including Voyage. Artistry Recording process ABBA were perfectionists in the studio, working on tracks until they got them right rather than leaving them to come back to later on. They spent the bulk of their time within the studio; in separate 2021 interviews Ulvaeus stated they may have toured for only 6 months while Andersson said they played fewer than 100 shows during the band's career. The band created a basic rhythm track with a drummer, guitarist and bass player, and overlaid other arrangements and instruments. Vocals were then added, and orchestra overdubs were usually left until last. Fältskog and Lyngstad contributed ideas at the studio stage. Andersson and Ulvaeus played them the backing tracks and they made comments and suggestions. According to Fältskog, she and Lyngstad had the final say in how the lyrics were shaped. After vocals and overdubs were done, the band took up to five days to mix a song. Fashion, style, videos, advertising campaigns ABBA was widely noted for the colourful and trend-setting costumes its members wore. The reason for the wild costumes was Swedish tax law: the cost of the clothes was deductible only if they could not be worn other than for performances. In their early years, group member Anni-Frid Lyngstad designed and even hand sewed the outfits. Later, as their success grew, they used professional theatrical clothes designer Owe Sandström together with tailor Lars Wigenius with Lyngstad continuing to suggest ideas while co-ordinating the outfits with concert set designs. Choreography by Graham Tainton also contributed to their performance style. The videos that accompanied some of the band's biggest hits are often cited as being among the earliest examples of the genre. Most of ABBA's videos (and ABBA: The Movie) were directed by Lasse Hallström, who would later direct the films My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat. ABBA made videos because their songs were hits in many different countries and personal appearances were not always possible. This was also done in an effort to minimise travelling, particularly to countries that would have required extremely long flights. Fältskog and Ulvaeus had two young children and Fältskog, who was also afraid of flying, was very reluctant to leave her children for such a long time. ABBA's manager, Stig Anderson, realised the potential of showing a simple video clip on television to publicise a single or album, thereby allowing easier and quicker exposure than a concert tour. Some of these videos have become classics because of the 1970s-era costumes and early video effects, such as the grouping of the band members in different combinations of pairs, overlapping one singer's profile with the other's full face, and the contrasting of one member against another. In 1976, ABBA participated in an advertising campaign to promote the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s brand, National, in Australia. The campaign was also broadcast in Japan. Five commercial spots, each of approximately one minute, were produced, each presenting the "National Song" performed by ABBA using the melody and instrumental arrangements of "Fernando" and revised lyrics. Political use of ABBA's music In September 2010, band members Andersson and Ulvaeus criticised the right-wing Danish People's Party (DF) for using the ABBA song "Mamma Mia" (with modified lyrics referencing Pia Kjærsgaard) at rallies. The band threatened to file a lawsuit against the DF, saying they never allowed their music to be used politically and that they had absolutely no interest in supporting the party. Their record label Universal Music later said that no legal action would be taken because an agreement had been reached. Success in the United States During their active career, from 1972 to 1982, 20 of ABBA's singles entered the Billboard Hot 100; 14 of these made the Top 40 (13 on the Cashbox Top 100), with 10 making the Top 20 on both charts. A total of four of those singles reached the Top 10, including "Dancing Queen", which reached number one in April 1977. While "Fernando" and "SOS" did not break the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (reaching number 13 and 15 respectively), they did reach the Top 10 on Cashbox ("Fernando") and Record World ("SOS") charts. Both "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me" were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies each. The group also had 12 Top 20 singles on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart with two of them, "Fernando" and "The Winner Takes It All", reaching number one. "Lay All Your Love on Me" was ABBA's fourth number-one single on a Billboard chart, topping the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Ten ABBA albums have made their way into the top half of the Billboard 200 album chart, with eight reaching the Top 50, five reaching the Top 20 and one reaching the Top 10. In November 2021, Voyage became ABBA's highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 peaking at No. 2. Five albums received RIAA gold certification (more than 500,000 copies sold), while three acquired platinum status (selling more than one million copies). The compilation album ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits topped the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in August 2008 (15 years after it was first released in the US in 1993), becoming the group's first number-one album ever on any of the Billboard album charts. It has sold 6 million copies there. On 15 March 2010, ABBA were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bee Gees members Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb. The ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The group were represented by Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson. in November 2021, ABBA received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The single, "I Still Have Faith in You", from the album, Voyage, was their first ever nomination. Neither ABBA nor any of the band members are included in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time " list. Members Agnetha Fältskog – lead and backing vocals Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad – lead and backing vocals Björn Ulvaeus – guitars, lead and backing vocals Benny Andersson – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, accordion, backing and lead vocals The members of ABBA were married as follows: Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus from 1971 to 1979; Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad from 1978 to 1981. For their subsequent marriages, see their articles. In addition to the four members of ABBA, other musicians regularly played on their studio recordings, live appearances and concert performances. These include: Rutger Gunnarsson (1972–1982) bass guitar and string arrangements Ola Brunkert (1972–1981) drums (1972–1980) bass guitar Janne Schaffer (1972–1982) lead electric guitar (1972–1979) drums Malando Gassama (1973–1979) percussion Lasse Wellander (1974–2021) lead electric guitar Anders Eljas (1977) keyboards on tour and all the band's orchestration (1978–1982) percussion (1980–2021) drums Discography Studio albums Ring Ring (1973) Waterloo (1974) ABBA (1975) Arrival (1976) The Album (1977) Voulez-Vous (1979) Super Trouper (1980) The Visitors (1981) Voyage (2021) Tours Concert tours Swedish Folkpark Tour (1973) European Tour (1974–1975) European & Australian Tour (1977) ABBA: The Tour (1979–1980) Concert residencies ABBA Voyage (2022–2024) Awards and nominations See also ABBA: The Museum ABBA City Walks – Stockholm City Museum ABBAMAIL List of ABBA tribute albums List of best-selling music artists List of Swedes in music Music of Sweden Popular music in Sweden Citations References Bibliography Further reading Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Judy Craymer: Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You?: The Inside Story of Mamma Mia! and the Songs of ABBA. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006 Carl Magnus Palm. ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions (1994) Carl Magnus Palm (2000). From "ABBA" to "Mamma Mia!" Elisabeth Vincentelli: ABBA Treasures: A Celebration of the Ultimate Pop Group. Omnibus Press, 2010, Oldham, Andrew, Calder, Tony & Irvin, Colin (1995) "ABBA: The Name of the Game", Potiez, Jean-Marie (2000). ABBA – The Book Simon Sheridan: The Complete ABBA. Titan Books, 2012, Anna Henker (ed.), Astrid Heyde (ed.): Abba – Das Lexikon. Northern Europe Institut, Humboldt-University Berlin, 2015 (German) Steve Harnell (ed.): Classic Pop Presents Abba: A Celebration. Classic Pop Magazine (special edition), November 2016 Documentaries A for ABBA. BBC, 20 July 1993 Thierry Lecuyer, Jean-Marie Potiez: Thank You ABBA. Willow Wil Studios/A2C Video, 1993 Barry Barnes: ABBA − The History. Polar Music International AB, 1999 Chris Hunt: The Winner Takes it All − The ABBA Story. Littlestar Services/lambic Productions, 1999 Steve Cole, Chris Hunt: Super Troupers − Thirty Years of ABBA. BBC, 2004 The Joy of ABBA. BBC 4, 27 December 2013 (BBC page) Carl Magnus Palm, Roger Backlund: ABBA – When Four Became One. SVT, 2 January 2012 Carl Magnus Palm, Roger Backlund: ABBA – Absolute Image. SVT, 2 January 2012 ABBA – Bang a boomerang. ABC 1, 30 January 2013 (ABC page) ABBA: When All Is Said and Done, 2017 . Sunday Night (7 News), 1 October 2019 External links The Secret Majesty of ABBA. Variety, 22 July 2018 ABBA's Essential, Influential Melancholy. NPR, 23 May 2015 What's Behind ABBA's Staying Power?. Smithsonian, 20 July 2018 ABBA – The Articles – ABBA news from throughout the world 1972 establishments in Sweden Atlantic Records artists English-language singers from Sweden Epic Records artists Eurodisco groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Sweden Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners Melodifestivalen contestants Melodifestivalen winners Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups from Stockholm Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Swedish musical quartets Palindromes RCA Records artists Schlager groups Swedish dance music groups Swedish pop music groups Swedish pop rock music groups Swedish-language singers Swedish co-ed groups German-language singers French-language singers

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna%20Kournikova

Anna Kournikova

Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American television personality. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google Search. Despite never winning a singles title, she reached No. 8 in the world in 2000. She achieved greater success playing doubles, where she was at times the world No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002, and the WTA Championships in 1999 and 2000. They referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis". Kournikova retired from professional tennis in 2003 due to serious back and spinal problems, including a herniated disk. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and played in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis before the team folded in 2011. She was a new trainer for season 12 of the television show The Biggest Loser, replacing Jillian Michaels, but did not return for season 13. In addition to her tennis and television work, Kournikova serves as a Global Ambassador for Population Services International's "Five & Alive" program, which addresses health crises facing children under the age of five and their families. Early life Kournikova was born in Moscow, Russia, on 7 June 1981. Her father, Sergei Kournikov (born 1961), a former Greco-Roman wrestling champion, eventually earned a PhD and was a professor at the University of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow. As of 2001, he was still a part-time martial arts instructor there. Her mother Alla (born 1963) had been a 400-metre runner. Her younger half-brother, Allan, is a youth golf world champion who was featured in the 2013 documentary film The Short Game. Sergei Kournikov has said, "We were young and we liked the clean, physical life, so Anna was in a good environment for sport from the beginning". Kournikova received her first tennis racquet as a New Year gift in 1986 at the age of five. Describing her early regimen, she said, "I played two times a week from age six. It was a children's program. And it was just for fun; my parents didn't know I was going to play professionally, they just wanted me to do something because I had lots of energy. It was only when I started playing well at seven that I went to a professional academy. I would go to school, and then my parents would take me to the club, and I'd spend the rest of the day there just having fun with the kids." In 1986, Kournikova became a member of the Spartak Tennis Club, coached by Larissa Preobrazhenskaya. In 1989, at the age of eight, Kournikova began appearing in junior tournaments, and by the following year, was attracting attention from tennis scouts across the world. She signed a management deal at age ten and went to Bradenton, Florida, to train at Nick Bollettieri's celebrated tennis academy. Tennis career 1989–1997: early years and breakthrough Following her arrival in the United States, she became prominent on the tennis scene. At the age of 14, she won the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament. In December 1995, she became the youngest player to win the 18-and-under division of the Junior Orange Bowl tennis tournament. By the end of the year, Kournikova was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18 and Junior European Champion U-18. Earlier, in September 1995, Kournikova, still only 14 years of age, debuted in the WTA Tour, when she received a wildcard into the qualifications at the WTA tournament in Moscow, the Moscow Ladies Open, and qualified before losing in the second round of the main draw to third-seeded Sabine Appelmans. She also reached her first WTA Tour doubles final in that debut appearance — partnering with 1995 Wimbledon girls' champion in both singles and doubles Aleksandra Olsza, she lost the title match to Meredith McGrath and Larisa Savchenko-Neiland. In February–March 1996, Kournikova won two ITF titles, in Midland, Michigan and Rockford, Illinois. Still only 14 years of age, in April 1996 she debuted at the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win a match. In 1996, she started playing under a new coach, Ed Nagel. Her six-year association with Nagel was successful. At 15, she made her Grand Slam debut, reaching the fourth round of the 1996 US Open, losing to Steffi Graf, the eventual champion. After this tournament, Kournikova's ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in the Top 100 at No. 69. Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1996, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year, and she was ranked No. 57 in the end of the season. Kournikova entered the 1997 Australian Open as world No. 67, where she lost in the first round to world No. 12, Amanda Coetzer. At the Italian Open, Kournikova lost to Amanda Coetzer in the second round. She reached the semi-finals in the doubles partnering with Elena Likhovtseva, before losing to the sixth seeds Mary Joe Fernández and Patricia Tarabini. At the French Open, Kournikova made it to the third round before losing to world No. 1, Martina Hingis. She also reached the third round in doubles with Likhovtseva. At the Wimbledon Championships, Kournikova became only the second woman in the open era to reach the semi-finals in her Wimbledon debut, the first being Chris Evert in 1972. There she lost to eventual champion Martina Hingis. At the US Open, she lost in the second round to the eleventh seed Irina Spîrlea. Partnering with Likhovtseva, she reached the third round of the women's doubles event. Kournikova played her last WTA Tour event of 1997 at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, losing to Amanda Coetzer in the second round of singles, and in the first round of doubles to Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotná partnering with Likhovtseva. She broke into the top 50 on 19 May, and was ranked No. 32 in singles and No. 41 in doubles at the end of the season. 1998–2000: success and stardom In 1998, Kournikova broke into the WTA's top 20 rankings for the first time, when she was ranked No. 16. At the Australian Open, Kournikova lost in the third round to world No. 1 player, Martina Hingis. She also partnered with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland in women's doubles, and they lost to eventual champions Hingis and Mirjana Lučić in the second round. Although she lost in the second round of the Paris Open to Anke Huber in singles, Kournikova reached her second doubles WTA Tour final, partnering with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland. They lost to Sabine Appelmans and Miriam Oremans. Kournikova and Savchenko-Neiland reached their second consecutive final at the Linz Open, losing to Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat. At the Miami Open, Kournikova reached her first WTA Tour singles final, before losing to Venus Williams in the final. Kournikova then reached two consecutive quarterfinals, at Amelia Island and the Italian Open, losing respectively to Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. At the German Open, she reached the semi-finals in both singles and doubles, partnering with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland. At the French Open Kournikova had her best result at this tournament, making it to the fourth round before losing to Jana Novotná. She also reached her first Grand Slam doubles semi-finals, losing with Savchenko-Neiland to Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva. During her quarterfinals match at the grass-court Eastbourne Open versus Steffi Graf, Kournikova injured her thumb, which would eventually force her to withdraw from the 1998 Wimbledon Championships. However, she won that match, but then withdrew from her semi-finals match against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Kournikova returned for the Du Maurier Open and made it to the third round, before losing to Conchita Martínez. At the US Open Kournikova reached the fourth round before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Her strong year qualified her for the year-end 1998 WTA Tour Championships, but she lost to Monica Seles in the first round. However, with Seles, she won her first WTA doubles title, in Tokyo, beating Mary Joe Fernández and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final. At the end of the season, she was ranked No. 10 in doubles. At the start of the 1999 season, Kournikova advanced to the fourth round in singles at the Australian Open before losing to Mary Pierce. In the doubles Kournikova won her first Grand Slam title, partnering with Martina Hingis to defeat Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva in the final. At the Tier I Family Circle Cup, Kournikova reached her second WTA Tour final, but lost to Martina Hingis. She then defeated Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Patty Schnyder on her route to the Bausch & Lomb Championships semi-finals, losing to Ruxandra Dragomir. At The French Open, Kournikova reached the fourth round before losing to eventual champion Steffi Graf. Once the grass-court season commenced in England, Kournikova lost to Nathalie Tauziat in the semi-finals in Eastbourne. At Wimbledon, Kournikova lost to Venus Williams in the fourth round. She also reached the final in mixed doubles, partnering with Jonas Björkman, but they lost to Leander Paes and Lisa Raymond. Kournikova again qualified for year-end WTA Tour Championships, but lost to Mary Pierce in the first round, and ended the season as World No. 12. While Kournikova had a successful singles season, she was even more successful in doubles. After their victory at the Australian Open, she and Martina Hingis won tournaments in Indian Wells, Rome, Eastbourne and the WTA Tour Championships, and reached the final of The French Open where they lost to Serena and Venus Williams. Partnering with Elena Likhovtseva, Kournikova also reached the final in Stanford. On 22 November 1999 she reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles, and ended the season at this ranking. Kournikova and Hingis were presented with the WTA Award for Doubles Team of the Year. Kournikova opened her 2000 season winning the Gold Coast Open doubles tournament partnering with Julie Halard. She then reached the singles semi-finals at the Medibank International Sydney, losing to Lindsay Davenport. At the Australian Open, she reached the fourth round in singles and the semi-finals in doubles. That season, Kournikova reached eight semi-finals (Sydney, Scottsdale, Stanford, San Diego, Luxembourg, Leipzig and Tour Championships), seven quarterfinals (Gold Coast, Tokyo, Amelia Island, Hamburg, Eastbourne, Zürich and Philadelphia) and one final. On 20 November 2000 she broke into top 10 for the first time, reaching No. 8. She was also ranked No. 4 in doubles at the end of the season. Kournikova was once again, more successful in doubles. She reached the final of the US Open in mixed doubles, partnering with Max Mirnyi, but they lost to Jared Palmer and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. She also won six doubles titles – Gold Coast (with Julie Halard), Hamburg (with Natasha Zvereva), Filderstadt, Zürich, Philadelphia and the Tour Championships (with Martina Hingis). 2001–2003: injuries and final years Her 2001 season was plagued by injuries, including a left foot stress fracture which made her withdraw from 12 tournaments, including the French Open and Wimbledon. She underwent surgery in April. She reached her second career grand slam quarterfinals, at the Australian Open. Kournikova then withdrew from several events due to continuing problems with her left foot and did not return until Leipzig. With Barbara Schett, she won the doubles title in Sydney. She then lost in the finals in Tokyo, partnering with Iroda Tulyaganova, and at San Diego, partnering with Martina Hingis. Hingis and Kournikova also won the Kremlin Cup. At the end of the 2001 season, she was ranked No. 74 in singles and No. 26 in doubles. Kournikova regained some success in 2002. She reached the semi-finals of Auckland, Tokyo, Acapulco and San Diego, and the final of the China Open, losing to Anna Smashnova. This was Kournikova's last singles final. With Martina Hingis, she lost in the final at Sydney, but they won their second Grand Slam title together, the Australian Open. They also lost in the quarterfinals of the US Open. With Chanda Rubin, Kournikova played the semi-finals of Wimbledon, but they lost to Serena and Venus Williams. Partnering with Janet Lee, she won the Shanghai title. At the end of 2002 season, she was ranked No. 35 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. In 2003, Anna Kournikova achieved her first Grand Slam match victory in two years at the Australian Open. She defeated Henrieta Nagyová in the first round, and then lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the 2nd round. She withdrew from Tokyo due to a sprained back suffered at the Australian Open and did not return to Tour until Miami. On 9 April, in what would be the final WTA match of her career, Kournikova dropped out in the first round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, due to a left adductor strain. Her singles world ranking was 67. She reached the semi-finals at the ITF tournament in Sea Island, before withdrawing from a match versus Maria Sharapova due to the adductor injury. She lost in the first round of the ITF tournament in Charlottesville. She did not compete for the rest of the season due to a continuing back injury. At the end of the 2003 season and her professional career, she was ranked No. 305 in singles and No. 176 in doubles. Kournikova's two Grand Slam doubles titles came in 1999 and 2002, both at the Australian Open in the Women's Doubles event with partner Martina Hingis. Kournikova proved a successful doubles player on the professional circuit, winning 16 tournament doubles titles, including two Australian Opens and being a finalist in mixed doubles at the US Open and at Wimbledon, and reaching the No. 1 ranking in doubles in the WTA Tour rankings. Her pro career doubles record was 200–71. However, her singles career plateaued after 1999. For the most part, she managed to retain her ranking between 10 and 15 (her career high singles ranking was No.8), but her expected finals breakthrough failed to occur; she only reached four finals out of 130 singles tournaments, never in a Grand Slam event, and never won one. Her singles record is 209–129. Her final playing years were marred by a string of injuries, especially back injuries, which caused her ranking to erode gradually. As a personality Kournikova was among the most common search strings for both articles and images in her prime. 2004–present: exhibitions and World Team Tennis Kournikova has not played on the WTA Tour since 2003, but still plays exhibition matches for charitable causes. In late 2004, she participated in three events organized by Elton John and by fellow tennis players Serena Williams and Andy Roddick. In January 2005, she played in a doubles charity event for the Indian Ocean tsunami with John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, and Chris Evert. In November 2005, she teamed up with Martina Hingis, playing against Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the WTT finals for charity. Kournikova is also a member of the St. Louis Aces in the World Team Tennis (WTT), playing doubles only. In September 2008, Kournikova showed up for the 2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon held at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California. The Race raised funds for children's Hospital Los Angeles. She won that race for women's K-Swiss team. On 27 September 2008, Kournikova played exhibition mixed doubles matches in Charlotte, North Carolina, partnering with Tim Wilkison and Karel Nováček. Kournikova and Wilkison defeated Jimmy Arias and Chanda Rubin, and then Kournikova and Novacek defeated Rubin and Wilkison. On 12 October 2008, Anna Kournikova played one exhibition match for the annual charity event, hosted by Billie Jean King and Elton John, and raised more than $400,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund. She played doubles with Andy Roddick (they were coached by David Chang) versus Martina Navratilova and Jesse Levine (coached by Billie Jean King); Kournikova and Roddick won. Kournikova was one of "four former world No. 1 players" who participated in "Legendary Night", held on 2 May 2009, at the Turning Stone Event Center in Verona, New York, the others being John McEnroe (who had been No. 1 in both singles and doubles), Tracy Austin and Jim Courier (both of whom who had been No. 1 in singles but not doubles). The exhibition included a mixed doubles match in which McEnroe and Kournikova defeated Courier and Austin. In 2008, she was named a spokesperson for K-Swiss. In 2005, Kournikova stated that if she were 100% fit, she would like to come back and compete again. In June 2010, Kournikova reunited with her doubles partner Martina Hingis to participate in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon. On 29 June 2010 they defeated the British pair Samantha Smith and Anne Hobbs. Playing style Kournikova plays right-handed with a two-handed backhand. She is a great player at the net. She can hit forceful groundstrokes and also drop shots. Her playing style fits the profile for a doubles player, and is complemented by her height. She has been compared to such doubles specialists as Pam Shriver and Peter Fleming. Personal life Kournikova was in a relationship with fellow Russian, Pavel Bure, an NHL ice hockey player. The two met in 1999, when Kournikova was still linked to Bure's former Russian teammate Sergei Fedorov. Bure and Kournikova were reported to have been engaged in 2000 after a reporter took a photo of them together in a Florida restaurant where Bure supposedly asked Kournikova to marry him. As the story made headlines in Russia, where they were both heavily followed in the media as celebrities, Bure and Kournikova both denied any engagement. Kournikova, 10 years younger than Bure, was 18 years old at the time. Fedorov claimed that he and Kournikova were married in 2001, and divorced in 2003. Kournikova's representatives deny any marriage to Fedorov; however, Fedorov's agent Pat Brisson claims that although he does not know when they got married, he knew "Fedorov was married". Kournikova started dating singer Enrique Iglesias in late 2001 after she had appeared in his music video for "Escape". The couple have three children together, fraternal twins, a son and daughter, born on 16 December 2017, and another daughter born on 30 January 2020. It was reported in 2010 that Kournikova had become an American citizen. Media publicity In 2000, Kournikova became the new face for Berlei's shock absorber sports bras, and appeared in the "only the ball should bounce" billboard campaign. Following that, she was cast by the Farrelly brothers for a minor role in the 2000 film Me, Myself & Irene starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Photographs of her have appeared on covers of various publications, including men's magazines, such as one in the much-publicized 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, where she posed in bikinis and swimsuits, as well as in FHM and Maxim. Kournikova was named one of Peoples 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998 and was voted "hottest female athlete" on ESPN.com. In 2002, she also placed first in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World in US and UK editions. By contrast, ESPN – citing the degree of hype as compared to actual accomplishments as a singles player – ranked Kournikova 18th in its "25 Biggest Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years". Kournikova was also ranked No. 1 in the ESPN Classic series "Who's number 1?" when the series featured sport's most overrated athletes. She continued to be the most searched athlete on the Internet through 2008 even though she had retired from the professional tennis circuit years earlier. After slipping from first to sixth among athletes in 2009, she moved back up to third place among athletes in terms of search popularity in 2010. In October 2010, Kournikova headed to NBC's The Biggest Loser where she led the contestants in a tennis-workout challenge. In May 2011, it was announced that Kournikova would join The Biggest Loser as a regular celebrity trainer in season 12. She did not return for season 13. Legacy and influence on popular culture A variation of a White Russian made with skim milk is known as an Anna Kournikova. A video game featuring Kournikova's licensed appearance, titled Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis, was developed by Namco and released for the PlayStation in Japan and Europe in November 1998. A computer virus named after her spread worldwide beginning on 12 February 2001 infecting computers through email in a matter of hours. Career statistics and awards Doubles performance timeline Grand Slam tournament finals Doubles: 3 (2–1) Mixed doubles: 2 (0–2) Awards 1996: WTA Newcomer of the Year 1999: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Martina Hingis) Books Anna Kournikova by Susan Holden (2001) ( / ) Anna Kournikova by Connie Berman (2001) (Women Who Win) ( / ) References External links 1981 births Australian Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Iglesias family ITF World Champions Living people Olympic tennis players for Russia Participants in American reality television series People with acquired American citizenship Russian emigrants to the United States Russian female models Russian models Russian female tennis players Russian socialites Sportspeople from Miami-Dade County, Florida Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players from Moscow WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Agnosticism

Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist." The English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869. His general definition was that "It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what Agnosticism asserts; and, in my opinion, it is all that is essential to Agnosticism." In response to the question "Is Agnosticism in accord with modern science?" Huxley said that "Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern. It simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe." Earlier thinkers, however, had written works that promoted agnostic points of view, such as Sanjaya Belatthaputta, a 5th-century BCE Indian philosopher who expressed agnosticism about any afterlife; and Protagoras, a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher who expressed agnosticism about the existence of "the gods". Defining agnosticism Being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting, objective, testable evidence is not an objective, scientific claim. As such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses, leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a belief as to the truth, or falsehood, of the claim at hand. Karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. According to philosopher William L. Rowe, in this strict sense, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist. George H. Smith, while admitting that the narrow definition of atheist was the common usage definition of that word, and admitting that the broad definition of agnostic was the common usage definition of that word, promoted broadening the definition of atheist and narrowing the definition of agnostic. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism (the view of those who do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity, but claim that the existence of a deity is unknown or inherently unknowable) and agnostic theism (the view of those who believe in the existence of a deity(s), but claim that the existence of a deity is unknown or inherently unknowable). Etymology Agnostic () was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, which rejects all claims of spiritual or mystical knowledge. Early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis (knowledge) to describe "spiritual knowledge". Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular; Huxley used the term in a broader, more abstract sense. Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry. The term Agnostic is also cognate with the Sanskrit word Ajñasi which translates literally to "not knowable", and relates to the ancient Indian philosophical school of Ajñana, which proposes that it is impossible to obtain knowledge of metaphysical nature or ascertain the truth value of philosophical propositions; and even if knowledge was possible, it is useless and disadvantageous for final salvation. In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used the word to mean "not knowable". In technical and marketing literature, "agnostic" can also mean independence from some parameters—for example, "platform agnostic" (referring to cross-platform software) or "hardware-agnostic". Qualifying agnosticism Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume contended that meaningful statements about the universe are always qualified by some degree of doubt. He asserted that the fallibility of human beings means that they cannot obtain absolute certainty except in trivial cases where a statement is true by definition (e.g. tautologies such as "all bachelors are unmarried" or "all triangles have three corners"). Types Strong agnosticism (also called "hard", "closed", "strict", or "permanent agnosticism") The view that the question of the existence or nonexistence of a deity or deities, and the nature of ultimate reality is unknowable by reason of our natural inability to verify any experience with anything but another subjective experience. A strong agnostic would say, "I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, and neither can you." Weak agnosticism (also called "soft", "open", "empirical", "hopeful" or "temporal agnosticism") The view that the existence or nonexistence of any deities is currently unknown but is not necessarily unknowable; therefore, one will withhold judgment until evidence, if any, becomes available. A weak agnostic would say, "I don't know whether any deities exist or not, but maybe one day, if there is evidence, we can find something out." Apathetic agnosticism The view that no amount of debate can prove or disprove the existence of one or more deities, and if one or more deities exist, they do not appear to be concerned about the fate of humans. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on personal human affairs and should be of little interest. An apathetic agnostic would say, "I don't know whether any deity exists or not, and I don't care if any deity exists or not." History Hindu philosophy Throughout the history of Hinduism there has been a strong tradition of philosophic speculation and skepticism. The Rig Veda takes an agnostic view on the fundamental question of how the universe and the gods were created. Nasadiya Sukta (Creation Hymn) in the tenth chapter of the Rig Veda says: Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, and Gödel presented arguments attempting to rationally prove the existence of God. The skeptical empiricism of David Hume, the antinomies of Immanuel Kant, and the existential philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard convinced many later philosophers to abandon these attempts, regarding it impossible to construct any unassailable proof for the existence or non-existence of God. In his 1844 book, Philosophical Fragments, Kierkegaard writes: Hume was Huxley's favourite philosopher, calling him "the Prince of Agnostics". Diderot wrote to his mistress, telling of a visit by Hume to the Baron D'Holbach, and describing how a word for the position that Huxley would later describe as agnosticism did not seem to exist, or at least was not common knowledge, at the time. United Kingdom Charles Darwin Raised in a religious environment, Charles Darwin (1809–1882) studied to be an Anglican clergyman. While eventually doubting parts of his faith, Darwin continued to help in church affairs, even while avoiding church attendance. Darwin stated that it would be "absurd to doubt that a man might be an ardent theist and an evolutionist". Although reticent about his religious views, in 1879 he wrote that "I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. – I think that generally ... an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind." Thomas Henry Huxley Agnostic views are as old as philosophical skepticism, but the terms agnostic and agnosticism were created by Huxley (1825–1895) to sum up his thoughts on contemporary developments of metaphysics about the "unconditioned" (William Hamilton) and the "unknowable" (Herbert Spencer). Though Huxley began to use the term agnostic in 1869, his opinions had taken shape some time before that date. In a letter of September 23, 1860, to Charles Kingsley, Huxley discussed his views extensively: And again, to the same correspondent, May 6, 1863: Of the origin of the name agnostic to describe this attitude, Huxley gave the following account: In 1889, Huxley wrote: William Stewart Ross William Stewart Ross (1844–1906) wrote under the name of Saladin. He was associated with Victorian Freethinkers and the organization the British Secular Union. He edited the Secular Review from 1882; it was renamed Agnostic Journal and Eclectic Review and closed in 1907. Ross championed agnosticism in opposition to the atheism of Charles Bradlaugh as an open-ended spiritual exploration. In Why I am an Agnostic () he claims that agnosticism is "the very reverse of atheism". Bertrand Russell Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) declared Why I Am Not a Christian in 1927, a classic statement of agnosticism. He calls upon his readers to "stand on their own two feet and look fair and square at the world with a fearless attitude and a free intelligence". In 1939, Russell gave a lecture on The existence and nature of God, in which he characterized himself as an atheist. He said: However, later in the same lecture, discussing modern non-anthropomorphic concepts of God, Russell states: In Russell's 1947 pamphlet, Am I An Atheist or an Agnostic? (subtitled A Plea For Tolerance in the Face of New Dogmas), he ruminates on the problem of what to call himself: In his 1953 essay, What Is An Agnostic? Russell states: Later in the essay, Russell adds: Leslie Weatherhead In 1965, Christian theologian Leslie Weatherhead (1893–1976) published The Christian Agnostic, in which he argues: Although radical and unpalatable to conventional theologians, Weatherhead's agnosticism falls far short of Huxley's, and short even of weak agnosticism: United States Robert G. Ingersoll Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899), an Illinois lawyer and politician who evolved into a well-known and sought-after orator in 19th-century America, has been referred to as the "Great Agnostic". In an 1896 lecture titled Why I Am An Agnostic, Ingersoll related why he was an agnostic: In the conclusion of the speech he simply sums up the agnostic position as: In 1885, Ingersoll explained his comparative view of agnosticism and atheism as follows: Bernard Iddings Bell Canon Bernard Iddings Bell (1886–1958), a popular cultural commentator, Episcopal priest, and author, lauded the necessity of agnosticism in Beyond Agnosticism: A Book for Tired Mechanists, calling it the foundation of "all intelligent Christianity". Agnosticism was a temporary mindset in which one rigorously questioned the truths of the age, including the way in which one believed God. His view of Robert Ingersoll and Thomas Paine was that they were not denouncing true Christianity but rather "a gross perversion of it". Part of the misunderstanding stemmed from ignorance of the concepts of God and religion. Historically, a god was any real, perceivable force that ruled the lives of humans and inspired admiration, love, fear, and homage; religion was the practice of it. Ancient peoples worshiped gods with real counterparts, such as Mammon (money and material things), Nabu (rationality), or Ba'al (violent weather); Bell argued that modern peoples were still paying homage—with their lives and their children's lives—to these old gods of wealth, physical appetites, and self-deification. Thus, if one attempted to be agnostic passively, he or she would incidentally join the worship of the world's gods. In Unfashionable Convictions (1931), he criticized the Enlightenment's complete faith in human sensory perception, augmented by scientific instruments, as a means of accurately grasping Reality. Firstly, it was fairly new, an innovation of the Western World, which Aristotle invented and Thomas Aquinas revived among the scientific community. Secondly, the divorce of "pure" science from human experience, as manifested in American Industrialization, had completely altered the environment, often disfiguring it, so as to suggest its insufficiency to human needs. Thirdly, because scientists were constantly producing more data—to the point where no single human could grasp it all at once—it followed that human intelligence was incapable of attaining a complete understanding of universe; therefore, to admit the mysteries of the unobserved universe was to be actually scientific. Bell believed that there were two other ways that humans could perceive and interact with the world. Artistic experience was how one expressed meaning through speaking, writing, painting, gesturing—any sort of communication which shared insight into a human's inner reality. Mystical experience was how one could "read" people and harmonize with them, being what we commonly call love. In summary, man was a scientist, artist, and lover. Without exercising all three, a person became "lopsided". Bell considered a humanist to be a person who cannot rightly ignore the other ways of knowing. However, humanism, like agnosticism, was also temporal, and would eventually lead to either scientific materialism or theism. He lays out the following thesis: Truth cannot be discovered by reasoning on the evidence of scientific data alone. Modern peoples' dissatisfaction with life is the result of depending on such incomplete data. Our ability to reason is not a way to discover Truth but rather a way to organize our knowledge and experiences somewhat sensibly. Without a full, human perception of the world, one's reason tends to lead them in the wrong direction. Beyond what can be measured with scientific tools, there are other types of perception, such as one's ability know another human through loving. One's loves cannot be dissected and logged in a scientific journal, but we know them far better than we know the surface of the sun. They show us an undefinable reality that is nevertheless intimate and personal, and they reveal qualities lovelier and truer than detached facts can provide. To be religious, in the Christian sense, is to live for the Whole of Reality (God) rather than for a small part (gods). Only by treating this Whole of Reality as a person—good and true and perfect—rather than an impersonal force, can we come closer to the Truth. An ultimate Person can be loved, but a cosmic force cannot. A scientist can only discover peripheral truths, but a lover is able to get at the Truth. There are many reasons to believe in God but they are not sufficient for an agnostic to become a theist. It is not enough to believe in an ancient holy book, even though when it is accurately analyzed without bias, it proves to be more trustworthy and admirable than what we are taught in school. Neither is it enough to realize how probable it is that a personal God would have to show human beings how to live, considering they have so much trouble on their own. Nor is it enough to believe for the reason that, throughout history, millions of people have arrived at this Wholeness of Reality only through religious experience. The aforementioned reasons may warm one toward religion, but they fall short of convincing. However, if one presupposes that God is in fact a knowable, loving person, as an experiment, and then lives according that religion, he or she will suddenly come face to face with experiences previously unknown. One's life becomes full, meaningful, and fearless in the face of death. It does not defy reason but exceeds it. Because God has been experienced through love, the orders of prayer, fellowship, and devotion now matter. They create order within one's life, continually renewing the "missing piece" that had previously felt lost. They empower one to be compassionate and humble, not small-minded or arrogant. No truth should be denied outright, but all should be questioned. Science reveals an ever-growing vision of our universe that should not be discounted due to bias toward older understandings. Reason is to be trusted and cultivated. To believe in God is not to forego reason or to deny scientific facts, but to step into the unknown and discover the fullness of life. Demographics Demographic research services normally do not differentiate between various types of non-religious respondents, so agnostics are often classified in the same category as atheists or other non-religious people. A 2010 survey published in Encyclopædia Britannica found that the non-religious people or the agnostics made up about 9.6% of the world's population. A November–December 2006 poll published in the Financial Times gives rates for the United States and five European countries. The rates of agnosticism in the United States were at 14%, while the rates of agnosticism in the European countries surveyed were considerably higher: Italy (20%), Spain (30%), Great Britain (35%), Germany (25%), and France (32%). A study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that about 16% of the world's people, the third largest group after Christianity and Islam, have no religious affiliation. According to a 2012 report by the Pew Research Center, agnostics made up 3.3% of the US adult population. In the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, 55% of agnostic respondents expressed "a belief in God or a universal spirit", whereas 41% stated that they thought that they felt a tension "being non-religious in a society where most people are religious". According to the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 38.9% of Australians have "no religion", a category that includes agnostics. Between 64% and 65% of Japanese and up to 81% of Vietnamese are atheists, agnostics, or do not believe in a god. An official European Union survey reported that 3% of the EU population is unsure about their belief in a god or spirit. Criticism Agnosticism is criticized from a variety of standpoints. Some atheists criticize the use of the term agnosticism as functionally indistinguishable from atheism; this results in frequent criticisms of those who adopt the term as avoiding the atheist label. Theistic Theistic critics claim that agnosticism is impossible in practice, since a person can live only either as if God did not exist (etsi deus non-daretur), or as if God did exist (etsi deus daretur). Christian According to Pope Benedict XVI, strong agnosticism in particular contradicts itself in affirming the power of reason to know scientific truth. He blames the exclusion of reasoning from religion and ethics for dangerous pathologies such as crimes against humanity and ecological disasters. "Agnosticism", said Benedict, "is always the fruit of a refusal of that knowledge which is in fact offered to man ... The knowledge of God has always existed". He asserted that agnosticism is a choice of comfort, pride, dominion, and utility over truth, and is opposed by the following attitudes: the keenest self-criticism, humble listening to the whole of existence, the persistent patience and self-correction of the scientific method, a readiness to be purified by the truth. The Catholic Church sees merit in examining what it calls "partial agnosticism", specifically those systems that "do not aim at constructing a complete philosophy of the unknowable, but at excluding special kinds of truth, notably religious, from the domain of knowledge". However, the Church is historically opposed to a full denial of the capacity of human reason to know God. The Council of the Vatican declares, "God, the beginning and end of all, can, by the natural light of human reason, be known with certainty from the works of creation". Blaise Pascal argued that even if there were truly no evidence for God, agnostics should consider what is now known as Pascal's Wager: the infinite expected value of acknowledging God is always greater than the finite expected value of not acknowledging his existence, and thus it is a safer "bet" to choose God. Atheistic According to Richard Dawkins, a distinction between agnosticism and atheism is unwieldy and depends on how close to zero a person is willing to rate the probability of existence for any given god-like entity. About himself, Dawkins continues, "I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden." Dawkins also identifies two categories of agnostics; "Temporary Agnostics in Practice" (TAPs), and "Permanent Agnostics in Principle" (PAPs). He states that "agnosticism about the existence of God belongs firmly in the temporary or TAP category. Either he exists or he doesn't. It is a scientific question; one day we may know the answer, and meanwhile we can say something pretty strong about the probability" and considers PAP a "deeply inescapable kind of fence-sitting". Ignosticism A related concept is ignosticism, the view that a coherent definition of a deity must be put forward before the question of the existence of a deity can be meaningfully discussed. If the chosen definition is not coherent, the ignostic holds the noncognitivist view that the existence of a deity is meaningless or empirically untestable. A. J. Ayer, Theodore Drange, and other philosophers see both atheism and agnosticism as incompatible with ignosticism on the grounds that atheism and agnosticism accept the statement "a deity exists" as a meaningful proposition that can be argued for or against. See also References Further reading Alexander, Nathan G. "An Atheist with a Tall Hat On: The Forgotten History of Agnosticism." The Humanist, February 19, 2019. Annan, Noel. Leslie Stephen: The Godless Victorian (U of Chicago Press, 1984) Cockshut, A.O.J. The Unbelievers, English Thought, 1840–1890 (1966). Dawkins, Richard. "The poverty of agnosticism", in The God Delusion, Black Swan, 2007 (). Lightman, Bernard. The Origins of Agnosticism (1987). Royle, Edward. Radicals, Secularists, and Republicans: Popular Freethought in Britain, 1866–1915 (Manchester UP, 1980). External links Albert Einstein on Religion Shapell Manuscript Foundation Why I Am An Agnostic by Robert G. Ingersoll, [1896]. Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Agnosticism Agnosticism from INTERS – Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science Agnosticism – from ReligiousTolerance.org What do Agnostics Believe? – A Jewish perspective Fides et Ratio  – the relationship between faith and reason Karol Wojtyla [1998] The Natural Religion by Brendan Connolly, 2008 Epistemological theories Philosophy of religion Skepticism Irreligion Doubt Freedom of religion Philosophical schools and traditions

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but only the grey form, which has a metallic appearance, is important to industry. The primary use of arsenic is in alloys of lead (for example, in car batteries and ammunition). Arsenic is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices. It is also a component of the III–V compound semiconductor gallium arsenide. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. These applications are declining with the increasing recognition of the toxicity of arsenic and its compounds. A few species of bacteria are able to use arsenic compounds as respiratory metabolites. Trace quantities of arsenic are an essential dietary element in rats, hamsters, goats, chickens, and presumably other species. A role in human metabolism is not known. However, arsenic poisoning occurs in multicellular life if quantities are larger than needed. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a problem that affects millions of people across the world. The United States' Environmental Protection Agency states that all forms of arsenic are a serious risk to human health. The United States' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ranked arsenic as number 1 in its 2001 Priority List of Hazardous Substances at Superfund sites. Arsenic is classified as a Group-A carcinogen. Characteristics Physical characteristics The three most common arsenic allotropes are grey, yellow, and black arsenic, with grey being the most common. Grey arsenic (α-As, space group Rm No. 166) adopts a double-layered structure consisting of many interlocked, ruffled, six-membered rings. Because of weak bonding between the layers, grey arsenic is brittle and has a relatively low Mohs hardness of 3.5. Nearest and next-nearest neighbors form a distorted octahedral complex, with the three atoms in the same double-layer being slightly closer than the three atoms in the next. This relatively close packing leads to a high density of 5.73 g/cm3. Grey arsenic is a semimetal, but becomes a semiconductor with a bandgap of 1.2–1.4 eV if amorphized. Grey arsenic is also the most stable form. Yellow arsenic is soft and waxy, and somewhat similar to tetraphosphorus (). Both have four atoms arranged in a tetrahedral structure in which each atom is bound to each of the other three atoms by a single bond. This unstable allotrope, being molecular, is the most volatile, least dense, and most toxic. Solid yellow arsenic is produced by rapid cooling of arsenic vapor, . It is rapidly transformed into grey arsenic by light. The yellow form has a density of 1.97 g/cm3. Black arsenic is similar in structure to black phosphorus. Black arsenic can also be formed by cooling vapor at around 100–220 °C and by crystallization of amorphous arsenic in the presence of mercury vapors. It is glassy and brittle. Black arsenic is also a poor electrical conductor. As arsenic's triple point is at 3.628 MPa (35.81 atm), it does not have a melting point at standard pressure but instead sublimes from solid to vapor at 887 K (615 °C or 1137 °F). Isotopes Arsenic occurs in nature as one stable isotope, 75As, a monoisotopic element. As of 2003, at least 33 radioisotopes have also been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 60 to 92. The most stable of these is 73As with a half-life of 80.30 days. All other isotopes have half-lives of under one day, with the exception of 71As (t1/2=65.30 hours), 72As (t1/2=26.0 hours), 74As (t1/2=17.77 days), 76As (t1/2=26.26 hours), and 77As (t1/2=38.83 hours). Isotopes that are lighter than the stable 75As tend to decay by β+ decay, and those that are heavier tend to decay by β− decay, with some exceptions. At least 10 nuclear isomers have been described, ranging in atomic mass from 66 to 84. The most stable of arsenic's isomers is 68mAs with a half-life of 111 seconds. Chemistry Arsenic has a similar electronegativity and ionization energies to its lighter congener phosphorus and accordingly readily forms covalent molecules with most of the nonmetals. Though stable in dry air, arsenic forms a golden-bronze tarnish upon exposure to humidity which eventually becomes a black surface layer. When heated in air, arsenic oxidizes to arsenic trioxide; the fumes from this reaction have an odor resembling garlic. This odor can be detected on striking arsenide minerals such as arsenopyrite with a hammer. It burns in oxygen to form arsenic trioxide and arsenic pentoxide, which have the same structure as the more well-known phosphorus compounds, and in fluorine to give arsenic pentafluoride. Arsenic (and some arsenic compounds) sublimes upon heating at atmospheric pressure, converting directly to a gaseous form without an intervening liquid state at . The triple point is 3.63 MPa and . Arsenic makes arsenic acid with concentrated nitric acid, arsenous acid with dilute nitric acid, and arsenic trioxide with concentrated sulfuric acid; however, it does not react with water, alkalis, or non-oxidising acids. Arsenic reacts with metals to form arsenides, though these are not ionic compounds containing the As3− ion as the formation of such an anion would be highly endothermic and even the group 1 arsenides have properties of intermetallic compounds. Like germanium, selenium, and bromine, which like arsenic succeed the 3d transition series, arsenic is much less stable in the group oxidation state of +5 than its vertical neighbors phosphorus and antimony, and hence arsenic pentoxide and arsenic acid are potent oxidizers. Compounds Compounds of arsenic resemble in some respects those of phosphorus which occupies the same group (column) of the periodic table. The most common oxidation states for arsenic are: −3 in the arsenides, which are alloy-like intermetallic compounds, +3 in the arsenites, and +5 in the arsenates and most organoarsenic compounds. Arsenic also bonds readily to itself as seen in the square ions in the mineral skutterudite. In the +3 oxidation state, arsenic is typically pyramidal owing to the influence of the lone pair of electrons. Inorganic compounds One of the simplest arsenic compounds is the trihydride, the highly toxic, flammable, pyrophoric arsine (AsH3). This compound is generally regarded as stable, since at room temperature it decomposes only slowly. At temperatures of 250–300 °C decomposition to arsenic and hydrogen is rapid. Several factors, such as humidity, presence of light and certain catalysts (namely aluminium) facilitate the rate of decomposition. It oxidises readily in air to form arsenic trioxide and water, and analogous reactions take place with sulfur and selenium instead of oxygen. Arsenic forms colorless, odorless, crystalline oxides As2O3 ("white arsenic") and As2O5 which are hygroscopic and readily soluble in water to form acidic solutions. Arsenic(V) acid is a weak acid and the salts are called arsenates, the most common arsenic contamination of groundwater, and a problem that affects many people. Synthetic arsenates include Scheele's Green (cupric hydrogen arsenate, acidic copper arsenate), calcium arsenate, and lead hydrogen arsenate. These three have been used as agricultural insecticides and poisons. The protonation steps between the arsenate and arsenic acid are similar to those between phosphate and phosphoric acid. Unlike phosphorous acid, arsenous acid is genuinely tribasic, with the formula As(OH)3. A broad variety of sulfur compounds of arsenic are known. Orpiment (As2S3) and realgar (As4S4) are somewhat abundant and were formerly used as painting pigments. In As4S10, arsenic has a formal oxidation state of +2 in As4S4 which features As-As bonds so that the total covalency of As is still 3. Both orpiment and realgar, as well as As4S3, have selenium analogs; the analogous As2Te3 is known as the mineral kalgoorlieite, and the anion As2Te− is known as a ligand in cobalt complexes. All trihalides of arsenic(III) are well known except the astatide, which is unknown. Arsenic pentafluoride (AsF5) is the only important pentahalide, reflecting the lower stability of the +5 oxidation state; even so, it is a very strong fluorinating and oxidizing agent. (The pentachloride is stable only below −50 °C, at which temperature it decomposes to the trichloride, releasing chlorine gas.) Alloys Arsenic is used as the group 5 element in the III-V semiconductors gallium arsenide, indium arsenide, and aluminium arsenide. The valence electron count of GaAs is the same as a pair of Si atoms, but the band structure is completely different which results in distinct bulk properties. Other arsenic alloys include the II-V semiconductor cadmium arsenide. Organoarsenic compounds A large variety of organoarsenic compounds are known. Several were developed as chemical warfare agents during World War I, including vesicants such as lewisite and vomiting agents such as adamsite. Cacodylic acid, which is of historic and practical interest, arises from the methylation of arsenic trioxide, a reaction that has no analogy in phosphorus chemistry. Cacodyl was the first organometallic compound known (even though arsenic is not a true metal) and was named from the Greek κακωδία "stink" for its offensive odor; it is very poisonous. Occurrence and production Arsenic comprises about 1.5 ppm (0.00015%) of the Earth's crust, and is the 53rd most abundant element. Typical background concentrations of arsenic do not exceed 3 ng/m3 in the atmosphere; 100 mg/kg in soil; 400 μg/kg in vegetation; 10 μg/L in freshwater and 1.5 μg/L in seawater. Minerals with the formula MAsS and MAs2 (M = Fe, Ni, Co) are the dominant commercial sources of arsenic, together with realgar (an arsenic sulfide mineral) and native (elemental) arsenic. An illustrative mineral is arsenopyrite (FeAsS), which is structurally related to iron pyrite. Many minor As-containing minerals are known. Arsenic also occurs in various organic forms in the environment. In 2014, China was the top producer of white arsenic with almost 70% world share, followed by Morocco, Russia, and Belgium, according to the British Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey. Most arsenic refinement operations in the US and Europe have closed over environmental concerns. Arsenic is found in the smelter dust from copper, gold, and lead smelters, and is recovered primarily from copper refinement dust. On roasting arsenopyrite in air, arsenic sublimes as arsenic(III) oxide leaving iron oxides, while roasting without air results in the production of gray arsenic. Further purification from sulfur and other chalcogens is achieved by sublimation in vacuum, in a hydrogen atmosphere, or by distillation from molten lead-arsenic mixture. History The word arsenic has its origin in the Syriac word zarnika, from Arabic al-zarnīḵ 'the orpiment', based on Persian zar ("gold") from the word zarnikh, meaning "yellow" (literally "gold-colored") and hence "(yellow) orpiment". It was adopted into Greek (using folk etymology) as arsenikon () – a neuter form of the Greek adjective arsenikos (), meaning "male", "virile". Latin-speakers adopted the Greek term as , which in French ultimately became , whence the English word "arsenic". Arsenic sulfides (orpiment, realgar) and oxides have been known and used since ancient times. Zosimos () describes roasting sandarach (realgar) to obtain cloud of arsenic (arsenic trioxide), which he then reduces to gray arsenic. As the symptoms of arsenic poisoning are not very specific, the substance was frequently used for murder until the advent in the 1830s of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence. (Another less sensitive but more general test is the Reinsch test.) Owing to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and discreetness, arsenic has been called the "poison of kings" and the "king of poisons". Arsenic became known as "the inheritance powder" due to its use in killing family members in the Renaissance era. During the Bronze Age, arsenic was often included in the manufacture of bronze, making the alloy harder (so-called "arsenical bronze"). Jabir ibn Hayyan described the isolation of arsenic before 815 AD. Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, 1193–1280) later isolated the element from a compound in 1250, by heating soap together with arsenic trisulfide. In 1649, Johann Schröder published two ways of preparing arsenic. Crystals of elemental (native) arsenic are found in nature, although rarely. Cadet's fuming liquid (impure cacodyl), often claimed as the first synthetic organometallic compound, was synthesized in 1760 by Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt through the reaction of potassium acetate with arsenic trioxide. In the Victorian era, women would eat "arsenic" ("white arsenic" or arsenic trioxide) mixed with vinegar and chalk to improve the complexion of their faces, making their skin paler (to show they did not work in the fields). The accidental use of arsenic in the adulteration of foodstuffs led to the Bradford sweet poisoning in 1858, which resulted in 21 deaths. From the late-18th century wallpaper production began to use dyes made from arsenic, which was thought to increase the pigment's brightness. One account of the illness and 1821 death of Napoleon I implicates arsenic poisoning involving wallpaper. Two arsenic pigments have been widely used since their discovery – Paris Green in 1814 and Scheele's Green in 1775. After the toxicity of arsenic became widely known, these chemicals were used less often as pigments and more often as insecticides. In the 1860s, an arsenic byproduct of dye production, London Purple, was widely used. This was a solid mixture of arsenic trioxide, aniline, lime, and ferrous oxide, insoluble in water and very toxic by inhalation or ingestion But it was later replaced with Paris Green, another arsenic-based dye. With better understanding of the toxicology mechanism, two other compounds were used starting in the 1890s. Arsenite of lime and arsenate of lead were used widely as insecticides until the discovery of DDT in 1942. Applications Agricultural The toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria, and fungi led to its use as a wood preservative. In the 1930s, a process of treating wood with chromated copper arsenate (also known as CCA or Tanalith) was invented, and for decades, this treatment was the most extensive industrial use of arsenic. An increased appreciation of the toxicity of arsenic led to a ban of CCA in consumer products in 2004, initiated by the European Union and United States. However, CCA remains in heavy use in other countries (such as on Malaysian rubber plantations). Arsenic was also used in various agricultural insecticides and poisons. For example, lead hydrogen arsenate was a common insecticide on fruit trees, but contact with the compound sometimes resulted in brain damage among those working the sprayers. In the second half of the 20th century, monosodium methyl arsenate (MSMA) and disodium methyl arsenate (DSMA) – less toxic organic forms of arsenic – replaced lead arsenate in agriculture. These organic arsenicals were in turn phased out in the United States by 2013 in all agricultural activities except cotton farming. The biogeochemistry of arsenic is complex and includes various adsorption and desorption processes. The toxicity of arsenic is connected to its solubility and is affected by pH. Arsenite () is more soluble than arsenate () and is more toxic; however, at a lower pH, arsenate becomes more mobile and toxic. It was found that addition of sulfur, phosphorus, and iron oxides to high-arsenite soils greatly reduces arsenic phytotoxicity. Arsenic is used as a feed additive in poultry and swine production, in particular it was used in the U.S. until 2015 to increase weight gain, improve feed efficiency, and prevent disease. An example is roxarsone, which had been used as a broiler starter by about 70% of U.S. broiler growers.In 2011, Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., which produces roxarsone, voluntarily suspended sales of the drug in response to studies showing elevated levels of inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen, in treated chickens. A successor to Alpharma, Zoetis, continued to sell nitarsone until 2015, primarily for use in turkeys. A 2006 study of the remains of the Australian racehorse, Phar Lap, determined that the 1932 death of the famous champion was caused by a massive overdose of arsenic. Sydney veterinarian Percy Sykes stated, "In those days, arsenic was quite a common tonic, usually given in the form of a solution (Fowler's Solution) ... It was so common that I'd reckon 90 per cent of the horses had arsenic in their system." Medical use During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a number of arsenic compounds were used as medicines, including arsphenamine (by Paul Ehrlich) and arsenic trioxide (by Thomas Fowler). Arsphenamine, as well as neosalvarsan, was indicated for syphilis, but has been superseded by modern antibiotics. However, arsenicals such as melarsoprol are still used for the treatment of trypanosomiasis, since although these drugs have the disadvantage of severe toxicity, the disease is almost uniformly fatal if untreated. Arsenic trioxide has been used in a variety of ways since the 15th century, most commonly in the treatment of cancer, but also in medications as diverse as Fowler's solution in psoriasis. The US Food and Drug Administration in the year 2000 approved this compound for the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia that is resistant to all-trans retinoic acid. A 2008 paper reports success in locating tumors using arsenic-74 (a positron emitter). This isotope produces clearer PET scan images than the previous radioactive agent, iodine-124, because the body tends to transport iodine to the thyroid gland producing signal noise. Nanoparticles of arsenic have shown ability to kill cancer cells with lesser cytotoxicity than other arsenic formulations. In subtoxic doses, soluble arsenic compounds act as stimulants, and were once popular in small doses as medicine by people in the mid-18th to 19th centuries; its use as a stimulant was especially prevalent as sport animals such as race horses or with work dogs. Alloys The main use of arsenic is in alloying with lead. Lead components in car batteries are strengthened by the presence of a very small percentage of arsenic. Dezincification of brass (a copper-zinc alloy) is greatly reduced by the addition of arsenic. "Phosphorus Deoxidized Arsenical Copper" with an arsenic content of 0.3% has an increased corrosion stability in certain environments. Gallium arsenide is an important semiconductor material, used in integrated circuits. Circuits made from GaAs are much faster (but also much more expensive) than those made from silicon. Unlike silicon, GaAs has a direct bandgap, and can be used in laser diodes and LEDs to convert electrical energy directly into light. Military After World War I, the United States built a stockpile of 20,000 tons of weaponized lewisite (ClCH=CHAsCl2), an organoarsenic vesicant (blister agent) and lung irritant. The stockpile was neutralized with bleach and dumped into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s. During the Vietnam War, the United States used Agent Blue, a mixture of sodium cacodylate and its acid form, as one of the rainbow herbicides to deprive North Vietnamese soldiers of foliage cover and rice. Other uses Copper acetoarsenite was used as a green pigment known under many names, including Paris Green and Emerald Green. It caused numerous arsenic poisonings. Scheele's Green, a copper arsenate, was used in the 19th century as a coloring agent in sweets. Arsenic is used in bronzing and pyrotechnics. As much as 2% of produced arsenic is used in lead alloys for lead shot and bullets. Arsenic is added in small quantities to alpha-brass to make it dezincification-resistant. This grade of brass is used in plumbing fittings and other wet environments. Arsenic is also used for taxonomic sample preservation. It was also used in embalming fluids historically. Arsenic was used as an opacifier in ceramics, creating white glazes. Until recently, arsenic was used in optical glass. Modern glass manufacturers, under pressure from environmentalists, have ceased using both arsenic and lead. In computers; arsenic is used in the chips as the n-type doping Biological role Bacteria Some species of bacteria obtain their energy in the absence of oxygen by oxidizing various fuels while reducing arsenate to arsenite. Under oxidative environmental conditions some bacteria use arsenite as fuel, which they oxidize to arsenate. The enzymes involved are known as arsenate reductases (Arr). In 2008, bacteria were discovered that employ a version of photosynthesis in the absence of oxygen with arsenites as electron donors, producing arsenates (just as ordinary photosynthesis uses water as electron donor, producing molecular oxygen). Researchers conjecture that, over the course of history, these photosynthesizing organisms produced the arsenates that allowed the arsenate-reducing bacteria to thrive. One strain, PHS-1, has been isolated and is related to the gammaproteobacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii. The mechanism is unknown, but an encoded Arr enzyme may function in reverse to its known homologues. In 2011, it was postulated that a strain of Halomonadaceae could be grown in the absence of phosphorus if that element were substituted with arsenic, exploiting the fact that the arsenate and phosphate anions are similar structurally. The study was widely criticised and subsequently refuted by independent researcher groups. Essential trace element in higher animals Arsenic is understood to be an essential trace mineral in birds as it is involved in the synthesis of methionine metabolites, with feeding recommendations being between 0.012 and 0.050 mg/kg. Some evidence indicates that arsenic is an essential trace mineral in mammals. However, the biological function is not known. Heredity Arsenic has been linked to epigenetic changes, heritable changes in gene expression that occur without changes in DNA sequence. These include DNA methylation, histone modification, and RNA interference. Toxic levels of arsenic cause significant DNA hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes p16 and p53, thus increasing risk of carcinogenesis. These epigenetic events have been studied in vitro using human kidney cells and in vivo using rat liver cells and peripheral blood leukocytes in humans. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is used to detect precise levels of intracellular arsenic and other arsenic bases involved in epigenetic modification of DNA. Studies investigating arsenic as an epigenetic factor can be used to develop precise biomarkers of exposure and susceptibility. The Chinese brake fern (Pteris vittata) hyperaccumulates arsenic from the soil into its leaves and has a proposed use in phytoremediation. Biomethylation Inorganic arsenic and its compounds, upon entering the food chain, are progressively metabolized through a process of methylation. For example, the mold Scopulariopsis brevicaulis produces trimethylarsine if inorganic arsenic is present. The organic compound arsenobetaine is found in some marine foods such as fish and algae, and also in mushrooms in larger concentrations. The average person's intake is about 10–50 µg/day. Values about 1000 µg are not unusual following consumption of fish or mushrooms, but there is little danger in eating fish because this arsenic compound is nearly non-toxic. Environmental issues Exposure Naturally occurring sources of human exposure include volcanic ash, weathering of minerals and ores, and mineralized groundwater. Arsenic is also found in food, water, soil, and air. Arsenic is absorbed by all plants, but is more concentrated in leafy vegetables, rice, apple and grape juice, and seafood. An additional route of exposure is inhalation of atmospheric gases and dusts. During the Victorian era, arsenic was widely used in home decor, especially wallpapers. Occurrence in drinking water Extensive arsenic contamination of groundwater has led to widespread arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh and neighboring countries. It is estimated that approximately 57 million people in the Bengal basin are drinking groundwater with arsenic concentrations elevated above the World Health Organization's standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb). However, a study of cancer rates in Taiwan suggested that significant increases in cancer mortality appear only at levels above 150 ppb. The arsenic in the groundwater is of natural origin, and is released from the sediment into the groundwater, caused by the anoxic conditions of the subsurface. This groundwater was used after local and western NGOs and the Bangladeshi government undertook a massive shallow tube well drinking-water program in the late twentieth century. This program was designed to prevent drinking of bacteria-contaminated surface waters, but failed to test for arsenic in the groundwater. Many other countries and districts in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Cambodia, have geological environments that produce groundwater with a high arsenic content. Arsenicosis was reported in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, in 1987, and the Chao Phraya River probably contains high levels of naturally occurring dissolved arsenic without being a public health problem because much of the public uses bottled water. In Pakistan, more than 60 million people are exposed to arsenic polluted drinking water indicated by a 2017 report in Science. Podgorski's team investigated more than 1200 samples and more than 66% exceeded the WHO minimum contamination level. Since the 1980s, residents of the Ba Men region of Inner Mongolia, China have been chronically exposed to arsenic through drinking water from contaminated wells. A 2009 research study observed an elevated presence of skin lesions among residents with well water arsenic concentrations between 5 and 10 µg/L, suggesting that arsenic induced toxicity may occur at relatively low concentrations with chronic exposure. Overall, 20 of China's 34 provinces have high arsenic concentrations in the groundwater supply, potentially exposing 19 million people to hazardous drinking water. A study by IIT Kharagpur found high levels of Arsenic in groundwater of 20% of India's land, exposing more than 250 million people. States such as Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat have highest land area exposed to arsenic. In the United States, arsenic is most commonly found in the ground waters of the southwest. Parts of New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas are also known to have significant concentrations of arsenic in ground water. Increased levels of skin cancer have been associated with arsenic exposure in Wisconsin, even at levels below the 10 ppb drinking water standard. According to a recent film funded by the US Superfund, millions of private wells have unknown arsenic levels, and in some areas of the US, more than 20% of the wells may contain levels that exceed established limits. Low-level exposure to arsenic at concentrations of 100 ppb (i.e., above the 10 ppb drinking water standard) compromises the initial immune response to H1N1 or swine flu infection according to NIEHS-supported scientists. The study, conducted in laboratory mice, suggests that people exposed to arsenic in their drinking water may be at increased risk for more serious illness or death from the virus. Some Canadians are drinking water that contains inorganic arsenic. Private-dug–well waters are most at risk for containing inorganic arsenic. Preliminary well water analysis typically does not test for arsenic. Researchers at the Geological Survey of Canada have modeled relative variation in natural arsenic hazard potential for the province of New Brunswick. This study has important implications for potable water and health concerns relating to inorganic arsenic. Epidemiological evidence from Chile shows a dose-dependent connection between chronic arsenic exposure and various forms of cancer, in particular when other risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, are present. These effects have been demonstrated at contaminations less than 50 ppb. Arsenic is itself a constituent of tobacco smoke. Analyzing multiple epidemiological studies on inorganic arsenic exposure suggests a small but measurable increase in risk for bladder cancer at 10 ppb. According to Peter Ravenscroft of the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, roughly 80 million people worldwide consume between 10 and 50 ppb arsenic in their drinking water. If they all consumed exactly 10 ppb arsenic in their drinking water, the previously cited multiple epidemiological study analysis would predict an additional 2,000 cases of bladder cancer alone. This represents a clear underestimate of the overall impact, since it does not include lung or skin cancer, and explicitly underestimates the exposure. Those exposed to levels of arsenic above the current WHO standard should weigh the costs and benefits of arsenic remediation. Early (1973) evaluations of the processes for removing dissolved arsenic from drinking water demonstrated the efficacy of co-precipitation with either iron or aluminium oxides. In particular, iron as a coagulant was found to remove arsenic with an efficacy exceeding 90%. Several adsorptive media systems have been approved for use at point-of-service in a study funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). A team of European and Indian scientists and engineers have set up six arsenic treatment plants in West Bengal based on in-situ remediation method (SAR Technology). This technology does not use any chemicals and arsenic is left in an insoluble form (+5 state) in the subterranean zone by recharging aerated water into the aquifer and developing an oxidation zone that supports arsenic oxidizing micro-organisms. This process does not produce any waste stream or sludge and is relatively cheap. Another effective and inexpensive method to avoid arsenic contamination is to sink wells 500 feet or deeper to reach purer waters. A recent 2011 study funded by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' Superfund Research Program shows that deep sediments can remove arsenic and take it out of circulation. In this process, called adsorption, arsenic sticks to the surfaces of deep sediment particles and is naturally removed from the ground water. Magnetic separations of arsenic at very low magnetic field gradients with high-surface-area and monodisperse magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals have been demonstrated in point-of-use water purification. Using the high specific surface area of Fe3O4 nanocrystals, the mass of waste associated with arsenic removal from water has been dramatically reduced. Epidemiological studies have suggested a correlation between chronic consumption of drinking water contaminated with arsenic and the incidence of all leading causes of mortality. The literature indicates that arsenic exposure is causative in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Chaff-based filters have recently been shown to reduce the arsenic content of water to 3 µg/L. This may find applications in areas where the potable water is extracted from underground aquifers. San Pedro de Atacama For several centuries, the people of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile have been drinking water that is contaminated with arsenic, and some evidence suggests they have developed some immunity. Hazard maps for contaminated groundwater Around one-third of the world's population drinks water from groundwater resources. Of this, about 10 percent, approximately 300 million people, obtains water from groundwater resources that are contaminated with unhealthy levels of arsenic or fluoride. These trace elements derive mainly from minerals and ions in the ground. Redox transformation of arsenic in natural waters Arsenic is unique among the trace metalloids and oxyanion-forming trace metals (e.g. As, Se, Sb, Mo, V, Cr, U, Re). It is sensitive to mobilization at pH values typical of natural waters (pH 6.5–8.5) under both oxidizing and reducing conditions. Arsenic can occur in the environment in several oxidation states (−3, 0, +3 and +5), but in natural waters it is mostly found in inorganic forms as oxyanions of trivalent arsenite [As(III)] or pentavalent arsenate [As(V)]. Organic forms of arsenic are produced by biological activity, mostly in surface waters, but are rarely quantitatively important. Organic arsenic compounds may, however, occur where waters are significantly impacted by industrial pollution. Arsenic may be solubilized by various processes. When pH is high, arsenic may be released from surface binding sites that lose their positive charge. When water level drops and sulfide minerals are exposed to air, arsenic trapped in sulfide minerals can be released into water. When organic carbon is present in water, bacteria are fed by directly reducing As(V) to As(III) or by reducing the element at the binding site, releasing inorganic arsenic. The aquatic transformations of arsenic are affected by pH, reduction-oxidation potential, organic matter concentration and the concentrations and forms of other elements, especially iron and manganese. The main factors are pH and the redox potential. Generally, the main forms of arsenic under oxic conditions are H3AsO4, H2AsO4−, HAsO42−, and AsO43− at pH 2, 2–7, 7–11 and 11, respectively. Under reducing conditions, H3AsO4 is predominant at pH 2–9. Oxidation and reduction affects the migration of arsenic in subsurface environments. Arsenite is the most stable soluble form of arsenic in reducing environments and arsenate, which is less mobile than arsenite, is dominant in oxidizing environments at neutral pH. Therefore, arsenic may be more mobile under reducing conditions. The reducing environment is also rich in organic matter which may enhance the solubility of arsenic compounds. As a result, the adsorption of arsenic is reduced and dissolved arsenic accumulates in groundwater. That is why the arsenic content is higher in reducing environments than in oxidizing environments. The presence of sulfur is another factor that affects the transformation of arsenic in natural water. Arsenic can precipitate when metal sulfides form. In this way, arsenic is removed from the water and its mobility decreases. When oxygen is present, bacteria oxidize reduced sulfur to generate energy, potentially releasing bound arsenic. Redox reactions involving Fe also appear to be essential factors in the fate of arsenic in aquatic systems. The reduction of iron oxyhydroxides plays a key role in the release of arsenic to water. So arsenic can be enriched in water with elevated Fe concentrations. Under oxidizing conditions, arsenic can be mobilized from pyrite or iron oxides especially at elevated pH. Under reducing conditions, arsenic can be mobilized by reductive desorption or dissolution when associated with iron oxides. The reductive desorption occurs under two circumstances. One is when arsenate is reduced to arsenite which adsorbs to iron oxides less strongly. The other results from a change in the charge on the mineral surface which leads to the desorption of bound arsenic. Some species of bacteria catalyze redox transformations of arsenic. Dissimilatory arsenate-respiring prokaryotes (DARP) speed up the reduction of As(V) to As(III). DARP use As(V) as the electron acceptor of anaerobic respiration and obtain energy to survive. Other organic and inorganic substances can be oxidized in this process. Chemoautotrophic arsenite oxidizers (CAO) and heterotrophic arsenite oxidizers (HAO) convert As(III) into As(V). CAO combine the oxidation of As(III) with the reduction of oxygen or nitrate. They use obtained energy to fix produce organic carbon from CO2. HAO cannot obtain energy from As(III) oxidation. This process may be an arsenic detoxification mechanism for the bacteria. Equilibrium thermodynamic calculations predict that As(V) concentrations should be greater than As(III) concentrations in all but strongly reducing conditions, i.e. where SO42− reduction is occurring. However, abiotic redox reactions of arsenic are slow. Oxidation of As(III) by dissolved O2 is a particularly slow reaction. For example, Johnson and Pilson (1975) gave half-lives for the oxygenation of As(III) in seawater ranging from several months to a year. In other studies, As(V)/As(III) ratios were stable over periods of days or weeks during water sampling when no particular care was taken to prevent oxidation, again suggesting relatively slow oxidation rates. Cherry found from experimental studies that the As(V)/As(III) ratios were stable in anoxic solutions for up to 3 weeks but that gradual changes occurred over longer timescales. Sterile water samples have been observed to be less susceptible to speciation changes than non-sterile samples. Oremland found that the reduction of As(V) to As(III) in Mono Lake was rapidly catalyzed by bacteria with rate constants ranging from 0.02 to 0.3-day−1. Wood preservation in the US As of 2002, US-based industries consumed 19,600 metric tons of arsenic. Ninety percent of this was used for treatment of wood with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). In 2007, 50% of the 5,280 metric tons of consumption was still used for this purpose. In the United States, the voluntary phasing-out of arsenic in production of consumer products and residential and general consumer construction products began on 31 December 2003, and alternative chemicals are now used, such as Alkaline Copper Quaternary, borates, copper azole, cyproconazole, and propiconazole. Although discontinued, this application is also one of the most concerning to the general public. The vast majority of older pressure-treated wood was treated with CCA. CCA lumber is still in widespread use in many countries, and was heavily used during the latter half of the 20th century as a structural and outdoor building material. Although the use of CCA lumber was banned in many areas after studies showed that arsenic could leach out of the wood into the surrounding soil (from playground equipment, for instance), a risk is also presented by the burning of older CCA timber. The direct or indirect ingestion of wood ash from burnt CCA lumber has caused fatalities in animals and serious poisonings in humans; the lethal human dose is approximately 20 grams of ash. Scrap CCA lumber from construction and demolition sites may be inadvertently used in commercial and domestic fires. Protocols for safe disposal of CCA lumber are not consistent throughout the world. Widespread landfill disposal of such timber raises some concern, but other studies have shown no arsenic contamination in the groundwater. Mapping of industrial releases in the US One tool that maps the location (and other information) of arsenic releases in the United States is TOXMAP. TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) funded by the US Federal Government. With marked-up maps of the United States, TOXMAP enables users to visually explore data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund Basic Research Programs. TOXMAP's chemical and environmental health information is taken from NLM's Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET), PubMed, and from other authoritative sources. Bioremediation Physical, chemical, and biological methods have been used to remediate arsenic contaminated water. Bioremediation is said to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Bioremediation of ground water contaminated with arsenic aims to convert arsenite, the toxic form of arsenic to humans, to arsenate. Arsenate (+5 oxidation state) is the dominant form of arsenic in surface water, while arsenite (+3 oxidation state) is the dominant form in hypoxic to anoxic environments. Arsenite is more soluble and mobile than arsenate. Many species of bacteria can transform arsenite to arsenate in anoxic conditions by using arsenite as an electron donor. This is a useful method in ground water remediation. Another bioremediation strategy is to use plants that accumulate arsenic in their tissues via phytoremediation but the disposal of contaminated plant material needs to be considered. Bioremediation requires careful evaluation and design in accordance with existing conditions. Some sites may require the addition of an electron acceptor while others require microbe supplementation (bioaugmentation). Regardless of the method used, only constant monitoring can prevent future contamination. Arsenic removal Coagulation and flocculation Coagulation and flocculation are closely related processes common in arsenate removal from water. Due to the net negative charge carried by arsenate ions, they settle slowly or do not settle at all due to charge repulsion. In coagulation, a positively charged coagulent such as Fe and Alum (common used salts: FeCl3, Fe2(SO4)3, Al2(SO4)3) neutralise the negatively charged arsenate, enable it to settle. Flocculation follows where an flocculant bridge smaller particles and allows the aggregate to precipitate out from water. However, such methods may not be efficient on arsenite as As(III) exist in uncharged arsenious acid, H3AsO3, at near neutral pH. The major drawbacks of coagulation and flocculation is the costly disposal of arsenate-concentrated sludge, and possible secondary contamination of environment. Moreover, coagulents such as Fe may produce ion contamination that exceeds safety level. Toxicity and precautions Arsenic and many of its compounds are especially potent poisons. Small amount of arsenic can be detected by pharmacopoial methods which includes reduction of arsenic to arsenious with help of zinc and can be confirmed with mercuric chloride paper. Classification Elemental arsenic and arsenic sulfate and trioxide compounds are classified as "toxic" and "dangerous for the environment" in the European Union under directive 67/548/EEC. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recognizes arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds as group 1 carcinogens, and the EU lists arsenic trioxide, arsenic pentoxide, and arsenate salts as category 1 carcinogens. Arsenic is known to cause arsenicosis when present in drinking water, "the most common species being arsenate [; As(V)] and arsenite [; As(III)]". Legal limits, food, and drink In the United States since 2006, the maximum concentration in drinking water allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 10 ppb and the FDA set the same standard in 2005 for bottled water. The Department of Environmental Protection for New Jersey set a drinking water limit of 5 ppb in 2006. The IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) value for arsenic metal and inorganic arsenic compounds is 5 mg/m3 (5 ppb). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set the permissible exposure limit (PEL) to a time-weighted average (TWA) of 0.01 mg/m3 (0.01 ppb), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set the recommended exposure limit (REL) to a 15-minute constant exposure of 0.002 mg/m3 (0.002 ppb). The PEL for organic arsenic compounds is a TWA of 0.5 mg/m3. (0.5 ppb). In 2008, based on its ongoing testing of a wide variety of American foods for toxic chemicals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set the "level of concern" for inorganic arsenic in apple and pear juices at 23 ppb, based on non-carcinogenic effects, and began blocking importation of products in excess of this level; it also required recalls for non-conforming domestic products. In 2011, the national Dr. Oz television show broadcast a program highlighting tests performed by an independent lab hired by the producers. Though the methodology was disputed (it did not distinguish between organic and inorganic arsenic) the tests showed levels of arsenic up to 36 ppb. In response, the FDA tested the worst brand from the Dr. Oz show and found much lower levels. Ongoing testing found 95% of the apple juice samples were below the level of concern. Later testing by Consumer Reports showed inorganic arsenic at levels slightly above 10 ppb, and the organization urged parents to reduce consumption. In July 2013, on consideration of consumption by children, chronic exposure, and carcinogenic effect, the FDA established an "action level" of 10 ppb for apple juice, the same as the drinking water standard. Concern about arsenic in rice in Bangladesh was raised in 2002, but at the time only Australia had a legal limit for food (one milligram per kilogram). Concern was raised about people who were eating U.S. rice exceeding WHO standards for personal arsenic intake in 2005. In 2011, the People's Republic of China set a food standard of 150 ppb for arsenic. In the United States in 2012, testing by separate groups of researchers at the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth College (early in the year, focusing on urinary levels in children) and Consumer Reports (in November) found levels of arsenic in rice that resulted in calls for the FDA to set limits. The FDA released some testing results in September 2012, and as of July 2013, is still collecting data in support of a new potential regulation. It has not recommended any changes in consumer behavior. Consumer Reports recommended: That the EPA and FDA eliminate arsenic-containing fertilizer, drugs, and pesticides in food production; That the FDA establish a legal limit for food; That industry change production practices to lower arsenic levels, especially in food for children; and That consumers test home water supplies, eat a varied diet, and cook rice with excess water, then draining it off (reducing inorganic arsenic by about one third along with a slight reduction in vitamin content). Evidence-based public health advocates also recommend that, given the lack of regulation or labeling for arsenic in the U.S., children should eat no more than 1.5 servings per week of rice and should not drink rice milk as part of their daily diet before age 5. They also offer recommendations for adults and infants on how to limit arsenic exposure from rice, drinking water, and fruit juice. A 2014 World Health Organization advisory conference was scheduled to consider limits of 200–300 ppb for rice. Reducing arsenic content in rice In 2020, scientists assessed multiple preparation procedures of rice for their capacity to reduce arsenic content and preserve nutrients, recommending a procedure involving parboiling and water-absorption. Occupational exposure limits Ecotoxicity Arsenic is bioaccumulative in many organisms, marine species in particular, but it does not appear to biomagnify significantly in food webs. In polluted areas, plant growth may be affected by root uptake of arsenate, which is a phosphate analog and therefore readily transported in plant tissues and cells. In polluted areas, uptake of the more toxic arsenite ion (found more particularly in reducing conditions) is likely in poorly-drained soils. Toxicity in animals Biological mechanism Arsenic's toxicity comes from the affinity of arsenic(III) oxides for thiols. Thiols, in the form of cysteine residues and cofactors such as lipoic acid and coenzyme A, are situated at the active sites of many important enzymes. Arsenic disrupts ATP production through several mechanisms. At the level of the citric acid cycle, arsenic inhibits lipoic acid, which is a cofactor for pyruvate dehydrogenase. By competing with phosphate, arsenate uncouples oxidative phosphorylation, thus inhibiting energy-linked reduction of NAD+, mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis. Hydrogen peroxide production is also increased, which, it is speculated, has potential to form reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. These metabolic interferences lead to death from multi-system organ failure. The organ failure is presumed to be from necrotic cell death, not apoptosis, since energy reserves have been too depleted for apoptosis to occur. Exposure risks and remediation Occupational exposure and arsenic poisoning may occur in persons working in industries involving the use of inorganic arsenic and its compounds, such as wood preservation, glass production, nonferrous metal alloys, and electronic semiconductor manufacturing. Inorganic arsenic is also found in coke oven emissions associated with the smelter industry. The conversion between As(III) and As(V) is a large factor in arsenic environmental contamination. According to Croal, Gralnick, Malasarn and Newman, "[the] understanding [of] what stimulates As(III) oxidation and/or limits As(V) reduction is relevant for bioremediation of contaminated sites (Croal). The study of chemolithoautotrophic As(III) oxidizers and the heterotrophic As(V) reducers can help the understanding of the oxidation and/or reduction of arsenic. Treatment Treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning is possible. British anti-lewisite (dimercaprol) is prescribed in doses of 5 mg/kg up to 300 mg every 4 hours for the first day, then every 6 hours for the second day, and finally every 8 hours for 8 additional days. However the USA's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) states that the long-term effects of arsenic exposure cannot be predicted. Blood, urine, hair, and nails may be tested for arsenic; however, these tests cannot foresee possible health outcomes from the exposure. Long-term exposure and consequent excretion through urine has been linked to bladder and kidney cancer in addition to cancer of the liver, prostate, skin, lungs, and nasal cavity. See also Aqua Tofana Arsenic and Old Lace Arsenic biochemistry Arsenic compounds Arsenic poisoning Arsenic toxicity Arsenic trioxide Fowler's solution GFAJ-1 Grainger challenge Hypothetical types of biochemistry Organoarsenic chemistry Toxic heavy metal White arsenic References Bibliography Further reading External links Arsenic Cancer Causing Substances, U.S. National Cancer Institute. CTD's Arsenic page and CTD's Arsenicals page from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database Arsenic intoxication: general aspects and chelating agents, by Geir Bjørklund, Massimiliano Peana et al. Archives of Toxicology (2020) 94:1879–1897. A Small Dose of Toxicology Arsenic in groundwater Book on arsenic in groundwater by IAH's Netherlands Chapter and the Netherlands Hydrological Society Contaminant Focus: Arsenic by the EPA. Environmental Health Criteria for Arsenic and Arsenic Compounds, 2001 by the WHO. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Arsenic Page Arsenic at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) Chemical elements Metalloids Hepatotoxins Pnictogens Endocrine disruptors IARC Group 1 carcinogens Trigonal minerals Minerals in space group 166 Teratogens Fetotoxicants Suspected testicular toxicants Native element minerals Chemical elements with rhombohedral structure

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium (aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals; about one-third that of steel. It has a great affinity towards oxygen, forming a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, nonmagnetic and ductile. It has one stable isotope: 27Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the twelfth-most common element in the universe. The radioactivity of 26Al is used in radiometric dating. Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The aluminium cation Al3+ is small and highly charged; as such, it has more polarizing power, and bonds formed by aluminium have a more covalent character. The strong affinity of aluminium for oxygen leads to the common occurrence of its oxides in nature. Aluminium is found on Earth primarily in rocks in the crust, where it is the third-most abundant element, after oxygen and silicon, rather than in the mantle, and virtually never as the free metal. It is obtained industrially by mining bauxite, a sedimentary rock rich in aluminium minerals. The discovery of aluminium was announced in 1825 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted. The first industrial production of aluminium was initiated by French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville in 1856. Aluminium became much more available to the public with the Hall–Héroult process developed independently by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall in 1886, and the mass production of aluminium led to its extensive use in industry and everyday life. In World Wars I and II, aluminium was a crucial strategic resource for aviation. In 1954, aluminium became the most produced non-ferrous metal, surpassing copper. In the 21st century, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Despite its prevalence in the environment, no living organism is known to use aluminium salts for metabolism, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of the abundance of these salts, the potential for a biological role for them is of interest, and studies continue. Physical characteristics Isotopes Of aluminium isotopes, only is stable. This situation is common for elements with an odd atomic number. It is the only primordial aluminium isotope, i.e. the only one that has existed on Earth in its current form since the formation of the planet. It is therefore a mononuclidic element and its standard atomic weight is virtually the same as that of the isotope. This makes aluminium very useful in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as its single stable isotope has a high NMR sensitivity. The standard atomic weight of aluminium is low in comparison with many other metals. All other isotopes of aluminium are radioactive. The most stable of these is 26Al: while it was present along with stable 27Al in the interstellar medium from which the Solar System formed, having been produced by stellar nucleosynthesis as well, its half-life is only 717,000 years and therefore a detectable amount has not survived since the formation of the planet. However, minute traces of 26Al are produced from argon in the atmosphere by spallation caused by cosmic ray protons. The ratio of 26Al to 10Be has been used for radiodating of geological processes over 105 to 106 year time scales, in particular transport, deposition, sediment storage, burial times, and erosion. Most meteorite scientists believe that the energy released by the decay of 26Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago. The remaining isotopes of aluminium, with mass numbers ranging from 22 to 43, all have half-lives well under an hour. Three metastable states are known, all with half-lives under a minute. Electron shell An aluminium atom has 13 electrons, arranged in an electron configuration of , with three electrons beyond a stable noble gas configuration. Accordingly, the combined first three ionization energies of aluminium are far lower than the fourth ionization energy alone. Such an electron configuration is shared with the other well-characterized members of its group, boron, gallium, indium, and thallium; it is also expected for nihonium. Aluminium can surrender its three outermost electrons in many chemical reactions (see below). The electronegativity of aluminium is 1.61 (Pauling scale). A free aluminium atom has a radius of 143 pm. With the three outermost electrons removed, the radius shrinks to 39 pm for a 4-coordinated atom or 53.5 pm for a 6-coordinated atom. At standard temperature and pressure, aluminium atoms (when not affected by atoms of other elements) form a face-centered cubic crystal system bound by metallic bonding provided by atoms' outermost electrons; hence aluminium (at these conditions) is a metal. This crystal system is shared by many other metals, such as lead and copper; the size of a unit cell of aluminium is comparable to that of those other metals. The system, however, is not shared by the other members of its group; boron has ionization energies too high to allow metallization, thallium has a hexagonal close-packed structure, and gallium and indium have unusual structures that are not close-packed like those of aluminium and thallium. The few electrons that are available for metallic bonding in aluminium metal are a probable cause for it being soft with a low melting point and low electrical resistivity. Bulk Aluminium metal has an appearance ranging from silvery white to dull gray, depending on the surface roughness. Aluminium mirrors are the most reflective of all metal mirrors for the near ultraviolet and far infrared light, and one of the most reflective in the visible spectrum, nearly on par with silver, and the two therefore look similar. Aluminium is also good at reflecting solar radiation, although prolonged exposure to sunlight in air adds wear to the surface of the metal; this may be prevented if aluminium is anodized, which adds a protective layer of oxide on the surface. The density of aluminium is 2.70 g/cm3, about 1/3 that of steel, much lower than other commonly encountered metals, making aluminium parts easily identifiable through their lightness. Aluminium's low density compared to most other metals arises from the fact that its nuclei are much lighter, while difference in the unit cell size does not compensate for this difference. The only lighter metals are the metals of groups 1 and 2, which apart from beryllium and magnesium are too reactive for structural use (and beryllium is very toxic). Aluminium is not as strong or stiff as steel, but the low density makes up for this in the aerospace industry and for many other applications where light weight and relatively high strength are crucial. Pure aluminium is quite soft and lacking in strength. In most applications various aluminium alloys are used instead because of their higher strength and hardness. The yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium is ductile, with a percent elongation of 50-70%, and malleable allowing it to be easily drawn and extruded. It is also easily machined and cast. Aluminium is an excellent thermal and electrical conductor, having around 60% the conductivity of copper, both thermal and electrical, while having only 30% of copper's density. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin and a critical magnetic field of about 100 gauss (10 milliteslas). It is paramagnetic and thus essentially unaffected by static magnetic fields. The high electrical conductivity, however, means that it is strongly affected by alternating magnetic fields through the induction of eddy currents. Chemistry Aluminium combines characteristics of pre- and post-transition metals. Since it has few available electrons for metallic bonding, like its heavier group 13 congeners, it has the characteristic physical properties of a post-transition metal, with longer-than-expected interatomic distances. Furthermore, as Al3+ is a small and highly charged cation, it is strongly polarizing and bonding in aluminium compounds tends towards covalency; this behavior is similar to that of beryllium (Be2+), and the two display an example of a diagonal relationship. The underlying core under aluminium's valence shell is that of the preceding noble gas, whereas those of its heavier congeners gallium, indium, thallium, and nihonium also include a filled d-subshell and in some cases a filled f-subshell. Hence, the inner electrons of aluminium shield the valence electrons almost completely, unlike those of aluminium's heavier congeners. As such, aluminium is the most electropositive metal in its group, and its hydroxide is in fact more basic than that of gallium. Aluminium also bears minor similarities to the metalloid boron in the same group: AlX3 compounds are valence isoelectronic to BX3 compounds (they have the same valence electronic structure), and both behave as Lewis acids and readily form adducts. Additionally, one of the main motifs of boron chemistry is regular icosahedral structures, and aluminium forms an important part of many icosahedral quasicrystal alloys, including the Al–Zn–Mg class. Aluminium has a high chemical affinity to oxygen, which renders it suitable for use as a reducing agent in the thermite reaction. A fine powder of aluminium metal reacts explosively on contact with liquid oxygen; under normal conditions, however, aluminium forms a thin oxide layer (~5 nm at room temperature) that protects the metal from further corrosion by oxygen, water, or dilute acid, a process termed passivation. Because of its general resistance to corrosion, aluminium is one of the few metals that retains silvery reflectance in finely powdered form, making it an important component of silver-colored paints. Aluminium is not attacked by oxidizing acids because of its passivation. This allows aluminium to be used to store reagents such as nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, and some organic acids. In hot concentrated hydrochloric acid, aluminium reacts with water with evolution of hydrogen, and in aqueous sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide at room temperature to form aluminates—protective passivation under these conditions is negligible. Aqua regia also dissolves aluminium. Aluminium is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, which is why household plumbing is never made from aluminium. The oxide layer on aluminium is also destroyed by contact with mercury due to amalgamation or with salts of some electropositive metals. As such, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion-resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper, and aluminium's corrosion resistance is greatly reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. Aluminium reacts with most nonmetals upon heating, forming compounds such as aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium sulfide (Al2S3), and the aluminium halides (AlX3). It also forms a wide range of intermetallic compounds involving metals from every group on the periodic table. Inorganic compounds The vast majority of compounds, including all aluminium-containing minerals and all commercially significant aluminium compounds, feature aluminium in the oxidation state 3+. The coordination number of such compounds varies, but generally Al3+ is either six- or four-coordinate. Almost all compounds of aluminium(III) are colorless. In aqueous solution, Al3+ exists as the hexaaqua cation [Al(H2O)6]3+, which has an approximate Ka of 10−5. Such solutions are acidic as this cation can act as a proton donor and progressively hydrolyze until a precipitate of aluminium hydroxide, Al(OH)3, forms. This is useful for clarification of water, as the precipitate nucleates on suspended particles in the water, hence removing them. Increasing the pH even further leads to the hydroxide dissolving again as aluminate, [Al(H2O)2(OH)4]−, is formed. Aluminium hydroxide forms both salts and aluminates and dissolves in acid and alkali, as well as on fusion with acidic and basic oxides. This behavior of Al(OH)3 is termed amphoterism and is characteristic of weakly basic cations that form insoluble hydroxides and whose hydrated species can also donate their protons. One effect of this is that aluminium salts with weak acids are hydrolyzed in water to the aquated hydroxide and the corresponding nonmetal hydride: for example, aluminium sulfide yields hydrogen sulfide. However, some salts like aluminium carbonate exist in aqueous solution but are unstable as such; and only incomplete hydrolysis takes place for salts with strong acids, such as the halides, nitrate, and sulfate. For similar reasons, anhydrous aluminium salts cannot be made by heating their "hydrates": hydrated aluminium chloride is in fact not AlCl3·6H2O but [Al(H2O)6]Cl3, and the Al–O bonds are so strong that heating is not sufficient to break them and form Al–Cl bonds instead: 2[Al(H2O)6]Cl3 Al2O3 + 6 HCl + 9 H2O All four trihalides are well known. Unlike the structures of the three heavier trihalides, aluminium fluoride (AlF3) features six-coordinate aluminium, which explains its involatility and insolubility as well as high heat of formation. Each aluminium atom is surrounded by six fluorine atoms in a distorted octahedral arrangement, with each fluorine atom being shared between the corners of two octahedra. Such {AlF6} units also exist in complex fluorides such as cryolite, Na3AlF6. AlF3 melts at and is made by reaction of aluminium oxide with hydrogen fluoride gas at . With heavier halides, the coordination numbers are lower. The other trihalides are dimeric or polymeric with tetrahedral four-coordinate aluminium centers. Aluminium trichloride (AlCl3) has a layered polymeric structure below its melting point of but transforms on melting to Al2Cl6 dimers. At higher temperatures those increasingly dissociate into trigonal planar AlCl3 monomers similar to the structure of BCl3. Aluminium tribromide and aluminium triiodide form Al2X6 dimers in all three phases and hence do not show such significant changes of properties upon phase change. These materials are prepared by treating aluminium metal with the halogen. The aluminium trihalides form many addition compounds or complexes; their Lewis acidic nature makes them useful as catalysts for the Friedel–Crafts reactions. Aluminium trichloride has major industrial uses involving this reaction, such as in the manufacture of anthraquinones and styrene; it is also often used as the precursor for many other aluminium compounds and as a reagent for converting nonmetal fluorides into the corresponding chlorides (a transhalogenation reaction). Aluminium forms one stable oxide with the chemical formula Al2O3, commonly called alumina. It can be found in nature in the mineral corundum, α-alumina; there is also a γ-alumina phase. Its crystalline form, corundum, is very hard (Mohs hardness 9), has a high melting point of , has very low volatility, is chemically inert, and a good electrical insulator, it is often used in abrasives (such as toothpaste), as a refractory material, and in ceramics, as well as being the starting material for the electrolytic production of aluminium metal. Sapphire and ruby are impure corundum contaminated with trace amounts of other metals. The two main oxide-hydroxides, AlO(OH), are boehmite and diaspore. There are three main trihydroxides: bayerite, gibbsite, and nordstrandite, which differ in their crystalline structure (polymorphs). Many other intermediate and related structures are also known. Most are produced from ores by a variety of wet processes using acid and base. Heating the hydroxides leads to formation of corundum. These materials are of central importance to the production of aluminium and are themselves extremely useful. Some mixed oxide phases are also very useful, such as spinel (MgAl2O4), Na-β-alumina (NaAl11O17), and tricalcium aluminate (Ca3Al2O6, an important mineral phase in Portland cement). The only stable chalcogenides under normal conditions are aluminium sulfide (Al2S3), selenide (Al2Se3), and telluride (Al2Te3). All three are prepared by direct reaction of their elements at about and quickly hydrolyze completely in water to yield aluminium hydroxide and the respective hydrogen chalcogenide. As aluminium is a small atom relative to these chalcogens, these have four-coordinate tetrahedral aluminium with various polymorphs having structures related to wurtzite, with two-thirds of the possible metal sites occupied either in an orderly (α) or random (β) fashion; the sulfide also has a γ form related to γ-alumina, and an unusual high-temperature hexagonal form where half the aluminium atoms have tetrahedral four-coordination and the other half have trigonal bipyramidal five-coordination. Four pnictides – aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium phosphide (AlP), aluminium arsenide (AlAs), and aluminium antimonide (AlSb) – are known. They are all III-V semiconductors isoelectronic to silicon and germanium, all of which but AlN have the zinc blende structure. All four can be made by high-temperature (and possibly high-pressure) direct reaction of their component elements. Aluminium alloys well with most other metals (with the exception of most alkali metals and group 13 metals) and over 150 intermetallics with other metals are known. Preparation involves heating fixed metals together in certain proportion, followed by gradual cooling and annealing. Bonding in them is predominantly metallic and the crystal structure primarily depends on efficiency of packing. There are few compounds with lower oxidation states. A few aluminium(I) compounds exist: AlF, AlCl, AlBr, and AlI exist in the gaseous phase when the respective trihalide is heated with aluminium, and at cryogenic temperatures. A stable derivative of aluminium monoiodide is the cyclic adduct formed with triethylamine, Al4I4(NEt3)4. Al2O and Al2S also exist but are very unstable. Very simple aluminium(II) compounds are invoked or observed in the reactions of Al metal with oxidants. For example, aluminium monoxide, AlO, has been detected in the gas phase after explosion and in stellar absorption spectra. More thoroughly investigated are compounds of the formula R4Al2 which contain an Al–Al bond and where R is a large organic ligand. Organoaluminium compounds and related hydrides A variety of compounds of empirical formula AlR3 and AlR1.5Cl1.5 exist. The aluminium trialkyls and triaryls are reactive, volatile, and colorless liquids or low-melting solids. They catch fire spontaneously in air and react with water, thus necessitating precautions when handling them. They often form dimers, unlike their boron analogues, but this tendency diminishes for branched-chain alkyls (e.g. Pri, Bui, Me3CCH2); for example, triisobutylaluminium exists as an equilibrium mixture of the monomer and dimer. These dimers, such as trimethylaluminium (Al2Me6), usually feature tetrahedral Al centers formed by dimerization with some alkyl group bridging between both aluminium atoms. They are hard acids and react readily with ligands, forming adducts. In industry, they are mostly used in alkene insertion reactions, as discovered by Karl Ziegler, most importantly in "growth reactions" that form long-chain unbranched primary alkenes and alcohols, and in the low-pressure polymerization of ethene and propene. There are also some heterocyclic and cluster organoaluminium compounds involving Al–N bonds. The industrially most important aluminium hydride is lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4), which is used in as a reducing agent in organic chemistry. It can be produced from lithium hydride and aluminium trichloride. The simplest hydride, aluminium hydride or alane, is not as important. It is a polymer with the formula (AlH3)n, in contrast to the corresponding boron hydride that is a dimer with the formula (BH3)2. Natural occurrence Space Aluminium's per-particle abundance in the Solar System is 3.15 ppm (parts per million). It is the twelfth most abundant of all elements and third most abundant among the elements that have odd atomic numbers, after hydrogen and nitrogen. The only stable isotope of aluminium, 27Al, is the eighteenth most abundant nucleus in the Universe. It is created almost entirely after fusion of carbon in massive stars that will later become Type II supernovas: this fusion creates 26Mg, which, upon capturing free protons and neutrons becomes aluminium. Some smaller quantities of 27Al are created in hydrogen burning shells of evolved stars, where 26Mg can capture free protons. Essentially all aluminium now in existence is 27Al. 26Al was present in the early Solar System with abundance of 0.005% relative to 27Al but its half-life of 728,000 years is too short for any original nuclei to survive; 26Al is therefore extinct. Unlike for 27Al, hydrogen burning is the primary source of 26Al, with the nuclide emerging after a nucleus of 25Mg catches a free proton. However, the trace quantities of 26Al that do exist are the most common gamma ray emitter in the interstellar gas; if the original 26Al were still present, gamma ray maps of the Milky Way would be brighter. Earth Overall, the Earth is about 1.59% aluminium by mass (seventh in abundance by mass). Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth's crust than in the Universe at large, because aluminium easily forms the oxide and becomes bound into rocks and stays in the Earth's crust, while less reactive metals sink to the core. In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant metallic element (8.23% by mass) and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). A large number of silicates in the Earth's crust contain aluminium. In contrast, the Earth's mantle is only 2.38% aluminium by mass. Aluminium also occurs in seawater at a concentration of 2 μg/kg. Because of its strong affinity for oxygen, aluminium is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates. Feldspars, the most common group of minerals in the Earth's crust, are aluminosilicates. Aluminium also occurs in the minerals beryl, cryolite, garnet, spinel, and turquoise. Impurities in Al2O3, such as chromium and iron, yield the gemstones ruby and sapphire, respectively. Native aluminium metal is extremely rare and can only be found as a minor phase in low oxygen fugacity environments, such as the interiors of certain volcanoes. Native aluminium has been reported in cold seeps in the northeastern continental slope of the South China Sea. It is possible that these deposits resulted from bacterial reduction of tetrahydroxoaluminate Al(OH)4−. Although aluminium is a common and widespread element, not all aluminium minerals are economically viable sources of the metal. Almost all metallic aluminium is produced from the ore bauxite (AlOx(OH)3–2x). Bauxite occurs as a weathering product of low iron and silica bedrock in tropical climatic conditions. In 2017, most bauxite was mined in Australia, China, Guinea, and India. History The history of aluminium has been shaped by usage of alum. The first written record of alum, made by Greek historian Herodotus, dates back to the 5th century BCE. The ancients are known to have used alum as a dyeing mordant and for city defense. After the Crusades, alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry, was a subject of international commerce; it was imported to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean until the mid-15th century. The nature of alum remained unknown. Around 1530, Swiss physician Paracelsus suggested alum was a salt of an earth of alum. In 1595, German doctor and chemist Andreas Libavius experimentally confirmed this. In 1722, German chemist Friedrich Hoffmann announced his belief that the base of alum was a distinct earth. In 1754, German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf synthesized alumina by boiling clay in sulfuric acid and subsequently adding potash. Attempts to produce aluminium metal date back to 1760. The first successful attempt, however, was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam, yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin. He presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825. In 1827, German chemist Friedrich Wöhler repeated Ørsted's experiments but did not identify any aluminium. (The reason for this inconsistency was only discovered in 1921.) He conducted a similar experiment in the same year by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium and produced a powder of aluminium. In 1845, he was able to produce small pieces of the metal and described some physical properties of this metal. For many years thereafter, Wöhler was credited as the discoverer of aluminium. As Wöhler's method could not yield great quantities of aluminium, the metal remained rare; its cost exceeded that of gold. The first industrial production of aluminium was established in 1856 by French chemist Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville and companions. Deville had discovered that aluminium trichloride could be reduced by sodium, which was more convenient and less expensive than potassium, which Wöhler had used. Even then, aluminium was still not of great purity and produced aluminium differed in properties by sample. Because of its electricity-conducting capacity, aluminium was used as the cap of the Washington Monument, completed in 1885. The tallest building in the world at the time, the non-corroding metal cap was intended to serve as a lightning rod peak. The first industrial large-scale production method was independently developed in 1886 by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall; it is now known as the Hall–Héroult process. The Hall–Héroult process converts alumina into metal. Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Bayer discovered a way of purifying bauxite to yield alumina, now known as the Bayer process, in 1889. Modern production of the aluminium metal is based on the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes. Prices of aluminium dropped and aluminium became widely used in jewelry, everyday items, eyeglass frames, optical instruments, tableware, and foil in the 1890s and early 20th century. Aluminium's ability to form hard yet light alloys with other metals provided the metal with many uses at the time. During World War I, major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light strong airframes; during World War II, demand by major governments for aviation was even higher. By the mid-20th century, aluminium had become a part of everyday life and an essential component of housewares. In 1954, production of aluminium surpassed that of copper, historically second in production only to iron, making it the most produced non-ferrous metal. During the mid-20th century, aluminium emerged as a civil engineering material, with building applications in both basic construction and interior finish work, and increasingly being used in military engineering, for both airplanes and land armor vehicle engines. Earth's first artificial satellite, launched in 1957, consisted of two separate aluminium semi-spheres joined and all subsequent space vehicles have used aluminium to some extent. The aluminium can was invented in 1956 and employed as a storage for drinks in 1958. Throughout the 20th century, the production of aluminium rose rapidly: while the world production of aluminium in 1900 was 6,800 metric tons, the annual production first exceeded 100,000 metric tons in 1916; 1,000,000 tons in 1941; 10,000,000 tons in 1971. In the 1970s, the increased demand for aluminium made it an exchange commodity; it entered the London Metal Exchange, the oldest industrial metal exchange in the world, in 1978. The output continued to grow: the annual production of aluminium exceeded 50,000,000 metric tons in 2013. The real price for aluminium declined from $14,000 per metric ton in 1900 to $2,340 in 1948 (in 1998 United States dollars). Extraction and processing costs were lowered over technological progress and the scale of the economies. However, the need to exploit lower-grade poorer quality deposits and the use of fast increasing input costs (above all, energy) increased the net cost of aluminium; the real price began to grow in the 1970s with the rise of energy cost. Production moved from the industrialized countries to countries where production was cheaper. Production costs in the late 20th century changed because of advances in technology, lower energy prices, exchange rates of the United States dollar, and alumina prices. The BRIC countries' combined share in primary production and primary consumption grew substantially in the first decade of the 21st century. China is accumulating an especially large share of the world's production thanks to an abundance of resources, cheap energy, and governmental stimuli; it also increased its consumption share from 2% in 1972 to 40% in 2010. In the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging. In 2021, prices for industrial metals such as aluminium have soared to near-record levels as energy shortages in China drive up costs for electricity. Etymology The names aluminium and aluminum are derived from the word alumine, an obsolete term for alumina, a naturally occurring oxide of aluminium. Alumine was borrowed from French, which in turn derived it from alumen, the classical Latin name for alum, the mineral from which it was collected. The Latin word alumen stems from the Proto-Indo-European root *alu- meaning "bitter" or "beer". Origins British chemist Humphry Davy, who performed a number of experiments aimed to isolate the metal, is credited as the person who named the element. The first name proposed for the metal to be isolated from alum was alumium, which Davy suggested in an 1808 article on his electrochemical research, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. It appeared that the name was created from the English word alum and the Latin suffix -ium; but it was customary then to give elements names originating in Latin, so this name was not adopted universally. This name was criticized by contemporary chemists from France, Germany, and Sweden, who insisted the metal should be named for the oxide, alumina, from which it would be isolated. The English name alum does not come directly from Latin, whereas alumine/alumina obviously comes from the Latin word alumen (upon declension, alumen changes to alumin-). One example was Essai sur la Nomenclature chimique (July 1811), written in French by a Swedish chemist, Jöns Jacob Berzelius, in which the name aluminium is given to the element that would be synthesized from alum. (Another article in the same journal issue also gives the name aluminium to the metal whose oxide is the basis of sapphire.) A January 1811 summary of one of Davy's lectures at the Royal Society mentioned the name aluminium as a possibility. The next year, Davy published a chemistry textbook in which he used the spelling aluminum. Both spellings have coexisted since. Their usage is regional: aluminum dominates in the United States and Canada; aluminium, in the rest of the English-speaking world. Spelling In 1812, a British scientist, Thomas Young, wrote an anonymous review of Davy's book, in which he proposed the name aluminium instead of aluminum, which he thought had a "less classical sound". This name did catch on: although the spelling was occasionally used in Britain, the American scientific language used from the start. Most scientists throughout the world used in the 19th century; and it was entrenched in several other European languages, such as French, German, and Dutch. In 1828, an American lexicographer, Noah Webster, entered only the aluminum spelling in his American Dictionary of the English Language. In the 1830s, the spelling gained usage in the United States; by the 1860s, it had become the more common spelling there outside science. In 1892, Hall used the spelling in his advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal, despite his constant use of the spelling in all the patents he filed between 1886 and 1903: it is unknown whether this spelling was introduced by mistake or intentionally; but Hall preferred aluminum since its introduction because it resembled platinum, the name of a prestigious metal. By 1890, both spellings had been common in the United States, the spelling being slightly more common; by 1895, the situation had reversed; by 1900, aluminum had become twice as common as aluminium; in the next decade, the spelling dominated American usage. In 1925, the American Chemical Society adopted this spelling. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990. In 1993, they recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant; the most recent 2005 edition of the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry also acknowledges this spelling. IUPAC official publications use the spelling as primary, and they list both where it is appropriate. Production and refinement The production of aluminium starts with the extraction of bauxite rock from the ground. The bauxite is processed and transformed using the Bayer process into alumina, which is then processed using the Hall–Héroult process, resulting in the final aluminium metal. Aluminium production is highly energy-consuming, and so the producers tend to locate smelters in places where electric power is both plentiful and inexpensive. Production of one kilogram of aluminium requires 7 kilograms of oil energy equivalent, as compared to 1.5 kilograms for steel and 2 kilograms for plastic. As of 2019, the world's largest smelters of aluminium are located in China, India, Russia, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates, while China is by far the top producer of aluminium with a world share of fifty-five percent. According to the International Resource Panel's Metal Stocks in Society report, the global per capita stock of aluminium in use in society (i.e. in cars, buildings, electronics, etc.) is . Much of this is in more-developed countries ( per capita) rather than less-developed countries ( per capita). Bayer process Bauxite is converted to alumina by the Bayer process. Bauxite is blended for uniform composition and then is ground. The resulting slurry is mixed with a hot solution of sodium hydroxide; the mixture is then treated in a digester vessel at a pressure well above atmospheric, dissolving the aluminium hydroxide in bauxite while converting impurities into relatively insoluble compounds: After this reaction, the slurry is at a temperature above its atmospheric boiling point. It is cooled by removing steam as pressure is reduced. The bauxite residue is separated from the solution and discarded. The solution, free of solids, is seeded with small crystals of aluminium hydroxide; this causes decomposition of the [Al(OH)4]− ions to aluminium hydroxide. After about half of aluminium has precipitated, the mixture is sent to classifiers. Small crystals of aluminium hydroxide are collected to serve as seeding agents; coarse particles are converted to alumina by heating; the excess solution is removed by evaporation, (if needed) purified, and recycled. Hall–Héroult process The conversion of alumina to aluminium metal is achieved by the Hall–Héroult process. In this energy-intensive process, a solution of alumina in a molten () mixture of cryolite (Na3AlF6) with calcium fluoride is electrolyzed to produce metallic aluminium. The liquid aluminium metal sinks to the bottom of the solution and is tapped off, and usually cast into large blocks called aluminium billets for further processing. Anodes of the electrolysis cell are made of carbon—the most resistant material against fluoride corrosion—and either bake at the process or are prebaked. The former, also called Söderberg anodes, are less power-efficient and fumes released during baking are costly to collect, which is why they are being replaced by prebaked anodes even though they save the power, energy, and labor to prebake the cathodes. Carbon for anodes should be preferably pure so that neither aluminium nor the electrolyte is contaminated with ash. Despite carbon's resistivity against corrosion, it is still consumed at a rate of 0.4–0.5 kg per each kilogram of produced aluminium. Cathodes are made of anthracite; high purity for them is not required because impurities leach only very slowly. The cathode is consumed at a rate of 0.02–0.04 kg per each kilogram of produced aluminium. A cell is usually terminated after 2–6 years following a failure of the cathode. The Hall–Heroult process produces aluminium with a purity of above 99%. Further purification can be done by the Hoopes process. This process involves the electrolysis of molten aluminium with a sodium, barium, and aluminium fluoride electrolyte. The resulting aluminium has a purity of 99.99%. Electric power represents about 20 to 40% of the cost of producing aluminium, depending on the location of the smelter. Aluminium production consumes roughly 5% of electricity generated in the United States. Because of this, alternatives to the Hall–Héroult process have been researched, but none has turned out to be economically feasible. Recycling Recovery of the metal through recycling has become an important task of the aluminium industry. Recycling was a low-profile activity until the late 1960s, when the growing use of aluminium beverage cans brought it to public awareness. Recycling involves melting the scrap, a process that requires only 5% of the energy used to produce aluminium from ore, though a significant part (up to 15% of the input material) is lost as dross (ash-like oxide). An aluminium stack melter produces significantly less dross, with values reported below 1%. White dross from primary aluminium production and from secondary recycling operations still contains useful quantities of aluminium that can be extracted industrially. The process produces aluminium billets, together with a highly complex waste material. This waste is difficult to manage. It reacts with water, releasing a mixture of gases (including, among others, hydrogen, acetylene, and ammonia), which spontaneously ignites on contact with air; contact with damp air results in the release of copious quantities of ammonia gas. Despite these difficulties, the waste is used as a filler in asphalt and concrete. Applications Metal The global production of aluminium in 2016 was 58.8 million metric tons. It exceeded that of any other metal except iron (1,231 million metric tons). Aluminium is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when tempered. For example, the common aluminium foils and beverage cans are alloys of 92% to 99% aluminium. The main alloying agents are copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and silicon (e.g., duralumin) with the levels of other metals in a few percent by weight. Aluminium, both wrought and cast, has been alloyed with: manganese, silicon, magnesium, copper and zinc among others. For example, the Kynal family of alloys was developed by the British chemical manufacturer Imperial Chemical Industries. The major uses for aluminium metal are in: Transportation (automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railway cars, marine vessels, bicycles, spacecraft, etc.). Aluminium is used because of its low density; Packaging (cans, foil, frame, etc.). Aluminium is used because it is non-toxic (see below), non-adsorptive, and splinter-proof; Building and construction (windows, doors, siding, building wire, sheathing, roofing, etc.). Since steel is cheaper, aluminium is used when lightness, corrosion resistance, or engineering features are important; Electricity-related uses (conductor alloys, motors, and generators, transformers, capacitors, etc.). Aluminium is used because it is relatively cheap, highly conductive, has adequate mechanical strength and low density, and resists corrosion; A wide range of household items, from cooking utensils to furniture. Low density, good appearance, ease of fabrication, and durability are the key factors of aluminium usage; Machinery and equipment (processing equipment, pipes, tools). Aluminium is used because of its corrosion resistance, non-pyrophoricity, and mechanical strength. Compounds The great majority (about 90%) of aluminium oxide is converted to metallic aluminium. Being a very hard material (Mohs hardness 9), alumina is widely used as an abrasive; being extraordinarily chemically inert, it is useful in highly reactive environments such as high pressure sodium lamps. Aluminium oxide is commonly used as a catalyst for industrial processes; e.g. the Claus process to convert hydrogen sulfide to sulfur in refineries and to alkylate amines. Many industrial catalysts are supported by alumina, meaning that the expensive catalyst material is dispersed over a surface of the inert alumina. Another principal use is as a drying agent or absorbent. Several sulfates of aluminium have industrial and commercial application. Aluminium sulfate (in its hydrate form) is produced on the annual scale of several millions of metric tons. About two-thirds is consumed in water treatment. The next major application is in the manufacture of paper. It is also used as a mordant in dyeing, in pickling seeds, deodorizing of mineral oils, in leather tanning, and in production of other aluminium compounds. Two kinds of alum, ammonium alum and potassium alum, were formerly used as mordants and in leather tanning, but their use has significantly declined following availability of high-purity aluminium sulfate. Anhydrous aluminium chloride is used as a catalyst in chemical and petrochemical industries, the dyeing industry, and in synthesis of various inorganic and organic compounds. Aluminium hydroxychlorides are used in purifying water, in the paper industry, and as antiperspirants. Sodium aluminate is used in treating water and as an accelerator of solidification of cement. Many aluminium compounds have niche applications, for example: Aluminium acetate in solution is used as an astringent. Aluminium phosphate is used in the manufacture of glass, ceramic, pulp and paper products, cosmetics, paints, varnishes, and in dental cement. Aluminium hydroxide is used as an antacid, and mordant; it is used also in water purification, the manufacture of glass and ceramics, and in the waterproofing of fabrics. Lithium aluminium hydride is a powerful reducing agent used in organic chemistry. Organoaluminiums are used as Lewis acids and co-catalysts. Methylaluminoxane is a co-catalyst for Ziegler–Natta olefin polymerization to produce vinyl polymers such as polyethene. Aqueous aluminium ions (such as aqueous aluminium sulfate) are used to treat against fish parasites such as Gyrodactylus salaris. In many vaccines, certain aluminium salts serve as an immune adjuvant (immune response booster) to allow the protein in the vaccine to achieve sufficient potency as an immune stimulant. Until 2004, most of the adjuvants used in vaccines were aluminium-adjuvanted. Biology Despite its widespread occurrence in the Earth's crust, aluminium has no known function in biology. At pH 6–9 (relevant for most natural waters), aluminium precipitates out of water as the hydroxide and is hence not available; most elements behaving this way have no biological role or are toxic. Aluminium sulfate has an LD50 of 6207 mg/kg (oral, mouse), which corresponds to 435 grams (about one pound) for a person. Toxicity Aluminium is classified as a non-carcinogen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. A review published in 1988 said that there was little evidence that normal exposure to aluminium presents a risk to healthy adult, and a 2014 multi-element toxicology review was unable to find deleterious effects of aluminium consumed in amounts not greater than 40 mg/day per kg of body mass. Most aluminium consumed will leave the body in feces; most of the small part of it that enters the bloodstream, will be excreted via urine; nevertheless some aluminium does pass the blood-brain barrier and is lodged preferentially in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Evidence published in 1989 indicates that, for Alzheimer's patients, aluminium may act by electrostatically crosslinking proteins, thus down-regulating genes in the superior temporal gyrus. Effects Aluminium, although rarely, can cause vitamin D-resistant osteomalacia, erythropoietin-resistant microcytic anemia, and central nervous system alterations. People with kidney insufficiency are especially at a risk. Chronic ingestion of hydrated aluminium silicates (for excess gastric acidity control) may result in aluminium binding to intestinal contents and increased elimination of other metals, such as iron or zinc; sufficiently high doses (>50 g/day) can cause anemia. During the 1988 Camelford water pollution incident people in Camelford had their drinking water contaminated with aluminium sulfate for several weeks. A final report into the incident in 2013 concluded it was unlikely that this had caused long-term health problems. Aluminium has been suspected of being a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease, but research into this for over 40 years has found, , no good evidence of causal effect. Aluminium increases estrogen-related gene expression in human breast cancer cells cultured in the laboratory. In very high doses, aluminium is associated with altered function of the blood–brain barrier. A small percentage of people have contact allergies to aluminium and experience itchy red rashes, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, poor memory, insomnia, depression, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, or other symptoms upon contact with products containing aluminium. Exposure to powdered aluminium or aluminium welding fumes can cause pulmonary fibrosis. Fine aluminium powder can ignite or explode, posing another workplace hazard. Exposure routes Food is the main source of aluminium. Drinking water contains more aluminium than solid food; however, aluminium in food may be absorbed more than aluminium from water. Major sources of human oral exposure to aluminium include food (due to its use in food additives, food and beverage packaging, and cooking utensils), drinking water (due to its use in municipal water treatment), and aluminium-containing medications (particularly antacid/antiulcer and buffered aspirin formulations). Dietary exposure in Europeans averages to 0.2–1.5 mg/kg/week but can be as high as 2.3 mg/kg/week. Higher exposure levels of aluminium are mostly limited to miners, aluminium production workers, and dialysis patients. Consumption of antacids, antiperspirants, vaccines, and cosmetics provide possible routes of exposure. Consumption of acidic foods or liquids with aluminium enhances aluminium absorption, and maltol has been shown to increase the accumulation of aluminium in nerve and bone tissues. Treatment In case of suspected sudden intake of a large amount of aluminium, the only treatment is deferoxamine mesylate which may be given to help eliminate aluminium from the body by chelation. However, this should be applied with caution as this reduces not only aluminium body levels, but also those of other metals such as copper or iron. Environmental effects High levels of aluminium occur near mining sites; small amounts of aluminium are released to the environment at the coal-fired power plants or incinerators. Aluminium in the air is washed out by the rain or normally settles down but small particles of aluminium remain in the air for a long time. Acidic precipitation is the main natural factor to mobilize aluminium from natural sources and the main reason for the environmental effects of aluminium; however, the main factor of presence of aluminium in salt and freshwater are the industrial processes that also release aluminium into air. In water, aluminium acts as a toxiс agent on gill-breathing animals such as fish when the water is acidic, in which aluminium may precipitate on gills, which causes loss of plasma- and hemolymph ions leading to osmoregulatory failure. Organic complexes of aluminium may be easily absorbed and interfere with metabolism in mammals and birds, even though this rarely happens in practice. Aluminium is primary among the factors that reduce plant growth on acidic soils. Although it is generally harmless to plant growth in pH-neutral soils, in acid soils the concentration of toxic Al3+ cations increases and disturbs root growth and function. Wheat has developed a tolerance to aluminium, releasing organic compounds that bind to harmful aluminium cations. Sorghum is believed to have the same tolerance mechanism. Aluminium production possesses its own challenges to the environment on each step of the production process. The major challenge is the greenhouse gas emissions. These gases result from electrical consumption of the smelters and the byproducts of processing. The most potent of these gases are perfluorocarbons from the smelting process. Released sulfur dioxide is one of the primary precursors of acid rain. Biodegradation of metallic aluminium is extremely rare; most aluminium-corroding organisms do not directly attack or consume the aluminium, but instead produce corrosive wastes. The fungus Geotrichum candidum can consume the aluminium in compact discs. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the fungus Cladosporium resinae are commonly detected in aircraft fuel tanks that use kerosene-based fuels (not avgas), and laboratory cultures can degrade aluminium. See also Aluminium granules Aluminium joining Aluminium–air battery Aluminized steel, for corrosion resistance and other properties Aluminized screen, for display devices Aluminized cloth, to reflect heat Aluminized mylar, to reflect heat Panel edge staining Quantum clock Notes References Bibliography Further reading Mimi Sheller, Aluminum Dream: The Making of Light Modernity. Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2014. External links Aluminium at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) Toxic Substances Portal – Aluminum – from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States Department of Health and Human Services CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards – Aluminum World production of primary aluminium, by country Price history of aluminum, according to the IMF History of Aluminium – from the website of the International Aluminium Institute Emedicine – Aluminium Chemical elements Post-transition metals Aluminium Electrical conductors Pyrotechnic fuels Airship technology Reducing agents E-number additives Native element minerals Chemical elements with face-centered cubic structure

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican%20Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The archbishop of Canterbury (, Justin Welby) in England acts as a focus of unity, recognised as ("first among equals"), but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches. The Anglican Communion was officially and formally organised and recognised as such at the Lambeth Conference in 1867 in London under the leadership of Charles Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury. The churches of the Anglican Communion consider themselves to be part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, and to be both catholic and Reformed. As in the Church of England itself, the Anglican Communion includes the broad spectrum of beliefs and liturgical practises found in the Evangelical, Central and Anglo-Catholic traditions of Anglicanism. Each national or regional church is fully independent, retaining its own legislative process and episcopal polity under the leadership of local primates. For some adherents, Anglicanism represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a form of Protestantism though without a guiding figure such as Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, John Wesley or Jan Hus, or, for yet others, a combination of the two. Most of its members live in the Anglosphere of former British territories. Full participation in the sacramental life of each church is available to all communicant members. Because of their historical link to England (ecclesia anglicana means "English church"), some of the member churches are known as "Anglican", such as the Anglican Church of Canada. Others, for example the Church of Ireland and the Scottish and American Episcopal churches, have official names that do not include "Anglican". Conversely, some churches that do use the name "Anglican" are not part of the communion. These have generally disaffiliated over disagreement with the direction of the communion. On February 20, 2023, ten communion provinces and Anglican realignment churches within Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches released a statement stating that they had declared "impaired communion" with the Church of England and no longer recognised Justin Welby as "first among equals" among the bishops of the communion, de facto marking a schism within the Anglican Communion. History The Anglican Communion traces much of its growth to the older mission organisations of the Church of England such as the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (founded 1698), the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (founded 1701) and the Church Missionary Society (founded 1799). The Church of England (which until the 20th century included the Church in Wales) initially separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 in the reign of Henry VIII, reunited in 1555 under Mary I and then separated again in 1570 under Elizabeth I (the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Elizabeth I in 1570 in response to the Act of Supremacy 1559). The Church of England has always thought of itself not as a new foundation but rather as a reformed continuation of the ancient "English Church" (Ecclesia Anglicana) and a reassertion of that church's rights. As such it was a distinctly national phenomenon. The Church of Scotland was formed as a separate church from the Roman Catholic Church as a result of the Scottish Reformation in 1560 and the later formation of the Scottish Episcopal Church began in 1582 in the reign of James VI over disagreements about the role of bishops. The oldest-surviving Anglican church building outside the British Isles (Britain and Ireland) is St Peter's Church in St. George's, Bermuda, established in 1612 (though the actual building had to be rebuilt several times over the following century). This is also the oldest surviving non-Roman Catholic church in the New World. It remained part of the Church of England until 1978 when the Anglican Church of Bermuda separated. The Church of England was the established church not only in England, but in its trans-Oceanic colonies. Thus the only member churches of the present Anglican Communion existing by the mid-18th century were the Church of England, its closely linked sister church the Church of Ireland (which also separated from Roman Catholicism under Henry VIII) and the Scottish Episcopal Church which for parts of the 17th and 18th centuries was partially underground (it was suspected of Jacobite sympathies). Global spread of Anglicanism The enormous expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries of the British Empire brought Anglicanism along with it. At first all these colonial churches were under the jurisdiction of the bishop of London. After the American Revolution, the parishes in the newly independent country found it necessary to break formally from a church whose supreme governor was (and remains) the British monarch. Thus they formed their own dioceses and national church, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in a mostly amicable separation. At about the same time, in the colonies which remained linked to the crown, the Church of England began to appoint colonial bishops. In 1787, Charles Inglis (Bishop of Nova Scotia) was appointed with a jurisdiction over all of British North America; in time several more colleagues were appointed to other cities in present-day Canada. In 1814, a bishop of Calcutta was made; in 1824 the first bishop was sent to the West Indies and in 1836 to Australia. By 1840 there were still only ten colonial bishops for the Church of England; but even this small beginning greatly facilitated the growth of Anglicanism around the world. In 1841, a "Colonial Bishoprics Council" was set up and soon many more dioceses were created. In time, it became natural to group these into provinces and a metropolitan bishop was appointed for each province. Although it had at first been somewhat established in many colonies, in 1861 it was ruled that, except where specifically established, the Church of England had just the same legal position as any other church. Thus a colonial bishop and colonial diocese was by nature quite a different thing from their counterparts back home. In time bishops came to be appointed locally rather than from England and eventually national synods began to pass ecclesiastical legislation independent of England. A crucial step in the development of the modern communion was the idea of the Lambeth Conferences (discussed above). These conferences demonstrated that the bishops of disparate churches could manifest the unity of the church in their episcopal collegiality despite the absence of universal legal ties. Some bishops were initially reluctant to attend, fearing that the meeting would declare itself a council with power to legislate for the church; but it agreed to pass only advisory resolutions. These Lambeth Conferences have been held roughly every ten years since 1878 (the second such conference) and remain the most visible coming-together of the whole communion. The Lambeth Conference of 1998 included what has been seen by Philip Jenkins and others as a "watershed in global Christianity". The 1998 Lambeth Conference considered the issue of the theology of same-sex attraction in relation to human sexuality. At this 1998 conference for the first time in centuries the Christians of developing regions, especially, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, prevailed over the bishops of more prosperous countries (many from the US, Canada, and the UK) who supported a redefinition of Anglican doctrine. Seen in this light 1998 is a date that marked the shift from a West-dominated Christianity to one wherein the growing churches of the two-thirds world are predominant. Controversies One effect of the Anglican Communion's dispersed authority has been the conflicts arising over divergent practices and doctrines in parts of the communion. Disputes that had been confined to the Church of England could be dealt with legislatively in that realm, but as the Communion spread out into new nations and disparate cultures, such controversies multiplied and intensified. These controversies have generally been of two types: liturgical and social. Anglo-Catholicism The first such controversy of note concerned that of the growing influence of the Catholic Revival manifested in the Tractarian and so-called Ritualist controversies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This controversy produced the Free Church of England and, in the United States and Canada, the Reformed Episcopal Church. Social changes Later, rapid social change and the dissipation of British cultural hegemony over its former colonies contributed to disputes over the role of women, the parameters of marriage and divorce, and the practices of contraception and abortion. In the late 1970s, the Continuing Anglican movement produced a number of new church bodies in opposition to women's ordination, prayer book changes, and the new understandings concerning marriage. Same-sex unions and LGBT clergy More recently, disagreements over homosexuality have strained the unity of the communion as well as its relationships with other Christian denominations, leading to another round of withdrawals from the Anglican Communion. Some churches were founded outside the Anglican Communion in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, largely in opposition to the ordination of openly homosexual bishops and other clergy and are usually referred to as belonging to the Anglican realignment movement, or else as "orthodox" Anglicans. These disagreements were especially noted when the Episcopal Church (US) consecrated an openly gay bishop in a same-sex relationship, Gene Robinson, in 2003, which led some Episcopalians to defect and found the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA); then, the debate reignited when the Church of England agreed to allow clergy to enter into same-sex civil partnerships, as long as they remained celibate, in 2005. The Church of Nigeria opposed the Episcopal Church's decision as well as the Church of England's approval for celibate civil partnerships. "The more liberal provinces that are open to changing Church doctrine on marriage in order to allow for same-sex unions include Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, South India, South Africa, the US and Wales". In 2023, the Church of England announced that it will authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples". The Church of England also permits clergy to enter into same-sex civil partnerships. The Church of Ireland has no official position on civil unions, and one senior cleric has entered into a same-sex civil partnership. The Church of Ireland recognised that it will "treat civil partners the same as spouses". The Anglican Church of Australia does not have an official position on homosexuality. The conservative Anglican churches encouraging the realignment movement are more concentrated in the Global South. For example, the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Church of Nigeria and the Church of Uganda have opposed homosexuality. GAFCON, a fellowship of conservative Anglican churches, has appointed "missionary bishops" in response to the disagreements with the perceived liberalisation in the Anglican churches in North America and Europe. In 2023, ten archbishops within the Anglican Communion and two breakaway churches in North America and Brazil from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) declared a state of impaired communion with the Church of England and announced that they would no longer recognise the archbishop of Canterbury as the "first among equals" among the bishops in the Anglican Communion. However, in the same statement, the ten archbishops said that they would not leave the Anglican Communion. Debates about social theology and ethics have occurred at the same time as debates on prayer book revision and the acceptable grounds for achieving full communion with non-Anglican churches. Ecclesiology, polity and ethos The Anglican Communion has no official legal existence nor any governing structure that might exercise authority over the member churches. There is an Anglican Communion Office in London, under the aegis of the archbishop of Canterbury, but it serves only in a supporting and organisational role. The communion is held together by a shared history, expressed in its ecclesiology, polity and ethos, and also by participation in international consultative bodies. Three elements have been important in holding the communion together: first, the shared ecclesial structure of the component churches, manifested in an episcopal polity maintained through the apostolic succession of bishops and synodical government; second, the principle of belief expressed in worship, investing importance in approved prayer books and their rubrics; and third, the historical documents and the writings of early Anglican divines that have influenced the ethos of the communion. Originally, the Church of England was self-contained and relied for its unity and identity on its own history, its traditional legal and episcopal structure, and its status as an established church of the state. As such, Anglicanism was from the outset a movement with an explicitly episcopal polity, a characteristic that has been vital in maintaining the unity of the communion by conveying the episcopate's role in manifesting visible catholicity and ecumenism. Early in its development following the English Reformation, Anglicanism developed a vernacular prayer book, called the Book of Common Prayer. Unlike other traditions, Anglicanism has never been governed by a magisterium nor by appeal to one founding theologian, nor by an extra-credal summary of doctrine (such as the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterian churches). Instead, Anglicans have typically appealed to the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and its offshoots as a guide to Anglican theology and practise. This has had the effect of inculcating in Anglican identity and confession the principle of ("the law of praying [is] the law of believing"). Protracted conflict through the 17th century, with radical Protestants on the one hand and Roman Catholics who recognised the primacy of the Pope on the other, resulted in an association of churches that was both deliberately vague about doctrinal principles, yet bold in developing parameters of acceptable deviation. These parameters were most clearly articulated in the various rubrics of the successive prayer books, as well as the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (1563). These articles have historically shaped and continue to direct the ethos of the communion, an ethos reinforced by its interpretation and expansion by such influential early theologians such as Richard Hooker, Lancelot Andrewes and John Cosin. With the expansion of the British Empire and the growth of Anglicanism outside Great Britain and Ireland, the communion sought to establish new vehicles of unity. The first major expressions of this were the Lambeth Conferences of the communion's bishops, first convened in 1867 by Charles Longley, the archbishop of Canterbury. From the beginning, these were not intended to displace the autonomy of the emerging provinces of the communion, but to "discuss matters of practical interest, and pronounce what we deem expedient in resolutions which may serve as safe guides to future action". Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral One of the enduringly influential early resolutions of the conference was the so-called Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. Its intent was to provide the basis for discussions of reunion with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, but it had the ancillary effect of establishing parameters of Anglican identity. It establishes four principles with these words: Instruments of communion As mentioned above, the Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. The archbishop of Canterbury's role is strictly symbolic and unifying and the communion's three international bodies are consultative and collaborative, their resolutions having no legal effect on the autonomous provinces of the communion. Taken together, however, the four do function as "instruments of communion", since all churches of the communion participate in them. In order of antiquity, they are: The archbishop of Canterbury functions as the spiritual head of the communion. The archbishop is the focus of unity, since no church claims membership in the communion without being in communion with him. The present archbishop is Justin Welby. The Lambeth Conference (first held in 1867) is the oldest international consultation. It is a forum for bishops of the communion to reinforce unity and collegiality through manifesting the episcopate, to discuss matters of mutual concern, and to pass resolutions intended to act as guideposts. It is held roughly every ten years and invitation is by the archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Consultative Council (first met in 1971) was created by a 1968 Lambeth Conference resolution, and meets usually at three-yearly intervals. The council consists of representative bishops, other clergy and laity chosen by the 38 provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the Anglican Communion Office, of which the archbishop of Canterbury is president. The Primates' Meeting (first met in 1979) is the most recent manifestation of international consultation and deliberation, having been first convened by Archbishop Donald Coggan as a forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation". Since there is no binding authority in the Anglican Communion, these international bodies are a vehicle for consultation and persuasion. In recent times, persuasion has tipped over into debates over conformity in certain areas of doctrine, discipline, worship and ethics. The most notable example has been the objection of many provinces of the communion (particularly in Africa and Asia) to the changing acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals in the North American churches (e.g., by blessing same-sex unions and ordaining and consecrating same-sex relationships) and to the process by which changes were undertaken. (See Anglican realignment) Those who objected condemned these actions as unscriptural, unilateral, and without the agreement of the communion prior to these steps being taken. In response, the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada answered that the actions had been undertaken after lengthy scriptural and theological reflection, legally in accordance with their own canons and constitutions and after extensive consultation with the provinces of the communion. The Primates' Meeting voted to request the two churches to withdraw their delegates from the 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council. Canada and the United States decided to attend the meeting but without exercising their right to vote. They have not been expelled or suspended, since there is no mechanism in this voluntary association to suspend or expel an independent province of the communion. Since membership is based on a province's communion with Canterbury, expulsion would require the archbishop of Canterbury's refusal to be in communion with the affected jurisdictions. In line with the suggestion of the Windsor Report, Rowan Williams (the then archbishop of Canterbury) established a working group to examine the feasibility of an Anglican covenant which would articulate the conditions for communion in some fashion. Organisation Provinces The Anglican Communion consists of forty-two autonomous provinces each with its own primate and governing structure. These provinces may take the form of national churches (such as in Canada, Uganda, or Japan) or a collection of nations (such as the West Indies, Central Africa, or Southeast Asia). Extraprovincial churches In addition to the forty-two provinces, there are five extraprovincial churches under the metropolitical authority of the archbishop of Canterbury. Former provinces New provinces in formation At its Autumn 2020 meeting, the provincial standing committee of the Church of Southern Africa approved a plan to form the dioceses in Mozambique and Angola into a separate autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, to be named the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola (IAMA). The plans were also outlined to the Mozambique and Angola Anglican Association (MANNA) at its September 2020 annual general meeting. The new province is Portuguese-speaking, and consists of twelve dioceses (four in Angola, and eight in Mozambique). The twelve proposed new dioceses have been defined and named, and each has a "Task Force Committee" working towards its establishment as a diocese. The plan received the consent of the bishops and diocesan synods of all four existing dioceses in the two nations, and was submitted to the Anglican Consultative Council. In September 2020, the Archbishop of Canterbury announced that he had asked the bishops of the Church of Ceylon to begin planning for the formation of an autonomous province of Ceylon, so as to end his current position as metropolitan of the two dioceses in that country. Churches in full communion In addition to other member churches, the churches of the Anglican Communion are in full communion with the Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Scandinavian Lutheran churches of the Porvoo Communion in Europe, the India-based Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian and Malabar Independent Syrian churches and the Philippine Independent Church, also known as the Aglipayan Church. Ecumenical relations Historic episcopate The churches of the Anglican Communion have traditionally held that ordination in the historic episcopate is a core element in the validity of clerical ordinations. The Roman Catholic Church, however, does not recognise Anglican orders (see Apostolicae curae). Some Eastern Orthodox churches have issued statements to the effect that Anglican orders could be accepted, yet have still reordained former Anglican clergy; other Eastern Orthodox churches have rejected Anglican orders altogether. Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware explains this apparent discrepancy as follows: See also Acts of Supremacy English Reformation Dissolution of the Monasteries Ritualism in the Church of England Apostolicae curae Affirming Catholicism Anglican ministry Anglo-Catholicism British Israelism Church Society Church's Ministry Among Jewish People Compass rose Evangelical Anglicanism Flag of the Anglican Communion Liberal Anglo-Catholicism List of the largest Protestant bodies Reform (Anglican) Anglican Use Notes References Citations Sources Further reading Buchanan, Colin. Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism (2nd ed. 2015) excerpt Hebert, A. G. The Form of the Church. London: Faber and Faber, 1944. Wild, John. What is the Anglican Communion?, in series, The Advent Papers. Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, [196-]. Note.: Expresses the "Anglo-Catholic" viewpoint. External links Anglicans Online Project Canterbury Anglican historical documents from around the world Brief description and history of the Anglican Communion 1997 article from the Anglican Communion Office 1867 establishments in England Religious organizations established in 1867 Religion in the British Empire

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author

Author

In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work, whether that work is in written, graphic, or recorded medium. Thus, a sculptor, painter, or composer, is an author of their respective sculptures, paintings, or compositions, even though in common parlance, an author is often thought of as the writer of a book, article, play, or other written work. In the case of a work for hire, "the employer or commissioning party is considered the author of the work", even if they did not write or otherwise create the work, but merely instructed another individual to do so. Typically, the first owner of a copyright is the person who created the work, i.e. the author. If more than one person created the work, then a case of joint authorship takes place. Copyright laws differ around the world. The United States Copyright Office, for example, defines copyright as "a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to authors of 'original works of authorship.'" Some works are considered to be authorless. For example, the monkey selfie copyright dispute in the 2010s involved photographs taken by Celebes crested macaques using equipment belonging to a nature photographer. The photographer asserted authorship of the photographs, which the United States Copyright Office denied, stating: "To qualify as a work of 'authorship' a work must be created by a human being". More recently, questions have arisen as to whether images or text created by a generative artificial intelligence have an author. Legal significance of authorship Holding the title of "author" over any "literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, [or] certain other intellectual works" gives rights to this person, the owner of the copyright, especially the exclusive right to engage in or authorize any production or distribution of their work. Any person or entity wishing to use intellectual property held under copyright must receive permission from the copyright holder to use this work, and often will be asked to pay for the use of copyrighted material. The copyrights on intellectual work expire after a certain time. It enters the public domain, where it can be used without limit. Copyright laws in many jurisdictions – mostly following the lead of the United States, in which the entertainment and publishing industries have very strong lobbying power – have been amended repeatedly since their inception, to extend the length of this fixed period where the work is exclusively controlled by the copyright holder. Technically, someone owns their work from the time it's created. A notable aspect of authorship emerges with copyright in that, in many jurisdictions, it can be passed down to another upon one's death. The person who inherits the copyright is not the author, but has access to the same legal benefits. Intellectual property laws are complex. Fiction work involves trademark law, likeness rights, fair use rights held by the public (including the right to parody or satirize), and many other interacting complications. Authors may portion out different rights they hold to different parties, at different times, and for different purposes or uses, such as the right to adapt a plot into a film, but only with different character names, because the characters have already been optioned by another company for a television series or a video game. An author may also not have rights when working under contract that they would otherwise have, such as when creating a work for hire (e.g., hired to write a city tour guide by a municipal government that totally owns the copyright to the finished work), or when writing material using intellectual property owned by others (such as when writing a novel or screenplay that is a new installment in an already established media franchise). Philosophical views of the nature of authorship In literary theory, critics find complications in the term author beyond what constitutes authorship in a legal setting. In the wake of postmodern literature, critics such as Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault have examined the role and relevance of authorship to the meaning or interpretation of a literary text. Barthes challenges the idea that a text can be attributed to any single author. He writes, in his essay "Death of the Author" (1968), that "it is language which speaks, not the author." The words and language of a text itself determine and expose meaning for Barthes, and not someone possessing legal responsibility for the process of its production. Every line of written text is a mere reflection of references from any of a multitude of traditions, or, as Barthes puts it, "the text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centers of culture"; it is never original. With this, the perspective of the author is removed from the text, and the limits formerly imposed by the idea of one authorial voice, one ultimate and universal meaning, are destroyed. The explanation and meaning of a work does not have to be sought in the one who produced it, "as if it were always in the end, through the more or less transparent allegory of the fiction, the voice of a single person, the author 'confiding' in us." The psyche, culture, fanaticism of an author can be disregarded when interpreting a text, because the words are rich enough themselves with all of the traditions of language. To expose meanings in a written work without appealing to the celebrity of an author, their tastes, passions, vices, is, to Barthes, to allow language to speak, rather than author. Michel Foucault argues in his essay "What is an author?" (1969) that all authors are writers, but not all writers are authors. He states that "a private letter may have a signatory—it does not have an author." For a reader to assign the title of author upon any written work is to attribute certain standards upon the text which, for Foucault, are working in conjunction with the idea of "the author function." Foucault's author function is the idea that an author exists only as a function of a written work, a part of its structure, but not necessarily part of the interpretive process. The author's name "indicates the status of the discourse within a society and culture," and at one time was used as an anchor for interpreting a text, a practice which Barthes would argue is not a particularly relevant or valid endeavour. Expanding upon Foucault's position, Alexander Nehamas writes that Foucault suggests "an author [...] is whoever can be understood to have produced a particular text as we interpret it," not necessarily who penned the text. It is this distinction between producing a written work and producing the interpretation or meaning in a written work that both Barthes and Foucault are interested in. Foucault warns of the risks of keeping the author's name in mind during interpretation, because it could affect the value and meaning with which one handles an interpretation. Literary critics Barthes and Foucault suggest that readers should not rely on or look for the notion of one overarching voice when interpreting a written work, because of the complications inherent with a writer's title of "author." They warn of the dangers interpretations could suffer from when associating the subject of inherently meaningful words and language with the personality of one authorial voice. Instead, readers should allow a text to be interpreted in terms of the language as "author." Relationship with publisher Self-publishing Self-publishing is a model where the author takes full responsibility and control of arranging financing, editing, printing, and distribution of their own work. In other words, the author also acts as the publisher of their work. Traditional publishing With commissioned publishing, the publisher makes all the publication arrangements and the author covers all expenses. The author of a work may receive a percentage calculated on a wholesale or a specific price or a fixed amount on each book sold. Publishers, at times, reduced the risk of this type of arrangement, by agreeing only to pay this after a certain number of copies had sold. In Canada, this practice occurred during the 1890s, but was not commonplace until the 1920s. Established and successful authors may receive advance payments, set against future royalties, but this is no longer common practice. Most independent publishers pay royalties as a percentage of net receipts – how net receipts are calculated varies from publisher to publisher. Under this arrangement, the author does not pay anything towards the expense of publication. The costs and financial risk are all carried by the publisher, who will then take the greatest percentage of the receipts. See Compensation for more. Vanity publishing Vanity publishers normally charge a flat fee for arranging publication, offer a platform for selling, and then take a percentage of the sale of every copy of a book. The author receives the rest of the money made. Most materials published this way are for niche groups and not for large audiences. Vanity publishing, or subsidy publishing, is stigmatized in the professional world. In 1983, Bill Henderson defined vanity publishers as people who would "publish anything for which an author will pay, usually at a loss for the author and a nice profit for the publisher." In subsidy publishing, the book sales are not the publishers' main source of income, but instead the fees that the authors are charged to initially produce the book are. Because of this, the vanity publishers need not invest in making books marketable as much as other publishers need to. This leads to low quality books being introduced to the market. Relationship with editor The relationship between the author and the editor, often the author's only liaison to the publishing company, is typically characterized as the site of tension. For the author to reach their audience, often through publication, the work usually must attract the attention of the editor. The idea of the author as the sole meaning-maker of necessity changes to include the influences of the editor and the publisher to engage the audience in writing as a social act. There are three principal kinds of editing: Proofing (checking the grammar and spelling, looking for typographical errors), Story (potentially an area of deep angst for both author and publisher), and Layout (the typesetting needed to ready a work for publishing often requires minor text changes, so a layout editor is employed to ensure that these do not alter the sense of the text). Pierre Bourdieu's essay "The Field of Cultural Production" depicts the publishing industry as a "space of literary or artistic position-takings," also called the "field of struggles," which is defined by the tension and movement inherent among the various positions in the field. Bourdieu claims that the "field of position-takings [...] is not the product of coherence-seeking intention or objective consensus," meaning that an industry characterized by position-takings is not one of harmony and neutrality. In particular for the writer, their authorship in their work makes their work part of their identity, and there is much at stake personally over the negotiation of authority over that identity. However, it is the editor who has "the power to impose the dominant definition of the writer and therefore to delimit the population of those entitled to take part in the struggle to define the writer". As "cultural investors," publishers rely on the editor position to identify a good investment in "cultural capital" which may grow to yield economic capital across all positions. According to the studies of James Curran, the system of shared values among editors in Britain has generated a pressure among authors to write to fit the editors' expectations, removing the focus from the reader-audience and putting a strain on the relationship between authors and editors and on writing as a social act. Even the book review by the editors has more significance than the readership's reception. Compensation Authors rely on advance fees, royalty payments, adaptation of work to a screenplay, and fees collected from giving speeches. A standard contract for an author will usually include provision for payment in the form of an advance and royalties. Advance: a lump sum paid before publication. An advance must be earned out before royalties are payable. It may be paid in two lump sums: the first payment on contract signing, and the second on delivery of the completed manuscript or on publication. Royalty payment: the sum paid to authors for each copy of a book sold and is traditionally around 10–12%, but self-published authors can earn about 40% – 60% royalties per each book sale. An author's contract may specify, for example, that they will earn 10% of the retail price of each book sold. Some contracts specify a scale of royalties payable (for example, where royalties start at 10% for the first 10,000 sales, but then increase to a higher percentage rate at higher sale thresholds). Usually, an author's book must earn the advance before any further royalties are paid. For example, if an author is paid a modest advance of $2000, and their royalty rate is 10% of a book priced at $20 – that is, $2 per book – the book will need to sell 1000 copies before any further payment will be made. Publishers typically withhold payment of a percentage of royalties earned against returns. In some countries, authors also earn income from a government scheme such as the ELR (educational lending right) and PLR (public lending right) schemes in Australia. Under these schemes, authors are paid a fee for the number of copies of their books in educational and/or public libraries. These days, many authors supplement their income from book sales with public speaking engagements, school visits, residencies, grants, and teaching positions. Ghostwriters, technical writers, and textbooks writers are typically paid in a different way: usually a set fee or a per word rate rather than on a percentage of sales. In the year 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 130,000 people worked in the country as authors, making an average of $61,240 per year. See also Lead author Academic authorship Authors' editor Writing Distributive writing Professional writing Composition (language) Auteur Writer Poet Novelist Lists of writers Lists of poets List of novelists Lesser-known authors References Writing occupations Literary criticism

930

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin%20Toffler

Alvin Toffler

Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide. He is regarded as one of the world's outstanding futurists. Toffler was an associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload." In 1970, his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies. He and his wife Heidi Toffler, who collaborated with him for most of his writings, moved on to examining the reaction to changes in society with another best-selling book, The Third Wave, in 1980. In it, he foresaw such technological advances as cloning, personal computers, the Internet, cable television and mobile communication. His later focus, via their other best-seller, Powershift, (1990), was on the increasing power of 21st-century military hardware and the proliferation of new technologies. He founded Toffler Associates, a management consulting company, and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, visiting professor at Cornell University, faculty member of the New School for Social Research, a White House correspondent, and a business consultant. Toffler's ideas and writings were a significant influence on the thinking of business and government leaders worldwide, including China's Zhao Ziyang, and AOL founder Steve Case. Early life Alvin Toffler was born on October 4, 1928, in New York City, and raised in Brooklyn. He was the son of Rose (Albaum) and Sam Toffler, a furrier, both Polish Jews who had migrated to America. He had one younger sister. He was inspired to become a writer at the age of 7 by his aunt and uncle, who lived with the Tofflers. "They were Depression-era literary intellectuals," Toffler said, "and they always talked about exciting ideas." Toffler graduated from New York University in 1950 as an English major, though by his own account he was more focused on political activism than grades. He met his future wife, Adelaide Elizabeth Farrell (nicknamed "Heidi"), when she was starting a graduate course in linguistics. Being radical students, they decided against further graduate work and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they married on April 29, 1950. Career Seeking experiences to write about, Alvin and Heidi Toffler spent the next five years as blue collar workers on assembly lines while studying industrial mass production in their daily work. He compared his own desire for experience to other writers, such as Jack London, who in his quest for subjects to write about sailed the seas, and John Steinbeck, who went to pick grapes with migrant workers. In their first factory jobs, Heidi became a union shop steward in the aluminum foundry where she worked. Alvin became a millwright and welder. In the evenings Alvin would write poetry and fiction, but discovered he was proficient at neither. His hands-on practical labor experience helped Alvin Toffler land a position at a union-backed newspaper, a transfer to its Washington bureau in 1957, then three years as a White House correspondent, covering Congress and the White House for a Pennsylvania daily newspaper. They returned to New York City in 1959 when Fortune magazine invited Alvin to become its labor columnist, later having him write about business and management. After leaving Fortune magazine in 1962, Toffler began a freelance career, writing long form articles for scholarly journals and magazines. His 1964 Playboy interviews with Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov and Ayn Rand were considered among the magazine's best. His interview with Rand was the first time the magazine had given such a platform to a female intellectual, which as one commentator said, "the real bird of paradise Toffler captured for Playboy in 1964 was Ayn Rand." Toffler was hired by IBM to conduct research and write a paper on the social and organizational impact of computers, leading to his contact with the earliest computer "gurus" and artificial intelligence researchers and proponents. Xerox invited him to write about its research laboratory and AT&T consulted him for strategic advice. This AT&T work led to a study of telecommunications, which advised the company's top management to break up the company more than a decade before the government forced AT&T to break up. In the mid-1960s, the Tofflers began five years of research on what would become Future Shock, published in 1970. It has sold over 6 million copies worldwide, according to the New York Times, or over 15 million copies according to the Tofflers' Web site. Toffler coined the term "future shock" to refer to what happens to a society when change happens too fast, which results in social confusion and normal decision-making processes breaking down. The book has never been out of print and has been translated into dozens of languages. He continued the theme in The Third Wave in 1980. While he describes the first and second waves as the agricultural and industrial revolutions, the "third wave," a phrase he coined, represents the current information, computer-based revolution. He forecast the spread of the Internet and email, interactive media, cable television, cloning, and other digital advancements. He claimed that one of the side effects of the digital age has been "information overload," another term he coined. In 1990, he wrote Powershift, also with the help of his wife, Heidi. In 1996, with American business consultant Tom Johnson, they co-founded Toffler Associates, an advisory firm designed to implement many of the ideas the Tofflers had written on. The firm worked with businesses, NGOs, and governments in the United States, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Australia, and other countries. During this period in his career, Toffler lectured worldwide, taught at several schools and met world leaders, such as Mikhail Gorbachev, along with key executives and military officials. Ideas and opinions Toffler stated many of his ideas during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1998. "Society needs people who take care of the elderly and who know how to be compassionate and honest," he said. "Society needs people who work in hospitals. Society needs all kinds of skills that are not just cognitive; they're emotional, they're affectional. You can't run the society on data and computers alone." His opinions about the future of education, many of which were in Future Shock, have often been quoted. An often misattributed quote, however, is that of psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy: "Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who can't read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn." Early in his career, after traveling to other countries, he became aware of the new and myriad inputs that visitors received from these other cultures. He explained during an interview that some visitors would become "truly disoriented and upset" by the strange environment, which he described as a reaction to culture shock. From that issue, he foresaw another problem for the future, when a culturally "new environment comes to you ... and comes to you rapidly." That kind of sudden cultural change within one's own country, which he felt many would not understand, would lead to a similar reaction, one of "future shock", which he wrote about in his book by that title. Toffler writes: In The Third Wave, Toffler describes three types of societies, based on the concept of "waves"—each wave pushes the older societies and cultures aside. He describes the "First Wave" as the society after agrarian revolution and replaced the first hunter-gatherer cultures. The "Second Wave," he labels society during the Industrial Revolution (ca. late 17th century through the mid-20th century). That period saw the increase of urban industrial populations which had undermined the traditional nuclear family, and initiated a factory-like education system, and the growth of the corporation. Toffler said: The "Third Wave" was a term he coined to describe the post-industrial society, which began in the late 1950s. His description of this period dovetails with other futurist writers, who also wrote about the Information Age, Space Age, Electronic Era, Global Village, terms which highlighted a scientific-technological revolution. The Tofflers claimed to have predicted a number of geopolitical events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the future economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Influences and popular culture Toffler often visited with dignitaries in Asia, including China's Zhao Ziyang, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and South Korea's Kim Dae Jung, all of whom were influenced by his views as Asia's emerging markets increased in global significance during the 1980s and 1990s. Although they had originally censored some of his books and ideas, China's government cited him along with Franklin Roosevelt and Bill Gates as being among the Westerners who had most influenced their country. The Third Wave along with a video documentary based on it became best-sellers in China and were widely distributed to schools. The video's success inspired the marketing of videos on related themes in the late 1990s by Infowars, whose name is derived from the term coined by Toffler in the book. Toffler's influence on Asian thinkers was summed up in an article in Daedalus, published by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences: U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich publicly lauded his ideas about the future, and urged members of Congress to read Toffler's book, Creating a New Civilization (1995). Others, such as AOL founder Steve Case, cited Toffler's The Third Wave as a formative influence on his thinking, which inspired him to write The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future in 2016. Case said that Toffler was a "real pioneer in helping people, companies and even countries lean into the future." In 1980, Ted Turner founded CNN, which he said was inspired by Toffler's forecasting the end of the dominance of the three main television networks. Turner's company, Turner Broadcasting, published Toffler's Creating a New Civilization in 1995. Shortly after the book was released, the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev hosted the Global Governance Conference in San Francisco with the theme, Toward a New Civilization, which was attended by dozens of world figures, including the Tofflers, George H. W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Carl Sagan, Abba Eban and Turner with his then-wife, actress Jane Fonda. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was influenced by his works, and became a friend of the writer. Global marketer J.D. Power also said he was inspired by Toffler's works. Since the 1960s, people had tried to make sense out of the effect of new technologies and social change, a problem which made Toffler's writings widely influential beyond the confines of scientific, economic, and public policy. His works and ideas have been subject to various criticisms, usually with the same argumentation used against futurology: that foreseeing the future is nigh impossible. Techno music pioneer Juan Atkins cites Toffler's phrase "techno rebels" in The Third Wave as inspiring him to use the word "techno" to describe the musical style he helped to create Musician Curtis Mayfield released a disco song called "Future Shock," later covered in an electro version by Herbie Hancock. Science fiction author John Brunner wrote "The Shockwave Rider," from the concept of "future shock." The nightclub Toffler, in Rotterdam, is named after him. In the song "Victoria" by The Exponents, the protagonist's daily routine and cultural interests are described: "She's up in time to watch the soap operas, reads Cosmopolitan and Alvin Toffler". Critical assessment Accenture, the management consultancy firm, identified Toffler in 2002 as being among the most influential voices in business leaders, along with Bill Gates and Peter Drucker. Toffler has also been described in a Financial Times interview as the "world's most famous futurologist". In 2006, the People's Daily classed him among the 50 foreigners who shaped modern China, which one U.S. newspaper notes made him a "guru of sorts to world statesmen." Chinese Premier and General Secretary Zhao Ziyang was greatly influenced by Toffler. He convened conferences to discuss The Third Wave in the early 1980s, and in 1985 the book was the No. 2 best seller in China. Author Mark Satin characterizes Toffler as an important early influence on radical centrist political thought. Newt Gingrich became close to the Tofflers in the 1970s and said The Third Wave had immensely influenced his own thinking and was "one of the great seminal works of our time." Selected awards Toffler has received several prestigious prizes and awards, including the McKinsey Foundation Book Award for Contributions to Management Literature, Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, and appointments, including Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. In 2006, Alvin and Heidi Toffler were recipients of Brown University's Independent Award. Personal life Toffler was married to Heidi Toffler (born Adelaide Elizabeth Farrell), also a writer and futurist. They lived in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California, and previously lived in Redding, Connecticut. The couple's only child, Karen Toffler (1954–2000), died at age 46 after more than a decade suffering from Guillain–Barré syndrome. Alvin Toffler died in his sleep on June 27, 2016, at his home in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given. He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park. Bibliography Alvin Toffler co-wrote his books with his wife Heidi. The Culture Consumers (1964) St. Martin's Press, The Schoolhouse in the City (1968) Praeger (editors), Future Shock (1970) Bantam Books, The Futurists (1972) Random House (editors), Learning for Tomorrow (1974) Random House (editors), The Eco-Spasm Report (1975) Bantam Books, The Third Wave (1980) Bantam Books, Previews & Premises (1983) William Morrow & Co, The Adaptive Corporation (1985) McGraw-Hill, Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (1990) Bantam Books, War and Anti-War (1993) Warner Books, Creating a New Civilization (1995) Turner Pub, Revolutionary Wealth (2006) Knopf, See also Daniel Bell Norman Swan Human nature John Naisbitt References External links  – official Alvin Toffler site Toffler Associates Interview with Alvin Toffler by the World Affairs Council Discuss Alvin Toffler's Future Shock with other readers, BookTalk.org Future Shock Forum 2018 Finding aid to the Alvin and Heidi Toffler papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library 1928 births 2016 deaths American people of Polish-Jewish descent American technology writers American futurologists Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Jewish American writers People from Ridgefield, Connecticut Writers from Connecticut Writers from Brooklyn 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American transhumanists New York University alumni Singularitarians People from Redding, Connecticut 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Jewish American journalists People from Bel Air, Los Angeles 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM

AM

AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music A minor, a minor scale in music A.M. (Chris Young album) A.M. (Wilco album) AM (Abraham Mateo album) AM (Arctic Monkeys album) AM (musician), American musician Am, the A minor chord symbol Armeemarschsammlung (Army March Collection), catalog of German military march music Andrew Moore (musician), Canadian musician known as A.M. DJ AM, American DJ and producer Skengdo & AM, British hip hop duo Television and radio AM (radio program), Australian current affairs radio program American Morning, American morning television news program Am, Antes del Mediodía, Argentine current affairs television program Am, a character in the anthology Star Wars: Visions Other media Allied Mastercomputer, the antagonist of the short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" Education Active Minds, a mental health awareness charity Arts et Métiers ParisTech, a French engineering school Australian Museum, a museum in Australia Master of Arts, an academic degree Military AM, the United States Navy hull classification symbol for "minesweeper" Air marshal, a senior air officer rank used in Commonwealth countries Anti-materiel rifle, rifle designed for use against military equipment Aviation structural mechanic, a U.S. Navy occupational rating Science AM, a complexity class related to Arthur–Merlin protocol Adrenomedullin, a protein Air mass (astronomy), measure of the amount of air along the line of sight in astronomical observations Am, tropical monsoon climate in the Köppen climate classification Americium, symbol Am, a chemical element Attometre, a unit of length attomolar (aM), a unit of molar concentration Technology .am, Internet domain for Armenia .am, a file extension associated with Automake software AM broadcasting, radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation Additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. Agile modeling, a software engineering methodology for modeling and documenting software systems Amplitude modulation, an electronic communication technique Automated Mathematician, an artificial intelligence program Timekeeping anno martyrum, a method of numbering years in the Coptic calendar Anno Mundi, a calendar era based on the biblical creation of the world ante meridiem, Latin for "before midday", written e.g. 6a.m. Transportation A.M. (automobile), a 1906 French car Aeroméxico (IATA airline code AM), airline in Mexico All-mountain, a discipline of mountain biking Arkansas and Missouri Railroad Other uses Am (cuneiform), a written syllable Member of the Order of Australia, postnominal letters which can be used by a Member of the Order Assembly Member (disambiguation), a political office formerly a Member of the National Assembly for Wales, now Member of the Senedd Member of the London Assembly Amharic language (ISO 639-1 language code am) Anguilla, LOC MARC code AM Armenia (ISO country code AM) Attacking midfielder, a position in association football The Book of Amos, part of the Tanakh and Old Testament First-person singular present of the copula verb to be See also Pro–am `am (disambiguation) A&M (disambiguation) AM2 (disambiguation) AMS (disambiguation)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha%20Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926 she made international headlines by going missing for eleven days. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons that featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of this profession in her fiction. According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952, and by 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was temporarily closed in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns in London before it reopened in 2021. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Many of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work. Life and career Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907 Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper middle class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret "Clara" Miller, née Boehmer. Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer (née West). Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States. When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax. According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by the age of four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive her education at home. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin. Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were of reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip". By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood. The family's financial situation had, by this time, worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer. Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926 After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatrics. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends. At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words about "madness and dreams", subjects of fascination for her. Her biographer Janet Morgan has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles. Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel. Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, when Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecary's assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood. Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920. Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector on a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work. In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up, and extended their time there by three months to practise. She is remembered at the British Surfing Museum as having said about surfing, "Oh it was heaven! Nothing like rushing through the water at what seems to you a speed of about two hundred miles an hour. It is one of the most perfect physical pleasures I have known." When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel. Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork". Disappearance: 1926 In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner in Surrey, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside. It was feared that she might have drowned herself in the Silent Pool, a nearby beauty spot. The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance made international headlines, including featuring on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as "Mrs Tressa Neele" (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away". Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her with "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder. Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976 In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing. Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it." In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author. Christie and Mallowan first lived in Cresswell Place in Chelsea, and later in Sheffield Terrace, Holland Park, Kensington. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society. The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story, "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding", in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms." During World War II, Christie moved to London and lived in a flat at the Isokon in Hampstead, whilst working in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described. The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters." Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan. From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to develop Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time. Personal qualities In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery." Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion. The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children". Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further, Death and estate Death and burial Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. Upon her death, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years previously. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. Thirty wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers. Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie. Estate and subsequent ownership of works Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films. In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history." One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works. In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust. Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations. In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm. In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation. Since 2020, reissues of Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot novels by HarperCollins have removed "passages containing descriptions, insults or references to ethnicity". Works Works of fiction Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories. Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood". Unlike Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments. Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was", but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories. During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie had a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express. Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6 August 1975. Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world." In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020. Formula and plot devices Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened." Christie developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; but there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night). Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake." Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave. According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book." On BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper. In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel. In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory." Character stereotypes and racism Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books." In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. In 2023, the Telegraph reported that several Agatha Christie novels have been edited to remove potentially offensive language, including insults and references to ethnicity. Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries written between 1920 and 1976 have had passages reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins, in order to strip them of language and descriptions that modern audiences find offensive, especially those involving the characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK. Sensitivity readers had made the edits, which were evident in digital versions of the new editions, including the entire Miss Marple run and selected Poirot novels set to be released or that have been released since 2020. Other detectives In addition to Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas (Tommy) Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel. Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot. Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot. Plays In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the name of Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951. In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders and starring Richard Attenborough as the original Detective Sergeant Trotter. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. The Mousetrap has long since made theatrical history as the world's longest-running play, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play temporarily closed in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic, before it re-opened on 17 May 2021. In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in the West End in 1954 and was also a hit. Christie became the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. She said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!" As Mary Westmacott Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956. The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956). Non-fiction works Christie published a few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British Empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical/Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards. Titles Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph. The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include: William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie"; The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse; Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass). Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers", a rhyme also published as "Ten Little Indians", both of which were also used for the book's title in some printings), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice"). Critical reception Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime"—which is now trademarked by the Christie estate—or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial. In 2011, Christie was named by the digital crime drama TV channel Alibi as the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after James Bond author Ian Fleming, with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires". On the record-breaking longevity of Christie's The Mousetrap which had marked its 60th anniversary in 2012, Stephen Moss in The Guardian wrote, "the play and its author are the stars". In 2015, marking the 125th anniversary of her birth date, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views. Book sales In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also the UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020. Legacy In 2016, the Royal Mail marked the centenary of Christie's first detective story by issuing six first-class postage stamps of her works: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. In 2023 a life-size bronze statue of Christie sitting on a park bench holding a book was unveiled in Wallingford. Adaptations Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest. She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2017, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen". The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories. Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels. Interests and influences Pharmacology During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital. As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others. Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, nicotine, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades. Archaeology In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death. For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions. Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile. After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined. In popular culture Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008) stars Fenella Woolgar as Christie, and explains her disappearance as being connected to aliens. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her undercover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance. Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skills. In the TV play Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries. In 2020, Heather Terrell, under the pseudonym of Marie Benedict, published The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, a fictional reconstruction of Christie's December 1926 disappearance. The novel was on the USA Today and The New York Times Best Seller lists. In December 2020, Library Reads named Terrell a Hall of Fame author for the book. Andrew Wilson has written four novels featuring Agatha Christie as a detective: A Talent For Murder (2017), A Different Kind of Evil (2018), Death In A Desert Land (2019) and I Saw Him Die (2020). Christie was portrayed by Shirley Henderson in the 2022 comedy/mystery film See How They Run. See also Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales) Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers) Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels) List of solved missing person cases Notes References Further reading . Bernthal, J.C. (2022). Agatha Christie: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. . Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. . Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. . Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017. Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. . . . . Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015. Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. . . Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, . External links A Christie reading list (on official website) Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter "Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth) Hercule Poirot Central 1890 births 1976 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English memoirists Anthony Award winners Booker authors' division British autobiographers British detective fiction writers British women in World War I British women short story writers Burials in Oxfordshire Cozy mystery writers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Ghost story writers Edgar Award winners English people of American descent English crime fiction writers English mystery writers English short story writers English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Female nurses in World War I Female wartime nurses Formerly missing people Members of the Detection Club Missing person cases in England People from Cholsey People from Sunningdale Pseudonymous women writers Temporary disappearances Wives of knights Women mystery writers British women memoirists Women historical novelists Writers of historical mysteries Writers from Torquay 20th-century pseudonymous writers

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April

April

April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. History The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis but the derivation of this name is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the verb aperire, "to open", in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open", which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of άνοιξη (ánixi) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her equivalent Greek goddess name Aphrodite (Aphros), or from the Etruscan name Apru. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus. April was the second month of the earliest Roman calendar, before Ianuarius and Februarius were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it was 29 days long. The 30th day was added back during the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC, which produced the Julian calendar. The Anglo-Saxons called April ēastre-monaþ. The Venerable Bede says in The Reckoning of Time that this month ēastre is the root of the word Easter. He further states that the month was named after a goddess Eostre whose feast was in that month. It is also attested by Einhard in his work, Vita Karoli Magni. St George's day is the twenty-third of the month; and St Mark's Eve, with its superstition that the ghosts of those who are doomed to die within the year will be seen to pass into the church, falls on the twenty-fourth. In China the symbolic ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood took place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to April. In Finnish April is huhtikuu, meaning slash-and-burn moon, when gymnosperms for beat and burn clearing of farmland were felled. In Slovene, the most established traditional name is mali traven, meaning the month when plants start growing. It was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript. The month Aprilis originally had 30 days; Numa Pompilius made it 29 days long; finally, Julius Caesar's calendar reform made it 30 days long again, which was not changed in the calendar revision of Augustus Caesar in 8 BC. In Ancient Rome, the festival of Cerealia was held for seven days from mid-to-late April, but exact dates are uncertain. Feriae Latinae was also held in April, with the date varying. Other ancient Roman observances include Veneralia (April 1), Megalesia (April 10–16), Fordicidia (April 15), Parilia (April 21), Vinalia Urbana (April 23), Robigalia (April 25), and Serapia (April 25). Floralia was held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 on the Julian calendar, and lasted until May 3. However, these dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. The Lyrids meteor shower appears on April 16 – April 26 each year, with the peak generally occurring on April 22. The Eta Aquariids meteor shower also appears in April. It is visible from about April 21 to about May 20 each year with peak activity on or around May 6. The Pi Puppids appear on April 23, but only in years around the parent comet's perihelion date. The Virginids also shower at various dates in April. The "Days of April" (journées d'avril) is a name assigned in French history to a series of insurrections at Lyons, Paris and elsewhere, against the government of Louis Philippe in 1834, which led to violent repressive measures, and to a famous trial known as the procès d'avril. Symbols April's birthstone is the diamond. The birth flower is the common daisy (Bellis perennis) or the sweet pea. The zodiac signs are Aries (until April 19) and Taurus (April 20 onward). Observances This list does not necessarily imply either official status nor general observance. Month-long In Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox tradition, April is the Month of the Resurrection of the Lord. April and March are the months in which is celebrated the moveable Feast of Easter Sunday. National Pet Month (United Kingdom) United States Arab American Heritage Month Autism Awareness Month Cancer Control Month Community College Awareness Month Confederate History Month (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia) Financial Literacy Month Jazz Appreciation Month Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month Month of the Military Child National Poetry Month National Poetry Writing Month Occupational Therapy Month National Prevent Child Abuse Month National Volunteer Month Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month Rosacea Awareness Month Sexual Assault Awareness Month United States food months Fresh Florida Tomato Month National Food Month National Grilled Cheese Month National Pecan Month National Soft Pretzel Month National Soyfoods Month Non-Gregorian (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.) List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar List of observances set by the Chinese calendar List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar List of observances set by the Islamic calendar List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar Movable Variable; 2021 dates shown Youth Homelessness Matters Day National Health Day (Kiribati): April 6 Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week (United States): April 13–19 National Park Week (United States): April 18–26 Crime Victims' Rights Week (United States): April 19–25 National Volunteer Week: April 19–25 European Immunization Week: April 20–26 Day of Silence (United States): April 24 Pay It Forward Day: April 28 (International observance) Denim Day: April 29 (International observance) Day of Dialogue (United States) Vaccination Week In The Americas See: List of movable Western Christian observances See: List of movable Eastern Christian observances First Wednesday National Day of Hope (United States) First Saturday Ulcinj Municipality Day (Ulcinj, Montenegro) First Sunday Daylight saving time ends (Australia and New Zealand) Geologists Day (former Soviet Union countries) Kanamara Matsuri (Kawasaki, Japan) Opening Day (United States) First full week National Library Week (United States) National Library Workers Day (United States) (Tuesday of National Library week, April 4) National Bookmobile Day (Wednesday of National Library week, April 5) National Public Health Week (United States) National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (United States) Second Wednesday International Day of Pink Second Thursday National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States) Second Friday Fast and Prayer Day (Liberia) Air Force Day (Russia) Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman (Kamakura, Japan), lasts until third Sunday. Second Sunday Children's Day (Peru) Week of April 14 Pan-American Week (United States) Third Wednesday Administrative Professionals' Day (New Zealand) Third Thursday National High Five Day (United States) Third Saturday Record Store Day (International observance) Last full week of April Administrative Professionals Week (Malaysia, North America) World Immunization Week Week of April 23 Canada Book Week (Canada) Week of the New Moon National Dark-Sky Week (United States) Third Monday Patriots' Day (Massachusetts, Maine, United States) Queen's Official Birthday (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) Sechseläuten (Zürich, Switzerland) Wednesday of last full week of April Administrative Professionals' Day (Hong Kong, North America) First Thursday after April 18 First Day of Summer (Iceland) Fourth Thursday Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day (United States) Last Friday Arbor Day (United States) Día de la Chupina (Rosario, Argentina) Last Friday in April to first Sunday in May Arbour Week in Ontario Last Saturday Children's Day (Colombia) National Rebuilding Day (United States) National Sense of Smell Day (United States) World Tai Chi and Qigong Day Last Sunday Flag Day (Åland, Finland) Turkmen Racing Horse Festival (Turkmenistan) April 27 (April 26 if April 27 is a Sunday) Koningsdag (Netherlands) Last Monday Confederate Memorial Day (Alabama, Georgia (U.S. state), and Mississippi, United States) Last Wednesday International Noise Awareness Day Fixed April 1 April Fools' Day Arbor Day (Tanzania) Civil Service Day (Thailand) Cyprus National Day (Cyprus) Edible Book Day Fossil Fools Day Kha b-Nisan (Assyrian people) National Civil Service Day (Thailand) Odisha Day (Odisha, India) Start of Testicular Cancer Awareness week (United States), April 1–7 Season for Nonviolence January 30 – April 4 April 2 International Children's Book Day (International observance) Malvinas Day (Argentina) National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (United States) Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand) Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus) World Autism Awareness Day (International observance) April 3 April 4 Children's Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan) Independence Day (Senegal) International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action Peace Day (Angola) April 5 Children's Day (Palestinian territories) National Caramel Day (United States) Sikmogil (South Korea) April 6 Chakri Day (Thailand) National Beer Day (United Kingdom) New Beer's Eve (United States) Tartan Day (United States & Canada) April 7 Flag Day (Slovenia) Genocide Memorial Day (Rwanda), and its related observance: International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide (United Nations) Motherhood and Beauty Day (Armenia) National Beer Day (United States) No Housework Day Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day (Tanzania) Women's Day (Mozambique) World Health Day (International observance) April 8 Buddha's Birthday (Japan only, other countries follow different calendars) Feast of the First Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) International Romani Day (International observance) Trading Cards for Grown-ups Day April 9 Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark) Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan) Constitution Day (Kosovo) Day of National Unity (Georgia) Day of the Finnish Language (Finland) Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines) Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) International Banshtai Tsai Day Martyr's Day (Tunisia) National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States) Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth) Vimy Ridge Day (Canada) April 10 Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan) Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) Siblings Day (International observance) April 11 Juan Santamaría Day, anniversary of his death in the Second Battle of Rivas. (Costa Rica) International Louie Louie Day National Cheese Fondue Day (United States) World Parkinson's Day April 12 Children's Day (Bolivia and Haiti) Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia) International Day of Human Space Flight Yuri's Night (International observance) Halifax Day (North Carolina) National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (United States) National Redemption Day (Liberia) Walk on Your Wild Side Day April 13 Jefferson's Birthday (United States) Katyn Memorial Day (Poland) Teacher's Day (Ecuador) First day of Thingyan (Myanmar) (April 13–16) Unfairly Prosecuted Persons Day (Slovakia) April 14 ʔabusibaree (Okinawa Islands, Japan) Ambedkar Jayanti (India) Black Day (South Korea) Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan) Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives) Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia) Day of the Georgian language (Georgia (country)) Season of Emancipation (April 14 to August 23) (Barbados) N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers) Pohela Boishakh (Bangladesh) Pana Sankranti (Odisha, India) Puthandu (Tamils) (India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka) Second day of Songkran (Thailand) (Thailand) Pan American Day (several countries in the Americas) The first day of Takayama Spring Festival (Takayama, Gifu, Japan) Vaisakh (Punjab (region)), (India and Pakistan) Youth Day (Angola) April 15 Day of the Sun (North Korea). Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England) Jackie Robinson Day (United States) Pohela Boishakh (West Bengal, India) (Note: celebrated on April 14 in Bangladesh) Last day of Songkran (Thailand) (Thailand) Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines) Universal Day of Culture World Art Day April 16 Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States) Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark) Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States) Foursquare Day (International observance) Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary) National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States) Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan) World Voice Day April 17 Blah Blah Blah Day Evacuation Day (Syria) FAO Day (Iraq) Flag Day (American Samoa) Malbec World Day National Cheeseball Day (United States) National Espresso Day (Italy) Women's Day (Gabon) World Hemophilia Day April 18 Anniversary of the Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice, 1242 (Russia) Army Day (Iran) Coma Patients' Day (Poland) Friend's Day (Brazil) Independence Day (Zimbabwe) International Day For Monuments and Sites Invention Day (Japan) Pet Owner's Independence Day April 19 Army Day (Brazil) Beginning of the Independence Movement (Venezuela) Bicycle Day Dutch-American Friendship Day (United States) Holocaust Remembrance Day (Poland) Indigenous Peoples Day (Brazil) King Mswati III's birthday (Eswatini) Landing of the 33 Patriots Day (Uruguay) National Garlic Day (United States) National Rice Ball Day (United States) Primrose Day (United Kingdom) April 20 420 (cannabis culture) (International) UN Chinese Language Day (United Nations) April 21 A&M Day (Texas A&M University) Civil Service Day (India) Day of Local Self-Government (Russia) Grounation Day (Rastafari movement) Heroic Defense of Veracruz (Mexico) Kang Pan-sok's Birthday (North Korea) Kartini Day (Indonesia) Local Self Government Day (Russia) National Tree Planting Day (Kenya) San Jacinto Day (Texas) Queen's Official Birthday (Falkland Islands) Tiradentes' Day (Brazil) Vietnam Book Day (Vietnam) April 22 Discovery Day (Brazil) Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia) National Jelly Bean Day (United States) April 23 Castile and León Day (Castile and León, Spain) German Beer Day (Germany) Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida) International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day Khongjom Day (Manipur, India) National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus) Navy Day (China) St George's Day (England) and its related observances: Canada Book Day (Canada) La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain) World Book Day UN English Language Day (United Nations) April 24 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia) Concord Day (Niger) Children's Day (Zambia) Democracy Day (Nepal) Fashion Revolution Day Flag Day (Ireland) International Sculpture Day Kapyong Day (Australia) Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh) National Panchayati Raj Day (India) National Pigs in a Blanket Day (United States) Republic Day (The Gambia) St Mark's Eve (Western Christianity) World Day for Laboratory Animals April 25 Anniversary of the First Cabinet of Kurdish Government (Iraqi Kurdistan) Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand) Arbor Day (Germany) DNA Day Feast of Saint Mark (Western Christianity) Flag Day (Faroe Islands) Flag Day (Eswatini) Freedom Day (Portugal) Liberation Day (Italy) Major Rogation (Western Christianity) Military Foundation Day (North Korea) National Zucchini Bread Day (United States) Parental Alienation Awareness Day Red Hat Society Day Sinai Liberation Day (Egypt) World Malaria Day April 26 Chernobyl disaster related observances: Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia) Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus) Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States) Hug A Friend Day Hug an Australian Day Lesbian Visibility Day National Pretzel Day (United States) Old Permic Alphabet Day Union Day (Tanzania) World Intellectual Property Day April 27 Day of Russian Parliamentarism (Russia) Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia) Flag Day (Moldova) Freedom Day (South Africa) UnFreedom Day Independence Day (Sierra Leone) Independence Day (Togo) National Day (Mayotte) National Day (Sierra Leone) National Prime Rib Day (United States) National Veterans' Day (Finland) April 28 Lawyers' Day (Orissa, India) Mujahideen Victory Day (Afghanistan) National Day (Sardinia, Italy) National Heroes Day (Barbados) Restoration of Sovereignty Day (Japan) Workers' Memorial Day and World Day for Safety and Health at Work (international) National Day of Mourning (Canada) April 29 Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare (United Nations) International Dance Day (UNESCO) Princess Bedike's Birthday (Denmark) National Shrimp Scampi Day (United States) Shōwa Day, traditionally the start of the Golden Week holiday period, which is April 29 and May 3–5. (Japan) April 30 Armed Forces Day (Georgia (country)) Birthday of the King (Sweden) Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion) Children's Day (Mexico) Consumer Protection Day (Thailand) Honesty Day (United States) International Jazz Day (UNESCO) Martyr's Day (Pakistan) May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1): Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year) Carodejnice (Czech Republic and Slovakia) Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe) National Persian Gulf Day (Iran) Reunification Day (Vietnam) Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia) Tax Day (Canada) Teachers' Day (Paraguay) See also Germanic calendar List of historical anniversaries Sinking of the RMS Titanic References External links National Arbor Day Foundation 04

1005

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August

August

August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August falls in the season of summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the month falls during the season of winter. In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers. Numerous religious holidays occurred during August in ancient Rome. Certain meteor showers take place in August. The Kappa Cygnids take place in August, with the dates varying each year. The Alpha Capricornids meteor shower takes place as early as July 10 and ends at around August 10, and the Southern Delta Aquariids take place from mid-July to mid-August, with the peak usually around July 28–29. The Perseids, a major meteor shower, typically takes place between July 17 and August 24, with the days of the peak varying yearly. The star cluster of Messier 30 is best observed around August. Among the aborigines of the Canary Islands, especially among the Guanches of Tenerife, the month of August received in the name of Beñesmer or Beñesmen, which was also the harvest festival held this month. The month was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in , giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had 31 days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length. Symbols August's birthstones are the peridot, sardonyx, and spinel. Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy, meaning beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family. The Western zodiac signs are Leo (until August 22) and Virgo (from August 23 onward). Observances This list does not necessarily imply either official status or general observance. Non-Gregorian: dates (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.) List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar List of observances set by the Chinese calendar List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar List of observances set by the Islamic calendar List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar Month-long American Adventures Month (celebrating vacationing in the Americas) Children's Eye Health and Safety Month Digestive Tract Paralysis (DTP) Month Get Ready for Kindergarten Month Happiness Happens Month Month of Philippine Languages or Buwan ng Wika (Philippines) Neurosurgery Outreach Month Psoriasis Awareness Month Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month What Will Be Your Legacy Month United States month-long National Black Business Month National Children's Vision and Learning Month National Immunization Awareness Month National Princess Peach Month National Water Quality Month National Win with Civility Month Food months in the United States National Catfish Month National Dippin' Dots Month Family Meals Month National Goat Cheese Month. National Panini Month Peach Month Sandwich Month Moveable Gregorian National Science Week (Australia) See also Movable Western Christian observances See also Movable Eastern Christian observances Second to last Sunday in July and the following two weeks Construction Holiday (Quebec) 1st Saturday Food Day (Canada) Mead Day (United States) National Mustard Day (United States) 1st Sunday Air Force Day (Ukraine) American Family Day (Arizona, United States) Children's Day (Uruguay) Friendship Day (United States) International Forgiveness Day Railway Workers' Day (Russia) First full week of August National Farmer's Market Week (United States) 1st Monday August Public Holiday (Ireland) Children's Day (Tuvalu) Civic Holiday (Canada) British Columbia Day (British Columbia, Canada) Natal Day (Nova Scotia, Canada) New Brunswick Day (New Brunswick, Canada) Saskatchewan Day (Saskatchewan, Canada Terry Fox Day (Manitoba, Canada) Commerce Day (Iceland) Emancipation Day (Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis) Farmer's Day (Zambia) Kadooment Day (Barbados) Labor Day (Samoa) National Day (Jamaica) Picnic Day (Northern Territory, Australia) Somers' Day (Bermuda) Youth Day (Kiribati) 1st Tuesday National Night Out (United States) 1st Friday International Beer Day 2nd Saturday Sports Day (Russia) Sunday on or closest to August 9 National Peacekeepers' Day (Canada) 2nd Sunday Children's Day (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay) Father's Day (Brazil, Samoa) Melon Day (Turkmenistan) Navy Day (Bulgaria) National Day (Singapore) 2nd Monday Heroes' Day (Zimbabwe) Victory Day (Hawaii and Rhode Island, United States) 2nd Tuesday Defence Forces Day (Zimbabwe) 3rd Saturday National Honey Bee Day (United States) 3rd Sunday Children's Day (Argentina, Peru) Grandparents Day (Hong Kong) 3rd Monday Discovery Day (Yukon, Canada) Day of Hearts (Haarlem and Amsterdam, Netherlands) National Mourning Day (Bangladesh) 3rd Friday Hawaii Admission Day (Hawaii, United States) Last Thursday National Burger Day (United Kingdom) Last Sunday Coal Miner's Day (some former Soviet Union countries) National Grandparents Day (Taiwan) Last Monday Father's Day (South Sudan) National Heroes' Day (Philippines) Liberation Day (Hong Kong) Late Summer Bank Holiday (England, Northern Ireland and Wales) Fixed Gregorian Season of Emancipation (Barbados) (April 14 to August 23) International Clown Week (August 1–7) World Breastfeeding Week (August 1–7) August 1 Armed Forces Day (China) Armed Forces Day (Lebanon) Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day (Azerbaijan) Emancipation Day (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands) Imbolc (Neopaganism, Southern Hemisphere only) Lammas (England, Scotland, Neopaganism, Northern Hemisphere only) Lughnasadh (Gaels, Ireland, Scotland, Neopaganism, Northern Hemisphere only) Minden Day (United Kingdom) National Day (Benin) National Milkshake Day (United States) Official Birthday and Coronation Day of the King of Tonga (Tonga) Pachamama Raymi (Quechua people in Ecuador and Peru) Parents' Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Procession of the Cross and the beginning of Dormition Fast (Eastern Orthodoxy) Statehood Day (Colorado) Swiss National Day (Switzerland) Victory Day (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) World Scout Scarf Day Yorkshire Day (Yorkshire, England) August 2 Airmobile Forces Day (Ukraine) Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan) Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica) Paratroopers Day (Russia) Republic Day (North Macedonia) August 3 Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti (Guinea-Bissau) Armed Forces Day (Equatorial Guinea) Esther Day (United States) Flag Day (Venezuela) Independence Day (Niger) Arbor Day (Niger) National Guard Day (Venezuela) National Watermelon Day (United States) National White Wine Day (United States) August 4 Coast Guard Day (United States) Constitution Day (Cook Islands) Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia) Revolution Day (Burkina Faso) August 5 Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major (Catholic Church) Independence Day (Burkina Faso) National Underwear Day (United States) Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian defenders (Croatia) August 6 Feast of the Transfiguration Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day. (United Arab Emirates) Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony (Hiroshima, Japan) Independence Day (Bolivia) Independence Day (Jamaica) Russian Railway Troops Day (Russia) August 7 Assyrian Martyrs Day (Assyrian community) Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia) Emancipation Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis) Independence Day (Ivory Coast) Republic Day (Ivory Coast) Youth Day (Kiribati) August 8 Ceasefire Day (Iraqi Kurdistan) Father's Day (Taiwan) Happiness Happens Day (International observance) International Cat Day Namesday of Queen Silvia of Sweden, (Sweden) Nane Nane Day (Tanzania) Signal Troops Day (Ukraine) August 9 Battle of Gangut Day (Russia) International Day of the World's Indigenous People (United Nations) National Day (Singapore) National Women's Day (South Africa) Remembrance for Radbod, King of the Frisians (The Troth) August 10 Argentine Air Force Day (Argentina) Constitution Day (Anguilla) Declaration of Independence of Quito (Ecuador) International Biodiesel Day National S'more Day (United States) August 11 Flag Day (Pakistan) Independence Day (Chad) Mountain Day (Japan) August 12 Glorious Twelfth (United Kingdom) HM the Queen's Birthday and National Mother's Day (Thailand) International Youth Day (United Nations) Russian Railway Troops Day (Russia) Sea Org Day (Scientology) World Elephant Day August 13 Independence Day (Central African Republic) International Lefthanders Day National Filet Mignon Day (United States) Women's Day (Tunisia) August 14 Anniversary Day (Tristan da Cunha) Commemoration of Wadi al-Dahab (Morocco) Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland (Abkhazia) Engineer's Day (Dominican Republic) Falklands Day (Falkland Islands) Independence Day (Pakistan) National Creamsicle Day (United States) Pramuka Day (Indonesia) August 15 Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary (Catholic holy days of obligation, a public holiday in many countries. Ferragosto (Italy) Māras (Latvia) Mother's Day (Antwerp and Costa Rica) National Acadian Day (Acadians) Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canary Islands. (Tenerife, Spain) Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches) Navy Day (Romania) Armed Forces Day (Poland) The first day of Flooding of the Nile, or Wafaa El-Nil (Egypt and Coptic Church) The main day of Bon Festival (Japan), and its related observances: Awa Dance Festival (Tokushima Prefecture) Constitution Day (Equatorial Guinea) End-of-war Memorial Day, when the National Memorial Service for War Dead is held. (Japan) Founding of Asunción (Paraguay) Independence Day (Korea) Gwangbokjeol (South Korea) Jogukhaebangui nal, "Fatherland Liberation Day" (North Korea) Independence Day (India) Independence Day (Republic of the Congo) National Day (Liechtenstein) National Mourning Day (Bangladesh) Victory over Japan Day (United Kingdom) National Lemon Meringue Pie Day (United States) August 16 Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States) Children's Day (Paraguay) Gozan no Okuribi (Kyoto, Japan) The first day of the Independence Days (Gabon) National Airborne Day (United States) National Rum Day (United States) Restoration Day (Dominican Republic) August 17 The Birthday of Marcus Garvey (Rastafari) Engineer's Day (Colombia) Flag Day (Bolivia) Independence Day (Indonesia) Independence Days (Gabon) National Vanilla Custard Day (United States) Prekmurje Union Day (Slovenia) San Martin Day (Argentina) August 18 Arbor Day (Pakistan) Armed Forces Day (North Macedonia) Bad Poetry Day Birthday of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island) Constitution Day (Indonesia) Long Tan Day (Australia) National Science Day (Thailand) August 19 Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances: Buhe (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) Saviour's Transfiguration, popularly known as the "Apples Feast" (Russian Orthodox Church and Georgian Orthodox Church) Afghan Independence Day (Afghanistan) August Revolution Commemoration Day (Vietnam) Birthday of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway) Manuel Luis Quezón Day (Quezon City and other places in The Philippines named after Manuel L. Quezon) National Aviation Day (United States) National Potato Day (United States) World Humanitarian Day August 20 Indian Akshay Urja Day (India) Restoration of Independence Day (Estonia) Revolution of the King and People (Morocco) Saint Stephen's Day (Hungary) World Mosquito Day August 21 Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines) Youth Day/King Mohammed VI's Birthday (Morocco) August 22 Feast of the Coronation of Mary Flag Day (Russia) Madras Day (Chennai and Tamil Nadu, India) National Eat a Peach Day (United States) National Pecan Torte Day (United States) Southern Hemisphere Hoodie-Hoo Day (Chase's Calendar of Events, Southern Hemisphere) August 23 Battle of Kursk Day (Russia) Day of the National Flag (Ukraine) European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism or Black Ribbon Day (European Union and other countries), and related observances: Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day (Romania) International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition Umhlanga Day (Eswatini) August 24 Flag Day (Liberia) Independence Day of Ukraine International Strange Music Day National Waffle Day (United States) Nostalgia Night (Uruguay) Willka Raymi (Cusco, Peru) August 25 Day of Songun (North Korea) Independence Day (Uruguay) Liberation Day (France) National Banana Split Day (United States) National Whiskey Sour Day (United States) Soldier's Day (Brazil) August 26 Herero Day (Namibia) Heroes' Day (Namibia) Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea) Women's Equality Day (United States) August 27 Film and Movies Day (Russia) Independence Day of the Republic of Moldova Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas, United States) National Banana Lovers Day (United States) National Pots De Creme Day (United States) August 28 Assumption of Mary (Eastern Orthodox Church (Public holiday in North Macedonia, Serbia, and Georgia (country)) Crackers of the Keyboard Day Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day National Cherry Turnover Day (United States) August 29 International Day against Nuclear Tests Miners' Day (Ukraine) More Herbs, Less Salt Day National Lemon Juice Day (United States) National Chop Suey Day (United States) National Sports Day (India) Slovak National Uprising Anniversary (Slovakia) Telugu Language Day (India) August 30 Constitution Day (Kazakhstan) Constitution Day (Turks and Caicos Islands) Independence Day (Tatarstan, Russia, unrecognized) International Day of the Disappeared (International) Popular Consultation Day (East Timor) Saint Rose of Lima's Day (Peru) Victory Day (Turkey) August 31 Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day (Balochs and Pashtuns, International observance) Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Poland) Independence Day (Federation of Malaya, Malaysia) Independence Day (Kyrgyzstan) Independence Day (Trinidad and Tobago) Love Litigating Lawyers Day National Trail Mix Day (United States) North Borneo Self-government Day (Sabah, Borneo) Romanian Language Day (Romania, Moldova) References Further reading 08 Augustus

1008

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%206

April 6

Events Pre–1600 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus. 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. 1453 – Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople. The city falls on May 29, and is renamed Istanbul. 1580 – One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place. 1601–1900 1652 – At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town. 1712 – The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 begins near Broadway. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy fail in their attempt to capture a Royal Navy dispatch boat. 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty. 1793 – During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic. 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. (Under the Old Style calendar then still in use in the Ottoman Empire, the treaty was signed on 21 March.) 1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, that would eventually make him America's first millionaire. 1812 – British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France. 1814 – Nominal beginning of the Bourbon Restoration; anniversary date that Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba. 1830 – Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, is organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York. 1841 – U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become president upon William Henry Harrison's death. 1860 – The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois. 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston. 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Sailor's Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia, during the Appomattox Campaign. 1866 – The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956. 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. 1901–present 1909 – Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary's claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability. 1911 – During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg). 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Germany. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere ends. 1926 – Varney Airlines makes its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines). 1929 – Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives. 1930 – At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203. 1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece). 1945 – World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans. 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville comes to an end. 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement. 1957 – The flag carrier airline of Greece for decades, Olympic Airways, is founded by Aristotle Onassis following the acquisition of "TAE - Greek National Airlines". 1958 – Capital Airlines Flight 67 crashes into Saginaw Bay near Freeland, Michigan, killing 47. 1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. 1968 – In the downtown district of Richmond, Indiana, a double explosion kills 41 and injures 150. 1968 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Party leadership election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon afterward. 1970 – Newhall massacre: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed in a shootout. 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive: American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments. 1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft. 1973 – The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter. 1984 – Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya. 1985 – Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Field Marshal Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab. 1992 – The Bosnian War begins. 1994 – The Rwandan genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down. 1997 – In Greene County, Tennessee, the Lillelid murders occur. 1998 – Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India. 2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment. 2005 – Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day. 2008 – The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists. 2009 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing 307. 2010 – Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF officers in Dantewada district, India. 2011 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 victims of Los Zetas were exhumed from several mass graves. 2012 – Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali. 2017 – U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties. 2018 – A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team collides with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others. Births Pre–1600 1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, d. 1204) 1342 – Infanta Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa 1573 – Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg, German noble (d. 1643) 1601–1900 1632 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria (d. 1649) 1651 – André Dacier, French scholar and academic (d. 1722) 1660 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (d. 1722) 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician, Governor of Västerbotten County (d. 1742) 1671 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (d. 1741) 1672 – André Cardinal Destouches, French composer (d. 1749) 1706 – Louis de Cahusac, French playwright and composer (d. 1759) 1708 – Johann Georg Reutter, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1772) 1725 – Pasquale Paoli, French soldier and politician (d. 1807) 1726 – Gerard Majella, Italian saint (d. 1755) 1741 – Nicolas Chamfort, French author and playwright (d. 1794) 1766 – Wilhelm von Kobell, German painter and educator (d. 1853) 1773 – James Mill, Scottish historian, economist, and philosopher (d. 1836) 1787 – Celestina Cordero, Puerto Rican educator (d. 1862) 1810 – Philip Henry Gosse, English biologist and academic (d. 1888) 1812 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (d. 1870) 1815 – Robert Volkmann, German organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1883) 1818 – Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian journalist and poet (d. 1870) 1820 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (d. 1910) 1823 – Joseph Medill, Canadian-American publisher and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1899) 1824 – George Waterhouse, English-New Zealand politician, 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906) 1826 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (d. 1898) 1844 – William Lyne, Australian politician, 13th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1913) 1851 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (d. 1932) 1852 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (d. 1921) 1855 – Charles Huot, Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1930) 1857 – Arthur Wesley Dow, American painter and photographer (d. 1922) 1860 – René Lalique, French sculptor and jewellery designer (d. 1945) 1861 – Stanislas de Guaita, French poet and author (d. 1897) 1864 – William Bate Hardy, English biologist and academic (d. 1934) 1866 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1931) 1869 – Levon Shant, Armenian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1951) 1878 – Erich Mühsam, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1934) 1881 – Karl Staaf, Swedish pole vaulter and hammer thrower (d. 1953) 1884 – J. G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh race car driver and engineer (d. 1927) 1886 – Athenagoras I of Constantinople (d. 1972) 1886 – Walter Dandy, American physician and neurosurgeon (d. 1946) 1886 – Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, Indian ruler (d. 1967) 1888 – Hans Richter, Swiss painter, illustrator, and director (d. 1976) 1888 – Gerhard Ritter, German historian and academic (d. 1967) 1890 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch engineer and businessman, founded Fokker Aircraft Manufacturer (d. 1939) 1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American businessman, founded the Douglas Aircraft Company (d. 1981) 1892 – Lowell Thomas, American journalist and author (d. 1981) 1895 – Dudley Nichols, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1960) 1898 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French painter and author (d. 1920) 1900 – Leo Robin, American composer and songwriter (d. 1984) 1901–present 1901 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist (d. 1925) 1902 – Julien Torma, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933) 1903 – Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player and manager (d. 1962) 1903 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer and academic (d. 1990) 1904 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (d. 1988) 1904 – Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (d. 1966) 1908 – Marcel-Marie Desmarais, Canadian preacher, missionary, and author (d. 1994) 1908 – Ernie Lombardi, American baseball player (d. 1977) 1909 – William M. Branham, American minister and theologian (d. 1965) 1909 – Hermann Lang, German race car driver (d. 1987) 1910 – Barys Kit, Belarusian-American rocket scientist (d. 2018) 1911 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) 1913 – Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune, American geographer and academic (d. 1993) 1915 – Tadeusz Kantor, Polish director, painter, and set designer (d. 1990) 1916 – Phil Leeds, American actor (d. 1998) 1916 – Vincent Ellis McKelvey, American geologist and author (d. 1987) 1917 – Leonora Carrington, English-Mexican painter and author (d. 2011) 1918 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (d. 1982) 1919 – Georgios Mylonas, Greek politician, 11th Greek Minister of Culture (d. 1998) 1920 – Jack Cover, American pilot and physicist, invented the Taser gun (d. 2009) 1920 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021) 1921 – Wilbur Thompson, American shot putter (d. 2013) 1922 – Gordon Chater, English-Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999) 1923 – Herb Thomas, American race car driver (d. 2000) 1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American singer and actor (d. 1990) 1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (d. 2000) 1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish evangelical minister and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2014) 1926 – Randy Weston, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 2018) 1927 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (d. 1996) 1928 – James Watson, American biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate 1929 – Willis Hall, English playwright and author (d. 2005) 1929 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress and nightclub singer (d. 1972) 1929 – André Previn, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019) 1929 – Christos Sartzetakis, Greek jurist, supreme justice and President of Greece (d. 2022) 1931 – Ram Dass, American author and educator (d. 2019) 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008) 1932 – Connie Broden, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013) 1932 – Helmut Griem, German actor and director (d. 2004) 1933 – Roy Goode, English lawyer and academic 1933 – Tom C. Korologos, American journalist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Belgium 1933 – Eduardo Malapit, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of Kauai (d. 2007) 1934 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (d. 1996) 1934 – Anton Geesink, Dutch martial artist and wrestler (d. 2010) 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian painter, illustrator, and photographer (d. 2008) 1935 – Douglas Hill, Canadian author and critic (d. 2007) 1936 – Helen Berman, Dutch-Israeli painter and illustrator 1936 – Jean-Pierre Changeux, French neuroscientist, biologist, and academic 1937 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016) 1937 – Tom Veivers, Australian cricketer and politician 1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor, singer, and writer 1938 – Paul Daniels, English magician and television host (d. 2016) 1938 – Roy Thinnes, American television and film actor 1939 – André Ouellet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1939 – John Sculley, American businessman, co-founded Zeta Interactive 1940 – Homero Aridjis, Mexican journalist, author, and poet 1940 – Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Mexican-American actor and producer (d. 2011) 1941 – Christopher Allsopp, English economist and academic 1941 – Phil Austin, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1941 – Hans W. Geißendörfer, German director and producer 1941 – Angeliki Laiou, Greek-American Byzantinist and politician (d. 2008) 1941 – Don Prudhomme, American race car driver and manager 1941 – Gheorghe Zamfir, Romanian flute player and composer 1942 – Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1942 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian-English model, actress, and fashion designer (d. 2017) 1943 – Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist (d. 2017) 1943 – Roger Cook, New Zealand-English journalist and academic 1943 – Ian MacRae, New Zealand rugby player 1943 – Mitchell Melton, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013) 1944 – Felicity Palmer, English operatic soprano 1945 – Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade union leader (d. 2017) 1945 – Peter Hill, English journalist 1946 – Paul Beresford, New Zealand-English dentist and politician 1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor and director 1947 – André Weinfeld, French-American director, producer, and screenwriter 1947 – Mike Worboys, English mathematician and computer scientist 1949 – Alyson Bailes, English academic and diplomat (d. 2016) 1949 – Patrick Hernandez, French singer-songwriter 1949 – Ng Ser Miang, Singaporean athlete, entrepreneur and diplomat 1949 – Horst Ludwig Störmer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1950 – Claire Morissette, Canadian cycling activist (d. 2007) 1950 – Cleo Odzer, American anthropologist and author (d. 2001) 1951 – Bert Blyleven, Dutch-American baseball player and sportscaster 1951 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French skier, mountaineer, and pilot (d. 1990) 1951 – Pascal Rogé, French pianist 1952 – Udo Dirkschneider, German singer-songwriter 1952 – Marilu Henner, Greek-Polish American actress and author 1952 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 1992) 1953 – Patrick Doyle, Scottish actor and composer 1953 – Christopher Franke, German-American drummer and songwriter 1955 – Rob Epstein, American director and producer 1955 – Michael Rooker, American actor, director, and producer 1955 – Cathy Jones, Canadian actress, comedian, and writer 1956 – Michele Bachmann, American lawyer and politician 1956 – Normand Corbeil, Canadian composer (d. 2013) 1956 – Mudassar Nazar, Pakistani cricketer 1956 – Lee Scott, English politician 1956 – Sebastian Spreng, Argentinian-American painter and journalist 1956 – Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer and coach 1957 – Giorgio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach 1957 – Maurizio Damilano, Italian race walker and coach 1957 – Jaroslava Maxová, Czech soprano and educator 1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian soldier, engineer, and astronaut 1958 – Graeme Base, Australian author and illustrator 1959 – Gail Shea, Canadian politician 1960 – Warren Haynes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1960 – Richard Loe, New Zealand rugby player 1960 – John Pizzarelli, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish impressionist and comedian 1961 – Peter Jackson, English footballer and manager 1962 – Iris Häussler, German sculptor and academic 1962 – Marco Schällibaum, Swiss footballer, coach, and manager 1963 – Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian economist and politician, 54th President of Ecuador 1964 – David Woodard, American conductor and writer 1965 – Black Francis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1965 – Sterling Sharpe, American football player and sportscaster 1966 – Vince Flynn, American author (d. 2013) 1966 – Young Man Kang, South Korean-American director and producer 1967 – Julian Anderson, English composer and educator 1967 – Kathleen Barr, Canadian voice actress and singer 1967 – Tanya Byron, English psychologist and academic 1967 – Jonathan Firth, English actor 1968 – Archon Fung, American political scientist, author, and academic 1968 – Affonso Giaffone, Brazilian race car driver 1969 – Bret Boone, American baseball player and manager 1969 – Bison Dele, American basketball player (d. 2002) 1969 – Philipp Peter, Austrian race car driver 1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor 1969 – Spencer Wells, American geneticist and anthropologist 1970 – Olaf Kölzig, South African-German ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Roy Mayorga, American drummer, songwriter, and producer 1970 – Huang Xiaomin, Chinese swimmer 1972 – Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish director and screenwriter 1972 – Dickey Simpkins, American basketball player and sportscaster 1973 – Donnie Edwards, American football player 1973 – Randall Godfrey, American football player 1973 – Rie Miyazawa, Japanese model and actress 1973 – Sun Wen, Chinese footballer 1975 – Zach Braff, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1975 – Hal Gill, American ice hockey player 1976 – Candace Cameron Bure, American actress and talk show panelist 1976 – James Fox, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1976 – Chris Hoke, American football player 1976 – Georg Hólm, Icelandic bass player 1976 – Hirotada Ototake, Japanese author and educator 1977 – Ville Nieminen, Finnish ice hockey player 1977 – Andy Phillips, American baseball player and coach 1978 – Imani Coppola, American singer-songwriter and violinist 1978 – Robert Glasper, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer 1978 – Tim Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster 1978 – Myleene Klass, Austrian/Filipino-English singer, pianist, and model 1978 – Martín Méndez, Uruguayan bass player and songwriter 1978 – Blaine Neal, American baseball player 1978 – Igor Semshov, Russian footballer 1979 – Lord Frederick Windsor, English journalist and financier 1979 – Clay Travis, American sports journalist, blogger, and broadcaster 1980 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper 1980 – Tanja Poutiainen, Finnish skier 1980 – Antonio Thomas, American wrestler 1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer 1981 – Jeff Faine, American football player 1981 – Lucas Licht, Argentine footballer 1981 – Alex Suarez, American bass player 1982 – Travis Moen, Canadian ice hockey player 1982 – Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Spanish actor 1983 – Mehdi Ballouchy, Moroccan footballer 1983 – Jerome Kaino, New Zealand rugby player 1983 – Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer 1983 – Remi Nicole, English singer-songwriter and actress 1983 – James Wade, English darts player 1983 – Katie Weatherston, Canadian ice hockey player 1984 – Max Bemis, American singer-songwriter 1984 – Michaël Ciani, French footballer 1984 – Siboniso Gaxa, South African footballer 1984 – Diana Matheson, Canadian soccer player 1985 – Clarke MacArthur, Canadian ice hockey player 1985 – Frank Ongfiang, Cameroonian footballer 1985 – Sinqua Walls, American basketball player and actor 1986 – Nikolas Asprogenis, Cypriot footballer 1986 – Aaron Curry, American football player 1986 – Goeido Gotaro, Japanese sumo wrestler 1986 – Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer 1987 – Benjamin Corgnet, French footballer 1987 – Heidi Mount, American model 1987 – Juan Adriel Ochoa, Mexican footballer 1987 – Levi Porter, English footballer 1987 – Hilary Rhoda, American model 1988 – Jucilei, Brazilian footballer 1988 – Leigh Adams, Australian footballer 1988 – Daniele Gasparetto, Italian footballer 1988 – Carlton Mitchell, American football player 1988 – Fabrice Muamba, Congolese-English footballer 1988 – Ivonne Orsini, Puerto Rican model and television host, Miss World Puerto Rico 2008 1990 – Lachlan Coote, Australian rugby league player 1990 – Charlie McDermott, American actor 1990 – Andrei Veis, Estonian footballer 1992 – Ken, South Korean singer 1992 – Julie Ertz, American soccer player 1994 – Adrián Alonso, Mexican actor 1995 – Darya Lebesheva, Belarusian tennis player 1998 – Peyton List, American actress and model 1998 – Spencer List, American actor 2000 – Shaheen Afridi, Pakistani cricketer 2002 – Andrea Botez, Canadian-American chess player, commentator, Twitch streamer and YouTuber 2002 – Leyre Romero Gormaz, Spanish tennis player 2009 – Shaylee Mansfield, deaf American actress and YouTuber 2009 – Valentina Tronel, French child singer Deaths Pre–1600 861 – Prudentius, bishop of Troyes 885 – Saint Methodius, Byzantine missionary and saint (b. 815) 887 – Pei Che, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty 943 – Liu Churang, Chinese general and chief of staff (b. 881) 943 – Nasr II, ruler (amir) of the Samanid Empire (b. 906) 1147 – Frederick II, duke of Swabia (b. 1090) 1199 – Richard I, king of England (b. 1157) 1231 – William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke 1250 – Guillaume de Sonnac, Grand Master of the Knights Templar 1252 – Peter of Verona, Italian priest and saint (b. 1206) 1340 – Basil, emperor of Trebizond (Turkey) 1362 – James I, count of La Marche (b. 1319) 1376 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (b. 1310) 1490 – Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490 (b. 1443) 1520 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (b. 1483) 1523 – Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1479) 1528 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (b. 1471) 1551 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss scholar and politician (b. 1484) 1571 – John Hamilton, Scottish archbishop and academic (b. 1512) 1590 – Francis Walsingham, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1532) 1593 – Henry Barrowe, English Puritan and separatist (b. 1550) 1601–1900 1605 – John Stow, English historian and author (b. 1525) 1621 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (b. 1539) 1641 – Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino), Italian painter (b. 1581) 1655 – David Blondel, French minister, historian, and scholar (b. 1591) 1670 – Leonora Baroni, Italian composer (b. 1611) 1676 – John Winthrop the Younger, English politician, 1st Governor of Connecticut (b. 1606) 1686 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (b. 1614) 1707 – Willem van de Velde the Younger, Dutch-English painter (b. 1633) 1755 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (b. 1690) 1790 – Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719) 1825 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Ukrainian-Russian painter and educator (b. 1757) 1827 – Nikolis Apostolis, Greek naval commander during the Greek War of Independence (b. 1770) 1829 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (b. 1802) 1833 – Adamantios Korais, Greek philosopher and scholar (b. 1748) 1838 – José Bonifácio de Andrada, Brazilian poet, academic, and politician (b. 1763) 1860 – James Kirke Paulding, American author and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1778) 1862 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (b. 1803) 1883 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (b. 1801) 1886 – William Edward Forster, English businessman, philanthropist, and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1818) 1899 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (b. 1809) 1901–present 1906 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician, 6th County Governor of Møre og Romsdal (b. 1849) 1913 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (b. 1835) 1927 – Florence Earle Coates, American poet (b. 1850) 1935 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet and playwright (b. 1869) 1944 – Rose O'Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (b. 1874) 1947 – Herbert Backe, German agronomist and politician (b. 1896) 1950 – Louis Wilkins, American pole vaulter (b. 1882) 1953 – Idris Davies, Welsh poet and author (b. 1905) 1959 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1895) 1961 – Jules Bordet, Belgian microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870) 1963 – Otto Struve, Ukrainian-American astronomer and academic (b. 1897) 1970 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933) 1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1882) 1974 – Willem Marinus Dudok, Dutch architect (b. 1884) 1974 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (b. 1895) 1977 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (b. 1889) 1979 – Ivan Vasilyov, Bulgarian architect, designed the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library (b. 1893) 1983 – Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian General who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. (b. 1908) 1992 – Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (b. 1920) 1994 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan banker and politician, 3rd President of Rwanda (b. 1937) 1994 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (b. 1955) 1995 – Ioannis Alevras, Greek banker and politician, President of Greece (b. 1912) 1996 – Greer Garson, English-American actress (b. 1904) 1998 – Norbert Schmitz, German footballer (b. 1958) 1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942) 1999 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (b. 1908) 2000 – Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian politician, 1st President of Tunisia (b. 1903) 2001 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer-songwriter (b. 1963) 2003 – David Bloom, American journalist (b. 1963) 2003 – Anita Borg, American computer scientist and educator; founded Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (b. 1949) 2003 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (b. 1912) 2003 – Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer, educator, and activist (b. 1927) 2003 – Dino Yannopoulos, Greek stage director of the Metropolitan Opera (b. 1919) 2004 – Lou Berberet, American baseball player (b. 1929) 2004 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (b. 1929) 2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923) 2005 – Anthony F. DePalma, American orthopedic surgeon and professor (b. 1904) 2006 – Maggie Dixon, American basketball player and coach (b. 1977) 2006 – Francis L. Kellogg, American soldier and diplomat (b. 1917) 2006 – Stefanos Stratigos, Greek actor and director (b. 1926) 2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian director and producer (b. 1916) 2009 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1919) 2009 – Shawn Mackay, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1982) 2010 – Wilma Mankiller, American tribal leader (b. 1945) 2010 – Corin Redgrave, English actor (b. 1939) 2011 – Gerald Finnerman, American director and cinematographer (b. 1931) 2012 – Roland Guilbault, American admiral (b. 1934) 2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter and illustrator (b. 1958) 2012 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese astrophysicist and academic (b. 1936) 2012 – Sheila Scotter, Australian fashion designer and journalist (b. 1920) 2012 – Reed Whittemore, American poet and critic (b. 1919) 2013 – Hilda Bynoe, Grenadian physician and politician, 2nd Governor of Grenada (b. 1921) 2013 – Bill Guttridge, English footballer and manager (b. 1931) 2013 – Bigas Luna, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1946) 2013 – Ottmar Schreiner, German lawyer and politician (b. 1946) 2014 – Mary Anderson, American actress (b. 1918) 2014 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (b. 1926) 2014 – Liv Dommersnes, Norwegian actress (b. 1922) 2014 – Mickey Rooney, American soldier, actor, and dancer (b. 1920) 2014 – Chuck Stone, American soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1924) 2014 – Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer, co-founded Bimota (b. 1943) 2015 – Giovanni Berlinguer, Italian lawyer and politician (b. 1924) 2015 – James Best, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926) 2015 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1918) 2015 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929) 2016 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937) 2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (b. 1926) 2019 – Michael O'Donnell, British physician, journalist, author and broadcaster (b. 1928) 2020 – Al Kaline, American baseball player, broadcaster and executive (b.1934) 2021 – Hans Küng, Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author (b. 1928) 2022 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian and Soviet politician (b. 1946) 2022 – Jill Knight, British politician (b. 1923) Holidays and observances Chakri Day, commemorating the establishment of the Chakri dynasty. (Thailand) Christian feast day: Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach (Lutheran Church). Brychan Eutychius of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church) Marcellinus of Carthage Pope Sixtus I April 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) International Day of Sport for Development and Peace National Fisherman Day (Indonesia) New Beer's Eve (United States) Tartan Day (United States & Canada) Waltzing Matilda Day (Australia) International Asexuality Day Other April 6 Youth Movement (starts 6April) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 6 Days of the year April

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2012

April 12

Events Pre-1600 240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I. 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York. 1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír, who flees to Poland. 1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day. 1601–1900 1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships. 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain. 1807 – The Froberg mutiny on Malta ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli. 1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece. 1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. 1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw). 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. 1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army. 1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal. 1900 – One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule. 1901–present 1910 – , one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched. 1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans. 1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Chinese Communist Party members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front. 1927 – Rocksprings, Texas is hit by an F5 tornado that destroys 235 of the 247 buildings in the town, kills 72 townspeople and injures 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history. 1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west. 1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed. 1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers. 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England. 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President upon Roosevelt's death. 1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reaches Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin. 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective. 1961 – Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1. 1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits. 1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board. 1980 – The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed. 1980 – Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed. 1980 – Canadian runner and athlete, Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope Run in St. John's, NF 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission. 1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago. 1990 – Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there. 1990 – Widerøe Flight 839 crashes after takeoff from Værøy Airport in Norway, killing five people. 1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park's name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris. 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred. 2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104. 2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people. 2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency. 2010 – Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28. 2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali. 2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes. Births Pre-1600 811 – Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam of Shia Islam (d. 835) 959 – En'yū, emperor of Japan (d. 991) 1116 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Sweden and Grand Princess of Minsk (d. 1156) 1432 – Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia (d. 1462) 1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Basilica (d. 1546) 1484 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (d. 1527) 1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (d. 1574) 1526 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (d. 1585) 1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier and politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (d. 1604) 1577 – Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648) 1601–1900 1612 – Simone Cantarini, Italian painter and engraver (d. 1648) 1639 – Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician (d. 1712) 1656 – Benoît de Maillet, French diplomat and natural historian (d. 1738) 1705 – William Cookworthy, English minister and pharmacist (d. 1780) 1710 – Caffarelli, Italian actor and singer (d. 1783) 1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (d. 1796) 1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1796) 1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1793) 1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790) 1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist and author (d. 1836) 1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852) 1792 – John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English soldier and politician, Lord Privy Seal (d. 1840) 1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (d. 1847) 1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861) 1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855) 1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843) 1816 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903) 1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886) 1839 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1888) 1845 – Gustaf Cederström, Swedish painter (d. 1933) 1851 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican soldier and poet (d. 1880) 1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer and author (d. 1928) 1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1939) 1856 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English mountaineer, cartographer, and politician (d. 1937) 1863 – Raul Pompeia, Brazilian writer (d. 1895) 1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese admiral (d. 1918) 1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922) 1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1941) 1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940) 1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911) 1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976) 1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player, cricketer, and sailor (d. 1959) 1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932) 1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951) 1885 – Robert Delaunay, French painter (d. 1941) 1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918) 1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942) 1888 – Cecil Kimber, English automobile engineer (d. 1945) 1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973) 1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983) 1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964) 1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976) 1901–present 1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962) 1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, 36th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977) 1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994) 1907 – Zawgyi, Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic (d. 1990) 1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003) 1908 – Ida Pollock, English author and painter (d. 2013) 1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006) 1910 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher (d. 2018) 1910 – Irma Rapuzzi, French politician (d. 2018) 1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (d. 1976) 1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian businessman (d. 1997) 1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician, 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988) 1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975) 1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013) 1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013) 1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author (d. 2021) 1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealander composer and conductor (d. 2011) 1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007) 1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999) 1917 – Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 1978) 1917 – Robert Manzon, French racing driver (d. 2015) 1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer and educator (d. 2012) 1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991) 1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1978) 1922 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (d. 1980) 1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004) 1924 – Raymond Barre, French economist and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007) 1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician and academic (d. 2003) 1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970) 1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2018) 1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016) 1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter (d. 2008) 1926 – Jane Withers, American actress (d. 2021) 1927 – Thomas Hemsley, English baritone (d. 2013) 1927 – Alvin Sargent, American screenwriter (d. 2019) 1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor (d. 2022) 1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (d. 2013) 1929 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (d. 2013) 1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet and educator (d. 2010) 1930 – John Landy, Australian runner and politician, 26th Governor of Victoria (d. 2022) 1930 – Bryan Magee, English philosopher and politician (d. 2019) 1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter (d. 2021) 1930 – Pythagoras Papastamatiou, Greek lyricist and playwright (d. 1979) 1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (d. 2006) 1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (d. 1995) 1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 5th Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2005) 1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor (d. 2019) 1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996) 1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 2018) 1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer and manager (d. 2017) 1935 – Jimmy Makulis, Greek singer (d. 2007) 1936 – Tony Earl, American politician, 40th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 2023) 1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011) 1936 – Kennedy Simmonds, Kittitian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis 1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist (d. 2017) 1937 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017) 1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright 1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2022) 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011) 1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader 1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (d. 1993) 1942 – Bill Bryden, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter 1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentinian race car driver and politician (d. 2021) 1942 – Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa 1943 – Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha 1944 – Lisa Jardine, English historian, author, and academic (d. 2015) 1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1945 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (d. 2006) 1946 – John Dunsworth, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 2017) 1946 – Ed O'Neill, American actor and comedian 1946 – George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Scottish politician and diplomat, 10th Secretary General of NATO 1947 – Roy M. Anderson, English epidemiologist, zoologist, and academic 1947 – Martin Brasier, English palaeontologist, biologist, and academic (d. 2014) 1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013) 1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer (d. 2008) 1948 – Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician 1948 – Christos Iakovou, Greek weightlifter 1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach 1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author 1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman 1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017) 1950 – Joyce Banda, Malawian politician, 4th president of Malawi 1950 – Nicholas Sackman, English composer and educator 1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor 1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player 1952 – Leicester Rutledge, New Zealand rugby player 1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist 1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004) 1953 – Tanino Liberatore, Italian author and illustrator 1954 – John Faulkner, Australian educator and politician, 52nd Australian Minister for Defence 1954 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician (d. 2015) 1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Fabian Hamilton, English graphic designer, engineer, and politician 1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer 1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer-songwriter and actor 1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer and author 1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer 1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist 1958 – Klaus Tafelmeier, German javelin thrower 1958 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian hurdler 1960 – David Thirdkill, American basketball player 1961 – Corrado Fabi, Italian racing driver 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster 1961 – Magda Szubanski, English-Australian actress, comedian and writer 1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician 1962 – Carlos Sainz, Spanish racing driver 1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle 1963 – Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist and author 1964 – Chris Fairclough, English footballer and coach 1964 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer 1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor and director 1965 – Chi Onwurah, English politician 1965 – Gervais Rufyikiri, Burundian politician 1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian footballer and manager 1966 – Nils-Olav Johansen, Norwegian guitarist and singer 1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player 1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer-songwriter 1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress 1968 – Toby Gad, German songwriter and producer 1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player 1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer and manager 1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer and sportscaster 1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician (d. 2017) 1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater 1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor 1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer 1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster 1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator 1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer 1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player 1973 – Christian Panucci, Italian footballer and manager 1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actress (d. 2006) 1974 – Bryan Fletcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster 1974 – Roman Hamrlík, Czech ice hockey player 1974 – Marley Shelton, American actress 1974 – Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer and manager 1976 – Olga Kotlyarova, Russian runner 1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player 1977 – Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer 1977 – Sarah Monahan, Australian actress 1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer 1977 – Glenn Rogers, Australian-Scottish cricketer 1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish bassist (Coldplay) 1978 – Scott Crary, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1978 – Svetlana Lapina, Russian high jumper 1978 – Robin Walker, English businessman and politician 1979 – Claire Danes, American actress 1979 – Elena Grosheva, Russian gymnast 1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer 1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress 1979 – Cristian Ranalli, Italian footballer 1979 – Lee Soo-young, South Korean singer 1980 – Sara Head, Welsh Paralympic table tennis champion 1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter 1981 – Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Russian runner 1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer 1981 – Tulsi Gabbard, American politician 1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer and professional wrestler 1981 – Hisashi Iwakuma, Japanese baseball pitcher 1983 – Jelena Dokic, Serbian-Australian tennis player 1983 – Luke Kibet, Kenyan runner 1984 – Aleksey Dmitrik, Russian high jumper 1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player 1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer 1986 – Brad Brach, American baseball pitcher 1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer 1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player 1986 – Jonathan Pitroipa, Burkinabé footballer 1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress 1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player 1987 – Josh McCrone, Australian rugby league player 1987 – Luiz Adriano, Brazilian professional footballer 1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist 1988 – Ricky Álvarez, Argentinian footballer 1988 – Stephen Brogan, English footballer 1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer 1988 – Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter 1988 – Moamen Zakaria, Egyptian footballer 1989 – Bethan Dainton, Welsh rugby union player 1989 – Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer 1989 – Ádám Hanga, Hungarian basketball player 1989 – Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer 1989 – Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer 1990 – Francesca Halsall, English swimmer 1990 – Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer 1991 – Torey Krug, American ice hockey player 1991 – Lionel Carole, French professional footballer 1991 – Oliver Norwood, English born Northern Irish international footballer 1991 – Magnus Pääjärvi, Swedish ice hockey player 1991 – Jazz Richards, Welsh international footballer 1992 – Chad le Clos, South African swimmer 1993 – Robin Anderson, American tennis player 1993 – Jordan Archer, English-Scottish footballer 1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player 1994 – Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress and singer 1994 – Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress 1994 – Oh Sehun, South Korean musician 1994 – Eric Bailly, Ivorian professional footballer 1994 – Guido Rodríguez, Argentine footballer 1995 – Pedro Cachin, Argentine tennis player 1996 – Matteo Berrettini, Italian tennis player 1996 – Elizaveta Kulichkova, Russian tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, Roman general and politician (b. 75 BC) 352 – Julius I, pope of the Catholic Church 434 – Maximianus, archbishop of Constantinople 901 – Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine empress and wife of Leo VI 1125 – Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1065) 1167 – Charles VII, king of Sweden (b. c. 1130) 1256 – Margaret of Bourbon, Queen of Navarre, regent of Navarre (b. c. 1217) 1443 – Henry Chichele, English archbishop (b. 1364) 1500 – Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (b. 1440) 1530 – Joanna La Beltraneja, Princess of Castile (b. 1462) 1550 – Claude, Duke of Guise (b. 1496) 1555 – Joanna, Queen of Castile and Aragon (b. 1479) 1601–1900 1675 – Richard Bennett, English politician, colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1609) 1684 – Nicola Amati, Italian instrument maker (b. 1596) 1687 – Ambrose Dixon, English-American soldier (b. 1619) 1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (b. 1627) 1748 – William Kent, English architect, designed Holkham Hall and Chiswick House (b. 1685) 1782 – Metastasio, Italian-Austrian poet and composer (b. 1698) 1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-Italian composer (b. 1719) 1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710) 1814 – Charles Burney, English composer and historian (b. 1726) 1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (b. 1730) 1850 – Adoniram Judson, American lexicographer and missionary (b. 1788) 1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (b. 1801) 1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1795) 1878 – William M. Tweed, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823) 1879 – Richard Taylor, Confederate general (b. 1826) 1885 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1817) 1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1820) 1901–present 1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist and academic (b. 1842) 1906 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (b. 1836) 1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (b. 1821) 1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1835) 1937 – Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan, Turkish playwright and poet (b. 1852) 1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873) 1943 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (b. 1889) 1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882) 1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian actor and therapist (b. 1880) 1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1923) 1966 – Sydney Allard, English racing driver and founder of the Allard car company (b. 1910) 1968 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (b. 1899) 1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and dentist (b. 1886) 1973 – Arthur Freed, American songwriter and producer (b. 1894) 1975 – Josephine Baker, French actress, activist, and humanitarian (b. 1906) 1976 – Christos Kakkalos, Greek mountain guide (b. 1882) 1977 – Philip K. Wrigley, American businessman, co-founded Lincoln Park Gun Club (b. 1894) 1980 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (b. 1913) 1981 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887) 1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (b. 1914) 1983 – Jørgen Juve, Norwegian football player and journalist (b. 1906) 1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944) 1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral and cryptanalyst (b. 1903) 1986 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (b. 1897) 1988 – Colette Deréal, French singer and actress (b. 1927) 1988 – Alan Paton, South African historian and author (b. 1903) 1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist, co-founded Youth International Party (b. 1936) 1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921) 1992 – Ilario Bandini, Italian racing driver and businessman (b. 1911) 1997 – George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906) 1998 – Robert Ford, Canadian poet and diplomat (b. 1915) 1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931) 2001 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (b. 1921) 2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and philologist (b. 1908) 2004 – Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (b. 1925) 2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (b. 1924) 2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian journalist (b. 1936) 2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English-American figure skater and coach (b. 1920) 2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923) 2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949) 2010 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader (b. 1916) 2010 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (b. 1945) 2011 – Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (b. 1962) 2012 – Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1934) 2012 – Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (b. 1935) 2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (b. 1928) 2013 – Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (b. 1964) 2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter (b. 1962) 2013 – Brennan Manning, American priest and author (b. 1934) 2013 – Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1961) 2013 – Ya'akov Yosef, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1946) 2014 – Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (b. 1947) 2014 – Pierre-Henri Menthéour, French cyclist (b. 1960) 2014 – Maurício Alves Peruchi, Brazilian footballer (b. 1990) 2014 – Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931) 2014 – Billy Standridge, American race car driver (b. 1953) 2015 – Paulo Brossard, Brazilian jurist and politician (b. 1924) 2015 – Patrice Dominguez, Algerian-French tennis player and trainer (b. 1950) 2015 – Alfred Eick, German commander (b. 1916) 2015 – André Mba Obame, Gabonese politician (b. 1957) 2016 – Anne Jackson, American actress (b. 1925) 2016 – Mohammad Al Gaz, Emirati politician & diplomat (b. 1930) 2017 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959) 2020 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (b. 1983) 2021 – Joseph Siravo, American actor and producer (b. 1955) 2022 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (b. 1955) Holidays and observances Children's Day (Bolivia) Christian feast day: Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church) Alferius Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso Erkembode Pope Julius I Teresa of the Andes Zeno of Verona April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia) International Day of Human Space Flight Yuri's Night (International observance) Halifax Day (North Carolina) National Redemption Day (Liberia) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 12 Days of the year April

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2015

April 15

Events Pre-1600 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings. 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard. 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France. 1601–1900 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army. 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina. 1736 – Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica. 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England. 1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London. 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut. 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War. 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as President. 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed. 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece. 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines. 1901–present 1912 – The British passenger liner sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive. 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy. 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal. 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes. 1923 – Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California. 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine. 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people. 1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI. 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated. 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line. 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. 1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois. 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board. 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam. 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen. 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans. 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China. 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted. 2002 – Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people. 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others. 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people. 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals. 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire. 2021 – A mass shooting occurred at a Fedex Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven. Births Pre-1600 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC) 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329) 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479) 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519) 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539) 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626) 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606) 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653) 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675) 1601–1900 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722) 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691) 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699) 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727) 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758) 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783) 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790) 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827) 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844) 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844) 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864) 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847) 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862) 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892) 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877) 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885) 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863) 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908) 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921) 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919) 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916) 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910) 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917) 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929) 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914) 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954) 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957) 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953) 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947) 1877 – William David Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971) 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956) 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980) 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967) 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947) 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921) 1887 – Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player (d. 1983) 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953) 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904) 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975) 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979) 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976) 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975) 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983) 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971) 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937) 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980) 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941) 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986) 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973) 1900 – Ramón Iribarren, Spanish civil engineer (d. 1967) 1901–present 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978) 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986) 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993) 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002) 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983) 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948) 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988) 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995) 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995) 1909 – Robert Edison Fulton Jr., American inventor and adventurer (d. 2004) 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986) 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997) 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998) 1912 – Kim Il Sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994) 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012) 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982) 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997) 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982) 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944) 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989) 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007) 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993) 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013) 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012) 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015) 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995) 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009) 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013) 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999) 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987) 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981) 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966) 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009) 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980) 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004) 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016) 1926 – Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (d. 1990) 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999) 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008) 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015) 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013) 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015) 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018) 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016) 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995) 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008) 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (d. 2019) 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978) 1937 – Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (d. 2020) 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016) 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009) 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010) 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic 1940 – Robert Walker, American actor (d. 2019) 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017) 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011) 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal(d. 2006) 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006) 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003) 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018) 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic 1952 – Glenn Shadix, American actor, (d. 2010) 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997) 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1965 – Soichi Noguchi, Japanese engineer and astronaut 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013) 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner 1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009) 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist 1979 – Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014) 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer 1997 – Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer 1997 – Maisie Williams, English actress 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper Deaths Pre-1600 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554) 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920) 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001) 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094) 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157) 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355) 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377) 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443) 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500) 1578 – Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (b. 1509) 1601–1900 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546) 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580) 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605) 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635) 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676) 1757 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (b. 1673) 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682) 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696) 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679) 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (b. 1721) 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711) 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711) 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718) 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773) 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792) 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809) 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822) 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840) 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician 1901–present 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster: Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873) John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864) Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865) Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875) Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865) Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866) Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878) Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (b. 1856) James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887) William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873) Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887) Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850) William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849) Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849) Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845) John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862) Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872) 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839) 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868) 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892) 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880) 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882) 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901) 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895) 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892) 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885) 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880) 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912) 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903) 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898) 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915) 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886) 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912) 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904) 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905) 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915) 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921) 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910) 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926) 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1915) 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905) 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907) 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908) 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912) 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925) 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944) 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925) 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951) 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922) 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917) 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934) 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920) 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921) 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924) 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907) 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947) 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939) 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938) 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975) 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919) 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968) 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930) 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946) 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928) 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919) 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935) 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966) 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928) 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920) 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899) 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944) 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929) 2022 – Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (b. 1947) 2022 – Henry Plumb, British politician and farmer (b. 1925) 2022 – Liz Sheridan, American actress (b. 1929) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Abbo II of Metz Father Damien (The Episcopal Church) Hunna Paternus of Avranches April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of the Sun (North Korea) Father Damien Day (Hawaii) Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England) Jackie Robinson Day (United States) National American Sign Language Day (United States) Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India) Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines) Universal Day of Culture World Art Day References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 15 Days of the year April

1011

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2030

April 30

Events Pre-1600 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends. 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois. 1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. He is named admiral of the ocean sea, viceroy and governor of any territory he discovers. 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII. 1557 – Mapuche leader Lautaro is killed by Spanish forces at the Battle of Mataquito in Chile. 1598 – Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. 1598 – Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. 1601–1900 1636 – Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege. 1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States. 1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation. 1812 – The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana. 1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation. 1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico. 1871 – The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory. 1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use. 1897 – J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London. 1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor. 1901–present 1905 – Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich. 1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity. 1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States. 1937 – The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative. 1939 – The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens. 1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address. 1943 – World War II: The British submarine surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans. 1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building. 1945 – World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen. 1947 – In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam. 1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established. 1956 – Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. 1957 – Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery entered into force. 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned. 1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom. 1973 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign. 1975 – Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh. 1980 – Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana. 1980 – The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London. 1982 – The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India. 1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free. 1994 – Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy. 1999 – Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others. 2000 – Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide. 2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks. 2009 – Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 2009 – Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix. 2012 – An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 103 people. 2013 – Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix. 2014 – A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others. 2021 – Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel. Births Pre-1600 1310 – King Casimir III of Poland (d. 1368) 1331 – Gaston III, Count of Foix (d. 1391) 1383 – Anne of Gloucester, English countess, granddaughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1438) 1425 – William III, Landgrave of Thuringia (d. 1482) 1504 – Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter (d. 1570) 1553 – Louise of Lorraine (d. 1601) 1601–1900 1623 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop and saint (d. 1708) 1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint (d. 1719) 1662 – Mary II of England (d. 1694) 1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (d. 1709) 1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795) 1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (d. 1806) 1758 – Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese commander and politician (d. 1802) 1770 – David Thompson, English-Canadian cartographer and explorer (d. 1857) 1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1855) 1799 – Joseph Dart, American businessman and entrepreneur (d. 1879) 1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (d. 1879) 1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (d. 1884) 1848 – Eugène Simon, French naturalist (d. 1924) 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (d. 1940) 1857 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1920) 1865 – Max Nettlau, German historian and academic (d. 1944) 1866 – Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist (d. 1936) 1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (d. 1936) 1870 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (d. 1948) 1870 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1944) 1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author (d. 1949) 1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (d. 1937) 1877 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (d. 1917) 1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (d. 1967) 1878 – Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (d. 1948) 1879 – Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler (d. 1945) 1880 – Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (d. 1967) 1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (d. 1923) 1883 – Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (d. 1947) 1884 – Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor (d. 1965) 1888 – John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (d. 1974) 1893 – Harold Breen, Australian public servant (d. 1966) 1893 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1946) 1895 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (d. 1960) 1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972) 1896 – Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (d. 1996) 1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983) 1900 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (d. 1984) 1901–present 1901 – Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985) 1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998) 1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2012) 1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990) 1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic professor of law and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1970) 1908 – Frank Robert Miller, Canadian air marshal and politician (d. 1997) 1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor and educator (d. 1992) 1909 – Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004) 1910 – Levi Celerio, Filipino pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 2002) 1914 – Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (d. 1997) 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (d. 2008) 1916 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2003) 1916 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (d. 2001) 1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999) 1917 – Bea Wain, American singer (d. 2017) 1920 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver and pilot (d. 1994) 1920 – Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian and woman's history author (d. 2013) 1920 – Tom Moore, British army officer and fundraiser (d. 2021) 1921 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (d. 2014) 1922 – Anton Murray, South African cricketer (d. 1995) 1923 – Percy Heath, American bassist (d. 2005) 1923 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004) 1924 – Sheldon Harnick, American lyricist (d. 2023) 1924 – Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (d. 2008) 1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001) 1925 – Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1960) 1926 – Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer (d. 2011) 1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian (d. 2021) 1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author and academic (d. 2000) 1928 – Orlando Sirola, Italian tennis player (d. 1995) 1930 – Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (d. 1992) 1933 – Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden, English politician 1934 – Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter (d. 1995) 1934 – Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2022) 1937 – Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright 1938 – Gary Collins, American actor and talk show host (d. 2012) 1938 – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director and screenwriter (d. 2023) 1938 – Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter 1940 – Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer 1940 – Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician 1940 – Ülo Õun, Estonian sculptor (d. 1988) 1940 – Burt Young, American actor and painter (d. 2023) 1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs 1941 – Max Merritt, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 2020) 1942 – Sallehuddin of Kedah, Sultan of Kedah 1943 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (d. 2011) 1943 – Bobby Vee, American pop singer-songwriter (d. 2016) 1944 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (d. 2014) 1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010) 1945 – J. Michael Brady, British radiologist 1945 – Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet 1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2001) 1945 – Michael J. Smith, American pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986) 1946 – King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden 1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter 1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer 1947 – Paul Fiddes, English theologian and academic 1947 – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer and manager 1947 – Mats Odell, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets 1948 – Wayne Kramer, American guitarist and singer-songwriter 1948 – Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1948 – Margit Papp, Hungarian athlete 1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager 1949 – António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations 1949 – Karl Meiler, German tennis player (d. 2014) 1952 – Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter 1952 – Jack Middelburg, Dutch motorcycle racer (d. 1984) 1953 – Merrill Osmond, American singer and bass player 1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter 1954 – Kim Darroch, English diplomat, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union 1954 – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer 1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist and environmentalist 1955 – David Kitchin, English lawyer and judge 1955 – Pradeep Sarkar, Indian director and screenwriter (d. 2023) 1955 – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter 1957 – Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter 1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director, and screenwriter 1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada 1960 – Geoffrey Cox, English lawyer and politician 1960 – Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1961 – Arnór Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer 1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster 1963 – Andrew Carwood, English tenor and conductor 1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster 1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group 1964 – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster 1964 – Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager 1964 – Abhishek Chatterjee, Indian actor 1965 – Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower 1965 – Adrian Pasdar, American actor 1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1966 – Dave Meggett, American football player and coach 1967 – Phil Chang, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor 1967 – Philipp Kirkorov, Bulgarian-born Russian singer, composer and actor 1967 – Turbo B, American rapper 1969 – Warren Defever, American bass player and producer 1969 – Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development 1969 – Paulo Jr., Brazilian bass player 1972 – Takako Tokiwa, Japanese actress 1973 – Leigh Francis, English comedian and actor 1974 – Christian Tamminga, Dutch athlete 1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor 1976 – Davian Clarke, Jamaican sprinter 1976 – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist 1976 – Daniel Wagon, Australian rugby league player 1976 – Victor J. Glover, American astronaut 1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician 1977 – Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author 1978 – Liljay, Taiwanese singer 1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer 1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player 1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer 1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player 1981 – John O'Shea, Irish footballer 1981 – Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor 1981 – Justin Vernon, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer 1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress 1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor 1983 – Chris Carr, American football player 1983 – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger 1983 – Marina Tomić, Slovenian hurdler 1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player 1984 – Seimone Augustus, American basketball player 1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager 1984 – Risto Mätas, Estonian javelin thrower 1984 – Lee Roache, English footballer 1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player 1985 – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model 1985 – Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American journalist, singer, and prostitute 1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress and singer 1986 – Martten Kaldvee, Estonian biathlete 1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian footballer 1987 – Chris Morris, South African cricketer 1987 – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer 1988 – Andy Allen, Australian chef 1988 – Sander Baart, Dutch field hockey player 1988 – Ana de Armas, Cuban actress 1988 – Liu Xijun, Chinese singer 1988 – Oh Hye-ri, South Korean taekwondo athlete 1989 – Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer and actor 1990 – Jonny Brownlee, English triathlete 1990 – Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter 1990 – Kaarel Kiidron, Estonian footballer 1990 – Paula Ribó, Spanish singer-songwriter and actress 1991 – Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player 1991 – Travis Scott, American rapper and producer 1992 – Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer 1993 – Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer 1993 – Martin Fuksa, Czech canoeist 1994 – Chae Seo-jin, South Korean actress 1994 – Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player 1996 – Luke Friend, English singer 1997 – Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer 1998 – Georgina Amorós, Spanish actress 1999 – Jorden van Foreest, Dutch chess grandmaster 1999 – Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Thai actor and singer 2000 – Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer 2002 – Anna Cramling, Spanish-Swedish chess player 2002 – Teden Mengi, English footballer 2003 – Emily Carey, British actress 2003 – Jung Yun-seok, South Korean actor Deaths Pre-1600 AD 65 – Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39) 125 – An, Chinese emperor (b. 94) 535 – Amalasuntha, Ostrogothic queen and regent 783 – Hildegard of the Vinzgau, Frankish queen 1002 – Eckard I, German nobleman 1030 – Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid emir (b. 971) 1063 – Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1010) 1131 – Adjutor, French knight and saint 1305 – Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer (b. 1267) 1341 – John III, duke of Brittany (b. 1286) 1439 – Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, English commander (b. 1382) 1524 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473) 1544 – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488) 1550 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (b. 1516) 1601–1900 1632 – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (b. 1559) 1632 – Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (b. 1566) 1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (b. 1571) 1655 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (b. 1617) 1660 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (b. 1576) 1672 – Marie of the Incarnation, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Ursulines of Quebec (b. 1599) 1696 – Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (b. 1640) 1712 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch theologian and author (b. 1633) 1733 – Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes, Portuguese diplomat (b. 1676) 1736 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German scholar and author (b. 1668) 1758 – François d'Agincourt, French organist and composer (b. 1684) 1792 – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1718) 1795 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and author (b. 1716) 1806 – Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (b. 1758) 1841 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (b. 1758) 1847 – Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (b. 1771) 1863 – Jean Danjou, French captain (b. 1828) 1865 – Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (b. 1805) 1870 – Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (b. 1792) 1875 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (b. 1766) 1879 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (b. 1804) 1883 – Édouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832) 1891 – Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (b. 1823) 1900 – Casey Jones, American railroad engineer (b. 1864) 1901–present 1903 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (b. 1831) 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (b. 1856) 1926 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (b. 1892) 1936 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (b. 1859) 1939 – Frank Haller, American boxer (b. 1883) 1943 – Eddy Hamel, American footballer (b. 1902) 1943 – Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1860) 1943 – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (b. 1858) 1945 – Eva Braun, German photographer and office and lab assistant, wife of Adolf Hitler (b. 1912) 1945 – Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German politician and author, dictator of Nazi Germany (b. 1889) 1953 – Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (b. 1874) 1956 – Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877) 1970 – Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (b. 1899) 1970 – Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (b. 1934) 1972 – Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (b. 1934) 1973 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (b. 1911) 1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900) 1980 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1898) 1982 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (b. 1949) 1983 – George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1904) 1983 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (b. 1913) 1983 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (b. 1897) 1986 – Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905) 1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929) 1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962) 1994 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (b. 1960) 1994 – Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (b. 1919) 1995 – Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1920) 1998 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (b. 1926) 2000 – Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914) 2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (b. 1928) 2003 – Mark Berger, American economist and academic (b. 1955) 2003 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1956) 2005 – Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1918) 2006 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (b. 1924) 2006 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (b. 1925) 2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971) 2007 – Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (b. 1921) 2007 – Gordon Scott, American film and television actor (b. 1926) 2008 – Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (b. 1923) 2009 – Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (b. 1935) 2011 – Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (b. 1955) 2011 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (b. 1915) 2011 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (b. 1911) 2012 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (b. 1930) 2012 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (b. 1985) 2012 – Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (b. 1958) 2012 – Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (b. 1910) 2013 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1937) 2013 – Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (b. 1953) 2013 – Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (b. 1925) 2014 – Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (b. 1919) 2014 – Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (b. 1946) 2014 – Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (b. 1929) 2014 – Ian Ross, Australian journalist (b. 1940) 2015 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1938) 2016 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1921) 2016 – Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939) 2017 – Belchior, Brazilian singer and composer (b. 1946) 2019 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (b. 1944) 2020 – Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (b. 1940) 2020 – Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (b. 1952) 2021 – Anthony Payne, English composer (b. 1936) 2022 – Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1946) 2022 – Mino Raiola, Italian football agent (b. 1967) 2023 – Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (b. 1976) Holidays and observances Armed Forces Day (Georgia) Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion) Children's Day (Mexico) Christian feast day: Adjutor Aimo Amator, Peter and Louis Donatus of Evorea Eutropius of Saintes Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada) Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline) Maximus of Rome Blessed Miles Gerard Pomponius of Naples Pope Pius V Quirinus of Neuss Sarah Josepha Hale (Episcopal Church) Suitbert the Younger April 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Consumer Protection Day (Thailand) Honesty Day (United States) International Jazz Day (UNESCO) Martyrs' Day (Pakistan) May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1): Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year) Carodejnice (Czech Republic and Slovakia) Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe) National Persian Gulf Day (Iran) Reunification Day (Vietnam) Rincon Day (Bonaire) Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia) Teachers' Day (Paraguay) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 30 Days of the year April

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%2022

August 22

Events Pre-1600 392 – Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. 851 – Battle of Jengland: Erispoe defeats Charles the Bald near the Breton town of Jengland. 1138 – Battle of the Standard between Scotland and England. 1485 – The Battle of Bosworth Field occurs; Richard III dies, marking the end of the House of Plantagenet. 1559 – Spanish archbishop Bartolomé Carranza is arrested for heresy. 1601–1900 1614 – Fettmilch Uprising: Jews are expelled from Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, following the plundering of the Judengasse. 1639 – Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers. 1642 – Charles I raises his standard in Nottingham, which marks the beginning of the English Civil War. 1654 – Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first known Jewish immigrant to America. 1711 – Britain's Quebec Expedition loses eight ships and almost nine hundred soldiers, sailors and women to rocks at Pointe-aux-Anglais. 1717 – Spanish troops land on Sardinia. 1770 – James Cook names and lands on Possession Island, and claims the east coast of Australia for Britain as New South Wales. 1777 – British forces abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements. 1780 – James Cook's ship returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage). 1791 – The Haitian slave revolution begins in Saint-Domingue, Haiti. 1798 – French troops land at Kilcummin, County Mayo, Ireland to aid the rebellion. 1827 – José de La Mar becomes President of Peru. 1846 – The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established. 1849 – Passaleão incident: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the governor of Portuguese Macau, is assassinated by a group of Chinese locals, triggering a military confrontation between China and Portugal at the Battle of Passaleão three days after. 1851 – The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America. 1864 – Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention, establishing the rules of protection of the victims of armed conflicts. 1875 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands. 1894 – Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal. 1901–present 1902 – The Cadillac Motor Company is founded. 1902 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile. 1902 – At least 6,000 people are killed by the magnitude 7.7 Kashgar earthquake in the Tien Shan mountains. 1922 – Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, is shot dead in an ambush during the Irish Civil War. 1934 – Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only test cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes. 1941 – World War II: German troops begin the Siege of Leningrad. 1942 – Brazil declares war on Germany, Japan and Italy. 1944 – World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces. 1949 – The Queen Charlotte earthquake is Canada's strongest since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. 1953 – The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed. 1962 – The OAS attempts to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. 1963 – X-15 Flight 91 reaches the highest altitude of the X-15 program ( (354,200 feet)). 1966 – Labor movements NFWA and AWOC merge to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), the predecessor of the United Farm Workers. 1968 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America. 1971 – J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28. 1972 – Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies. 1973 – The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections. 1978 – Nicaraguan Revolution: The FLSN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages. 1978 – The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S. Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states. 1981 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed. 1985 – British Airtours Flight 28M suffers an engine fire during takeoff at Manchester Airport. The pilots abort but due to inefficient evacuation procedures 55 people are killed, mostly from smoke inhalation. 1989 – Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts. 1991 – Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states. 1992 – FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. 1999 – China Airlines Flight 642 crashes at Hong Kong International Airport, killing three people and injuring 208 more. 2003 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building. 2004 – Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway. 2006 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board. 2006 – Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal. 2007 – The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history. 2012 – Ethnic clashes over grazing rights for cattle in Kenya's Tana River District result in more than 52 deaths. Births Pre-1600 1412 – Frederick II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1464) 1570 – Franz von Dietrichstein, Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal (d. 1636) 1599 – Agatha Marie of Hanau, German noblewoman (d. 1636) 1601–1900 1601 – Georges de Scudéry, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1667) 1624 – Jean Regnault de Segrais, French author and poet (d. 1701) 1647 – Denis Papin, French physicist and mathematician, developed pressure cooking (d. 1712) 1679 – Pierre Guérin de Tencin, French cardinal (d. 1758) 1760 – Pope Leo XII (d. 1829) 1764 – Charles Percier, French architect and interior designer (d. 1838) 1771 – Henry Maudslay, English engineer (d. 1831) 1773 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (d. 1858) 1778 – James Kirke Paulding, American poet, playwright, and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1860) 1800 – Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1865) 1818 – Rudolf von Jhering, German jurist (d. 1892) 1827 – Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1906) 1834 – Samuel Pierpont Langley, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1906) 1836 – Archibald Willard, American soldier and painter (d. 1918) 1844 – George W. De Long, American Naval officer and explorer (d. 1881) 1845 – William Lewis Douglas, American businessman and politician, 42nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1924) 1847 – John Forrest, Australian politician, 1st Premier of Western Australia (d. 1918) 1848 – Melville Elijah Stone, American publisher, founded the Chicago Daily News (d. 1929) 1854 – Milan I of Serbia (d. 1901) 1857 – Ned Hanlon, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937) 1860 – Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Polish-German technician and inventor, created the Nipkow disk (d. 1940) 1860 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (d. 1940) 1862 – Claude Debussy, French pianist and composer (d. 1918) 1867 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (d. 1939) 1867 – Charles Francis Jenkins, American inventor (d. 1934) 1868 – Willis R. Whitney, American chemist (d. 1958) 1873 – Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (d. 1928) 1874 – Max Scheler, German philosopher and author (d. 1928) 1880 – Gorch Fock, German author and poet (d. 1916) 1880 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (d. 1944) 1881 – James Newland, Australian soldier and policeman (d. 1949) 1882 – Raymonde de Laroche, French pilot (d. 1919) 1887 – Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1977) 1890 – Cecil Kellaway, South African actor (d. 1973) 1891 – Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (d. 1983) 1891 – Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-Italian sculptor (d. 1973) 1893 – Wilfred Kitching, English 7th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1977) 1893 – Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (d. 1967) 1893 – Ernest H. Volwiler, American chemist (d. 1992) 1895 – László Almásy, Hungarian captain, pilot, and explorer (d. 1951) 1895 – Paul Comtois, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1966) 1896 – Laurence McKinley Gould, American geologist, educator, and polar explorer (d. 1995) 1897 – Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer and educator (d. 1965) 1900 – Lisy Fischer, Swiss-born pianist and child prodigy (d. 1999) 1901–present 1902 – Thomas Pelly, American lawyer and politician (d. 1973) 1902 – Leni Riefenstahl, German actress, film director and propagandist (d. 2003) 1902 – Edward Rowe Snow, American historian and author (d. 1982) 1903 – Jerry Iger, American cartoonist, co-founded Eisner & Iger (d. 1990) 1904 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1997) 1908 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer and painter (d. 2004) 1908 – Erwin Thiesies, German rugby player and coach (d. 1993) 1909 – Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2000) 1909 – Mel Hein, American football player and coach (d. 1992) 1913 – Leonard Pagliero, English businessman and pilot (d. 2008) 1913 – Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1993) 1914 – Jack Dunphy, American author and playwright (d. 1992) 1914 – Connie B. Gay, American businessman, co-founded the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (d. 1989) 1915 – David Dellinger, American activist (d. 2004) 1915 – James Hillier, Canadian-American scientist, co-designed the electron microscope (d. 2007) 1915 – Edward Szczepanik, Polish economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of the Polish Republic in Exile (d. 2005) 1917 – John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001) 1918 – Mary McGrory, American journalist and author (d. 2004) 1920 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1920 – Denton Cooley, American surgeon and scientist (d. 2016) 1921 – Dinos Dimopoulos, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 2003) 1921 – Tony Pawson, English cricketer, footballer, and journalist (d. 2012) 1922 – Roberto Aizenberg, Argentine painter and sculptor (d. 1996) 1922 – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (d. 2011) 1924 – James Kirkwood, Jr., American playwright and author (d. 1989) 1924 – Harishankar Parsai, Indian writer, satirist and humorist (d. 1995) 1925 – Honor Blackman, English actress and republican (d. 2020) 1926 – Marc Bohan, French fashion designer (d. 2023) 1926 – Bob Flanigan, American pop singer (d. 2011) 1928 – Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean academic and diplomat (d. 2015) 1928 – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (d. 2007) 1929 – Valery Alekseyev, Russian anthropologist and author (d. 1991) 1929 – Ulrich Wegener, German police officer and general (d. 2017) 1930 – Gylmar dos Santos Neves, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013) 1932 – Gerald P. Carr, American engineer, colonel, and astronaut (d. 2020) 1933 – Sylva Koscina, Italian actress (d. 1994) 1934 – Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., American general and engineer (d. 2012) 1935 – Annie Proulx, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist 1936 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012) 1936 – John Callaway, American journalist and producer (d. 2009) 1936 – Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010) 1936 – Werner Stengel, German roller coaster designer and engineer, designed the Maverick roller coaster 1938 – Jean Berkey, American businesswoman and politician (d. 2013) 1939 – Valerie Harper, American actress (d. 2019) 1939 – Carl Yastrzemski, American baseball player 1941 – Bill Parcells, American football player and coach 1943 – Alun Michael, Welsh police commissioner and politician, inaugural First Minister of Wales 1943 – Masatoshi Shima, Japanese computer scientist and engineer, co-designed the Intel 4004 1944 – Roger Cashmore, English physicist and academic 1945 – David Chase, American screenwriter and producer 1945 – Ron Dante, American singer-songwriter and producer 1947 – Cindy Williams, American actress and producer (d. 2023) 1948 – David Marks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1949 – Diana Nyad, American swimmer and author 1949 – Joop Donkervoort, Dutch businessman 1950 – Ray Burris, American baseball player and coach 1950 – Scooter Libby, American lawyer and politician, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States 1952 – Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977) 1953 – Paul Ellering, American weightlifter, wrestler, and manager 1955 – Chiranjeevi, Indian film actor, producer and politician 1956 – Paul Molitor, American baseball player and coach 1956 – Peter Taylor, Australian cricketer 1957 – Steve Davis, English snooker player, sportscaster, and author 1957 – Holly Dunn, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2016) 1958 – Colm Feore, American-Canadian actor 1958 – Stevie Ray, American semi-retired wrestler 1958 – Vernon Reid, English-born American guitarist and songwriter 1959 – Juan Croucier, Cuban-American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer 1959 – Pia Gjellerup, Danish lawyer and politician, Danish Minister of Finance 1959 – Mark Williams, English actor 1960 – Holger Gehrke, German footballer and manager 1960 – Collin Raye, American country music singer 1960 – Regina Taylor, American actress and playwright 1961 – Andrés Calamaro, Argentine singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1961 – Roland Orzabal, English singer and musician 1961 – Debbi Peterson, American singer-songwriter and drummer 1962 – Stefano Tilli, Italian sprinter 1963 – Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer 1963 – James DeBarge, American R&B/soul singer 1963 – Terry Catledge, American basketball player 1964 – Trey Gowdy, American lawyer and U.S. Representative 1964 – Mats Wilander, Swedish-American tennis player and coach 1965 – Wendy Botha, South African-Australian surfer 1965 – David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (d. 2004) 1966 – GZA, American rapper and producer 1966 – Rob Witschge, Dutch footballer and manager 1967 – Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, English actor 1967 – Ty Burrell, American actor and comedian 1967 – Paul Colman, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1967 – Alfred Gough, American screenwriter and producer 1967 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002) 1968 – Casper Christensen, Danish comedian, actor, and screenwriter 1968 – Rich Lowry, American writer and magazine editor (National Review) 1968 – Aleksandr Mostovoi, Russian footballer 1968 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian businesswoman 1968 – Horst Skoff, Austrian tennis player (d. 2008) 1970 – Charlie Connelly, English author and broadcaster 1970 – Giada De Laurentiis, Italian-American chef and author 1970 – Tímea Nagy, Hungarian fencer 1971 – Richard Armitage, English actor 1971 – Craig Finn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1971 – Melinda Page Hamilton, American actress 1971 – Rick Yune, American actor 1972 – Okkert Brits, South African pole vaulter 1972 – Paul Doucette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer 1972 – Steve Kline, American baseball player and coach 1972 – Max Wilson, German-Brazilian race car driver 1973 – Roslina Bakar, Malaysian sport shooter 1973 – Beenie Man, Jamaican deejay 1973 – Howie Dorough, American singer-songwriter and dancer 1973 – Kristen Wiig, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter 1973 – Eurelijus Žukauskas, Lithuanian basketball player 1974 – Cory Gardner, American politician 1974 – Jenna Leigh Green, American actress and singer 1974 – Agustín Pichot, Argentinian rugby player 1975 – Clint Bolton, Australian footballer 1975 – Rodrigo Santoro, Brazilian actor 1976 – Marius Bezykornovas, Lithuanian footballer 1976 – Bryn Davies, American bassist, cellist, and pianist 1976 – Laurent Hernu, French decathlete 1976 – Jeff Weaver, American baseball player 1976 – Randy Wolf, American baseball player 1977 – Heiðar Helguson, Icelandic footballer 1977 – Keren Cytter, Israeli visual artist and writer 1978 – James Corden, English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter 1978 – Ioannis Gagaloudis, Greek basketball player 1979 – Brandon Adams, American actor 1979 – Matt Walters, American football player 1980 – Roland Benschneider, German footballer 1980 – Nicolas Macrozonaris, Canadian sprinter 1980 – Aya Sumika, American actress 1980 – Seiko Yamamoto, Japanese wrestler 1981 – Alex Holmes, American football player 1981 – Jang Hyun-kyu, South Korean footballer (d. 2012) 1981 – Christina Obergföll, German athlete 1983 – Theo Bos, Dutch cyclist 1983 – Jahri Evans, American football player 1984 – Lee Camp, English footballer 1984 – Lawrence Quaye, Ghanaian-Qatari footballer 1985 – Luke Russert, American journalist 1985 – Jey Uso, Samoan-American wrestler 1985 – Jimmy Uso, Samoan-American wrestler 1985 – Salih Yoluç, Turkish Automobile Racer 1986 – Stephen Ireland, Irish footballer 1986 – Tokushōryū Makoto, Japanese sumo wrestler 1986 – Pac, English wrestler 1987 – Leonardo Moracci, Italian footballer 1987 – Apollo Crews, American wrestler 1989 – Giacomo Bonaventura, Italian footballer 1990 – Randall Cobb, American football player 1990 – Drew Hutchison, American baseball player 1990 – Robbie Rochow, Australian rugby league player 1990 – Adam Thielen, American football player 1991 – Federico Macheda, Italian footballer 1991 – Brayden Schenn, Canadian ice hockey player 1992 – Ema Burgić Bucko, Bosnian tennis player 1992 – Ari Stidham, American actor 1993 – Dillon Danis, American mixed martial artist 1994 – Israel Broussard, American actor 1994 – Olli Määttä, Finnish ice hockey player 1995 – Dua Lipa, English singer-songwriter 1996 – Jessica-Jane Applegate, British Paralympic swimmer 1996 – Jeon So-min, South Korean singer-songwriter 1997 – Maxx Crosby, American football player 1997 – Lautaro Martínez, Argentine footballer 2001 – LaMelo Ball, American basketball player Deaths Pre-1600 408 – Stilicho, Roman general (b. 359) 1155 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (b. 1139) 1241 – Pope Gregory IX, (b. 1143) 1280 – Pope Nicholas III (b. 1225) 1304 – John II, Count of Holland (b. 1247) 1338 – William II, Duke of Athens (b. 1312) 1350 – Philip VI of France (b. 1293) 1358 – Isabella of France (b. 1295) 1425 – Eleanor, Princess of Asturias (b. 1423) 1456 – Vladislav II of Wallachia 1485 – Richard III of England (b. 1452) 1485 – James Harrington, Yorkist knight 1485 – John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (b. 1430) 1485 – Richard Ratcliffe, supporter of Richard III 1485 – William Brandon, supporter of Henry VII (b. 1426) 1532 – William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1450) 1545 – Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and husband of Mary Tudor (b. c. 1484) 1553 – John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English admiral and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1504) 1572 – Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, English leader of the Rising of the North (b. 1528) 1584 – Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1530) 1599 – Luca Marenzio, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1553) 1601–1900 1607 – Bartholomew Gosnold, English lawyer and explorer, founded the London Company (b. 1572) 1652 – Jacob De la Gardie, Estonian-Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (b. 1583) 1664 – Maria Cunitz, Polish astronomer and author (b. 1610) 1680 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (b. 1613) 1681 – Philippe Delano, Dutch Plymouth Colony settler (b. 1602) 1701 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1628) 1711 – Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French general (b. 1644) 1752 – William Whiston, English mathematician, historian, and theologian (b. 1667) 1773 – George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1709) 1793 – Louis de Noailles, French general (b. 1713) 1797 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (b. 1724) 1806 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and illustrator (b. 1732) 1818 – Warren Hastings, English lawyer and politician, 1st Governor-General of Bengal (b. 1732) 1828 – Franz Joseph Gall, Austrian neuroanatomist and physiologist (b. 1758) 1850 – Nikolaus Lenau, Romanian-Austrian poet and author (b. 1802) 1861 – Xianfeng, Emperor of China (b. 1831) 1888 – Ágoston Trefort, Hungarian jurist and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1817) 1891 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, author, and poet (b. 1834) 1901–present 1903 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1830) 1904 – Kate Chopin, American novelist and poet (b. 1850) 1909 – Henry Radcliffe Crocker, English dermatologist and author (b. 1846) 1914 – Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi, Italian bishop and academic (b. 1859) 1918 – Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist and academic (b. 1868) 1920 – Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (b. 1860) 1922 – Michael Collins, Irish rebel, counter-intelligence and military tactician, and politician; 2nd Irish Minister of Finance (b. 1890) 1926 – Charles William Eliot, American academic (b. 1834) 1933 – Alexandros Kontoulis, Greek general and diplomat (b. 1858) 1940 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (b. 1851) 1940 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1861) 1942 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1880) 1946 – Döme Sztójay, Hungarian general and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1883) 1950 – Kirk Bryan, American geologist and academic (b. 1888) 1951 – Jack Bickell, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884) 1953 – Jim Tabor, American baseball player (b. 1916) 1958 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881) 1960 – Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (b. 1897) 1963 – William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Morris Motors (b. 1877) 1967 – Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American biologist and academic, co-created the birth-control pill (b. 1903) 1970 – Vladimir Propp, Russian philologist and scholar (b. 1895) 1971 – Birger Nerman, Swedish archaeologist (b. 1888) 1974 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, biologist, and author (b. 1908) 1976 – Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (b. 1913) 1976 – Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazilian physician and politician, 21st President of Brazil (b. 1902) 1977 – Sebastian Cabot, English actor (b. 1918) 1977 – Chunseong, Korean monk, philosopher and writer (b. 1891) 1977 – Rex Connor, Australian politician (b. 1907) 1978 – Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan politician, 1st President of Kenya (b. 1894) 1979 – James T. Farrell, American novelist, short-story writer, and poet (b. 1904) 1980 – James Smith McDonnell, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, founded McDonnell Aircraft (b. 1899) 1981 – Vicente Manansala, Filipino painter (b. 1910) 1985 – Charles Gibson (historian), Historian of Mexico and its Indians, President of the American Historical Association (b. 1920) 1986 – Celâl Bayar, Turkish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Turkey (b. 1883) 1987 – Joseph P. Lash, American author and journalist (b. 1909) 1989 – Robert Grondelaers, Belgian cyclist (b. 1933) 1989 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (b. 1942) 1991 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (b. 1924) 1991 – Boris Pugo, Russian soldier and politician, Soviet Minister of Interior (b. 1937) 1994 – Gilles Groulx, Canadian director and screenwriter (b. 1931) 1994 – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (b. 1914) 1995 – Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1919) 1996 – Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (b. 1904) 2000 – Abulfaz Elchibey, 2nd President of Azerbaijan (b. 1938) 2003 – Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater and coach (b. 1914) 2004 – Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player and trainer (b. 1960) 2004 – Angus Bethune, Australian soldier and politician, 33rd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1908) 2004 – Daniel Petrie, Canadian director and producer (b. 1920) 2005 – Luc Ferrari, French-Italian director and composer (b. 1929) 2005 – Ernest Kirkendall, American chemist and metallurgist (b. 1914) 2007 – Grace Paley, American short story writer and poet (b. 1922) 2008 – Gladys Powers, English-Canadian soldier (b. 1899) 2009 – Muriel Duckworth, Canadian pacifist, feminist, and activist (b. 1908) 2009 – Elmer Kelton, American journalist and author (b. 1926) 2010 – Stjepan Bobek, Croatian footballer and manager (b. 1923) 2011 – Nick Ashford, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1942) 2011 – Jack Layton, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1950) 2011 – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (b. 1922) 2012 – Nina Bawden, English author (b. 1925) 2012 – Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, Chinese cardinal (b. 1923) 2012 – Jeffrey Stone, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1926) 2013 – Paul Poberezny, American pilot and businessman, founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (b. 1921) 2013 – Andrea Servi, Italian footballer (b. 1984) 2014 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932) 2014 – Emmanuel Kriaras, Greek lexicographer and philologist (b. 1906) 2014 – Pete Ladygo, American football player and coach (b. 1928) 2014 – Noella Leduc, American baseball player (b. 1933) 2014 – John Sperling, American businessman, founded the University of Phoenix (b. 1921) 2014 – John S. Waugh, American chemist and academic (b. 1929) 2015 – Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (b. 1922) 2015 – Ieng Thirith, Cambodian academic and politician (b. 1932) 2015 – Eric Thompson, English race car driver and book dealer (b. 1919) 2016 – S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (b. 1924) 2016 – Toots Thielemans, Belgian and American jazz musician (b. 1922) 2017 – Michael J. C. Gordon, British Computer scientist (b. 1948) 2018 – Ed King, American musician (b. 1949) 2018 – Krishna Reddy, Indian printmaker, sculptor and teacher (b. 1925) 2021 – Rod Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1941) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Fabrizio Guinefort, the holy greyhound, feast day traditionally. Immaculate Heart of Mary (Roman Catholic calendar of 1960) Queenship of Mary Symphorian and Timotheus August 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Earliest day on which National Heroes' Day (Philippines) can fall, while August 28 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Monday in August. Flag Day (Russia) Madras Day (Chennai and Tamil Nadu, India) End of Filseta feast in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief (International) References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%2027

August 27

Events Pre-1600 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. 1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Kamakura shogunate promulgates the Goseibai Shikimoku, the first Japanese legal code governing the samurai class. 1557 – The Battle of St. Quentin results in Emmanuel Philibert becoming Duke of Savoy. 1593 – Pierre Barrière failed an attempt to assassinate Henry IV of France. 1597 – Jeongyu War: Battle of Chilcheollyang: A Japanese fleet of 500 ships destroys Joseon commander Won Gyun’s fleet of 200 ships at Chilcheollyang. 1600 – Ishida Mitsunari’s Western Army commences the Siege of Fushimi Castle, which is lightly defended by a much smaller Tokugawa garrison led by Torii Mototada. 1601–1900 1689 – The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing Empire (Julian calendar). 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Members of the 1st Maryland Regiment repeatedly charged a numerically superior British force during the Battle of Long Island, allowing General Washington and the rest of the American troops to escape. 1791 – French Revolution: Frederick William II of Prussia and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, issue the Declaration of Pillnitz, declaring the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia for the French monarchy, agitating the French revolutionaries and contributing to the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition. 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic and admits the British and Spanish fleets to seize its port, leading to the Siege of Toulon by French Revolutionary forces. 1798 – Wolfe Tone's United Irish and French forces clash with the British Army in the Battle of Castlebar, part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, resulting in the creation of the French puppet Republic of Connacht. 1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France. 1813 – French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden. 1828 – Brazil and Argentina recognize the sovereignty of Uruguay in the Treaty of Montevideo 1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to U.S. authorities, ending the Black Hawk War. 1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well. 1881 – The Georgia hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, resulting in an estimated 700 deaths. 1883 – Eruption of Krakatoa: Four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa and cause years of climate change. 1893 – The Sea Islands hurricane strikes the United States near Savannah, Georgia, killing between 1,000 and 2,000 people. 1895 – Japanese invasion of Taiwan: Battle of Baguashan: The Empire of Japan decisively defeats a smaller Formosan army at Changhua, crippling the short-lived Republic of Formosa and leading to its surrender two months later. 1896 – Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:02 to 09:40), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar. 1901–present 1908 – The Qing dynasty promulgates the Qinding Xianfa Dagang, the first constitutional document in the history of China, transforming the Qing empire into a constitutional monarchy. 1914 – World War I: Battle of Étreux: A British rearguard action by the Royal Munster Fusiliers during the Great Retreat. 1914 – World War I: Siege of Tsingtao: A Japanese fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sadakichi Kato imposes a blockade along the whole coastline of German Tsingtao, initiating the Siege of Tsingtao. 1915 – Attempted assassination of Bishop Patrick Heffron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona, by Rev. Louis M. Lesches. 1916 – World War I: The Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering the war as one of the Allied nations. 1918 – Mexican Revolution: Battle of Ambos Nogales: U.S. Army forces skirmish against Mexican Carrancistas in the only battle of World War I fought on American soil. 1922 – Greco-Turkish War: The Turkish army takes the Aegean city of Afyonkarahisar from the Kingdom of Greece. 1927 – Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada, asking: "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?" 1928 – The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it. 1933 – The first Afrikaans Bible is introduced during a Bible Festival in Bloemfontein. 1939 – First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft. 1942 – First day of the Sarny Massacre, perpetrated by Germans and Ukrainians. 1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. 1943 – World War II: Aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe razes to the ground the village of Vorizia in Crete. 1955 – The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published in Great Britain. 1956 – The nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid becoming the world's first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale. 1962 – The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA. 1963 – An explosion at the Cane Creek potash mine near Moab, Utah kills 18 miners. 1964 – South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh enters into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to unseat Khánh. 1971 – An attempted coup d'état fails in the African nation of Chad. The Government of Chad accuses Egypt of playing a role in the attempt and breaks off diplomatic relations. 1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group. 1979 – The Troubles: Eighteen British soldiers are killed in an ambush by the Provisional Irish Republican Army near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, in the deadliest attack on British forces during Operation Banner. An IRA bomb also kills British royal family member Lord Mountbatten and three others on his boat at Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland. 1980 – South Korean presidential election: After successfully staging the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, General Chun Doo-hwan, running unopposed, has the National Conference for Unification elect him President of the Fourth Republic of Korea. 1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altıkat is shot and killed in Ottawa. Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claim to be avenging the massacre of 1 million Armenians in the 1915 Armenian genocide. 1985 – Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida. 1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR. 2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing distant. 2003 – The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. 2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash. 2009 – Internal conflict in Myanmar: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region. 2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage. Births Pre-1600 865 – Rhazes, Persian polymath (d. 925) 1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1425) 1471 – George, Duke of Saxony (d. 1539) 1487 – Anna of Brandenburg (d. 1514) 1512 – Friedrich Staphylus, German theologian (d. 1564) 1542 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania and Protestant Bishop of Cammin (d. 1600) 1545 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1592) 1601–1900 1624 – Koxinga, Chinese-Japanese Ming loyalist (d. 1662) 1637 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician, 2nd Proprietor of Maryland (d. 1715) 1665 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (d. 1751) 1669 – Anne Marie d'Orléans, queen of Sardinia (d. 1728) 1677 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian general (d. 1748) 1724 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor, planter, and politician (d. 1781) 1730 – Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher and author (d. 1788) 1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher and academic (d. 1831) 1785 – Agustín Gamarra, Peruvian general and politician, 10th and 14th President of Peru (d. 1841) 1795 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (d. 1885) 1803 – Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (d. 1895) 1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, American publisher and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (d. 1891) 1812 – Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian poet and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1869) 1822 – William Hayden English, American politician, U.S. Representative from Indiana and Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee (d. 1896) 1827 – Charles Lilley, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Queensland (d. 1897) 1845 – Ödön Lechner, Hungarian architect, designed the Museum of Applied Arts and the Church of St Elisabeth (d. 1914) 1845 – Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (d. 1909) 1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian author and poet (d. 1916) 1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1932) 1864 – Hermann Weingärtner, German gymnast (d. 1919) 1865 – James Henry Breasted, American archaeologist and historian (d. 1935) 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, American general and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951) 1868 – Hong Beom-do, Korean general and activist (d. 1943) 1870 – Amado Nervo, Mexican journalist, poet, and diplomat (d. 1919) 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (d. 1945) 1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940) 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American biologist, philanthropist, and activist (d. 1967) 1877 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (d. 1910) 1877 – Ernst Wetter, Swiss lawyer and politician, 48th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1963) 1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (d. 1928) 1884 – Vincent Auriol, French lawyer and politician, President of the French Republic (d. 1966) 1884 – Denis G. Lillie, British biologist, member of the 1910–1913 Terra Nova Expedition (d. 1963) 1886 – Rebecca Clarke, English viola player and composer (d. 1979) 1890 – Man Ray, American-French photographer and painter (d. 1976) 1895 – Andreas Alföldi, Hungarian archaeologist and historian (d. 1981) 1896 – Kenji Miyazawa, Japanese author and poet (d. 1933) 1898 – Gaspard Fauteux, Canadian businessman and politician, 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1963) 1899 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (d. 1966) 1901–present 1904 – Alar Kotli, Estonian architect (d. 1963) 1904 – Norah Lofts, English author (d. 1983) 1904 – John Hay Whitney, American businessman, publisher, and diplomat, founded J.H. Whitney & Company (d. 1982) 1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek soldier (d. 1945) 1906 – Ed Gein, American murderer and body snatcher, The Butcher of Plainfield (d. 1982) 1908 – Don Bradman, Australian cricketer and manager (d. 2001) 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, American commander and politician, 36th President of the United States (d. 1973) 1909 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (d. 1966) 1909 – Charles Pozzi, French race car driver (d. 2001) 1909 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1959) 1911 – Kay Walsh, English actress and dancer (d. 2005) 1912 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican journalist (d. 1980) 1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011) 1916 – Gordon Bashford, English engineer, co-designed the Range Rover (d. 1991) 1916 – Tony Harris, South African cricketer and rugby player (d. 1993) 1916 – Martha Raye, American actress and comedian (d. 1994) 1917 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1986) 1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001) 1919 – Pee Wee Butts, American baseball player and coach (d. 1972) 1919 – Murray Grand, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2007) 1920 – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (d. 2008) 1920 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish soldier and politician (d. 2015) 1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1996) 1921 – Leo Penn, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1998) 1922 – Roelof Kruisinga, Dutch physician and politician, Minister of Defence for The Netherlands (d. 2012) 1923 – Jimmy Greenhalgh, English footballer and manager (d. 2013) 1924 – David Rowbotham, Australian journalist and poet (d. 2010) 1924 – Rosalie E. Wahl, American lawyer and jurist (d. 2013) 1925 – Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (d. 2017) 1925 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer and manager (d. 2011) 1925 – Saiichi Maruya, Japanese author and critic (d. 2012) 1925 – Bill Neilson, Australian politician, 34th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1989) 1925 – Jaswant Singh Neki, Indian poet and academic (d. 2015) 1925 – Carter Stanley, American bluegrass singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1966) 1926 – George Brecht, American-German chemist and composer (d. 2008) 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist and academic (d. 2002) 1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian lawyer and politician, 54th Prime Minister of Hungary 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician, Chief Minister of KwaZulu (d. 2023) 1928 – Joan Kroc, American philanthropist (d. 2003) 1929 – Ira Levin, American novelist, playwright, and songwriter (d. 2007) 1929 – George Scott, Canadian-American wrestler and promoter (d. 2014) 1930 – Gholamreza Takhti, Iranian wrestler and politician (d. 1968) 1931 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian-American guru and poet (d. 2007) 1931 – Joe Cunningham, American baseball player and coach (d. 2021) 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2008) 1932 – Antonia Fraser, English historian and author 1935 – Ernie Broglio, American baseball player (d. 2019) 1935 – Michael Holroyd, English author 1935 – Frank Yablans, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2014) 1936 – Joel Kovel, American scholar and author (d. 2018) 1936 – Lien Chan, Taiwanese politician, Vice President of the Republic of China 1937 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (d. 2007) 1937 – Tommy Sands, American pop singer and actor 1939 – William Least Heat-Moon, American travel writer and historian 1939 – Edward Patten, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2005) 1939 – Nikola Pilić, Yugoslav tennis player and coach 1940 – Fernest Arceneaux, American singer and accordion player (d. 2008) 1940 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (d. 1994) 1941 – Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean singer (d. 2011) 1941 – János Konrád, Hungarian water polo player and swimmer (d. 2014) 1941 – Harrison Page, American actor 1942 – Daryl Dragon, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2019) 1942 – Brian Peckford, Canadian educator and politician, 3rd Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador 1943 – Chuck Girard, American singer-songwriter and pianist 1943 – Bob Kerrey, American lieutenant and politician, Medal of Honor recipient, 35th Governor of Nebraska 1943 – Tuesday Weld, American model and actress 1944 – G. W. Bailey, American actor 1944 – Tim Bogert, American singer and bass player (d. 2021) 1945 – Douglas R. Campbell, Canadian lawyer and judge 1945 – Marianne Sägebrecht, German actress 1946 – Tony Howard, Barbadian cricketer and manager 1947 – Barbara Bach, American actress and model 1947 – Halil Berktay, Turkish historian and academic 1947 – Kirk Francis, American engineer and producer 1947 – Peter Krieg, German director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009) 1947 – John Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and politician 1947 – Gavin Pfuhl, South African cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2002) 1948 – John Mehler, American drummer 1948 – Sgt. Slaughter, American wrestler 1948 – Deborah Swallow, English historian and curator 1948 – Philippe Vallois, French director and screenwriter 1949 – Jeff Cook, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2022) 1949 – Leah Jamieson, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic 1949 – Ann Murray, Irish soprano 1950 – Charles Fleischer, American comedian and actor 1950 – Neil Murray, Scottish bass player and songwriter 1950 – Edmund Weiner, English lexicographer and author 1951 – Buddy Bell, American baseball player and manager 1951 – Mack Brown, American football player and coach 1951 – Randall Garrison, American-Canadian criminologist and politician 1952 – Paul Reubens, American actor and comedian (d. 2023) 1953 – Tom Berryhill, American businessman and politician (d. 2020) 1953 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1953 – Joan Smith, English journalist and author 1953 – Peter Stormare, Swedish actor, director, and playwright 1954 – John Lloyd, English tennis player and sportscaster 1954 – Rajesh Thakker, English physician and academic 1954 – Derek Warwick, English race car driver 1955 – Robert Richardson, American cinematographer 1955 – Diana Scarwid, American actress 1956 – Glen Matlock, English singer-songwriter and bass player 1957 – Jeff Grubb, American game designer and author 1957 – Bernhard Langer, German golfer 1958 – Sergei Krikalev, Russian engineer and astronaut 1958 – Tom Lanoye, Belgian author, poet, and playwright 1958 – Hugh Orde, British police officer 1959 – Daniela Romo, Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess 1959 – Gerhard Berger, Austrian race car driver 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian painter and sculptor 1959 – Denice Denton, American engineer and academic (d. 2006) 1959 – Frode Fjellheim, Norwegian pianist and composer 1959 – András Petőcz, Hungarian author and poet 1959 – Jeanette Winterson, English journalist and novelist 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer, and actress 1961 – Mark Curry, English television host and actor 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and film director 1961 – Steve McDowall, New Zealand rugby player 1961 – Helmut Winklhofer, German footballer 1962 – Adam Oates, Canadian ice hockey player 1964 – Stephan Elliott, Australian actor, director, and screenwriter 1964 – Paul Bernardo, Canadian serial rapist and murderer 1965 – Scott Dibble, American lawyer and politician 1965 – Wayne James, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach 1965 – Ange Postecoglou, Greek-Australian footballer and coach 1966 – Jeroen Duyster, Dutch rower 1966 – René Higuita, Colombian footballer 1966 – Juhan Parts, Estonian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Estonia 1967 – Ogie Alcasid, Filipino singer-songwriter, producer, and actor 1967 – Rob Burnett, American football player and sportscaster 1968 – Eric "Bobo" Correa, American musician 1968 – Daphne Koller, Israeli-American computer scientist and academic 1968 – Michael Long, New Zealand golfer 1968 – Matthew Ridge, New Zealand rugby player and sportscaster 1969 – Mark Ealham, English cricketer 1969 – Cesar Millan, Mexican-American dog trainer, television personality, and author 1969 – Reece Shearsmith, English actor, comedian and writer 1969 – Chandra Wilson, American actress and director 1970 – Andy Bichel, Australian cricketer and coach 1970 – Mark Ilott, English cricketer 1970 – Tony Kanal, British-American bass player. songwriter, and record producer 1970 – Jim Thome, American baseball player and manager 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer (d. 2008) 1971 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer and manager 1971 – Kyung Lah, South Korean-American journalist 1971 – Hisayuki Okawa, Japanese runner 1971 – Aygül Özkan, German lawyer and politician 1972 – Jaap-Derk Buma, Dutch field hockey player 1972 – Denise Lewis, English heptathlete 1972 – Jimmy Pop, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1972 – The Great Khali, Indian professional wrestler 1973 – Danny Coyne, Welsh footballer 1973 – Dietmar Hamann, German footballer and manager 1973 – Burak Kut, Turkish singer-songwriter 1973 – Johan Norberg, Swedish historian and author 1974 – Aaron Downey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1974 – Manny Fernandez, Canadian ice hockey player 1974 – Michael Mason, New Zealand cricketer 1974 – José Vidro, Puerto Rican-American baseball player 1974 – Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer 1975 – Blake Adams, American golfer 1975 – Mase, American rapper, songwriter and pastor 1975 – Jonny Moseley, Puerto Rican-American skier and television host 1975 – Mark Rudan, Australian footballer and manager 1976 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress 1976 – Audrey C. Delsanti, French astronomer and biologist 1976 – Milano Collection A.T., Japanese wrestler 1976 – Carlos Moyá, Spanish-Swiss tennis player 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian race car driver 1977 – Deco, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer 1977 – Justin Miller, American baseball player (d. 2013) 1978 – Demetria McKinney, American actress and singer 1979 – Sarah Neufeld, Canadian violinist 1979 – Aaron Paul, American actor and producer 1979 – Karel Rachůnek, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2011) 1979 – Rusty Smith, American speed skater 1981 – Patrick J. Adams, Canadian actor 1981 – Maxwell Cabelino Andrade, Brazilian footballer 1981 – Alessandro Gamberini, Italian footballer 1981 – Karla Mosley, American actress 1983 – Joanna McGilchrist, English rugby player and physiotherapist 1984 – David Bentley, English footballer 1984 – Amanda Fuller, American actress 1984 – Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer 1985 – Kayla Ewell, American actress 1985 – Kevan Hurst, English footballer 1985 – Nikica Jelavić, Croatian footballer 1985 – Alexandra Nechita, Romanian-American painter and sculptor 1986 – Lana Bastašić, Serbian-Bosnian author and translator 1986 – Sebastian Kurz, Austrian politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria 1986 – Mario, American singer and actor 1987 – Joel Grant, English-Jamaican footballer 1987 – Darren McFadden, American football player 1988 – Alexa PenaVega, American actress and singer 1989 – Romain Amalfitano, French footballer 1989 – Juliana Cannarozzo, American figure skater and actress 1990 – Tori Bowie, American athlete (d. 2023) 1990 – Luuk de Jong, Dutch footballer 1991 – Lee Sung-yeol, South Korean actor and singer 1992 – Blake Jenner, American actor and singer 1992 – Stephen Morris, American football player 1992 – Kim Petras, German singer-songwriter 1992 – Ayame Goriki, Japanese actress and singer 1993 – Sarah Hecken, German figure skater 1993 – Olivier Le Gac, French cyclist 1994 – Ellar Coltrane, American actor 1994 – Breanna Stewart, American basketball player 1995 – Jessie Mei Li, English actress 1995 – Sergey Sirotkin, Russian race car driver 1998 – Kevin Huerter, American basketball player 2001 – Franz Wagner, German basketball player Deaths Pre-1600 542 – Caesarius of Arles, French bishop and saint (b. 470) 749 – Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i, Persian general 827 – Pope Eugene II 923 – Ageltrude, queen of Italy and Holy Roman Empress 1146 – King Eric III of Denmark 1255 – Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (b. 1247) 1312 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1261) 1394 – Emperor Chōkei of Japan (b. 1343) 1450 – Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, English politician (b. 1395) 1521 – Josquin des Prez, Flemish composer (b. 1450) 1545 – Piotr Gamrat, Polish archbishop (b. 1487) 1576 – Titian, Italian painter and educator (b. 1488) 1590 – Pope Sixtus V (b. 1521) 1601–1900 1611 – Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (b. c. 1548) 1635 – Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562) 1664 – Francisco de Zurbarán, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1598) 1748 – James Thomson, Scottish poet and playwright (b. 1700) 1782 – John Laurens, American Revolutionary and abolitionist (b. 1754) 1828 – Eise Eisinga, Dutch astronomer and academic, built the Eisinga Planetarium (b. 1744) 1857 – Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, poet, and critic (b. 1815) 1865 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian judge and politician (b. 1796) 1871 – William Whiting Boardman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1794) 1875 – William Chapman Ralston, American businessman and financier, founded the Bank of California (b. 1826) 1891 – Samuel C. Pomeroy, American businessman and politician (b. 1816) 1901–present 1903 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (b. 1827) 1909 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist and mycologist (b. 1842) 1922 – Reşat Çiğiltepe, Turkish colonel (b. 1879) 1929 – Herman Potočnik, Croatian-Austrian engineer (b. 1892) 1931 – Frank Harris, Irish-American journalist and author (b. 1856) 1931 – Willem Hubert Nolens, Dutch priest and politician (b. 1860) 1931 – Francis Marion Smith, American miner and businessman (b. 1846) 1935 – Childe Hassam, American painter and academic (b. 1859) 1944 – Georg von Boeselager, German soldier (b. 1915) 1945 – Hubert Pál Álgyay, Hungarian engineer, designed the Petőfi Bridge (b. 1894) 1948 – Charles Evans Hughes, American lawyer and politician, 11th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1862) 1950 – Cesare Pavese, Italian author, poet, and critic (b. 1908) 1956 – Pelageya Shajn, Russian astronomer and academic (b. 1894) 1958 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901) 1963 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (b. 1868) 1963 – Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi, Pakistani mathematician and scholar (b. 1888) 1964 – Gracie Allen, American actress and comedian (b. 1895) 1965 – Le Corbusier, Swiss-French architect and urban planner, designed the Philips Pavilion (b. 1887) 1967 – Brian Epstein, English businessman and manager (b. 1934) 1968 – Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (b. 1906) 1969 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (b. 1884) 1969 – Erika Mann, German actress and author (b. 1905) 1971 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher, co-founded Random House (b. 1898) 1971 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and journalist (b. 1906) 1975 – Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1892) 1978 – Gordon Matta-Clark, American painter and illustrator (b. 1943) 1978 – Ieva Simonaitytė, Lithuanian author and poet (b. 1897) 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (b. 1900) 1980 – Douglas Kenney, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1947) 1981 – Valeri Kharlamov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1948) 1990 – Avdy Andresson, Estonian soldier and diplomat (b. 1899) 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1954) 1992 – Bengt Holbek, Danish folklorist (b. 1933) 1994 – Frank Jeske, German footballer (b. 1960) 1996 – Greg Morris, American actor (b. 1933) 1998 – Essie Summers, New Zealand author (b. 1912) 1999 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop and theologian (b. 1909) 2001 – Michael Dertouzos, Greek-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1936) 2001 – Abu Ali Mustafa, Palestinian politician (b. 1938) 2002 – Edwin Louis Cole, American religious leader and author (b. 1922) 2003 – Pierre Poujade, French soldier and politician (b. 1920) 2004 – Willie Crawford, American baseball player (b. 1946) 2005 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek trumpet player and composer (b. 1922) 2005 – Seán Purcell, Irish footballer (b. 1929) 2006 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922) 2006 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (b. 1969) 2007 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (b. 1930) 2009 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and poet (b. 1913) 2010 – Anton Geesink, Dutch martial artist (b. 1934) 2010 – Luna Vachon, Canadian-American wrestler and manager (b. 1962) 2012 – Neville Alexander, South African linguist and activist (b. 1936) 2012 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (b. 1931) 2012 – Art Heyman, American basketball player (b. 1941) 2012 – Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (b. 1926) 2012 – Richard Kingsland, Australian captain and pilot (b. 1916) 2012 – Geliy Korzhev, Russian painter (b. 1925) 2013 – Chen Liting, Chinese director and playwright (b. 1910) 2013 – Bill Peach, Australian journalist (b. 1935) 2013 – Dave Thomas, Welsh golfer and architect (b. 1934) 2014 – Jacques Friedel, French physicist and academic (b. 1921) 2014 – Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian poet, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1920) 2014 – Benno Pludra, German author (b. 1925) 2015 – Kazi Zafar Ahmed, Bangladeshi politician, 8th Prime Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1939) 2015 – Pascal Chaumeil, French director and screenwriter (b. 1961) 2015 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (b. 1957) 2016 – Cookie, Australian Major Mitchell's cockatoo, oldest recorded parrot (b. 1933) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Baculus of Sorrento Caesarius of Arles Decuman Gebhard of Constance Euthalia John of Pavia Lycerius (or: Glycerius, Lizier) Máel Ruba (or Rufus) (Scotland) Margaret the Barefooted Monica of Hippo, mother of Augustine of Hippo Narnus Our Lady of La Vang Phanourios of Rhodes Rufus and Carpophorus Syagrius of Autun Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle (Episcopal Church) August 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Independence Day (Republic of Moldova), celebrates the independence of Moldova from the USSR in 1991. Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas, United States) References External links Days of the year August

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August 6

Events Pre-1600 1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. 1601–1900 1661 – The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix. 1787 – Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1806 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares the moribund empire to be dissolved, although he retains power in the Austrian Empire. 1819 – Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States. 1824 – Peruvian War of Independence: Patriot forces led by Simón Bolívar defeat the Spanish Royalist army in the Battle of Junín. 1825 – The Bolivian Declaration of Independence is proclaimed. 1861 – Britain imposes the Lagos Treaty of Cession to suppress slavery in what is now Nigeria. 1862 – American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive German victory. 1890 – At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair. 1901–present 1901 – Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation. 1914 – World War I: U-boat campaign: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea. 1914 – World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia. 1915 – World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay. 1917 – World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins. 1926 – Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel. 1940 – Estonia is annexed by the Soviet Union. 1942 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress. 1944 – The Warsaw Uprising occurs on August 1. It is brutally suppressed and all able-bodied men in Kraków are detained afterwards to prevent a similar uprising, the Kraków Uprising, that was planned but never carried out. 1945 – World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning. 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series. 1958 – Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, outlawing the Communist Party of Chile and banning 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed in Chile. 1960 – Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation. 1962 – Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom. 1965 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. 1986 – A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 1990 – Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. 1991 – Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the Internet. 1991 – Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives. 1996 – NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms. 1997 – Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam, killing 229 of the 254 people on board. 2001 – Erwadi fire incident: Twenty-eight mentally ill persons tied to a chain are burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu. 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. 2010 – Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people. 2011 – War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, seven Afghan soldiers, and one Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan. 2012 – NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars. 2015 – A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the Saudi city of Abha. Births Pre-1600 1180 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239) 1504 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop (d. 1575) 1572 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Druze emir (d. 1635) 1601–1900 1605 – Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer (d. 1675) 1609 – Richard Bennett, English-American politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1675) 1619 – Barbara Strozzi, Italian composer and singer-songwriter (d. 1677) 1622 – Tjerk Hiddes de Vries, Dutch admiral (d. 1666) 1638 – Nicolas Malebranche, French priest and philosopher (d. 1715) 1644 – Louise de La Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710) 1651 – François Fénelon, French archbishop and poet (d. 1715) 1656 – Claude de Forbin, French general (d. 1733) 1666 – Maria Sophia of Neuburg (d. 1699) 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748) 1697 – Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745) 1715 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (d. 1747) 1765 – Petros Mavromichalis, Greek general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1848) 1766 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist and physicist (d. 1828) 1768 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general and politician (d. 1813) 1775 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish lawyer and politician, Lord Mayor of Dublin (d. 1847) 1809 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892) 1826 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (d. 1915) 1835 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (d. 1900) 1844 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900) 1844 – James Henry Greathead, South African-English engineer (d. 1896) 1848 – Susie Taylor, American writer and first black Army nurse (d. 1912) 1846 – Anna Haining Bates, Canadian-American giant (d. 1888) 1868 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (d. 1955) 1874 – Charles Fort, American author (d. 1932) 1877 – Wallace H. White Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1952) 1880 – Hans Moser, Austrian actor and singer (d. 1964) 1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961) 1881 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955) 1881 – Louella Parsons, American journalist (d. 1972) 1883 – Constance Georgina Adams, South African botanist (d. 1968) 1883 – Scott Nearing, American economist and educator (d. 1983) 1886 – Edward Ballantine, American composer and academic (d. 1971) 1887 – Dudley Benjafield, English racing driver (d. 1957) 1889 – George Kenney, Canadian-American general (d. 1977) 1889 – John Middleton Murry, English poet and author (d. 1957) 1891 – William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, English field marshal and politician, 13th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1970) 1895 – Frank Nicklin, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Queensland (d. 1978) 1900 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, co-founded Texas Instruments (d. 2003) 1901–present 1901 – Dutch Schultz, American gangster (d. 1935) 1903 – Virginia Foster Durr, American civil rights activist (d. 1999) 1904 – Jean Dessès, Greek-Egyptian fashion designer (d. 1970) 1904 – Henry Iba, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993) 1906 – Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (d. 1984) 1908 – Maria Ludwika Bernhard, Polish classical archaeologist and a member of WWII Polish resistance (d. 1998) 1908 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis player and commander (d. 1997) 1908 – Lajos Vajda, Hungarian painter and illustrator (d. 1941) 1909 – Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle (d. 2013) 1910 – Adoniran Barbosa, Brazilian musician, singer, composer, humorist, and actor (d. 1982) 1910 – Charles Crichton, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999) 1911 – Lucille Ball, American actress, television producer and businesswoman (d. 1989) 1911 – Norman Gordon, South African cricketer (d. 2014) 1911 – Constance Heaven, English author and actress (d. 1995) 1912 – Richard C. Miller, American photographer (d. 2010) 1914 – Gordon Freeth, Australian lawyer and politician, 24th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2001) 1916 – Richard Hofstadter, American historian and academic (d. 1970) 1916 – Dom Mintoff, Maltese journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 2012) 1917 – Barbara Cooney, American author and illustrator (d. 2000) 1917 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997) 1918 – Norman Granz, American-Swiss record producer and manager (d. 2001) 1919 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (d. 2011) 1920 – John Graves, American author (d. 2013) 1920 – Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988) 1922 – Freddie Laker, English businessman, founded Laker Airways (d. 2006) 1922 – Dan Walker, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Illinois (d. 2015) 1923 – Jess Collins, American painter (d. 2004) 1923 – Paul Hellyer, Canadian engineer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Defence (d. 2021) 1924 – Samuel Bowers, American activist, co-founded the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 2006) 1926 – Elisabeth Beresford, English journalist and author (d. 2010) 1926 – Frank Finlay, English actor (d. 2016) 1926 – Clem Labine, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007) 1926 – János Rózsás, Hungarian author (d. 2012) 1926 – Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (d. 1999) 1928 – Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005) 1928 – Andy Warhol, American painter, photographer and film director (d. 1987) 1929 – Mike Elliott, Jamaican saxophonist 1929 – Roch La Salle, Canadian politician, 42nd Canadian Minister of Public Works (d. 2007) 1930 – Abbey Lincoln, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2010) 1931 – Chalmers Johnson, American scholar and author (d. 2010) 1932 – Michael Deeley, English screenwriter and producer 1932 – Howard Hodgkin, English painter (d. 2017) 1932 – Charles Wood, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2020) 1933 – A. G. Kripal Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 1987) 1934 – Piers Anthony, English-American soldier and author 1934 – Chris Bonington, English mountaineer and author 1934 – Billy Boston, Welsh rugby player and soldier 1935 – Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (d. 2012) 1935 – Octavio Getino, Spanish-Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1937 – Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 2000) 1937 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (d. 2014) 1937 – Barbara Windsor, English actress (d. 2020) 1938 – Paul Bartel, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000) 1938 – Peter Bonerz, American actor and director 1938 – Bert Yancey, American golfer (d. 1994) 1940 – Mukhu Aliyev, Russian philologist and politician, 2nd President of Dagestan 1940 – Egil Kapstad, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 2017) 1940 – Louise Sorel, American actress 1941 – Ray Culp, American baseball player 1942 – Byard Lancaster, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 2012) 1943 – Jon Postel, American computer scientist and academic (d. 1998) 1944 – Inday Badiday, Filipino journalist and actress (d. 2003) 1944 – Michael Mingos, English chemist and academic 1944 – Martin Wharton, English bishop 1945 – Ron Jones, English director and production manager (d. 1993) 1946 – Allan Holdsworth, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2017) 1947 – Radhia Cousot, French computer scientist and academic (d. 2014) 1949 – Dino Bravo, Italian-Canadian wrestler (d. 1993) 1950 – Dorian Harewood, American actor 1951 – Catherine Hicks, American actress 1951 – Daryl Somers, Australian television host and singer 1952 – Pat MacDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1952 – David McLetchie, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2013) 1952 – Ton Scherpenzeel, Dutch keyboard player, songwriter, and producer 1954 – Mark Hughes, English-Australian rugby league player 1956 – Bill Emmott, English journalist and author 1957 – Bob Horner, American baseball player 1957 – Jim McGreevey, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New Jersey 1958 – Randy DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and bass player 1959 – Rajendra Singh, Indian environmentalist 1959 – Joyce Sims, American singer (d. 2022) 1960 – Dale Ellis, American basketball player 1961 – Mary Ann Sieghart, English journalist and radio host 1962 – Michelle Yeoh, Malaysian-Hong Kong actress and producer 1963 – Charles Ingram, English soldier, author, and game show contestant 1963 – Kevin Mitnick, American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker (d. 2023) 1964 – Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, Nigerian journalist, activist, social media expert, and pharmacist 1965 – Stéphane Peterhansel, French racing driver 1965 – Yuki Kajiura, Japanese pianist and composer 1965 – David Robinson, American basketball player and lieutenant 1965 – Vince Wells, English cricketer 1967 – Lorna Fitzsimons, English businesswoman and politician 1967 – Mike Greenberg, American journalist and sportscaster 1967 – Julie Snyder, Canadian talk show host and producer 1968 – Jack de Gier, Dutch footballer 1969 – Simon Doull, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster 1969 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003) 1970 – M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter 1972 – Geri Halliwell, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress 1972 – Ray Lucas, American football player and sportscaster 1972 – Jason O'Mara, Irish actor 1973 – Vera Farmiga, American actress 1973 – Stuart O'Grady, Australian cyclist 1974 – Ever Carradine, American actress 1974 – Bobby Petta, Dutch footballer 1974 – Luis Vizcaíno, Dominican baseball player 1974 – Alvin Williams, American basketball player and coach 1975 – Jason Crump, English-Australian motorcycle racer 1975 – Renate Götschl, Austrian skier 1975 – Víctor Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player 1976 – Soleil Moon Frye, American actress 1976 – Melissa George, Australian-American actress 1977 – Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer 1977 – Jimmy Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager 1977 – Luciano Zavagno, Argentinian footballer 1978 – Marvel Smith, American football player 1979 – Francesco Bellotti, Italian cyclist 1979 – Jaime Correa, Mexican footballer 1979 – Travis Reed, American basketball player 1981 – Leslie Odom Jr., American actor and singer 1981 – Diána Póth, Hungarian figure skater 1983 – Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer 1984 – Vedad Ibišević, Bosnian footballer 1984 – Maja Ognjenović, Serbian volleyball player 1984 – Jesse Ryder, New Zealand cricketer 1985 – Mickaël Delage, French cyclist 1985 – Bafétimbi Gomis, French footballer 1985 – Garrett Weber-Gale, American swimmer 1986 – Raphael Pyrasch, German rugby player 1987 – Leanne Crichton, Scottish footballer 1990 – JonBenét Ramsey, American child beauty queen and victim of prominent unsolved murder case (d. 1996) 1991 – Wilmer Flores, Venezuelan baseball player 1991 – Jiao Liuyang, Chinese swimmer 1995 – Rebecca Peterson, Swedish tennis player 1999 – Rebeka Masarova, Spanish-Swiss tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 258 – Pope Sixtus II 523 – Pope Hormisdas (b. 450) 750 – Marwan II, Umayyad general and caliph (b. 688) 1027 – Richard III, Duke of Normandy 1162 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (b. 1113) 1195 – Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria (b. 1129) 1221 – Saint Dominic, Spanish priest, founded the Dominican Order (b. 1170) 1272 – Stephen V of Hungary (b. 1239) 1384 – Francesco I of Lesbos 1412 – Margherita of Durazzo, Queen consort of Charles III of Naples (b. 1347) 1414 – Ladislaus of Naples (b. 1377) 1458 – Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378) 1530 – Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (b. 1458) 1553 – Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478) 1588 – Josias I, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg (1578-1588) (b. 1554) 1601–1900 1628 – Johannes Junius, German lawyer and politician (b. 1573) 1637 – Ben Jonson, English poet and playwright (b. 1572) 1645 – Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, English merchant and politician (b. 1575) 1657 – Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian soldier and politician, 1st Hetman of Zaporizhian Host (b. 1595) 1660 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1599) 1666 – Tjerk Hiddes de Vries, Frisian naval hero and commander (b. 1622) 1679 – John Snell, Scottish-English soldier and philanthropist, founded the Snell Exhibition (b. 1629) 1694 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1612) 1695 – François de Harlay de Champvallon, French archbishop (b. 1625) 1753 – Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Estonian-Russian physicist and academic (b. 1711) 1757 – Ádám Mányoki, Hungarian painter (b. 1673) 1794 – Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, English lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714) 1815 – James A. Bayard, American lawyer and politician (b. 1767) 1828 – Konstantin von Benckendorff, Russian general and diplomat (b. 1785) 1850 – Edward Walsh, Irish poet (b. 1805) 1866 – John Mason Neale, English priest, scholar, and hymnwriter (b. 1818) 1881 – James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (b. 1821) 1893 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1811) 1901–present 1904 – Eduard Hanslick, Austrian author and critic (b. 1825) 1906 – George Waterhouse, English-New Zealand politician, 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1824) 1915 – Jennie de la Montagnie Lozier, American physician (b. 1841) 1920 – Stefan Bastyr, Polish pilot and author (b. 1890) 1925 – Surendranath Banerjee, Indian academic and politician (b. 1848) 1925 – Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (b. 1853) 1931 – Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (b. 1903) 1945 – Richard Bong, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1920) 1945 – Hiram Johnson, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of California (b. 1866) 1946 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and coach (b. 1903) 1952 – Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (b. 1905) 1959 – Preston Sturges, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (b. 1898) 1964 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (b. 1893) 1969 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903) 1970 – Nikos Tsiforos, Greek director and screenwriter (b. 1912) 1973 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (b. 1901) 1976 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian-American cellist and educator (b. 1903) 1978 – Pope Paul VI (b. 1897) 1978 – Edward Durell Stone, American architect, designed Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center (b. 1902) 1979 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911) 1983 – Klaus Nomi, German singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1944) 1985 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese politician, 2nd President of Guyana (b. 1923) 1986 – Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1904) 1987 – Ira C. Eaker, American general (b. 1896) 1990 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (b. 1912) 1991 – Shapour Bakhtiar, Iranian soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1915) 1991 – Roland Michener, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Governor General of Canada (b. 1900) 1991 – Harry Reasoner, American journalist, co-created 60 Minutes (b. 1923) 1992 – Leszek Błażyński, Polish boxer (b. 1949) 1993 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (b. 1916) 1994 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter and politician (b. 1928) 1997 – Shin Ki-ha, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1941) 1998 – André Weil, French-American mathematician and academic (b. 1906) 2001 – Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist and poet (b. 1912) 2001 – Adhar Kumar Chatterji, Indian Naval officer (b. 1914) 2001 – Wilhelm Mohnke, German general (b. 1911) 2001 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (b. 1928) 2001 – Dorothy Tutin, English actress (b. 1930) 2002 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch physicist, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1930) 2003 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (b. 1915) 2004 – Rick James, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948) 2004 – Donald Justice, American poet and academic (b. 1925) 2005 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1946) 2005 – Creme Puff, tabby domestic cat, oldest recorded cat (b. 1967) 2007 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (b. 1969) 2008 – Angelos Kitsos, Greek lawyer and author (b. 1934) 2009 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (b. 1909) 2009 – Willy DeVille, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950) 2009 – John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1950) 2011 – Fe del Mundo, Filipino pediatrician and educator (b. 1911) 2012 – Richard Cragun, American-Brazilian ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1944) 2012 – Marvin Hamlisch, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1944) 2012 – Robert Hughes, Australian-American author and critic (b. 1938) 2012 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (b. 1913) 2012 – Mark O'Donnell, American playwright (b. 1954) 2012 – Ruggiero Ricci, American violinist and educator (b. 1918) 2012 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (b. 1953) 2013 – Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator (b. 1931) 2013 – Mava Lee Thomas, American baseball player (b. 1929) 2013 – Jerry Wolman, American businessman (b. 1927) 2014 – Ralph Bryans, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1941) 2014 – Ananda W.P. Guruge, Sri Lankan scholar and diplomat (b. 1928) 2014 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (b. 1927) 2015 – Ray Hill, American football player (b. 1975) 2015 – Orna Porat, German-Israeli actress (b. 1924) 2017 – Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter (b. 1938) 2017 – Darren Daulton, American baseball player (b. 1962) 2018 – Joël Robuchon, French Chef (b. 1945) 2018 – Margaret Heckler, American politician (b. 1931) 2018 – Anya Krugovoy Silver, American poet (b. 1968) Holidays and observances Christian holidays and observances Transfiguration of Jesus Anna Maria Rubatto Hormisdas Justus and Pastor August 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day. (United Arab Emirates) Independence Day (Bolivia), celebrates the independence of Bolivia from Spain in 1825. Independence Day (Jamaica), celebrates the independence of Jamaica from the United Kingdom in 1962. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony (Hiroshima, Japan) Russian Railway Troops Day (Russia) References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto%20racing

Auto racing

Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organised, with the first recorded as early as 1867. Many of the earliest events were effectively reliability trials, aimed at proving these new machines were a practical mode of transport, but soon became an important way for automobile makers to demonstrate their machines. By the 1930s, specialist racing cars had developed. There are now numerous different categories, each with different rules and regulations. History The first prearranged match race of two self-powered road vehicles over a prescribed route occurred at 4:30 A.M. on August 30, 1867, between Ashton-under-Lyne and Old Trafford, England, a distance of . It was won by the carriage of Isaac Watt Boulton. Internal combustion auto racing events began soon after the construction of the first successful gasoline-fueled automobiles. The first organized contest was on April 28, 1887, by the chief editor of Paris publication , Monsieur Fossier. It ran from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne. On July 22, 1894, the Parisian magazine organized what is considered to be the world's first motoring competition, from Paris to Rouen. One hundred and two competitors paid a 10-franc entrance fee. The first American automobile race is generally held to be the Thanksgiving Day Chicago Times-Herald race of November 28, 1895. Press coverage of the event first aroused significant American interest in the automobile. The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily, Italy near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. The oldest surviving sports car racing event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, begun in 1923. It is run by the Automobile Club of the West (ACO). Team Ferrari won the race in 2023. With auto construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club ACF staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city, in France or elsewhere in Europe. Aspendale Racecourse, in Australia, was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, opening in January 1906. The pear-shaped track was close to a mile in length, with slightly banked curves and a gravel surface of crushed cement. Brooklands, in Surrey, England, was the first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing venue, opening in June 1907. It featured a concrete track with high-speed banked corners. One of the oldest existing purpose-built automobile racing circuits in the United States, still in use, is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It is the largest capacity sports venue of any variety worldwide, with a top capacity of some 257,000+ seated spectators. NASCAR was founded by Bill France Sr. on February 21, 1948, with the help of several other drivers of the time. The first NASCAR "Strictly Stock" race ever was held on June 19, 1949, at Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.. From 1962, sports cars temporarily took a back seat to GT cars, with the (FIA) replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. From 1962 through 2003, NASCAR's premier series was called the Winston Cup Series, sponsored by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette brand Winston. The changes that resulted from RJR's involvement, as well as the reduction of the schedule from 56 to 34 races a year, established 1972 as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era". The IMSA GT Series evolved into the American Le Mans Series, which ran its first season in 1998. The European races eventually became the closely related European Le Mans Series, both of which mix prototypes and GTs. (TC) is a popular touring car racing series in Argentina, and one of the oldest car racing series still active in the world. The first TC competition took place in 1931 with 12 races, each in a different province. Future Formula One star Juan Manuel Fangio (Chevrolet) won the 1940 and 1941 editions of the TC. It was during this time that the series' Chevrolet-Ford rivalry began, with Ford acquiring most of its historical victories. Over the last few years, auto racing has seen a transformative shift, echoing past pivots. The industry, much like the cars it champions, has had to navigate through the hairpin turns of a global pandemic and a persistent chip shortage, each threatening to derail production schedules. At the same time, a new course is being charted towards an electric future, a dramatic change in direction that's challenging the old guard of gasoline engines. There is also a growing number of events for electric racing cars, such as the Formula E,the Eco Grand Prix or the Electric GT Championship. Categories Open-wheel racing In single-seater (open-wheel) racing, the wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front and rear to produce downforce and enhance adhesion to the track. The two most popular varieties of open-wheel road racing are Formula One and the IndyCar Series. In Europe and Asia, open-wheeled racing is commonly referred to as 'Formula', with appropriate hierarchical suffixes. In North America, the 'Formula' terminology is not followed (with the exception of F1). The sport is usually arranged to follow an international format (such as F1), a regional format (such as the Formula 3 Euro Series), and/or a domestic, or country-specific, format (such as the German Formula 3 championship, or the British Formula Ford). F1 is a worldwide series that runs only street circuit and race tracks. These cars are heavily based on technology and their aerodynamics. The speed record was set in 2005 by Juan Pablo Montoya hitting 373 km/h (232 mph). Some of the most prominent races are the Monaco Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix, and the British Grand Prix. The season ends with the crowning of the World Championship for drivers and constructors. In the United States, the most popular series is the IndyCar Series. The cars have traditionally been similar to, though less technologically sophisticated than, F1 cars, with more restrictions on technology aimed at controlling costs. While these cars are not as technologically advanced, they are faster, mainly because they compete on oval race tracks, being able to average a lap at 388 km/h (241 mph). The series' biggest race is the Indianapolis 500, which is commonly referred to as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" due to being the longest continuously run race and having the largest crowd for a single-day sporting event (350,000+). The other major international single-seater racing series is Formula 2 (formerly known as Formula 3000 and GP2 Series). Regional series include Super Formula and Formula V6 Asia (specifically in Asia), Formula Renault 3.5 (also known as the World Series by Renault, succession series of World Series by Nissan), Formula Three, Formula Palmer Audi and Formula Atlantic. In 2009, the FIA Formula Two Championship brought about the revival of the F2 series. Domestic, or country-specific, series include Formula Three and Formula Renault, with the leading introductory series being Formula Ford. Single-seater racing is not limited merely to professional teams and drivers. There exist many amateur racing clubs. In the UK, the major club series are the Monoposto Racing Club, BRSCC F3 (Formerly ClubF3, formerly ARP F3), Formula Vee and Club Formula Ford. Each series caters to a section of the market, with some primarily providing low-cost racing, while others aim for an authentic experience using the same regulations as the professional series (BRSCC F3). There are other categories of single-seater racing, including kart racing, which employs a small, low-cost machine on small tracks. Many of the current top drivers began their careers in karts. Formula Ford represents the most popular first open-wheel category for up-and-coming drivers stepping up from karts. The series is still the preferred option, as it has introduced an aero package and slicks, allowing the junior drivers to gain experience in a race car with dynamics closer to F1. The Star Mazda Series is another entry-level series. Students at colleges and universities can also take part in single-seater racing through the Formula SAE competition, which involves designing and building a single-seater car in a multidisciplinary team and racing it at the competition. This also develops other soft skills, such as teamwork, while promoting motorsport and engineering. The world's first all-female Formula racing team was created in 2006. The group was an assemblage of drivers from different racing disciplines and formed for an MTV reality pilot, which was shot at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In December 2005, the FIA gave approval to Superleague Formula racing, which debuted in 2008, whereby the racing teams are owned and run by prominent sports clubs such as A.C. Milan and Liverpool F.C. After 25 years away from the sport, former Formula 2 champion Jonathan Palmer reopened the F2 category again; most drivers have graduated from the Formula Palmer Audi series. The category is officially registered as the FIA Formula Two championship. Most rounds have two races and are support races to the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Touring car racing Touring car racing is a style of road racing that is run with production-derived four-seat race cars. The lesser use of aerodynamics means following cars have a much easier time passing than in open-wheel racing. It often features full-contact racing with subtle bumping and nudging due to the small speed differentials and large grids. The major touring car championships conducted worldwide are the Supercars Championship (Australia), British Touring Car Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), World Touring Car Championship and the World Touring Car Cup. The European Touring Car Cup is a one-day event open to Super 2000 specification touring cars from Europe's many national championships. The Sports Car Club of America's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT championships are dominant in North America. America's historic Trans-Am Series is undergoing a period of transition, but is still the longest-running road racing series in the U.S. The National Auto Sport Association also provides a venue for amateurs to compete in home-built factory-derived vehicles on various local circuits. Sports car racing In sports car racing, production-derived versions of two-seat sports cars, also known as grand tourers (GTs), and purpose-built sports prototype cars compete within their respective classes on closed circuits. The premier championship series of sports car racing is the FIA World Endurance Championship. The main series for GT car racing is the GT World Challenge Europe, divided into two separate championships: the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. This series has formed after the folding of the various FIA GT championships. Other major GT championships include the GT World Challenge America, GT World Challenge Asia, Super GT, and the International GT Open. There are minor regional and national GT series using mainly GT4 and GT3 cars featuring both amateur and professional drivers. Sports prototypes, unlike GT cars, do not rely on road-legal cars as a base. They are closed-wheel and often closed-cockpit purpose-built race cars intended mainly for endurance racing. They have much lower weight and more downforce compared to GT cars, making them much faster. They are raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans (held annually since 1923) and in the (European) Le Mans series, Asian Le Mans Series and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. These cars are referred to as LMP (Le Mans prototype) cars with LMP1 being run mainly by manufacturers and the slightly less powerful LMP2 cars run by privateer teams. All three Le Mans Series run GT cars in addition to Le Mans Prototypes; these cars have different restrictions than the FIA GT cars. Another prototype and GT racing championship exists in the United States; the Grand-Am, which began in 2000, sanctions its own endurance series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, which consists of slower and lower-cost race cars compared to LMP and FIA GT cars. The Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series announced a merger between the two series forming the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship starting in 2014. These races are often conducted over long distances, at least , and cars are driven by teams of two or more drivers, switching every few hours. Due to the performance difference between production-based sports cars and purpose-built sports prototypes, one race usually involves several racing classes, each fighting for its own championship. Famous sports car races include the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 24 Hours of Spa-Franchorchamps, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. There is also the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring on the infamous Nordschleife track and the Dubai 24 Hour, which is aimed at GT3 and below cars with a mixture of professional and pro-am drivers. Production-car racing Production-car racing, otherwise known as "showroom stock" in the US, is an economical and rules-restricted version of touring-car racing, mainly used to restrict costs. Numerous production racing categories are based on particular makes of cars. Most series, with a few exceptions, follow the Group N regulation. There are several different series that are run all over the world, most notably, Japan's Super Taikyu and IMSA's Firehawk Series, which ran in the 1980s and 1990s all over the United States. Stock car racing In North America, stock car racing is the most popular form of auto racing. Primarily raced on oval tracks, stock cars vaguely resemble production cars, but are in fact purpose-built racing machines that are built to tight specifications and, together with touring cars, also called Silhouette racing cars. The largest stock car racing governing body is NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). NASCAR's premier series is the NASCAR Cup Series, its most famous races being the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Brickyard 400. NASCAR also runs several feeder series, including the Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (a pickup truck racing series). The series conduct races across the entire continental United States. The NASCAR Pinty's Series conducts races across Canada and the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series conducts races across Mexico. NASCAR also governs several smaller regional series, such as the Whelen Modified Tour. Modified cars are best described as open-wheel cars. Modified cars have no parts related to the stock vehicle for which they are named after. A number of modified cars display a "manufacturer's" logo and "vehicle name", yet use components produced by another automobile manufacturer. There are also other stock car governing bodies, most notably the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). In the UK, British Stock car racing is also referred to as "Short Circuit Racing". UK Stock car racing started in the 1950s and grew rapidly through the 1960s and 1970s. Events take place on shale or tarmac tracks – usually around 1/4 mile long. There are around 35 tracks in the UK and upwards of 7000 active drivers. The sport is split into three basic divisions – distinguished by the rules regarding car contact during racing. The most famous championship are the BriSCA F1 Stock Cars. Full-contact formulas include Bangers, Bombers, and Rookie Bangers – and racing features Demolition Derbies, Figure of Eight, and Oval Racing. Semi Contact Formulas include BriSCA F1, F2, and Superstox – where bumpers are used tactically. Non-contact formulas include National Hot Rods, Stock Rods, and Lightning Rods. One-make racing One-make, or single marque, championships often employ production-based cars from a single manufacturer or even a single model from a manufacturer's range. There are numerous notable one-make formulae from various countries and regions, some of which – such as the Porsche Supercup and, previously, IROC – have fostered many distinct national championships. Single marque series are often found at the club level, to which the production-based cars, limited modifications, and close parity in performance are very well suited. Some of the better-known single-make series are the Mini 7 Championship (Europe's longest-running one-make championship), the Radical European Masters, John Cooper Mini Challenge, Clio Cup, Ginettas, Caterhams, BMWs, and MX5s. There are also single-chassis single seater formulae, such as Formula Renault and Formula BMW, usually as "feeder" series for "senior" race formula (in the fashion of farm teams). Drag racing In drag racing, the objective is to complete a given straight-line distance, from a standing start, ahead of a vehicle in a parallel lane. This distance is traditionally , though has become popular since the 1990s. The vehicles may or may not be given the signal to start at the same time, depending on the class of racing. Vehicles range from the everyday car to the purpose-built dragster. Speeds and elapsed time differ from class to class. Average street cars cover the mile in 12 to 16 seconds, whereas a top fuel dragster takes 4.5 seconds or less, reaching speeds of up to . Drag racing was organized as a sport by Wally Parks in the early 1950s through the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The NHRA was formed to discourage street racing. When launching, a top fuel dragster will accelerate at 3.4 g (33 m/s2), and when braking parachutes are deployed the deceleration is 4 g (39 m/s2), more than the Space Shuttle experiences. A top fuel car can be heard over away and can generate a reading from 1.5 to 3.9 on the Richter scale. Drag racing is two cars head-to-head, the winner proceeding to the next round. Professional classes are all first to the finish line wins. Sportsman racing is handicapped (slower car getting a head start) using an index (a lowest e.t. allowed), and cars running under (quicker than) their index "break out" and lose. The slowest cars, bracket racers, are also handicapped, but rather than an index, they use a dial-in. Off-road racing In off-road racing, various classes of specially modified vehicles, including cars, compete in races through off-road environments. In North America these races often take place in the desert, such as the famous Baja 1000. Another format for off-road racing happens on closed-course short course tracks such as Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. In the 1980s and 1990s, the short course was extended to racing inside stadiums in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group; this format was revived by Robby Gordon in 2013 with his Stadium Super Trucks series. In Europe, "offroad" refers to events such as autocross or rallycross, while desert races and rally-raids such as the Paris-Dakar, Master Rallye or European "bajas" are called "cross-country rallies". Kart racing The modern kart was invented by Art Ingels, a fabricator at the Indianapolis-car manufacturer Kurtis-Kraft, in Southern California in 1956. Ingels took a small chainsaw engine and mounted it to a simple tube-frame chassis weighing less than 100 lb. Ingels, and everyone else who drove the kart, were startled at its performance capabilities. The sport soon blossomed in Southern California, and quickly spread around the world. Although often seen as the entry point for serious racers into the sport, kart racing, or karting, can be an economical way for amateurs to try racing and is also a fully-fledged international sport in its own right. A large proportion of professional racing drivers began in karts, often from a very young age, such as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Several former motorcycle champions have also taken up the sport, notably Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed in a racing accident and now races a hand-controlled kart. As one of the cheapest ways to race, karting is seeing its popularity grow worldwide. Despite their diminutive size, karts of the most powerful class, superkart (assuming a weight of 205 kg (452 lb), and a power output of 100 hp (75 kW)), can have a power-to-weight ratio (including the driver) of 490 hp/tonne (0.22 hp/lb). Without the driver, this figure doubles, to almost 980 hp/tonne (0.44 hp/lb). Historical racing Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport uses vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road racing to rallying. Because it is based on a particular era it is more hobbyist-oriented, reducing corporate sponsorship. The only modern equipment used is related to safety and timing. A historical event can be of a number of different motorsport disciplines. Some of the most famous events include the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival in Britain and Monterey Historic in the United States. Championships range from "grass root" Austin Seven racing to the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship for classic Formula One chassis. While there are several professional teams and drivers in historical racing, this branch of auto sport tends to be contested by wealthy car owners and is thus more amateur and less competitive in its approach. Other categories Use of flags In many types of auto races, particularly those held on closed courses, flags are displayed to indicate the general status of the track and to communicate instructions to competitors. While individual series have different rules, and the flags have changed from the first years (e.g., red used to start a race), these are generally accepted. Accidents The worst accident in racing history is the 1955 Le Mans disaster, where more than 80 people died, including the French driver Pierre Levegh. Racing-car setup In auto racing, the racing setup or car setup is the set of adjustments made to the vehicle to optimize its behaviour (performance, handling, reliability, etc.). Adjustments can occur in suspensions, brakes, transmissions, engines, tires, and many others. Aerodynamics Aerodynamics and airflow play big roles in the setup of a race car. Aerodynamic downforce improves the race car's handling by lowering the center of gravity and distributing the weight of the car equally on each tire. Once this is achieved, fuel consumption decreases and the forces against the car are significantly lowered. Many aerodynamic experiments are conducted in wind tunnels, to simulate real-life situations while measuring the various drag forces on the car. These "Rolling roads" produce many wind situations and direct air flow at certain speeds and angles. When a diffuser is installed under the car, the amount of drag force is significantly lowered, and the overall aerodynamics of the vehicle is positively adjusted. Wings and canards channel the airflow in the most efficient way to get the least amount of drag from the car. It is experimentally proven that downforce is gained and the vehicle's handling is considerably changed when aerodynamic wings on the front and rear of the vehicle are installed. Suspension Suspension plays a huge part in giving the race car the ability to be driven optimally. Shocks are mounted vertically or horizontally to prevent the body from rolling in the corners. The suspension is important because it makes the car stable and easier to control and keeps the tires on the road when driving on uneven terrain. It works in three different ways including vertically, longitudinally, and laterally to control movement when racing on various tracks. Tyres Tyres called R-Compounds are commonly used in motorsports for high amounts of traction. The soft rubber allows them to expand when they are heated up, making more surface area on the pavement, therefore producing the most traction. These types of tyres do not have grooves on them. Tyre pressure is dependent on the temperature of the tyre and track when racing. Each time a driver pulls into the pits, the tyre pressure and temperature should be tested for optimal performance. When the tyres get too hot they will swell or inflate and need to be deflated to the correct pressure. When the tyres are not warmed up they will not perform as well. Brakes Brakes on a race car are imperative in slowing and stopping the car at precise times and wear quickly depending on the road or track on which the car is being raced, how many laps are being run, track conditions due to weather, and how many caution runs require more braking. There are three variables to consider in racing: brake pedal displacement, brake pedal force, and vehicle deceleration. Various combinations of these variables work together to determine the stiffness, sensitivity, and pedal force of the brakes. When using the brakes effectively, the driver must go through a buildup phase and end with a modulating phase. These phases include attaining maximum deceleration and modulating the brake pressure. Brake performance is measured in bite and consistency. Bite happens when the driver first applies the brakes and they have not warmed up to the correct temperature to operate efficiently. Consistency is measured in how consistent the friction is during the entire time of braking. These two measurements determine the wear of the brakes. Engine The race car's engine needs a considerable amount of air to produce maximum power. The air intake manifold sucks the air from scoops on the hood and front bumper and feeds it into the engine. Many engine modifications to increase horsepower and efficiency are commonly used in many racing-sanctioning bodies. Engines are tuned on a machine called a dynamometer, which is commonly known in the racing world as a DYNO. The car is driven onto the DYNO and many gauges and sensors are hooked up to the car that are controlled by an online program to test force, torque, or power. Through the testing, the car's engine maps can be changed to get the most horsepower and ultimately speed out of the vehicle. Racing drivers Racing drivers, at the highest levels, are usually paid by the team, or by sponsors, and can command very substantial salaries. Contrary to what may be popularly assumed, racing drivers as a group do not have unusually better reflexes or peripheral response time. During repeated physiological (and psychological) evaluations of professional racing drivers, the two characteristics that stand out are racers' near-obsessive need to control their surroundings (the psychological aspect), and an unusual ability to process fast-moving information (physiological). In this, researchers have noted a strong correlation between racers' psychological profiles and those of fighter pilots. In tests comparing racers to members of the general public, the greater the complexity of the information processing matrix, the greater the speed gap between racers and the public. Due partly to the performance capabilities of modern racing cars, racing drivers require a high level of fitness, focus, and the ability to concentrate at high levels for long periods in an inherently difficult environment. Racing drivers mainly complain about pains in the lumbar, shoulder, and neck regions. Racing drivers experience extremely large g-forces because formula cars and sports prototypes generate more downforce and are able to corner at significantly higher speeds. Formula 1 drivers routinely experience g-loadings in excess of 4.5 g. See also Outline of auto racing List of auto racing tracks Motorcycle racing Race track List of auto racing films Racing video game References External links Sanctioning bodies Motorsports UK Association American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Indy Racing League (IRL) Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Grand American Road Racing Association International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC) International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) National Auto Sport Association National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) No Prep Racing SCORE International Off-Road Racing Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) United States Auto Club (USAC) Formula One (F1) Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) Best In The Desert Off-Road Racing

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August 9

Events Pre-1600 48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt. 378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths. Valens is killed along with over half of his army. 1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete. 1329 – Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop. 1428 – Sources cite biggest caravan trade between Podvisoki and Republic of Ragusa. Vlachs committed to Ragusan lord Tomo Bunić, that they will with 600 horses deliver 1,500 modius of salt. Delivery was meant for Dobrašin Veseoković, and Vlachs price was half of delivered salt. 1500 – Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503): The Ottomans capture Methoni, Messenia. 1601–1900 1610 – The First Anglo-Powhatan War begins in colonial Virginia. 1810 – Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire. 1814 – American Indian Wars: The Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia. 1830 – Louis Philippe becomes the king of the French following abdication of Charles X. 1842 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains. 1854 – American Transcendentalist philosopher Henry David Thoreau publishes his memoir Walden. 1855 – Åland War: The Battle of Suomenlinna begins. 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain: At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope. 1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Big Hole: A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army. 1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph. 1897 – The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland. 1901–present 1902 – Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England. 1925 – A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India, by the Indian independence revolutionaries, against British government. 1936 – Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games. 1942 – World War II: Battle of Savo Island: Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force. 1942 – Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th symphony is premiered in a besieged Leningrad. 1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time. 1944 – World War II: Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war. 1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers. 1945 – The Red Army invades Japanese-occupied Manchuria. 1960 – South Kasai secedes from the Congo. 1965 – Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the only country to date to gain independence unwillingly. 1969 – Tate–LaBianca murders: Followers of Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent. 1970 – LANSA Flight 502 crashes after takeoff from Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport in Cusco, Peru, killing 99 of the 100 people on board, as well as two people on the ground. 1971 – The Troubles: In Northern Ireland, the British authorities launch Operation Demetrius. The operation involves the mass arrest and internment without trial of individuals suspected of being affiliated with the Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Mass riots follow, and thousands of people flee or are forced out of their homes. 1973 – Mars 7 is launched from the USSR. 1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president. 1991 – The Italian prosecuting magistrate Antonino Scopelliti is murdered by the 'Ndrangheta on behalf of the Sicilian Mafia while preparing the government's case in the final appeal of the Maxi Trial. 1993 – The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership. 1995 – Aviateca Flight 901 crashes into the San Vicente volcano in El Salvador, killing all 65 people on board. 1999 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet. 2006 – At least 21 suspected terrorists are arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom. The arrests are made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe in an overnight operation. 2007 – Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes after takeoff from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia, killing all 20 people on board. 2012 – Shannon Eastin becomes the first woman to officiate an NFL game. 2013 – Gunmen open fire at a Sunni mosque in the city of Quetta killing at least ten people and injuring 30. 2014 – Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, is shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after reportedly assaulting the officer and attempting to steal his weapon, sparking protests and unrest in the city. 2021 – The Tampere light rail officially starts operating. Births Pre-1600 1201 – Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English historian and merchant (d. 1274) 1537 – Francesco Barozzi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1604) 1544 – Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1606) 1590 – John Webster, colonial settler and governor of Connecticut (d. 1661) 1601–1900 1603 – Johannes Cocceius, German-Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1669) 1611 – Henry of Nassau-Siegen, German count, officer in the Dutch Army, diplomat for the Dutch Republic (b. 1611) 1648 – Johann Michael Bach, German composer (d. 1694) 1653 – John Oldham, English poet and translator (d. 1683) 1674 – František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect, designed the Veltrusy Mansion (d. 1766) 1696 – Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein (d. 1772) 1722 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia (d. 1758) 1726 – Francesco Cetti, Italian priest, zoologist, and mathematician (d. 1778) 1748 – Bernhard Schott, German music publisher (d. 1809) 1757 – Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, American humanitarian; wife of Alexander Hamilton (d. 1854) 1757 – Thomas Telford, Scottish architect and engineer, designed the Menai Suspension Bridge (d. 1834) 1776 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian physicist and chemist (d. 1856) 1783 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1801) 1788 – Adoniram Judson, American missionary and lexicographer (d. 1850) 1797 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and surveyor (d. 1855) 1805 – Joseph Locke, English engineer and politician (d. 1860) 1845 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (d. 1937) 1847 – Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, French-Italian wife of Amadeo I of Spain (d. 1876) 1848 – Alfred David Benjamin, Australian-born businessman and philanthropist. (d. 1900) 1861 – Dorothea Klumpke, American astronomer and academic (d. 1942) 1867 – Evelina Haverfield, Scottish nurse and activist (d. 1920) 1872 – Archduke Joseph August of Austria (d. 1962) 1874 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan composer and conductor (d. 1947) 1875 – Albert Ketèlbey, English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1959) 1878 – Eileen Gray, Irish architect and furniture designer (d. 1976) 1879 – John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia, (d. 1956) 1881 – Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Brazilian prince (d. 1918) 1890 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (d. 1958) 1896 – Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (d. 1980) 1896 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist and philosopher (d. 1980) 1899 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (d. 1996) 1900 – Charles Farrell, American actor and singer (d. 1990) 1901–present 1902 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (d. 1991) 1902 – Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Russian general and politician (d. 1984) 1905 – Leo Genn, British actor and barrister (d. 1978) 1909 – Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, Indian scholar, author, and academic (d. 1992) 1909 – Willa Beatrice Player, American educator, first Black woman college president (d. 2003) 1909 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (d. 1944) 1911 – William Alfred Fowler, American astronomer and astrophysicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 1996) 1911 – Eddie Futch, American boxer and trainer (d. 2001) 1911 – John McQuade, Northern Irish soldier, boxer, and politician (d. 1984) 1913 – Wilbur Norman Christiansen, Australian astronomer and engineer (d. 2007) 1914 – Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian-Austrian conductor and director (d. 1963) 1914 – Tove Jansson, Finnish author and illustrator (d. 2001) 1914 – Joe Mercer, English footballer and manager (d. 1990) 1915 – Mareta West, American astronomer and geologist (d. 1998) 1918 – Kermit Beahan, American colonel (d. 1989) 1918 – Giles Cooper, Irish soldier and playwright (d. 1966) 1918 – Albert Seedman, American police officer (d. 2013) 1919 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch journalist, economist, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1987) 1919 – Ralph Houk, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010) 1920 – Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and author (d. 2007) 1921 – Ernest Angley, American evangelist and author (d. 2021) 1921 – J. James Exon, American soldier and politician, 33rd Governor of Nebraska (d. 2005) 1922 – Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist (d. 1985) 1924 – Mathews Mar Barnabas, Indian metropolitan (d. 2012) 1924 – Frank Martínez, American soldier and painter (d. 2013) 1925 – David A. Huffman, American computer scientist, developed Huffman coding (d. 1999) 1926 – Denis Atkinson, Barbadian cricketer (d. 2001) 1927 – Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (d. 2014) 1927 – Robert Shaw, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1978) 1928 – Bob Cousy, American basketball player and coach 1928 – Camilla Wicks, American violinist and educator (d. 2020) 1928 – Dolores Wilson, American soprano and actress (d. 2010) 1929 – Abdi İpekçi, Turkish journalist and activist (d. 1979) 1930 – Milt Bolling, American baseball player and scout (d. 2013) 1930 – Jacques Parizeau, Canadian economist and politician, 26th Premier of Quebec (d. 2015) 1931 – Chuck Essegian, American baseball player and lawyer 1931 – James Freeman Gilbert, American geophysicist and academic (d. 2014) 1931 – Paula Kent Meehan, American businesswoman, co-founded Redken (d. 2014) 1931 – Mário Zagallo, Brazilian footballer and coach 1932 – Tam Dalyell, Scottish academic and politician (d. 2017) 1932 – John Gomery, Canadian lawyer and jurist (d. 2021) 1933 – Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese actress, talk show host, and author 1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (d. 2008) 1936 – Julián Javier, Dominican-American baseball player 1936 – Patrick Tse, Chinese-Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1938 – Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Ukraine 1938 – Rod Laver, Australian tennis player and coach 1938 – Otto Rehhagel, German footballer, coach, and manager 1939 – Hércules Brito Ruas, Brazilian footballer 1939 – Vincent Hanna, Northern Irish journalist (d. 1997) 1939 – The Mighty Hannibal, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2014) 1939 – Billy Henderson, American singer (d. 2007) 1939 – Bulle Ogier, French actress and screenwriter 1939 – Romano Prodi, Italian academic and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Italy 1939 – Butch Warren, American bassist (d. 2013) 1940 – Linda Keen, American mathematician and academic 1942 – David Steinberg, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1943 – Ken Norton, American boxer and actor (d. 2013) 1944 – George Armstrong, English footballer (d. 2000) 1944 – Patrick Depailler, French racing driver (d. 1980) 1944 – Sam Elliott, American actor and producer 1944 – Patricia McKissack, American soldier, engineer, and author (d. 2017) 1945 – Barbara Delinsky, American author 1945 – Aleksandr Gorelik, Russian figure skater and sportscaster (d. 2012) 1945 – Posy Simmonds, English author and illustrator 1946 – Rinus Gerritsen, Dutch rock bass player 1947 – Roy Hodgson, English footballer and manager 1947 – Barbara Mason, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter 1947 – John Varley, American author 1948 – Bill Campbell, American baseball player and coach (d. 2023) 1949 – Jonathan Kellerman, American psychologist and author 1949 – Ted Simmons, American baseball player and coach 1951 – James Naughtie, Scottish journalist and radio host 1951 – Steve Swisher, American baseball player and manager 1952 – Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Thai activist and politician 1953 – Kay Stenshjemmet, Norwegian speed skater 1953 – Jean Tirole, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1954 – Ray Jennings, South African cricketer and coach 1954 – Pete Thomas, English drummer 1955 – John E. Sweeney, American lawyer and politician 1956 – Gordon Singleton, Canadian Olympic cyclist 1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress and producer 1958 – Amanda Bearse, American actress, comedian and director 1958 – Calie Pistorius, South African engineer and academic 1959 – Kurtis Blow, American rapper, producer, and actor 1959 – Michael Kors, American fashion designer 1961 – Brad Gilbert, American tennis player and sportscaster 1961 – John Key, New Zealand businessman and politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand 1962 – Louis Lipps, American football player and radio host 1962 – Kevin Mack, American football player 1962 – John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player (d. 2015) 1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (d. 2012) 1963 – Jay Leggett, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1963 – Barton Lynch, Australian surfer 1964 – Brett Hull, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager 1964 – Hoda Kotb, American journalist and television personality 1965 – Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (d. 2023) 1966 – Vinny Del Negro, American basketball player and coach 1966 – Linn Ullmann, Norwegian journalist and author 1967 – Deion Sanders, American football and baseball player 1968 – Gillian Anderson, American-British actress, activist and writer 1968 – Eric Bana, Australian actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter 1968 – Sam Fogarino, American drummer 1968 – McG, American director and producer 1969 – Troy Percival, American baseball player and coach 1970 – Rod Brind'Amour, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Chris Cuomo, American lawyer and journalist 1970 – Thomas Lennon, American actor and comedian 1972 – Juanes, Colombian singer and songwriter 1973 – Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer and manager 1973 – Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor and director 1973 – Gene Luen Yang, American author and illustrator 1974 – Derek Fisher, American basketball player and coach 1974 – Stephen Fung, Hong Kong actor, singer, director, and screenwriter 1974 – Lesley McKenna, Scottish snowboarder 1974 – Matt Morris, American baseball player 1974 – Kirill Reznik, American lawyer and politician 1974 – Raphaël Poirée, French biathlete 1975 – Mahesh Babu, Indian actor and producer 1975 – Valentin Kovalenko, Uzbek football referee 1975 – Mike Lamb, American baseball player 1975 – Robbie Middleby, Australian soccer player 1976 – Rhona Mitra, English actress and singer 1976 – Audrey Tautou, French model and actress 1976 – Jessica Capshaw, American actress 1977 – Jason Frasor, American baseball player 1977 – Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player 1977 – Ravshan Irmatov, Uzbek football referee 1977 – Adewale Ogunleye, American football player 1977 – Ime Udoka, American basketball player and coach 1977 – Mikaël Silvestre, French footballer 1978 – Dorin Chirtoacă, Moldavian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Chișinău 1978 – Ana Serradilla, Mexican actress and producer 1978 – Wesley Sonck, Belgian footballer 1979 – Michael Kingma, Australian basketball player 1979 – Lisa Nandy, British politician 1979 – Tony Stewart, American football player 1981 – Jarvis Hayes, American basketball player 1981 – Li Jiawei, Singaporean table tennis player 1982 – Joel Anthony, American basketball player 1982 – Tyson Gay, American sprinter 1982 – Yekaterina Samutsevich, Russian singer and activist 1982 – Kanstantsin Sivtsov, Belarusian cyclist 1983 – Dan Levy, Canadian actor and comedian 1983 – Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwean cricketer 1983 – Shane O'Brien, Canadian ice hockey player 1983 – Alicja Smietana, Polish-English violinist 1984 – Paul Gallagher, Scottish footballer 1985 – Luca Filippi, Italian racing driver 1985 – Filipe Luís, Brazilian footballer 1985 – Anna Kendrick, American actress and singer 1985 – Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer 1985 – JaMarcus Russell, American football player 1985 – Chandler Williams, American football player (d. 2013) 1986 – Michael Lerchl, German footballer 1986 – Daniel Preussner, German rugby player 1986 – Tyler Smith, American singer-songwriter and bass player 1987 – Marek Niit, Estonian sprinter 1988 – Anthony Castonzo, American football player 1988 – Willian, Brazilian footballer 1988 – Vasilios Koutsianikoulis, Greek footballer 1989 – Jason Heyward, American baseball player 1989 – Stefano Okaka, Italian footballer 1989 – Kento Ono, Japanese actor and model 1990 – İshak Doğan, Turkish footballer 1990 – Sarah McBride, American LGBT activist 1990 – Stuart McInally, Scottish rugby player 1990 – Brice Roger, French skier 1990 – D'Arcy Short, Australian cricketer 1990 – Bill Skarsgård, Swedish actor 1991 – Alice Barlow, English actress 1991 – Alexa Bliss, American bodybuilder and wrestler 1991 – Hansika Motwani, Indian actress 1992 – Farahnaz Forotan, Afghan journalist 1993 – Jun.Q, South Korean singer and actor 1993 – Dipa Karmakar, Indian gymnast 1994 – Kelli Hubly, American soccer player 1994 – King Von, American rapper (d. 2020) 1995 – Eli Apple, American football player 1995 – Justice Smith, American actor 1996 – Sanya Lopez, Filipino actress and model 1999 – Deniss Vasiļjevs, Latvian figure skater 2000 – Arlo Parks, British singer-songwriter 2005 – Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva, Andorran tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 378 – Traianus, Roman general 378 – Valens, Roman emperor (b. 328) 803 – Irene of Athens, Byzantine ruler (b. 752) 833 – Al-Ma'mun, Iraqi caliph (b. 786) 1048 – Pope Damasus II 1107 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b. 1079) 1173 – Najm ad-Din Ayyub, Kurdish soldier and politician 1211 – William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, exiled Anglo-Norman baron (b. 1144/53) 1260 – Walter of Kirkham, Bishop of Durham 1296 – Hugh, Count of Brienne, French crusader 1341 – Eleanor of Anjou, queen consort of Sicily (b. 1289) 1354 – Stephen, Duke of Slavonia, Hungarian prince (b. 1332) 1420 – Pierre d'Ailly, French theologian and cardinal (b. 1351) 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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes

Aristophanes

Aristophanes (; , ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion (), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries. Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher. Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all." Etymology Aristophanes's name means 'one who appears best', from the Greek 'ἄριστος' (Aristos) meaning "best" and 'φαίνομαι', meaning "appear". Biography Less is known about Aristophanes than about his plays. In fact, his plays are the main source of information about him and his life. It was conventional in Old Comedy for the chorus to speak on behalf of the author during an address called the parabasis and thus some biographical facts can be found there. However, these facts relate almost entirely to his career as a dramatist and the plays contain few clear and unambiguous clues about his personal beliefs or his private life. He was a comic poet in an age when it was conventional for a poet to assume the role of teacher (didaskalos), and though this specifically referred to his training of the Chorus in rehearsal, it also covered his relationship with the audience as a commentator on significant issues. Aristophanes claimed to be writing for a clever and discerning audience, yet he also declared that "other times" would judge the audience according to its reception of his plays. He sometimes boasts of his originality as a dramatist yet his plays consistently espouse opposition to radical new influences in Athenian society. He caricatured leading figures in the arts (notably Euripides, whose influence on his own work however he once grudgingly acknowledged), in politics (especially the populist Cleon), and in philosophy/religion (where Socrates was the most obvious target). Such caricatures seem to imply that Aristophanes was an old-fashioned conservative, yet that view of him leads to contradictions. It has been argued that Aristophanes produced plays mainly to entertain the audience and to win prestigious competitions. His plays were written for production at the great dramatic festivals of Athens, the Lenaia and City Dionysia, where they were judged and awarded prizes in competition with the works of other comic dramatists. An elaborate series of lotteries, designed to prevent prejudice and corruption, reduced the voting judges at the City Dionysia to just five. These judges probably reflected the mood of the audiences yet there is much uncertainty about the composition of those audiences. The theatres were certainly huge, with seating for at least 10,000 at the Theatre of Dionysus. The day's program at the City Dionysia for example was crowded, with three tragedies and a satyr play ahead of a comedy, but it is possible that many of the poorer citizens (typically the main supporters of demagogues like Cleon) occupied the festival holiday with other pursuits. The conservative views expressed in the plays might therefore reflect the attitudes of the dominant group in an unrepresentative audience. The production process might also have influenced the views expressed in the plays. Throughout most of Aristophanes' career, the Chorus was essential to a play's success and it was recruited and funded by a choregus, a wealthy citizen appointed to the task by one of the archons. A choregus could regard his personal expenditure on the Chorus as a civic duty and a public honour, but Aristophanes showed in The Knights that wealthy citizens might regard civic responsibilities as punishment imposed on them by demagogues and populists like Cleon. Thus the political conservatism of the plays may reflect the views of the wealthiest section of Athenian society, on whose generosity all dramatists depended for putting on their plays. When Aristophanes' first play The Banqueters was produced, Athens was an ambitious, imperial power and the Peloponnesian War was only in its fourth year. His plays often express pride in the achievement of the older generation (the victors at Marathon) yet they are not jingoistic, and they are staunchly opposed to the war with Sparta. The plays are particularly scathing in criticism of war profiteers, among whom populists such as Cleon figure prominently. By the time his last play was produced (around 386 BC) Athens had been defeated in war, its empire had been dismantled and it had undergone a transformation from being the political to the intellectual centre of Greece. Aristophanes was part of this transformation and he shared in the intellectual fashions of the period—the structure of his plays evolves from Old Comedy until, in his last surviving play, Wealth II, it more closely resembles New Comedy. However it is uncertain whether he led or merely responded to changes in audience expectations. Aristophanes won second prize at the City Dionysia in 427 BC with his first play The Banqueters (now lost). He won first prize there with his next play, The Babylonians (also now lost). It was usual for foreign dignitaries to attend the City Dionysia, and The Babylonians caused some embarrassment for the Athenian authorities since it depicted the cities of the Delian League as slaves grinding at a mill. Some influential citizens, notably Cleon, reviled the play as slander against the polis and possibly took legal action against the author. The details of the trial are unrecorded but, speaking through the hero of his third play The Acharnians (staged at the Lenaia, where there were few or no foreign dignitaries), the poet carefully distinguishes between the polis and the real targets of his acerbic wit: Aristophanes repeatedly savages Cleon in his later plays. But these satirical diatribes appear to have had no effect on Cleon's political career—a few weeks after the performance of The Knights—a play full of anti-Cleon jokes—Cleon was elected to the prestigious board of ten generals. Cleon also seems to have had no real power to limit or control Aristophanes: the caricatures of him continued up to and even beyond his death. In the absence of clear biographical facts about Aristophanes, scholars make educated guesses based on interpretation of the language in the plays. Inscriptions and summaries or comments by Hellenistic and Byzantine scholars can also provide useful clues. We know from a combination of these sources, and especially from comments in The Knights and The Clouds, that Aristophanes' first three plays were not directed by him; they were instead directed by Callistratus and Philoneides, an arrangement that seemed to suit Aristophanes since he appears to have used these same directors in many later plays as well (Philoneides for example later directed The Frogs and he was also credited, perhaps wrongly, with directing The Wasps). Aristophanes's use of directors complicates our reliance on the plays as sources of biographical information, because apparent self-references might have been made with reference to his directors instead. Thus, for example, a statement by the chorus in The Acharnians seems to indicate that the "poet" had a close, personal association with the island of Aegina. Similarly, the hero in The Acharnians complains about Cleon "dragging me into court" over "last year's play." Comments made by the Chorus referring to Aristophanes in The Clouds have been interpreted as evidence that he can hardly have been more than 18 years old when his first play The Banqueters was produced. The second parabasis in Wasps appears to indicate that he reached some kind of temporary accommodation with Cleon following either the controversy over The Babylonians or a subsequent controversy over The Knights. It has been inferred from statements in The Clouds and Peace that Aristophanes was prematurely bald. Aristophanes was probably victorious at least once at the City Dionysia, with Babylonians in 427, and at least three times at the Lenaia, with The Acharnians in 425, Knights in 424, and Frogs in 405. Frogs in fact won the unique distinction of a repeat performance at a subsequent festival. A son of Aristophanes, Araros, was also a comic poet and he could have been heavily involved in the production of his father's play Wealth II in 388. Araros is also thought to have been responsible for the posthumous performances of the now lost plays Aeolosicon II and Cocalus, and it is possible that the last of these won the prize at the City Dionysia in 387. It appears that a second son, Philippus, was twice victorious at the Lenaia and he could have directed some of Eubulus’ comedies. A third son was called either Nicostratus or Philetaerus, and a man by the latter name appears in the catalogue of Lenaia victors with two victories, the first probably in the late 370s. Plato's The Symposium appears to be a useful source of biographical information about Aristophanes, but its reliability is open to doubt. It purports to be a record of conversations at a dinner party at which both Aristophanes and Socrates are guests, held some seven years after the performance of The Clouds, the play in which Socrates was cruelly caricatured. One of the guests, Alcibiades, even quotes from the play when teasing Socrates over his appearance and yet there is no indication of any ill-feeling between Socrates and Aristophanes. Plato's Aristophanes is in fact a genial character and this has been interpreted as evidence of Plato's own friendship with him (their friendship appears to be corroborated by an epitaph for Aristophanes, reputedly written by Plato, in which the playwright's soul is compared to an eternal shrine for the Graces). Plato was only a boy when the events in The Symposium are supposed to have occurred and it is possible that his Aristophanes is in fact based on a reading of the plays. For example, conversation among the guests turns to the subject of Love and Aristophanes explains his notion of it in terms of an amusing allegory, a device he often uses in his plays. He is represented as suffering an attack of hiccups and this might be a humorous reference to the crude physical jokes in his plays. He tells the other guests that he is quite happy to be thought amusing but he is wary of appearing ridiculous. This fear of being ridiculed is consistent with his declaration in The Knights that he embarked on the career of comic playwright warily after witnessing the public contempt and ridicule that other dramatists had incurred. Aristophanes survived The Peloponnesian War, two oligarchic revolutions and two democratic restorations; this has been interpreted as evidence that he was not actively involved in politics, despite his highly political plays. He was probably appointed to the Council of Five Hundred for a year at the beginning of the fourth century, but such appointments were very common in democratic Athens. Use of language The language of Aristophanes' plays, and in Old Comedy generally, was valued by ancient commentators as a model of the Attic dialect. The orator Quintilian believed that the charm and grandeur of the Attic dialect made Old Comedy an example for orators to study and follow, and he considered it inferior in these respects only to the works of Homer. A revival of interest in the Attic dialect may have been responsible for the recovery and circulation of Aristophanes' plays during the fourth and fifth centuries AD, resulting in their survival today. In Aristophanes' plays, the Attic dialect is couched in verse and his plays can be appreciated for their poetic qualities. For Aristophanes' contemporaries the works of Homer and Hesiod formed the cornerstones of Hellenic history and culture. Thus poetry had a moral and social significance that made it an inevitable topic of comic satire. Aristophanes was very conscious of literary fashions and traditions and his plays feature numerous references to other poets. These include not only rival comic dramatists such as Eupolis and Hermippus and predecessors such as Magnes, Crates and Cratinus, but also tragedians, notably Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, all three of whom are mentioned in e.g. The Frogs. Aristophanes was the equal of these great tragedians in his subtle use of lyrics. He appears to have modelled his approach to language on that of Euripides in particular, so much so that the comic dramatist Cratinus labelled him a 'Euripidaristophanist' addicted to hair-splitting niceties. A full appreciation of Aristophanes' plays requires an understanding of the poetic forms he employed with virtuoso skill, and of their different rhythms and associations. There were three broad poetic forms: iambic dialogue, tetrameter verses and lyrics: Iambic dialogue: Aristophanes achieves an effect resembling natural speech through the use of the iambic trimeter (corresponding to the effects achieved by English poets such as Shakespeare using iambic pentameters). His realistic use of the meter makes it ideal for both dialogue and soliloquy, as for instance in the prologue, before the arrival of the Chorus, when the audience is introduced to the main issues in the plot. The Acharnians opens with these three lines by the hero, Dikaiopolis (rendered here in English as iambic pentameters): How many are the things that vex my heart! Pleasures are few, so very few – just four – But stressful things are manysandthousandsandheaps! Here Aristophanes employs a frequent device, arranging the syntax so that the final word in a line comes as a comic climax. The hero's pleasures are so few he can number them (, four) but his causes for complaint are so many they beggar numerical description and he must invent his own word for them (, literally "sandhundredheaps", here paraphrased "manysandthousandsandheaps"). The use of invented compound words is another comic device frequently found in the plays. Tetrameter catalectic verses: These are long lines of anapests, trochees or iambs (where each line is ideally measured in four dipodes or pairs of feet), used in various situations within each play such as: formal debates or agons between characters (typically in anapestic rhythm); excited dialogue or heated argument (typically trochaic rhythm, the same as in early tragedy); long speeches declaimed by the Chorus in parabases (in either anapestic or trochaic rhythms); informal debates barely above the level of ordinary dialogue (typically iambic). Anapestic rhythms are naturally jaunty (as in many limericks) and trochaic meter is suited to rapid delivery (the word "trochee" is in fact derived from trechein, "to run", as demonstrated for example by choruses who enter at speed, often in aggressive mood) However, even though both these rhythms can seem to "bowl along" Aristophanes often varies them through use of complex syntax and substituted meters, adapting the rhythms to the requirements of serious argument. In an anapestic passage in The Frogs, for instance, the character Aeschylus presents a view of poetry that is supposed to be serious but which leads to a comic interruption by the god, Dionysus: AES.:It was Orpheus singing who taught us religion and how wrong people are when they kill, And we learned from Musaeus medicinal cures and the science of divination. If it's farming you want, Hesiod knows it all, when to plant, when to harvest. How godlike Homer got to be famous, I'll tell if you ask: he taught us what all good men should know, Discipline, fortitude, battle-readiness. DIO.: But no-one taught Pantocles – yesterday He was marching his men up and down on parade when the crest of his helmet fell off! The rhythm begins at a typical anapestic gallop, slows down to consider the revered poets Hesiod and Homer, then gallops off again to its comic conclusion at the expense of the unfortunate Pantocles. Such subtle variations in rhythm are common in the plays, allowing for serious points to be made while still whetting the audience's appetite for the next joke. Lyrics: Almost nothing is known about the music that accompanied Greek lyrics, and the meter is often so varied and complex that it is difficult for modern readers or audiences to get a feel for the intended effects, yet Aristophanes still impresses with the charm and simplicity of his lyrics. Some of the most memorable and haunting lyrics are dignified hymns set free of the comic action. In the example below, taken from The Wasps, the lyric is merely a comic interlude and the rhythm is steadily trochaic. The syntax in the original Greek is natural and unforced and it was probably accompanied by brisk and cheerful music, gliding to a concluding pun at the expense of Amynias, who is thought to have lost his fortune gambling. Though to myself I often seem A bright chap and not awkward, None comes close to Amynias, Son of Sellos of the Bigwig Clan, a man I once saw Dine with rich Leogorus. Now as poor as Antiphon, He lives on apples and pomegranates Yet he got himself appointed Ambassador to Pharsalus, Way up there in Thessaly, Home of the poor Penestes: Happy to be where everyone Is as penniless as he is! The pun here in English translation (Penestes–penniless) is a weak version of the Greek pun , Penéstaisi-penéstĕs, "destitute". Many of the puns in the plays are based on words that are similar rather than identical, and it has been observed that there could be more of them than scholars have yet been able to identify. Others are based on double meanings. Sometimes entire scenes are constructed on puns, as in The Acharnians with the Megarian farmer and his pigs: the Megarian farmer defies the Athenian embargo against Megarian trade, and tries to trade his daughters disguised as pigs, except "pig" was ancient slang for "vagina". Since the embargo against Megara was the pretext for the Peloponnesian War, Aristophanes naturally concludes that this whole mess happened because of "three cunts". It can be argued that the most important feature of the language of the plays is imagery, particularly the use of similes, metaphors and pictorial expressions. In The Knights, for example, the ears of a character with selective hearing are represented as parasols that open and close. In The Frogs, Aeschylus is said to compose verses in the manner of a horse rolling in a sandpit. Some plays feature revelations of human perfectibility that are poetic rather than religious in character, such as the marriage of the hero Pisthetairos to Zeus's paramour in The Birds and the "recreation" of old Athens, crowned with roses, at the end of The Knights. Rhetoric It is widely believed that Aristophanes condemned rhetoric on both moral and political grounds. He states, "a speaker trained in the new rhetoric may use his talents to deceive the jury and bewilder his opponents so thoroughly that the trial loses all semblance of fairness" He is speaking to the "art" of flattery, and evidence points towards the fact that many of Aristophanes' plays were actually created with the intent to attack the view of rhetoric. The most noticeable attack can be seen in his play Banqueters, in which two brothers from different educational backgrounds argue over which education is better. One brother comes from a background of "old-fashioned" education while the other brother appears to be a product of the sophistic education The chorus was mainly used by Aristophanes as a defense against rhetoric and would often talk about topics such as the civic duty of those who were educated in classical teachings. In Aristophanes' opinion it was the job of those educated adults to protect the public from deception and to stand as a beacon of light for those who were more gullible than others. One of the main reasons why Aristophanes was so against the sophists came into existence from the requirements listed by the leaders of the organization. Money was essential, which meant that roughly all of the pupils studying with the sophists came from upper-class backgrounds and excluded the rest of the polis. Aristophanes believed that education and knowledge was a public service and that anything that excluded willing minds was nothing but an abomination. He concludes that all politicians that study rhetoric must have "doubtful citizenships, unspeakable morals, and too much arrogance". Aristophanes and Old Comedy The plays of Aristophanes are among the defining examples of Old Comedy. Aristophanes' plays are also the only full length Old Comedy plays that have survived from antiquity. Thus making them literally among the most defining elements, for defining Old Comedy... For this reason, an understanding of Old Comedy and Aristophanes' place in it is useful to comprehend his plays in their historical and cultural context. The themes of Old Comedy included: Inclusive comedy: Old Comedy provided a variety of entertainments for a diverse audience. It accommodated a serious purpose, light entertainment, hauntingly beautiful lyrics, the buffoonery of puns and invented words, obscenities, disciplined verse, wildly absurd plots and a formal, dramatic structure. Fantasy and absurdity: Fantasy in Old Comedy is unrestricted and impossibilities are ignored. Situations are developed logically to absurd conclusions, an approach to humour that is echoed for instance in the works of Lewis Carroll and Eugène Ionesco (the Theatre of the Absurd). The crazy costume worn by Dionysus in The Frogs is typical of an absurd result obtained on logical grounds—he wears a woman's saffron-coloured tunic because effeminacy is an aspect of his divinity, buskin boots because he is interested in reviving the art of tragedy, and a lion skin cape because, like Heracles, his mission leads him into Hades. Absurdities develop logically from initial premises in a plot. In The Knights for instance, Cleon's corrupt service to the people of Athens is originally depicted as a household relationship in which the slave dupes his master. The introduction of a rival, who is not a member of the household, leads to an absurd shift in the metaphor, so that Cleon and his rival become erastai competing for the affections of an eromenos, hawkers of oracles competing for the attention of a credulous public, athletes in a race for approval and orators competing for the popular vote. The resourceful hero: In Aristophanic comedy, the hero is an independent-minded and self-reliant individual. He has something of the ingenuity of Homer's Odysseus and much of the shrewdness of the farmer idealized in Hesiod's Works and Days, subjected to corrupt leaders and unreliable neighbours. Typically he devises a complicated and highly fanciful escape from an intolerable situation. Thus Dikaiopolis in The Acharnians contrives a private peace treaty with the Spartans; Bdelucleon in The Wasps turns his own house into a private law court in order to keep his jury-addicted father safely at home; Trygaeus in Peace flies to Olympus on a giant dung beetle to obtain an end to the Peloponnesian War; Pisthetairus in Birds sets off to establish his own colony and becomes instead the ruler of the bird kingdom and a rival to the gods. The resourceful cast: The numerous surprising developments in an Aristophanic plot, the changes in scene, and the farcical comings and goings of minor characters towards the end of a play, were managed according to theatrical convention with only three principal actors (a fourth actor, often the leader of the chorus, was permitted to deliver short speeches). Songs and addresses to the audience by the Chorus gave the actors hardly enough time off-stage to draw breath and to prepare for changes in scene. Complex structure: The action of an Aristophanic play obeyed a crazy logic of its own and yet it always unfolded within a formal, dramatic structure that was repeated with minor variations from one play to another. The different, structural elements are associated with different poetic meters and rhythms and these are generally lost in English translations. Dramatic structure of Aristophanes' plots The structural elements of a typical Aristophanic plot can be summarized as follows: prologue – an introductory scene with a dialogue and/or soliloquy addressed to the audience, expressed in iambic trimeter and explaining the situation that is to be resolved in the play; parodos – the arrival of the chorus, dancing and singing, sometimes followed by a choreographed skirmish with one or more actors, often expressed in long lines of tetrameters; symmetrical scenes – passages featuring songs and declaimed verses in long lines of tetrameters, arranged symmetrically in two sections such that each half resembles the other in meter and line length; the agon and parabasis can be considered specific instances of symmetrical scenes: parabasis – verses through which the Chorus addresses the audience directly, firstly in the middle of the play and again near the end (see the section below, Parabasis); agon – a formal debate that decides the outcome of the play, typically in anapestic tetrameter, though iambs are sometimes used to delineate inferior arguments; episodes – sections of dialogue in iambic trimeter, often in a succession of scenes featuring minor characters towards the end of a play; songs ('strophes'/'antistrophes' or 'odes'/'antodes') – often in symmetrical pairs where each half has the same meter and number of lines as the other, used as transitions between other structural elements, or between scenes while actors change costume, and often commenting on the action; exodus – the departure of the Chorus and the actors, in song and dance celebrating the hero's victory and sometimes celebrating a symbolic marriage. The rules of competition did not prevent a playwright arranging and adjusting these elements to suit his particular needs. In The Acharnians and Peace, for example, there is no formal agon whereas in The Clouds there are two agons. Parabasis The parabasis is an address to the audience by the chorus or chorus leader while the actors leave or have left the stage. In this role, the chorus is sometimes out of character, as the author's voice, and sometimes in character, although these capacities are often difficult to distinguish. Generally the parabasis occurs somewhere in the middle of a play and often there is a second parabasis towards the end. The elements of a parabasis have been defined and named by scholars but it is probable that Aristophanes' own understanding was less formal. The selection of elements can vary from play to play and it varies considerably within plays between first and second parabasis. The early plays (The Acharnians to The Birds) are fairly uniform in their approach however and the following elements of a parabasis can be found within them. kommation: This is a brief prelude, comprising short lines and often including a valediction to the departing actors, such as (Go rejoicing!). parabasis proper: This is usually a defense of the author's work and it includes criticism of the audience's attitude. It is declaimed in long lines of 'anapestic tetrameters'. Aristophanes himself refers to the parabasis proper only as 'anapests'. pnigos: Sometimes known as 'a choker', it comprises a few short lines appended to the parabasis proper as a kind of rapid patter (it has been suggested that some of the effects achieved in a pnigos can be heard in "The Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song", in act 2 of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe). epirrhematic syzygies: These are symmetrical scenes that mirror each other in meter and number of lines. They form part of the first parabasis and they often comprise the entire second parabasis. They are characterized by the following elements: strophe or ode: These are lyrics in a variety of meters, sung by the Chorus in the first parabasis as an invocation to the gods and as a comic interlude in the second parabasis. epirrhema: These are usually long lines of trochaic tetrameters. Broadly political in their significance, they were probably spoken by the leader of the Chorus in character. antistrophe or antode: These are songs that mirror the strophe/ode in meter, length and function. antepirrhema. This is another declaimed passage and it mirrors the epirrhema in meter, length and function. The Wasps is thought to offer the best example of a conventional approach and the elements of a parabasis can be identified and located in that play as follows. {| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; background-color: #ffffff" ! Elements in The Wasps ! 1st parabasis ! 2nd parabasis |- | kommation | lines 1009–1014 | --- |- | parabasis proper | lines 1015–1050 | --- |- | pnigos | lines 1051–1059 | --- |- | strophe | lines 1060–1070 | lines 1265–1274 |- | epirrhema | lines 1071–1090 | lines 1275–1283 |- | antistrophe | lines 1091–1101 | missing |- | antepirrhema | lines 1102–1121 | lines 1284–1291 |} Textual corruption is probably the reason for the absence of the antistrophe in the second parabasis. However, there are several variations from the ideal even within the early plays. For example, the parabasis proper in The Clouds (lines 518–562) is composed in eupolidean meter rather than in anapests and the second parabasis includes a kommation but it lacks strophe, antistrophe and antepirrhema (The Clouds lines 1113–1130). The second parabasis in The Acharnians lines 971–999 can be considered a hybrid parabasis/song (i.e. the declaimed sections are merely continuations of the strophe and antistrophe) and, unlike the typical parabasis, it seems to comment on actions that occur on stage during the address. An understanding of Old Comedy conventions such as the parabasis is necessary for a proper understanding of Aristophanes' plays; on the other hand, a sensitive appreciation of the plays is necessary for a proper understanding of the conventions. Influence and legacy The tragic dramatists, Sophocles and Euripides, died near the end of the Peloponnesian War and the art of tragedy thereafter ceased to develop, yet comedy did continue to evolve after the defeat of Athens and it is possible that it did so because, in Aristophanes, it had a master craftsman who lived long enough to help usher it into a new age. Indeed, according to one ancient source (Platonius, c.9th Century AD), one of Aristophanes's last plays, Aioliskon, had neither a parabasis nor any choral lyrics (making it a type of Middle Comedy), while Kolakos anticipated all the elements of New Comedy, including a rape and a recognition scene. Aristophanes seems to have had some appreciation of his formative role in the development of comedy, as indicated by his comment in Clouds that his audience would be judged by other times according to its reception of his plays. Clouds was awarded third (i.e. last) place after its original performance and the text that has come down to the modern age was a subsequent draft that Aristophanes intended to be read rather than acted. The circulation of his plays in manuscript extended their influence beyond the original audience, over whom in fact they seem to have had little or no practical influence: they did not affect the career of Cleon, they failed to persuade the Athenians to pursue an honourable peace with Sparta and it is not clear that they were instrumental in the trial and execution of Socrates, whose death probably resulted from public animosity towards the philosopher's disgraced associates (such as Alcibiades), exacerbated of course by his own intransigence during the trial. The plays, in manuscript form, have been put to some surprising uses—as indicated earlier, they were used in the study of rhetoric on the recommendation of Quintilian and by students of the Attic dialect in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries AD. It is possible that Plato sent copies of the plays to Dionysius of Syracuse so that he might learn about Athenian life and government. Latin translations of the plays by Andreas Divus (Venice 1528) were circulated widely throughout Europe in the Renaissance and these were soon followed by translations and adaptations in modern languages. Racine, for example, drew Les Plaideurs (1668) from The Wasps. Goethe (who turned to Aristophanes for a warmer and more vivid form of comedy than he could derive from readings of Terence and Plautus) adapted a short play Die Vögel from The Birds for performance in Weimar. Aristophanes has appealed to both conservatives and radicals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—Anatoly Lunacharsky, first Commissar of Enlightenment for the USSR in 1917, declared that the ancient dramatist would have a permanent place in proletarian theatre and yet conservative, Prussian intellectuals interpreted Aristophanes as a satirical opponent of social reform. The avant-gardist stage-director Karolos Koun directed a version of The Birds under the Acropolis in 1959 that established a trend in modern Greek history of breaking taboos through the voice of Aristophanes. The plays have a significance that goes beyond their artistic function, as historical documents that open the window on life and politics in classical Athens, in which respect they are perhaps as important as the writings of Thucydides. The artistic influence of the plays is immeasurable. They have contributed to the history of European theatre and that history in turn shapes our understanding of the plays. Thus for example the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan can give us insights into Aristophanes' plays and similarly the plays can give us insights into the operettas. The plays are a source of famous sayings, such as "By words the mind is winged." Listed below are some of the many works influenced (more or less) by Aristophanes. Drama 1909: Wasps, original Greek, Cambridge University undergraduate production, music by Vaughan Williams; 2004, July–October: The Frogs (musical), adapted by Nathan Lane, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, performed at The Vivian Beaumont Theater Broadway; 1962–2006: various plays by students and staff, King's College London, in the original Greek: Frogs 1962, 1971, 1988; Thesmophoriazusae 1965, 1974, 1985; The Acharnians 1968, 1992, 2004; Clouds 1977, 1990; Birds 1982, 2000; Ecclesiazusae 2006; Peace 1970; Wasps 1981 2002: Lysistrata, adapted by Robert Brustein, music by Galt MacDermot, performed by American Repertory Theatre, Boston US; 2008, May–June: Frogs, adapted by David Greenspan, music by Thomas Cabaniss, performed by Classic Stage Company, New York, US. 2023, May: The Wasps, adapted by the NSW Arts Unit Drama Company, directed by Genevieve de Souza, NIDA Literature The romantic poet, Percy Shelley, wrote a comic, lyrical drama (Swellfoot the Tyrant) in imitation of Aristophanes' play The Frogs after he was reminded of the Chorus in that play by a herd of pigs passing to market under the window of his lodgings in San Giuliano, Italy. Aristophanes (particularly in reference to The Clouds) is mentioned frequently by the character Menedemos in the Hellenic Traders series of novels by H. N. Turteltaub. A liberal version of the comedies have been published in comic book format, initially by "Agrotikes Ekdoseis" during the 1980s and republished over the years by other companies. The plot was written by Tasos Apostolidis and the sketches were of George Akokalidis. The stories feature either Aristophanes narrating them, directing the play, or even as a character inside one of his stories. Radio shows Acropolis Now is a comedy radio show for the BBC set in Ancient Greece. It features Aristophanes, Socrates and many other famous Greeks. (Not to be confused with the Australian sitcom of the same name.) Aristophanes is characterised as a celebrity playwright, and most of his plays have the title formula: One of Our [e.g] Slaves has an Enormous Knob (a reference to the exaggerated appendages worn by Greek comic actors) Aristophanes Against the World was a radio play by Martyn Wade and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Loosely based on several of his plays, it featured Clive Merrison as Aristophanes. The Wasps, radio play adapted by David Pountney, music by Vaughan Williams, recorded 26–28 July 2005, Albert Halls, Bolten, in association with BBC, under Halle label Music Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes is a three-movement piece for concert band composed by Norman Dello Joio. It was commissioned in commemoration of the Bicentennial of 19 April 1775 (the start of the American Revolutionary War) by the Concord (Massachusetts) Band. The commission was funded by the Town of Concord and assistance was given by the Eastern National Park and Monument Association in cooperation with the National Park Service. Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote The Wasps for a 1909 Cambridge University production of the play. Translation of Aristophanes Alan H. Sommerstein believes that although there are good translations of Aristophanes' comedies, none could be flawless, "for there is much truth in the paradox that the only really perfect translation is the original." Nevertheless, there are competent, respectable translations in many languages. Despite the fact that translations of Aristophanes may not be perfect, "the reception of Aristophanes has gained extraordinary momentum as a topic of academic interest in the last few years." Works Surviving plays Most of these are traditionally referred to by abbreviations of their Latin titles; Latin remains a customary language of scholarship in classical studies. The Acharnians ( Akharneis; Attic ; ), 425 BC The Knights ( Hippeis; Attic ; Latin: ), 424 BC The Clouds ( Nephelai; Latin: ), original 423 BC, uncompleted revised version from 419 to 416 BC survives The Wasps ( Sphekes; Latin: ), 422 BC Peace ( Eirene; Latin: ), first version, 421 BC The Birds ( Ornithes; Latin: ), 414 BC Lysistrata ( Lysistrate), 411 BC Thesmophoriazusae or The Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria ( Thesmophoriazousai), first version The Frogs ( Batrakhoi; Latin: ), 405 BC Ecclesiazusae or The Assemblywomen; ( Ekklesiazousai), Wealth ( Ploutos; Latin Plutus) second version, 388 BC Datable non-surviving (lost) plays The standard modern edition of the fragments is Rudolf Kassel and Colin François Lloyd Austin's, Poetae Comici Graeci III.2. Banqueters (Δαιταλεῖς Daitaleis, 427 BC) Babylonians (Βαβυλώνιοι Babylonioi, 426 BC) Farmers (Γεωργοί Georgoi, 424 BC) Merchant Ships (Ὁλκάδες Holkades, 423 BC) Clouds (first version, 423 BC) Proagon (Προάγων, 422 BC) Amphiaraus (Ἀμφιάραος, 414 BC) Plutus (Wealth, first version, 408 BC) Gerytades (Γηρυτάδης, uncertain, probably 407 BC) Cocalus (Κώκαλος, 387 BC) Aiolosicon (Αἰολοσίκων, second version, 386 BC) Undated non-surviving (lost) plays Aiolosicon (first version) Anagyrus (Ἀνάγυρος) Frying-Pan Men (Ταγηνισταί Tagenistai) Daedalus (Δαίδαλος) Danaids (Δαναΐδες Danaides) Centaur (Κένταυρος Kentauros) Heroes (Ἥρωες) Lemnian Women (Λήμνιαι Lemniai) Old Age (Γῆρας Geras) Peace (second version) Phoenician Women (Φοίνισσαι Phoinissai) Polyidus (Πολύιδος) Seasons (Ὧραι Horai) Storks (Πελαργοί Pelargoi) Telmessians (Τελμησσεῖς Telmesseis) Triphales (Τριφάλης) Thesmophoriazusae (Women at the Thesmophoria Festival, second version) Women in Tents (Σκηνὰς Καταλαμβάνουσαι Skenas Katalambanousai) Attributed (doubtful, possibly by Archippus) See also Agathon Ancient Greek comedy Asteroid 2934 Aristophanes, named after the dramatist Greek literature Onomasti komodein, the witty personal attack made with total freedom against the most notable individuals Hubert Parry wrote music for The Birds Theatre of ancient Greece Codex Ravennas 429 Notes References reviewed by W. J. Slater, Phoenix, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 291–293 Lee, Jae Num. "Scatology in Continental Satirical Writings from Aristophanes to Rabelais" and "English Scatological Writings from Skelton to Pope." Swift and Scatological Satire. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1971. 7–22; 23–53. Aristophanes and the Comic Hero by Cedric H. Whitman Author(s) of Review: H. Lloyd Stow The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 87, No. 1 (Jan., 1966), pp. 111–113 G. M. Sifakis The Structure of Aristophanic Comedy The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 112, 1992 (1992), pp. 123–142 Van Steen, Gonda. 2000 Venom in Verse: Aristophanes in Modern Greece. Princeton University Press. Jstor.org, The American Journal of Philology, 1996. Life, death and Aristophanes' concept of Eros in Saul Bellow's "Ravelstein". Further reading The Eleven Comedies (in translation) at the University of Adelaide Library External links 440s BC births Year of birth unknown 380s BC deaths Year of death unknown 4th-century BC Athenians 4th-century BC writers 5th-century BC Athenians 5th-century BC writers Ancient Athenians Ancient Athenian dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greek satirists Old Comic poets Writers of lost works

1032

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abscess

Abscess

An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends beyond the swelling. Carbuncles and boils are types of abscess that often involve hair follicles, with carbuncles being larger. They are usually caused by a bacterial infection. Often many different types of bacteria are involved in a single infection. In many areas of the world, the most common bacteria present is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Rarely, parasites can cause abscesses; this is more common in the developing world. Diagnosis of a skin abscess is usually made based on what it looks like and is confirmed by cutting it open. Ultrasound imaging may be useful in cases in which the diagnosis is not clear. In abscesses around the anus, computer tomography (CT) may be important to look for deeper infection. Standard treatment for most skin or soft tissue abscesses is cutting it open and drainage. There appears to be some benefit from also using antibiotics. A small amount of evidence supports not packing the cavity that remains with gauze after drainage. Closing this cavity right after draining it rather than leaving it open may speed healing without increasing the risk of the abscess returning. Sucking out the pus with a needle is often not sufficient. Skin abscesses are common and have become more common in recent years. Risk factors include intravenous drug use, with rates reported as high as 65% among users. In 2005, 3.2 million people went to American emergency departments for abscesses. In Australia, around 13,000 people were hospitalized in 2008 with the condition. Signs and symptoms Abscesses may occur in any kind of tissue but most frequently within the skin surface (where they may be superficial pustules known as boils or deep skin abscesses), in the lungs, brain, teeth, kidneys, and tonsils. Major complications may include spreading of the abscess material to adjacent or remote tissues, and extensive regional tissue death (gangrene). The main symptoms and signs of a skin abscess are redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function. There may also be high temperature (fever) and chills. If superficial, abscesses may be fluctuant when palpated; this wave-like motion is caused by movement of the pus inside the abscess. An internal abscess is more difficult to identify, but signs include pain in the affected area, a high temperature, and generally feeling unwell. Internal abscesses rarely heal themselves, so prompt medical attention is indicated if such an abscess is suspected. An abscess can potentially be fatal depending on where it is located. Causes Risk factors for abscess formation include intravenous drug use. Another possible risk factor is a prior history of disc herniation or other spinal abnormality, though this has not been proven. Abscesses are caused by bacterial infection, parasites, or foreign substances. Bacterial infection is the most common cause, particularly Staphylococcus aureus. The more invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may also be a source of infection, though is much rarer. Among spinal subdural abscesses, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus is the most common organism involved. Rarely parasites can cause abscesses and this is more common in the developing world. Specific parasites known to do this include dracunculiasis and myiasis. Perianal abscess Surgery of the anal fistula to drain an abscess treats the fistula and reduces likelihood of its recurrence and the need for repeated surgery. There is no evidence that fecal incontinence is a consequence of this surgery for abscess drainage. Perianal abscesses can be seen in people with, for example, inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease) or diabetes. Often the abscess will start as an internal wound caused by ulceration, hard stool, or penetrative objects with insufficient lubrication. This wound typically becomes infected as a result of the normal presence of feces in the rectal area, and then develops into an abscess. This often presents itself as a lump of tissue near the anus which grows larger and more painful with time. Like other abscesses, perianal abscesses may require prompt medical treatment, such as an incision and debridement or lancing. Incisional abscess An incisional abscess is one that develops as a complication secondary to a surgical incision. It presents as redness and warmth at the margins of the incision with purulent drainage from it. If the diagnosis is uncertain, the wound should be aspirated with a needle, with aspiration of pus confirming the diagnosis and availing for Gram stain and bacterial culture. Pathophysiology An abscess is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. Organisms or foreign materials destroy the local cells, which results in the release of cytokines. The cytokines trigger an inflammatory response, which draws large numbers of white blood cells to the area and increases the regional blood flow. The final structure of the abscess is an abscess wall, or capsule, that is formed by the adjacent healthy cells in an attempt to keep the pus from infecting neighboring structures. However, such encapsulation tends to prevent immune cells from attacking bacteria in the pus, or from reaching the causative organism or foreign object. Diagnosis An abscess is a localized collection of pus (purulent inflammatory tissue) caused by suppuration buried in a tissue, an organ, or a confined space, lined by the pyogenic membrane. Ultrasound imaging can help in a diagnosis. Classification Abscesses may be classified as either skin abscesses or internal abscesses. Skin abscesses are common; internal abscesses tend to be harder to diagnose, and more serious. Skin abscesses are also called cutaneous or subcutaneous abscesses. IV drug use For those with a history of intravenous drug use, an X-ray is recommended before treatment to verify that no needle fragments are present. If there is also a fever present in this population, infectious endocarditis should be considered. Differential Abscesses should be differentiated from empyemas, which are accumulations of pus in a preexisting, rather than a newly formed, anatomical cavity. Other conditions that can cause similar symptoms include: cellulitis, a sebaceous cyst, and necrotising fasciitis. Cellulitis typically also has an erythematous reaction, but does not confer any purulent drainage. Treatment The standard treatment for an uncomplicated skin or soft tissue abscess is the act of opening and draining. There does not appear to be any benefit from also using antibiotics in most cases. A small amount of evidence did not find a benefit from packing the abscess with gauze. Incision and drainage The abscess should be inspected to identify if foreign objects are a cause, which may require their removal. If foreign objects are not the cause, incising and draining the abscess is standard treatment. In critical areas where surgery presents a high risk, it may be delayed or used as a last resort. The drainage of a lung abscess may be performed by positioning the affected individual in a way that enables the contents to be discharged via the respiratory tract. Warm compresses and elevation of the limb may be beneficial for a skin abscess. Antibiotics Most people who have an uncomplicated skin abscess should not use antibiotics. Antibiotics in addition to standard incision and drainage is recommended in persons with severe abscesses, many sites of infection, rapid disease progression, the presence of cellulitis, symptoms indicating bacterial illness throughout the body, or a health condition causing immunosuppression. People who are very young or very old may also need antibiotics. If the abscess does not heal only with incision and drainage, or if the abscess is in a place that is difficult to drain such as the face, hands, or genitals, then antibiotics may be indicated. In those cases of abscess which do require antibiotic treatment, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is a common cause and an anti-staphylococcus antibiotic such as flucloxacillin or dicloxacillin is used. The Infectious Diseases Society of America advises that the draining of an abscess is not enough to address community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and in those cases, traditional antibiotics may be ineffective. Alternative antibiotics effective against community-acquired MRSA often include clindamycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The American College of Emergency Physicians advises that typical cases of abscess from MRSA get no benefit from having antibiotic treatment in addition to the standard treatment. If the condition is thought to be cellulitis rather than an abscess, consideration should be given to the possibility of the strep species as a cause, that are still sensitive to traditional anti-staphylococcus agents such as dicloxacillin or cephalexin. This would be in the case of people that are able to tolerate penicillin. Antibiotic therapy alone without surgical drainage of the abscess is seldom effective due to antibiotics often being unable to get into the abscess and their ineffectiveness at low pH levels. Culturing the wound is not needed if standard follow-up care can be provided after the incision and drainage. Performing a wound culture is unnecessary because it rarely gives information which can be used to guide treatment. Packing In North America, after drainage, an abscess cavity is usually packed, often with special iodoform-treated cloth. This is done to absorb and neutralize any remaining exudate as well as to promote draining and prevent premature closure. Prolonged draining is thought to promote healing. The hypothesis is that though the heart's pumping action can deliver immune and regenerative cells to the edge of an injury, an abscess is by definition a void in which no blood vessels are present. Packing is thought to provide a wicking action that continuously draws beneficial factors and cells from the body into the void that must be healed. Discharge is then absorbed by cutaneous bandages and further wicking promoted by changing these bandages regularly. However, evidence from emergency medicine literature reports that packing wounds after draining, especially smaller wounds, causes pain to the person and does not decrease the rate of recurrence, nor bring faster healing, or fewer physician visits. Loop drainage More recently, several North American hospitals have opted for less-invasive loop drainage over standard drainage and wound packing. In one study of 143 pediatric outcomes, a failure rate of 1.4% was reported in the loop group versus 10.5% in the packing group (P<.030), while a separate study reported a 5.5% failure rate among the loop group. Primary closure Closing an abscess immediately after draining it appears to speed healing without increasing the risk of recurrence. This may not apply to anorectal abscesses as while they may heal faster, there may be a higher rate of recurrence than those left open. Prognosis Even without treatment, skin abscesses rarely result in death, as they will naturally break through the skin. Other types of abscess are more dangerous. Brain abscesses may be fatal if untreated. When treated, the mortality rate reduces to 5–10%, but is higher if the abscess ruptures. Epidemiology Skin abscesses are common and have become more common in recent years. Risk factors include intravenous drug use, with rates reported as high as 65% among users. In 2005, in the United States 3.2 million people went to the emergency department for an abscess. In Australia around 13,000 people were hospitalized in 2008 for the disease. Society and culture The Latin medical aphorism "ubi pus, ibi evacua" expresses "where there is pus, there evacuate it" and is classical advice in the culture of Western medicine. Needle exchange programmes often administer or provide referrals for abscess treatment to injection drug users as part of a harm reduction public health strategy. Etymology An abscess is so called "abscess" because there is an abscessus (a going away or departure) of portions of the animal tissue from each other to make room for the suppurated matter lodged between them. The word carbuncle is believed to have originated from the Latin: carbunculus, originally a small coal; diminutive of carbon-, carbo: charcoal or ember, but also a carbuncle stone, "precious stones of a red or fiery colour", usually garnets. Other types The following types of abscess are listed in the medical dictionary: References External links General surgery Cutaneous lesion Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate Wikipedia emergency medicine articles ready to translate

1064

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond

Almond

The almond (Prunus amygdalus, syn. Prunus dulcis) is a species of small tree from the genus Prunus, cultivated worldwide for its seed, a culinary nut. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed. The fruit of the almond is a drupe, consisting of an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed, which is not a true nut. Shelling almonds refers to removing the shell to reveal the seed. Almonds are sold shelled or unshelled. Blanched almonds are shelled almonds that have been treated with hot water to soften the seedcoat, which is then removed to reveal the white embryo. Once almonds are cleaned and processed, they can be stored over time. Almonds are used in many cuisines, often featuring prominently in desserts, such as marzipan. The almond tree prospers in a moderate Mediterranean climate with cool winter weather. Native to Iran and surrounding countries including the Levant, today it is rarely found wild in its original setting. Almonds were one of the earliest domesticated fruit trees, due to the ability to produce quality offspring entirely from seed, without using suckers and cuttings. Evidence of domesticated almonds in the Early Bronze Age has been found in the archeological sites of the Middle East, and subsequently across the Mediterranean region and similar arid climates with cool winters. California produces over half of the world's almond supply. Due to high acreage and water demand for almond cultivation, and need for pesticides, California almond production may be unsustainable, especially during the persistent drought and heat from climate change in the 21st century. Droughts in California have caused some producers to leave the industry, leading to lower supply and increased prices. Description The almond is a deciduous tree growing to in height, with a trunk of up to in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then gray in their second year. The leaves are long, with a serrated margin and a petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring. Almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The optimal temperature for their growth is between and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 200 to 700 hours below to break dormancy. Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering. The almond fruit is long. It is not a nut but a drupe. The outer covering, consisting of an outer exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh, fleshy in other members of Prunus such as the plum and cherry, is instead a thick, leathery, gray-green coat (with a downy exterior), called the hull. Inside the hull is a woody endocarp which forms a reticulated, hard shell (like the outside of a peach pit) called the pyrena. Inside the shell is the edible seed, commonly called a nut. Generally, one seed is present, but occasionally two occur. After the fruit matures, the hull splits and separates from the shell, and an abscission layer forms between the stem and the fruit so that the fruit can fall from the tree. Taxonomy Sweet and bitter almonds The seeds of Prunus dulcis var. dulcis are predominantly sweet but some individual trees produce seeds that are somewhat more bitter. The genetic basis for bitterness involves a single gene, the bitter flavor furthermore being recessive, both aspects making this trait easier to domesticate. The fruits from Prunus dulcis var. amara are always bitter, as are the kernels from other species of genus Prunus, such as apricot, peach and cherry (although to a lesser extent). The bitter almond is slightly broader and shorter than the sweet almond and contains about 50% of the fixed oil that occurs in sweet almonds. It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on the two soluble glucosides amygdalin and prunasin yielding glucose, cyanide and the essential oil of bitter almonds, which is nearly pure benzaldehyde, the chemical causing the bitter flavor. Bitter almonds may yield 4–9 milligrams of hydrogen cyanide per almond and contain 42 times higher amounts of cyanide than the trace levels found in sweet almonds. The origin of cyanide content in bitter almonds is via the enzymatic hydrolysis of amygdalin. P450 monooxygenases are involved in the amygdalin biosynthetic pathway. A point mutation in a bHLH transcription factor prevents transcription of the two cytochrome P450 genes, resulting in the sweet kernel trait. Etymology The word almond comes from Old French or , Late Latin , , derived from from the Ancient Greek () (cf. amygdala, an almond-shaped portion of the brain). Late Old English had amygdales, "almonds". The adjective amygdaloid (literally 'like an almond') is used to describe objects which are roughly almond-shaped, particularly a shape which is part way between a triangle and an ellipse. For example, the amygdala of the brain uses a direct borrowing of the Greek term . Distribution and habitat Almond is native to Iran and its surrounding regions, including the Levant area. It was spread by humans in ancient times along the shores of the Mediterranean into northern Africa and southern Europe, and more recently transported to other parts of the world, notably California, United States. The wild form of domesticated almond grows in parts of the Levant. Selection of the sweet type from the many bitter types in the wild marked the beginning of almond domestication. It is unclear as to which wild ancestor of the almond created the domesticated species. The species Prunus fenzliana may be the most likely wild ancestor of the almond, in part because it is native to Armenia and western Azerbaijan, where it was apparently domesticated. Wild almond species were grown by early farmers, "at first unintentionally in the garbage heaps, and later intentionally in their orchards". Cultivation Almonds were one of the earliest domesticated fruit trees, due to "the ability of the grower to raise attractive almonds from seed. Thus, in spite of the fact that this plant does not lend itself to propagation from suckers or from cuttings, it could have been domesticated even before the introduction of grafting". Domesticated almonds appear in the Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BC), such as the archaeological sites of Numeira (Jordan), or possibly earlier. Another well-known archaeological example of the almond is the fruit found in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt (c. 1325 BC), probably imported from the Levant. An article on almond tree cultivation in Spain is brought down in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture. Of the European countries that the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh reported as cultivating almonds, Germany is the northernmost, though the domesticated form can be found as far north as Iceland. Varieties Almond trees are small to medium sized but commercial cultivars can be grafted onto a different root-stock to produce smaller trees. Varieties include: – originates in the 1800s. A large tree that produces large, smooth, thin-shelled almonds with 60–65% edible kernel per nut. Requires pollination from other almond varieties for good nut production. – originates in Italy. Has thicker, hairier shells with only 32% of edible kernel per nut. The thicker shell gives some protection from pests such as the navel orangeworm. Does not require pollination by other almond varieties. Mariana – used as a rootstock to result in smaller trees Breeding Breeding programmes have found the high shell-seal trait. Pollination The most widely planted varieties of almond are self-incompatible; hence these trees require pollen from a tree with different genetic characters to produce seeds. Almond orchards therefore must grow mixtures of almond varieties. In addition, the pollen is transferred from flower to flower by insects; therefore commercial growers must ensure there are enough insects to perform this task. The large scale of almond production in the U.S. creates a significant problem of providing enough pollinating insects. Additional pollinating insects are therefore brought to the trees. The pollination of California's almonds is the largest annual managed pollination event in the world, with 1.4 million hives (nearly half of all beehives in the US) being brought to the almond orchards each February. Much of the supply of bees is managed by pollination brokers, who contract with migratory beekeepers from at least 49 states for the event. This business was heavily affected by colony collapse disorder at the turn of the 21st century, causing a nationwide shortage of honey bees and increasing the price of insect pollination. To partially protect almond growers from these costs, researchers at the Agricultural Research Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), developed self-pollinating almond trees that combine this character with quality characters such as a flavor and yield. Self-pollinating almond varieties exist, but they lack some commercial characters. However, through natural hybridisation between different almond varieties, a new variety that was self-pollinating with a high yield of commercial quality nuts was produced. Diseases Almond trees can be attacked by an array of damaging microbes, fungal pathogens, plant viruses, and bacteria. Pests Pavement ants (Tetramorium caespitum), southern fire ants (Solenopsis xyloni), and thief ants (Solenopsis molesta) are seed predators. Bryobia rubrioculus mites are most known for their damage to this crop. Sustainability Almond production in California is concentrated mainly in the Central Valley, where the mild climate, rich soil, abundant sunshine and water supply make for ideal growing conditions. Due to the persistent droughts in California in the early 21st century, it became more difficult to raise almonds in a sustainable manner. The issue is complex because of the high amount of water needed to produce almonds: a single almond requires roughly of water to grow properly. Regulations related to water supplies are changing so some growers have destroyed their current almond orchards to replace with either younger trees or a different crop such as pistachio that needs less water. Sustainability strategies implemented by the Almond Board of California and almond farmers include: tree and soil health, and other farming practices minimizing dust production during the harvest bee health irrigation guidelines for farmers food safety use of waste biomass as coproducts with a goal to achieve zero waste use of solar energy during processing job development support of scientific research to investigate potential health benefits of consuming almonds international education about sustainability practices Production In 2020, world production of almonds was 4.1 million tonnes, led by the United States providing 57% of the world total (table). Other leading producers were Spain, Australia, and Iran. United States In the United States, production is concentrated in California where and six different almond varieties were under cultivation in 2017, with a yield of of shelled almonds. California production is marked by a period of intense pollination during late winter by rented commercial bees transported by truck across the U.S. to almond groves, requiring more than half of the total U.S. commercial honeybee population. The value of total U.S. exports of shelled almonds in 2016 was $3.2 billion. All commercially grown almonds sold as food in the U.S. are sweet cultivars. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported in 2010 that some fractions of imported sweet almonds were contaminated with bitter almonds, which contain cyanide. Spain Spain has diverse commercial cultivars of almonds grown in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Aragón regions, and the Balearic Islands. Production in 2016 declined 2% nationally compared to 2015 production data. The 'Marcona' almond cultivar is recognizably different from other almonds and is marketed by name. The kernel is short, round, relatively sweet, and delicate in texture. Its origin is unknown and has been grown in Spain for a long time; the tree is very productive, and the shell of the nut is very hard. Australia Australia is the largest almond production region in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the almond orchards are located along the Murray River corridor in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Toxicity Bitter almonds contain 42 times higher amounts of cyanide than the trace levels found in sweet almonds. Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally but even in small doses, effects are severe or lethal, especially in children; the cyanide must be removed before consumption. The acute oral lethal dose of cyanide for adult humans is reported to be of body weight (approximately 50 bitter almonds), so that for children consuming 5–10 bitter almonds may be fatal. Symptoms of eating such almonds include vertigo and other typical cyanide poisoning effects. Almonds may cause allergy or intolerance. Cross-reactivity is common with peach allergens (lipid transfer proteins) and tree nut allergens. Symptoms range from local signs and symptoms (e.g., oral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic signs and symptoms including anaphylaxis (e.g., urticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms). Almonds are susceptible to aflatoxin-producing molds. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic chemicals produced by molds such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The mold contamination may occur from soil, previously infested almonds, and almond pests such as navel-orange worm. High levels of mold growth typically appear as gray to black filament-like growth. It is unsafe to eat mold-infected tree nuts. Some countries have strict limits on allowable levels of aflatoxin contamination of almonds and require adequate testing before the nuts can be marketed to their citizens. The European Union, for example, introduced a requirement since 2007 that all almond shipments to the EU be tested for aflatoxin. If aflatoxin does not meet the strict safety regulations, the entire consignment may be reprocessed to eliminate the aflatoxin or it must be destroyed. Breeding programs have found the trait. High shell-seal provides resistance against these Aspergillus species and so against the development of their toxins. Mandatory pasteurization in California After tracing cases of salmonellosis to almonds, the USDA approved a proposal by the Almond Board of California to pasteurize almonds sold to the public. After publishing the rule in March 2007, the almond pasteurization program became mandatory for California companies effective 1 September 2007. Raw, untreated California almonds have not been available in the U.S. since then. California almonds labeled "raw" must be steam-pasteurized or chemically treated with propylene oxide (PPO). This does not apply to imported almonds or almonds sold from the grower directly to the consumer in small quantities. The treatment also is not required for raw almonds sold for export outside of North America. The Almond Board of California states: "PPO residue dissipates after treatment". The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported: "Propylene oxide has been detected in fumigated food products; consumption of contaminated food is another possible route of exposure". PPO is classified as Group 2B ("possibly carcinogenic to humans"). The USDA-approved marketing order was challenged in court by organic farmers organized by the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group which filed a lawsuit in September 2008. According to the institute, this almond marketing order has imposed significant financial burdens on small-scale and organic growers and damaged domestic almond markets. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in early 2009 on procedural grounds. In August 2010, a federal appeals court ruled that the farmers have a right to appeal the USDA regulation. In March 2013, the court vacated the suit on the basis that the objections should have been raised in 2007 when the regulation was first proposed. Uses Nutrition Almonds are 4% water, 22% carbohydrates, 21% protein, and 50% fat (table). In a reference amount, almonds supply of food energy. The almond is a nutritionally dense food (table), providing a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of the B vitamins riboflavin and niacin, vitamin E, and the essential minerals calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc. Almonds are a moderate source (10–19% DV) of the B vitamins thiamine, vitamin B6, and folate, choline, and the essential mineral potassium. They also contain substantial dietary fiber, the monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, and the polyunsaturated fat, linoleic acid. Typical of nuts and seeds, almonds are a source of phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, sitostanol, and campestanol. Health Almonds are included as a good source of protein among recommended healthy foods by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A 2016 review of clinical research indicated that regular consumption of almonds may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood levels of LDL cholesterol. Culinary While the almond is often eaten on its own, raw or toasted, it is also a component of various dishes. Almonds are available in many forms, such as whole, slivered, and ground into flour. Almond pieces around in size, called "nibs", are used for special purposes such as decoration. Almonds are a common addition to breakfast muesli or oatmeal. Desserts A wide range of classic sweets feature almonds as a central ingredient. Marzipan was developed in the Middle Ages. Since the 19th century almonds have been used to make bread, almond butter, cakes and puddings, candied confections, almond cream-filled pastries, nougat, cookies (macaroons, biscotti and qurabiya), and cakes (financiers, Esterházy torte), and other sweets and desserts. The young, developing fruit of the almond tree can be eaten whole (green almonds) when they are still green and fleshy on the outside and the inner shell has not yet hardened. The fruit is somewhat sour, but is a popular snack in parts of the Middle East, eaten dipped in salt to balance the sour taste. Also in the Middle East they are often eaten with dates. They are available only from mid-April to mid-June in the Northern Hemisphere; pickling or brining extends the fruit's shelf life. Marzipan Marzipan, a smooth, sweetened almond paste, is used in a number of elegant cakes and desserts. Princess cake is covered by marzipan (similar to fondant), as is Battenberg cake. In Sicily, sponge cake is covered with marzipan to make cassatella di sant'Agata and cassata siciliana, and marzipan is dyed and crafted into realistic fruit shapes to make frutta martorana. The Andalusian Christmas pastry pan de Cádiz is filled with marzipan and candied fruit. World cuisines In French cuisine, alternating layers of almond and hazelnut meringue are used to make the dessert dacquoise. Pithivier is one of many almond cream-filled pastries. In Germany, Easter bread called Deutsches Osterbrot is baked with raisins and almonds. In Greece almond flour is used to make amygdalopita, a glyka tapsiou dessert cake baking in a tray. Almonds are used for kourabiedes, a Greek version of the traditional quarabiya almond biscuits. A soft drink known as soumada is made from almonds in various regions. In Saudi Arabia, almonds are a typical embellishment for the rice dish kabsa. In Iran, green almonds are dipped in sea salt and eaten as snacks on street markets; they are called chaqale bâdam. Candied almonds called noghl are served alongside tea and coffee. Also, sweet almonds are used to prepare special food for babies, named harire badam. Almonds are added to some foods, cookies, and desserts, or are used to decorate foods. People in Iran consume roasted nuts for special events, for example, during New Year (Nowruz) parties. In Italy, colomba di Pasqua is a traditional Easter cake made with almonds. Bitter almonds are the base for amaretti cookies, a common dessert. Almonds are also a common choice as the nuts to include in torrone. In Morocco, almonds in the form of sweet almond paste are the main ingredient in pastry fillings, and several other desserts. Fried blanched whole almonds are also used to decorate sweet tajines such as lamb with prunes. Southwestern Berber regions of Essaouira and Souss are also known for amlou, a spread made of almond paste, argan oil, and honey. Almond paste is also mixed with toasted flour and among others, honey, olive oil or butter, anise, fennel, sesame seeds, and cinnamon to make sellou (also called zamita in Meknes or slilou in Marrakech), a sweet snack known for its long shelf life and high nutritive value. In Indian cuisine, almonds are the base ingredients of pasanda-style and Mughlai curries. Badam halva is a sweet made from almonds with added coloring. Almond flakes are added to many sweets (such as sohan barfi), and are usually visible sticking to the outer surface. Almonds form the base of various drinks which are supposed to have cooling properties. Almond sherbet or sherbet-e-badaam, is a popular summer drink. Almonds are also sold as a snack with added salt. In Israel almonds are used as a topping for tahini cookies or eaten as a snack. In Spain Marcona almonds are usually toasted in oil and lightly salted. They are used by Spanish confectioners to prepare a sweet called turrón. In Arabian cuisine, almonds are commonly used as garnishing for Mansaf. Certain natural food stores sell "bitter almonds" or "apricot kernels" labeled as such, requiring significant caution by consumers for how to prepare and eat these products. Milk Almonds can be processed into a milk substitute called almond milk; the nut's soft texture, mild flavor, and light coloring (when skinned) make for an efficient analog to dairy, and a soy-free choice for lactose intolerant people and vegans. Raw, blanched, and lightly toasted almonds work well for different production techniques, some of which are similar to that of soy milk and some of which use no heat, resulting in raw milk. Almond milk, along with almond butter and almond oil, are versatile products used in both sweet and savoury dishes. In Moroccan cuisine, sharbat billooz, a common beverage, is made by blending blanched almonds with milk, sugar and other flavorings. Flour and skins Almond flour or ground almond meal combined with sugar or honey as marzipan is often used as a gluten-free alternative to wheat flour in cooking and baking. Almonds contain polyphenols in their skins consisting of flavonols, flavan-3-ols, hydroxybenzoic acids and flavanones analogous to those of certain fruits and vegetables. These phenolic compounds and almond skin prebiotic dietary fiber have commercial interest as food additives or dietary supplements. Syrup Historically, almond syrup was an emulsion of sweet and bitter almonds, usually made with barley syrup (orgeat syrup) or in a syrup of orange flower water and sugar, often flavored with a synthetic aroma of almonds. Orgeat syrup is an important ingredient in the Mai Tai and many other Tiki drinks. Due to the cyanide found in bitter almonds, modern syrups generally are produced only from sweet almonds. Such syrup products do not contain significant levels of hydrocyanic acid, so are generally considered safe for human consumption. Oils Almonds are a rich source of oil, with 50% of kernel dry mass as fat (whole almond nutrition table). In relation to total dry mass of the kernel, almond oil contains 32% monounsaturated oleic acid (an omega-9 fatty acid), 13% linoleic acid (a polyunsaturated omega-6 essential fatty acid), and 10% saturated fatty acid (mainly as palmitic acid). Linolenic acid, a polyunsaturated omega-3 fat, is not present (table). Almond oil is a rich source of vitamin E, providing 261% of the Daily Value per 100 millilitres. When almond oil is analyzed separately and expressed per 100 grams as a reference mass, the oil provides of food energy, 8 grams of saturated fat (81% of which is palmitic acid), 70 grams of oleic acid, and 17 grams of linoleic acid (oil table). Oleum amygdalae, the fixed oil, is prepared from either sweet or bitter almonds, and is a glyceryl oleate with a slight odour and a nutty taste. It is almost insoluble in alcohol but readily soluble in chloroform or ether. Almond oil is obtained from the dried kernel of almonds. Sweet almond oil is used as a carrier oil in aromatherapy and cosmetics while bitter almond oil, containing benzaldehyde, is used as a food flavouring and in perfume. In culture The almond is highly revered in some cultures. The tree originated in the Middle East. In the Bible, the almond is mentioned ten times, beginning with Genesis 43:11, where it is described as "among the best of fruits". In Numbers 17, Levi is chosen from the other tribes of Israel by Aaron's rod, which brought forth almond flowers. The almond blossom supplied a model for the menorah which stood in the Holy Temple, "Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on one branch, with a knob and a flower; and three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on the other … on the candlestick itself were four cups, shaped like almond blossoms, with its knobs and flowers" (Exodus 25:33–34; 37:19–20). Many Sephardic Jews give five almonds to each guest before special occasions like weddings. Similarly, Christian symbolism often uses almond branches as a symbol of the virgin birth of Jesus; paintings and icons often include almond-shaped haloes encircling the Christ Child and as a symbol of Mary. The word "luz", which appears in Genesis 30:37, sometimes translated as "hazel", may actually be derived from the Aramaic name for almond (Luz), and is translated as such in the New International Version and other versions of the Bible. The Arabic name for almond is لوز "lauz" or "lūz". In some parts of the Levant and North Africa, it is pronounced "loz", which is very close to its Aramaic origin. The Entrance of the flower (La entrada de la flor) is an event celebrated on 1 February in Torrent, Spain, in which the clavarios and members of the Confrerie of the Mother of God deliver a branch of the first-blooming almond-tree to the Virgin. See also Fruit tree forms Fruit tree propagation Fruit tree pruning List of almond dishes List of edible seeds References External links University of California Fruit and Nut Research and Information Center Benefits of Soaked Almonds Almond Edible nuts and seeds Flora of Asia Pollination management Snack foods Almond oil Crops Fruit trees Symbols of California Flora of Lebanon and Syria

1082

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography%20of%20Azerbaijan

Geography of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is a country in the Caucasus region, situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and West Asia. Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea, whose shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east; the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north; and the extensive flatlands at the country's center. About the size of Portugal or the US state of Maine, Azerbaijan has a total land area of approximately 86,600 square kilometers, less than 1% of the land area of the former Soviet Union. Of the three Transcaucasian states, Azerbaijan has the greatest land area. Special administrative subdivisions are the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a strip of Armenian territory, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, entirely within Azerbaijan. The status of Nagorno-Karabakh is disputed by Armenia, but is internationally recognized as territory of Azerbaijan. Located in the region of the southern Caucasus Mountains, Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea to the east, Georgia and Russia to the north, Iran to the south, and Armenia to the southwest and west. A small part of Nakhchivan also borders Turkey to the northwest. The capital of Azerbaijan is the ancient city of Baku, which has the largest and best harbor on the Caspian Sea and has long been the center of the republic's oil industry. Topography and drainage The elevation changes over a relatively short distance from lowlands to highlands; nearly half the country is considered mountainous. Notable physical features are the gently undulating hills of the subtropical southeastern coast, which are covered with tea plantations, orange groves, and lemon groves; numerous mud volcanoes and mineral springs in the ravines of Kobustan Mountain near Baku; and coastal terrain that lies as much as twenty-eight meters below sea level. Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. To the northeast, bordering Russia's Dagestan Autonomous Republic, is the Greater Caucasus range; to the west, bordering Armenia, is the Lesser Caucasus range. To the extreme southeast, the Talysh Mountains form part of the border with Iran. The highest elevations occur in the Greater Caucasus, where Mount Bazardüzü rises 4,466 meters above sea level. Eight large rivers flow down from the Caucasus ranges into the central Kura-Aras Lowlands, alluvial flatlands and low delta areas along the seacoast designated by the Azerbaijani name for the Mtkvari River (Kura) and its main tributary, the Aras. The Mtkvari, the longest river in the Caucasus region, forms the delta and drains into the Caspian a short distance downstream from the confluence with the Aras. The Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 605 square kilometers that makes it the largest body of water in Azerbaijan, was formed by damming the Kura in western Azerbaijan. The waters of the reservoir provide hydroelectric power and irrigation of the Kura-Aras plain. Most of the country's rivers are not navigable. About 15% of the land in Azerbaijan is arable. Mountains The country's highest peak, Bazardüzü, rises to 4,485 m in this range at the Azerbaijan-Russia border. Climate Temperature The climate varies from subtropical and humid in the southeast to subtropical and dry in central and eastern Azerbaijan, continental and humid in the mountains, and continental and dry in Nakhchivan. Baku, on the Caspian, enjoys mild weather that averages in January and in July. Precipitation Physiographic conditions and different atmosphere circulations admit 8 types of air currents including continental, sea, arctic, tropical currents of air that formulates the climate of the Republic. The maximum annual precipitation falls in Lenkeran (1,600 to 1,800 mm.) and the minimum in Absheron (200 to 350 mm.). The maximum daily precipitation of 334 mm was observed at the Bilieser Station in 1955. Environmental problems Air and water pollution are widespread and pose great challenges to economic development. Major sources of pollution include oil refineries and chemical and metallurgical industries, which in the early 1990s continued to operate as inefficiently as they had in the Soviet era. Air quality is extremely poor in Baku, the center of oil refining. Some reports have described Baku's air as the most polluted in the former Soviet Union, and other industrial centers suffer similar problems. The Caspian Sea, including Baku Bay, has been polluted by oil leakages and the dumping of raw or inadequately treated sewage, reducing the yield of caviar and fish. In the Soviet period, Azerbaijan was pressed to use extremely heavy applications of pesticides to improve its output of scarce subtropical crops for the rest of the Soviet Union. The continued regular use of the pesticide DDT in the 1970s and 1980s was an egregious lapse, although that chemical was officially banned in the Soviet Union because of its toxicity to humans. Excessive application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has caused extensive groundwater pollution and has been linked by Azerbaijani scientists to birth defects and illnesses. Rising water levels in the Caspian Sea, mainly caused by natural factors exacerbated by man-made structures, have reversed the decades-long drying trend and now threaten coastal areas; the average level rose 1.5 meters between 1978 and 1993. Because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, large numbers of trees were felled, roads were built through pristine areas, and large expanses of agricultural land were occupied by military forces. Like other former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan faces a gigantic environmental cleanup complicated by the economic uncertainties left in the wake of the Moscow-centered planning system. The Committee for the Protection of the Natural Environment is part of the Azerbaijani government, but in the early 1990s it was ineffective at targeting critical applications of limited funds, establishing pollution standards, or monitoring compliance with environmental regulations. Early in 1994, plans called for Azerbaijan to participate in the international Caspian Sea Forum, sponsored by the European Union (EU). Natural hazards Droughts and floods; some lowland areas threatened by rising levels of the Caspian Sea Environment—current issues Local scientists consider the Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) (including Baky and Sumqayit) and the Caspian Sea to be the ecologically most devastated area in the world because of severe air, water, and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of DDT as a pesticide and also from toxic defoliants used in the production of cotton. Environment - international agreements Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands Area and boundaries Area Total: 86,600 km² - country comparison to the world: 113 Land: 82,629 km² Water: 3,971 km² Note: Includes the exclave of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh region; the region's autonomy was abolished by Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on November 26, 1991. Area comparative Australia comparative: larger than Tasmania Canada comparative: larger than New Brunswick United Kingdom comparative: slightly larger than Scotland United States comparative: slightly smaller than Maine EU comparative: slightly smaller than Portugal Land boundaries Total: 2,468 km Border countries: Armenia (with Azerbaijan-proper) 566 km, Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan exclave) 221 km, Georgia 428 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-proper) 432 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan exclave) 700 km, Russia 338 km, Turkey 17 km Coastline Mostly landlocked, but has a 713 km coastline with the Caspian Sea. Maritime claims None Terrain large, flat lowland (much of it below sea-level) with Great Caucasus Mountains to the north, uplands in the west Elevation extremes Lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m Highest point: Bazardüzü 4,466 m (on the border with Russia) Highest peak entirely within Azeri territory: Shah Dagi 4,243 m Islands Resources and land use Natural resources Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, bauxite Land use Arable land: 22.95% Permanent crops: 2.79% Other: 74.26% (2012 est.) Irrigated land 14,250 km² (2010) Total renewable water resources 34.68 km3 (2011) Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) Total: 12.21 km3/yr (4%/18%/78%) Per capita: 1,384 cu m/yr (2010) See also References General references

1091

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography%20of%20Armenia

Geography of Armenia

Armenia is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of the Caucasus. The country spans Eastern Europe and West Asia, with cultural ties to both regions. Armenia is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran, Azerbaijan's exclave Nakhchivan, and Turkey. The terrain is mostly mountainous and flat, with fast flowing rivers and few forests but with many trees. The climate is highland continental: hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to above sea-level at Mount Aragats. Physical environment Armenia is located in the southern Caucasus, the region southwest of Russia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Modern Armenia occupies part of historical Armenia, whose ancient centers were in the valley of the Araks River and the region around Lake Van in Turkey. Armenia is bordered on the north by Georgia, on the east by Azerbaijan, on the south by Iran, and on the west by Turkey. Topography and drainage Twenty-five million years ago, a geological upheaval pushed up the Earth's crust to form the Armenian Plateau, creating the complex topography of modern Armenia. The Lesser Caucasus range extends through northern Armenia, runs southeast between Lake Sevan and Azerbaijan, then passes roughly along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to Iran. Thus situated, the mountains make travel from north to south difficult. Geological turmoil continues in the form of devastating earthquakes, which have plagued Armenia. In December 1988, the second largest city in the republic, Leninakan (now Gyumri), was heavily damaged by a massive quake that killed more than 25,000 people. About half of Armenia's area of approximately has an elevation of at least , and only 3% of the country lies below . The lowest points are in the valleys of the Araks River and the Debed River in the far north, which have elevations of , respectively. Elevations in the Lesser Caucasus vary between . To the southwest of the range is the Armenian Plateau, which slopes southwestward toward the Araks River on the Turkish border. The plateau is masked by intermediate mountain ranges and extinct volcanoes. The largest of these, Mount Aragats, high, is also the highest point in Armenia. Most of the population lives in the western and northwestern parts of the country, where the two major cities, Yerevan and Gyumri, are located. The valleys of the Debed and Akstafa rivers form the chief routes into Armenia from the north as they pass through the mountains. Lake Sevan, across at its widest point and long, is by far the largest lake. It lies above sea level on the plateau and is large. Other main lakes are: Arpi, , Sev, , Akna . Terrain is most rugged in the extreme southeast, which is drained by the Bargushat River, and most moderate in the Araks River valley to the extreme southwest. Most of Armenia is drained by the Araks or its tributary, the Hrazdan, which flows from Lake Sevan. The Araks forms most of Armenia's border with Turkey and Iran, while the Zangezur Mountains form the border between Armenia's southern province of Syunik and Azerbaijan's adjacent Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Climate Temperatures in Armenia generally depend upon elevation. Mountain formations block the moderating climatic influences of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, creating wide seasonal variations with cold snowy winters, and warm to hot summers. On the Armenian Plateau, the mean midwinter temperature is to , and the mean midsummer temperature is to . Average precipitation ranges from per year in the lower Araks River valley to at the highest altitudes. Despite the harshness of winter in most parts (with frosts reaching and lower in Shirak region), the fertility of the plateau's volcanic soil made Armenia one of the world's earliest sites of agricultural activity. Area and boundaries Area:total: 29,743 km2 country comparison to the world: 143 land: 28,203 km2water: 1,540 km2 Area comparative Australia comparative: about one third (33%) the size of Tasmania Canada comparative: greater than half (56%) the size of Nova Scotia Turkey comparative: about a quarter (24%) smaller than the size of Konya Province. United Kingdom comparative: about one third larger (30%) than Wales United States comparative: slightly smaller (7%) than Maryland EU comparative: slightly smaller (8%) than Belgium Land boundaries:total: 1,570 kmborder countries: Azerbaijan 566 km, Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 219 km, Iran 44 km, Turkey 311 km Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) Elevation extremes:lowest point: 375mhighest point: Mount Aragats 4,090 m Extreme points of Armenia:North: Tavush ()South: Syunik ()West: Shirak ()East: Syunik () Resources and land use Natural resources: deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite Armenia has significant deposits of copper, molybdenum and gold, as well as smaller deposits of zinc, lead and silver. Some copper-molybdenum and polymetallic ore deposits are rich in elements such as bismuth, tellurium, selenium, gallium, indium, thallium, rhenium and germanium. Land use: arable land:4.456 km², 15.8%permanent crops: 1.9%permanent pastures: 4.2%forest (2018): 11.2%other: 31.2% (2011) Irrigated land: 2.084 km2 (2018) Total renewable water resources: 7.77 m³ (2011) Armenia is considered to be a big water “supplier” in the Caspian basin; as a result, the country lacks water, especially in summer when the rate of evaporation exceeds the amount of precipitation. That is the main reason why since ancient times inhabitants have built water reservoirs and irrigation canals in the area. Lake Sevan contains the largest amount of water in the country. Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):total: 2.86 km³/yr (40%/6%/54%)per capita: 929.7 m³/yr (2010) See also Atlas of Armenia Biogeographic regions of Europe Geography of Asia Geography of Europe Geology of Armenia References

1098

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign%20relations%20of%20Armenia

Foreign relations of Armenia

Since its independence, Armenia has maintained a policy of trying to have positive and friendly relations with Iran, Russia, and the West, including the United States and the European Union. It has full membership status in a number of international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the Eurasian Economic Union, and observer status, etc. in some others. However, the dispute over the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have created tense relations with two of its immediate neighbors, Azerbaijan and Turkey. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy agenda of the Government of Armenia and organizes and manages diplomatic services abroad. Since August 2021, Ararat Mirzoyan serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Foreign relations Armenia is a member of more than 70 different international organizations, including the following: Asian Development Bank Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States Council of Europe The EU's Eastern Partnership and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly The UN's Eastern European Group Eurocontrol European Bank for Reconstruction and Development European Political Community Eurasian Economic Union Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Customs Union Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Monetary Fund Interpol La Francophonie NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Individual Partnership Action Plan, and Partnership for Peace Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation TRACECA United Nations World Bank, the World Customs Organization, and the World Trade Organization Armenia is also an observer member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Community of Democratic Choice, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of American States, the Pacific Alliance, the Arab League, the Community of Democracies, a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and a regional member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Armenian genocide recognition As of 2023, 34 states have officially recognized the historical events as genocide. Parliaments of countries that recognize the Armenian genocide include Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela. Additionally, some regional governments of countries recognize the Armenian genocide too, such as New South Wales and South Australia in Australia as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in the United Kingdom. US House Resolution 106 was introduced on 30 January 2007, and later referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The bill has 225 co-sponsors. The bill called for former President George W. Bush to recognize and use the word genocide in his annual 24 April speech which he never used. His successor President Barack Obama expressed his desire to recognize the Armenian genocide during the electoral campaigns, but after being elected, did not use the word "genocide" to describe the events that occurred in 1915. The US House of Representatives formally recognized the Armenian genocide with House Resolution 296 on 29 October 2019. The United States Senate unanimously recognized the genocide with Senate Resolution 150 on 12 December 2019. In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize the Armenian genocide. As of 2022, all 50 U.S. states have also recognized the events as genocide. Disputes Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Armenia provides political, material and military support to the Republic of Artsakh in the longstanding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The current conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988 when Armenian demonstrations against Azerbaijani rule broke out in Nagorno–Karabakh and later in Armenia. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia. Soon, violence broke out against Armenians in Azerbaijan and Azeris in Armenia. In 1990, after violent episodes in Nagorno–Karabakh and Azerbaijani cities like Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad, Moscow declared a state of emergency in Karabakh, sending troops to the region, and forcibly occupied Baku, killing over a hundred civilians. In April 1991, Azerbaijani militia and Soviet forces targeted Armenian populations in Karabakh, known as Operation Ring. Moscow also deployed troops to Yerevan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflict escalated into a full-scale war between the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (supported by Armenia), and Azerbaijan. Military action was influenced by the Russian military, which manipulated the rivalry between the two neighbouring sides in order to keep both under control. More than 30,000 people were killed in the fighting during the period of 1988 to 1994. In May 1992, Armenian forces seized Shusha and Lachin (thereby linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia). By October 1993, Armenian forces succeeded in taking almost all of former NKAO, Lachin and large areas in southwestern Azerbaijan. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions calling for the cessation of hostilities, unimpeded access for international humanitarian relief efforts, and the eventual deployment of a peacekeeping force in the region. Fighting continued, however, until May 1994 at which time Russia brokered a cease-fire between the three sides. Negotiations to resolve the conflict peacefully have been ongoing since 1992 under the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States and has representation from Turkey, the U.S., several European nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite the 1994 cease-fire, sporadic violations, sniper-fire and land mine incidents continue to claim over 100 lives each year. Since 1997, the Minsk Group co-chairs have presented three proposals to serve as a framework for resolving the conflict. Each proposal was rejected. Beginning in 1999, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia initiated a direct dialogue through a series of face-to-face meetings, often facilitated by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The OSCE sponsored a round of negotiations between the presidents in Key West, Florida. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell launched the talks on 3 April 2001, and the negotiations continued with mediation by the U.S., Russia and France until 6 April 2001. The Co-Chairs are still continuing to work with the two presidents in the hope of finding lasting peace. The two countries are still at war. Citizens of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent, are forbidden entry to Azerbaijan. If a person's passport shows evidence of travel to Nagorno–Karabakh, they are forbidden entry to Azerbaijan. In 2008, in what became known as the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes, Armenian forces and Azerbaijan clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh. The fighting between the sides was brief, with few casualties on either side. The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war was the latest escalation of the unresolved conflict. Countries without diplomatic relations Armenia does not have diplomatic relations with the following countries (organized by continent): Africa Botswana, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Sudan The Americas Barbados Asia Azerbaijan, Pakistan (Pakistan is the only country in the world that does not recognize Armenia), Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Yemen Oceania Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga Armenia also has no diplomatic relations with states with limited recognition except for the Republic of Artsakh. Countries with diplomatic relations Armenia has diplomatic relations with the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Notes on some of these relations follow (organized by continent): Multilateral Bilateral Africa The Americas Asia Europe Oceania Other international organizations Armenia is additionally a full member, unless otherwise noted, in the following international organizations, programs and treaties: See also Armenia and the United Nations Armenia–BSEC relations Armenia in the Council of Europe Armenia–European Union relations Armenia–NATO relations Armenia–OSCE relations Armenian diaspora Armenian population by urban area Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Foreign relations of Artsakh List of ambassadors of Armenia List of diplomatic missions in Armenia List of diplomatic missions of Armenia List of ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia Politics of Europe Visa policy of Armenia Visa requirements for Armenian citizens Footnotes References External links Argentina List of Treaties ruling the relations Argentina and Armenia (Argentine Foreign Ministry, in Spanish) Canada Armenian embassy in Ottawa Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade about relations with Armenian Chile Chilean Senate: recognition of the Armenian genocide (in Spanish only) Czech Armenian embassy in London British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Armenia *British embassy in Yerevan Denmark Danish Foreign Ministry: development program with Armenia NATO Iskandaryan, Alexander:"NATO and Armenia: A Long Game of Complementarism" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 5 International Khachatrian, Haroutiun: "Foreign Investments in Armenia: Influence of the Crisis and Other Peculiarities" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 28

1112

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy%20of%20American%20Samoa

Economy of American Samoa

The economy of American Samoa is a traditional Polynesian economy in which more than 90% of the land is communally owned. Economic activity is strongly linked to the United States, with which American Samoa conducts the great bulk of its foreign trade. Tuna fishing and processing plants are the backbone of the private sector, with canned tuna being the primary export. Transfers from the U.S. federal government add substantially to American Samoa's economic well-being. Attempts by the government to develop a larger and broader economy are restrained by Samoa's remote location, its limited transportation, and its devastating hurricanes. Statistics GDP: purchasing power parity – $537 million (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 210 GDP (official exchange rate): $462.2 million (2005) GDP – real growth rate: 3% (2003) country comparison to the world: 139 GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $7,874 (2008) country comparison to the world: 120 GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA% (2002) Labor Force: 17,630 (2005) country comparison to the world: 203 Labor force – by occupation: government 33%, tuna canneries 34%, other 33% (1990) Unemployment rate: 23.8% (2010) country comparison to the world: 175 Population below poverty line: NA% (2002 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA% (2003 est.) Budget: revenues: $155.4 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants) expenditures: $183.6 million (FY07) Agriculture – products: bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock Industries: tuna canneries (largely dependent on foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity – production: 180 GWh (2006) country comparison to the world: 179 Electricity – production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) Electricity – consumption: 167.4 GWh (2006) country comparison to the world: 179 Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2007) Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2007) Oil – production: (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 209 Oil – consumption: (604 m³/d), 2006 country comparison to the world: 170 Oil – exports: (2005) country comparison to the world: 142 Oil – imports: (2005) country comparison to the world: 166 Natural gas – production: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 208 Natural gas – consumption: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 207 Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 202 Natural gas – imports: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 201 Natural gas – proved reserves: 0 cu m (2006) country comparison to the world: 205 Exports: $445.6 million (2004) country comparison to the world: 167 Exports – commodities: canned tuna 93% (2004) Exports – partners: Indonesia 70%, Australia 6.7%, Japan 6.7%, Samoa 6.7% (2002) Imports: $308.8 million (2004) country comparison to the world: 195 Imports – commodities: materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6% (2004) Imports – partners: Australia 36.6%, New Zealand 20.3%, South Korea 16.3%, Mauritius 4.9% (2002) Debt – external: $NA (2002 est.) Economic aid – recipient: $NA; note – important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994 Currency: US dollar (USD) Currency code: USD Exchange rates: US dollar is used Fiscal year: 1 October – 30 September References External links http://www.classbrain.com/art_cr/publish/american_samoa_economy.shtml

1129

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%2013

August 13

Events Pre-1600 29 BC – Octavian holds the first of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes. 523 – John I becomes the new Pope after the death of Pope Hormisdas. 554 – Emperor Justinian I rewards Liberius for his service in the Pragmatic Sanction, granting him extensive estates in Italy. 582 – Maurice becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 900 – Count Reginar I of Hainault rises against Zwentibold of Lotharingia and slays him near present-day Susteren. 1099 – Raniero is elected as Pope Paschal II, who would become deeply entangled in the Investiture Controversy. 1516 – The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis I of France recognizes Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, recognizes Francis's claim to Milan. 1521 – After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés capture Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquer the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. 1532 – Union of Brittany and France: The Duchy of Brittany is absorbed into the Kingdom of France. 1536 – Buddhist monks from Kyoto, Japan's Enryaku-ji temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in what will be known as the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. 1553 – Michael Servetus is arrested by John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland as a heretic. 1601–1900 1624 – The French king Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu as prime minister. 1645 – Sweden and Denmark sign Peace of Brömsebro. 1650 – Colonel George Monck of the English Army forms Monck's Regiment of Foot, which will later become the Coldstream Guards. 1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim: English and Imperial forces are victorious over French and Bavarian troops. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy defeats the Penobscot Expedition with the most significant loss of United States naval forces prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. 1792 – King Louis XVI of France is formally arrested by the National Tribunal, and declared an enemy of the people. 1806 – Battle of Mišar during the Serbian Revolution begins. The battle ends two days later with a Serbian victory over the Ottomans. 1814 – The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Netherlands, is signed in London, England. 1868 – The 8.5–9.0 Arica earthquake struck southern Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing 25,000+ deaths and a destructive basin wide tsunami that affected Hawaii and New Zealand. 1889 – William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut is granted United States Patent Number 408,709 for "Coin-controlled apparatus for telephones." 1898 – Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engage in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands. 1898 – Carl Gustav Witt discovers 433 Eros, the first near-Earth asteroid to be found. 1900 – The steamer Deutschland of Hamburg America Lines set a new record for the eastward passage when it docked on Plymouth, England, five days, 11 hours and 45 minutes after sailing from New York, breaking by three hours, six minutes its previous mark in its maiden voyage in July. 1901–present 1905 – Norwegians vote to end the union with Sweden. 1906 – The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged. (Their records were later restored to reflect honorable discharges but there were no financial settlements.) 1913 – First production in the UK of stainless steel by Harry Brearley. 1918 – Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha May Johnson is the first woman to enlist. 1918 – Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Warsaw begins and will last till August 25. The Red Army is defeated. 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Shanghai begins. 1942 – Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project. 1944 – World War II: German troops begin the pillage and razing of Anogeia in Crete that would continue until September 5. 1954 – Radio Pakistan broadcasts the "Qaumī Tarāna", the national anthem of Pakistan for the first time. 1960 – The Central African Republic declares independence from France. 1961 – Cold War: East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started. The day is known as Barbed Wire Sunday. 1964 – Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans are hanged for the murder of John Alan West becoming the last people executed in the United Kingdom. 1967 – Two young women became the first fatal victims of grizzly bear attacks in the 57-year history of Montana's Glacier National Park in separate incidents. 1968 – Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate the Greek dictator Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens. 1969 – The Apollo 11 astronauts enjoy a ticker tape parade in New York City. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon. 1973 – Aviaco Flight 118 crashes on approach to A Coruña Airport in A Coruña, Spain, killing 85. 1977 – Members of the British National Front (NF) clash with anti-NF demonstrators in Lewisham, London, resulting in 214 arrests and at least 111 injuries. 1978 – One hundred fifty Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War. 1990 – A mainland Chinese fishing boat Min Ping Yu No. 5202 is hit by a Taiwanese naval vessel and sinks in a repatriation operation of mainland Chinese immigrants, resulting in 21 deaths. This is the second tragedy less than a month after Min Ping Yu No. 5540 incident. 2004 – One hundred fifty-six Congolese Tutsi refugees are massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi. 2008 – Russo-Georgian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori. 2015 – At least 76 people are killed and 212 others are wounded in a truck bombing in Baghdad, Iraq. 2020 – Israel–United Arab Emirates relations are formally established. Births Pre-1600 985 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (d. 1021) 1311 – Alfonso XI, king of Castile and León (d. 1350) 1567 – Samuel de Champlain, French explorer (d. 1635) 1584 – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (d. 1640) 1592 – William, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count, field marshal of the Dutch State Army (d. 1642) 1601–1900 1625 – Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1698) 1662 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1748) 1666 – William Wotton, English linguist and scholar (d. 1727) 1700 – Heinrich von Brühl, Polish-German politician (d. 1763) 1717 – Louis François, Prince of Conti (d. 1776) 1756 – James Gillray, English caricaturist and printmaker (d. 1815) 1764 – Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, French general (d. 1813) 1790 – William Wentworth, Australian journalist, explorer, and politician (d. 1872) 1803 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (d. 1869) 1814 – Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (d. 1874) 1818 – Lucy Stone, American abolitionist and suffragist (d. 1893) 1819 – Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet, Anglo-Irish mathematician and physicist (d. 1903) 1820 – George Grove, English musicologist and historian (d. 1900) 1823 – Goldwin Smith, English-Canadian historian and journalist (d. 1910) 1831 – Salomon Jadassohn, German pianist and composer (d. 1902) 1841 – Johnny Mullagh, Australian cricketer (d. 1891) 1842 – Charles Wells, English brewer, founded Charles Wells Ltd (d. 1914) 1849 – Leonora Barry, Irish-born American social activist (d. 1930) 1851 – Felix Adler, German-American religious leader and educator (d. 1933) 1860 – Annie Oakley, American target shooter (d. 1926) 1866 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat S.p.A. (d. 1945) 1867 – George Luks, American painter and illustrator (d. 1933) 1871 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician, co-founded Social Democratic Party of Germany (d. 1919) 1872 – Richard Willstätter, German-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1942) 1879 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (d. 1962) 1884 – Harry Dean, English cricketer and coach (d. 1957) 1888 – John Logie Baird, Scottish engineer, invented the television (d. 1946) 1888 – Gleb W. Derujinsky, Russian-American sculptor (d. 1975) 1889 – Camillien Houde, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1958) 1895 – István Barta, Hungarian water polo player (d. 1948) 1895 – Bert Lahr, American actor (d. 1967) 1898 – Jean Borotra, French tennis player (d. 1994) 1898 – Regis Toomey, American actor (d. 1991) 1899 – Alfred Hitchcock, English-American director and producer (d. 1980) 1899 – José Ramón Guizado, Panamanian politician, 17th President of Panama (d. 1964) 1901–present 1902 – Felix Wankel, German engineer (d. 1988) 1904 – Buddy Rogers, American actor and musician (d. 1999) 1904 – Margaret Tafoya, Native American Pueblo potter (d. 2001) 1906 – Chuck Carroll, American football player and lawyer (d. 2003) 1906 – Art Shires, American baseball player and boxer (d. 1967) 1907 – Basil Spence, Scottish architect, designed Coventry Cathedral (d. 1976) 1908 – Gene Raymond, American actor and pilot (d. 1998) 1911 – William Bernbach, American advertiser, co-founded DDB Worldwide (d. 1982) 1912 – Claire Cribbs, American basketball player and coach (d. 1985) 1912 – Ben Hogan, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1997) 1912 – Salvador Luria, Italian-American microbiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991) 1913 – Makarios III, Greek archbishop and politician, 1st President of Cyprus (d. 1977) 1913 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (d. 1998) 1914 – Grace Bates, American mathematician and academic (d. 1996) 1917 – Sid Gordon, American baseball player (d. 1975) 1918 – Noor Hassanali, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2006) 1918 – Frederick Sanger, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013) 1919 – Rex Humbard, American evangelist and television host (d. 2007) 1919 – George Shearing, English jazz pianist and bandleader (d. 2011) 1920 – Neville Brand, American actor (d. 1992) 1921 – Louis Frémaux, French conductor (d. 2017) 1921 – Jimmy McCracklin, American blues/R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2012) 1921 – Mary Lee, Scottish singer (d. 2022) 1922 – Chuck Gilmur, American basketball player, coach, and educator (d. 2011) 1925 – Benny Bailey, American trumpet player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2005) 1925 – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentine executive and policy maker (d. 2013) 1926 – Fidel Castro, Cuban lawyer and politician, ex-President of Cuba (d. 2016) 1928 – John Tidmarsh, English journalist and radio host (d. 2019) 1929 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor (d. 2016) 1930 – Wilfried Hilker, German footballer and referee 1930 – Don Ho, American singer and ukulele player (d. 2007) 1930 – Bernard Manning, English comedian (d. 2007) 1930 – Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (d. 1999) 1930 – Bob Wiesler, American baseball player (d. 2014) 1933 – Joycelyn Elders, American admiral and physician, 15th Surgeon General of the United States 1935 – Alex de Renzy, American director and producer (d. 2001) 1935 – Mudcat Grant, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2021) 1938 – Dave "Baby" Cortez, American R&B pianist, organist, and composer 1938 – Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1968) 1940 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2000) 1942 – Hissène Habré, Chadian politician and war criminal, 5th president of Chad (d. 2021) 1943 – Fred Hill, American football player 1943 – Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, President of Haiti 1943 – Michael Willetts, English sergeant; George Cross recipient (d. 1971) 1944 – Kevin Tighe, American actor 1945 – Lars Engqvist, Swedish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden 1945 – Gary Gregor, American basketball player 1945 – Robin Jackman, Indian-English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2020) 1945 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (d. 2016) 1946 – Janet Yellen, American economist, 78th United States secretary of the treasury 1947 – Fred Stanley, American baseball player and manager 1947 – John Stocker, Canadian voice actor and director 1947 – Margareta Winberg, Swedish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden 1948 – Kathleen Battle, American operatic soprano 1949 – Jim Brunzell, American wrestler 1949 – Bobby Clarke, Canadian ice hockey player and manager 1949 – Philippe Petit, French tightrope walker 1949 – Willy Rey, Dutch-Canadian model (d. 1973) 1950 – Jane Carr, English actress 1950 – Rusty Gerhardt, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1951 – Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007) 1952 – Dave Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002) 1952 – Gary Gibbs, American football player and coach 1952 – Suzanne Muldowney, American performance artist 1952 – Herb Ritts, American photographer and director (d. 2002) 1952 – Hughie Thomasson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007) 1952 – Eugenio Lopez III, Filipino businessperson, CEO and chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation 1953 – Tom Cohen, American philosopher, theorist, and academic 1953 – Ron Hilditch, Australian rugby league player and coach 1953 – Thomas Pogge, German philosopher and academic 1953 – Peter Wright, English historian and author 1954 – Nico Assumpção, Brazilian bass player (d. 2001) 1955 – Keith Ahlers, English race car driver 1955 – Hideo Fukuyama, Japanese race car driver 1955 – Paul Greengrass, English director and screenwriter 1956 – Rohinton Fali Nariman, Judge of the Supreme Court of India 1958 – David Feherty, Northern Irish golfer and sportscaster 1958 – Feargal Sharkey, Northern Irish singer-songwriter 1958 – Randy Shughart, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993) 1959 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor and wrestler 1959 – Bruce French, English cricketer and coach 1959 – Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player 1960 – Ivar Stukolkin, Estonian swimmer 1961 – Koji Kondo, Japanese composer and sound director 1961 – Dawnn Lewis, American actress 1961 – Neil Mallender, English cricketer and umpire 1961 – Tom Perrotta, American novelist and screenwriter 1962 – John Slattery, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1963 – Steve Higgins, American talk show co-host and announcer, writer, producer, comedian and impressionist 1963 – Valerie Plame, American CIA agent and author 1963 – Sridevi, Indian actress (d. 2018) 1964 – Jay Buhner, American baseball player and sportscaster 1964 – Debi Mazar, American actress 1964 – Tom Prince, American baseball player and manager 1965 – Mark Lemke, American baseball player, coach, and radio host 1965 – Hayato Matsuo, Japanese composer and conductor 1966 – Scooter Barry, American basketball player 1966 – Shayne Corson, Canadian ice hockey player 1967 – Quinn Cummings, American actress, author, and entrepreneur 1967 – Dave Jamerson, American basketball player 1967 – Digna Ketelaar, Dutch tennis player 1968 – Tal Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter 1968 – Todd Hendricks, American football player and coach 1968 – Tony Jarrett, English sprinter and hurdler 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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Ashes

The Ashes

The Men's Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and that "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes. After England had won two of the three Tests on the tour, a small urn was presented to Bligh in Melbourne. The contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of a wooden bail, and were humorously described as "the ashes of Australian cricket". It is not clear whether that "tiny silver urn" is the same as the small terracotta urn given to Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) by Bligh's widow after his death in 1927. The Ashes urn has never been the official trophy of the series, having been a personal gift to Bligh. However, replicas of the urn are often held aloft by victorious teams as a symbol of their victory in an Ashes series. Since the 1998–99 Ashes series, a Waterford Crystal representation of the Ashes urn (called the Ashes Trophy) has been presented to the winners of an Ashes series as the official trophy of that series. Irrespective of which side holds the tournament, the original urn remains in the MCC Museum at Lord's; it has, however, been taken to Australia to be put on touring display on two occasions: as part of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations in 1988 and to accompany the Ashes series in 2006–07. An Ashes series traditionally consists of five Tests, hosted in turn by England and Australia at least once every two years. The Ashes are regarded as being held by the team that most recently won the series. If the series is drawn, the team that currently holds the Ashes "retains" the trophy. There have been 73 Ashes series. Australia have won 34 and retained six times from draws (40); England have won 32 and retained once (33). 1882 origins The first Test match between England and Australia was played in Melbourne, Australia, in 1877, though the Ashes legend started later, after the ninth Test, played in 1882. On their tour of England that year the Australians played just one Test, at the Oval in London. It was a low-scoring affair on a difficult wicket. Australia made a mere 63 runs in their first innings, and England, led by A. N. Hornby, took a 38-run lead with a total of 101. In their second innings, Australia, boosted by a spectacular 55 runs off 60 deliveries from Hugh Massie, managed 122, which left England only 85 runs to win. The Australians were greatly demoralised by the manner of their second-innings collapse, but fast bowler Fred Spofforth, spurred on by the gamesmanship of his opponents, in particular W. G. Grace, refused to give in. "This thing can be done," he declared. Spofforth went on to devastate the English batting, taking his final four wickets for only two runs to leave England just eight runs short of victory. When Ted Peate, England's last batsman, came to the crease, his side needed just ten runs to win, but Peate managed only two before he was bowled by Harry Boyle. An astonished Oval crowd fell silent, struggling to believe that England could possibly have lost on home soil. When it finally sank in, the crowd swarmed onto the field, cheering loudly and chairing Boyle and Spofforth to the pavilion. When Peate returned to the pavilion he was reprimanded by his captain for not allowing his partner, Charles Studd (one of the best batsmen in England, having already hit two centuries that season against the colonists), to get the runs. Peate humorously replied, "I had no confidence in Mr Studd, sir, so thought I had better do my best." The momentous defeat was widely recorded in the British press, which praised the Australians for their plentiful "pluck" and berated the Englishmen for their lack thereof. A celebrated poem appeared in Punch on Saturday, 9 September. The first verse, quoted most frequently, reads: Well done, Cornstalks! Whipt us Fair and square, Was it luck that tript us? Was it scare? Kangaroo Land's 'Demon', or our own Want of 'devil', coolness, nerve, backbone? On 31 August, in the Charles Alcock-edited magazine Cricket: A Weekly Record of The Game, there appeared a mock obituary: On 2 September a more celebrated mock obituary, written by Reginald Shirley Brooks, appeared in The Sporting Times. It read: Ivo Bligh promised that on the 1882–83 tour of Australia, he would, as England's captain, "recover those Ashes". He spoke of them several times over the course of the tour, and the Australian media quickly caught on. The three-match series resulted in a two-one win to England, notwithstanding a fourth match, won by the Australians, whose status remains a matter of ardent dispute. In the 20 years following Bligh's campaign the term "the Ashes" largely disappeared from public use. There is no indication that this was the accepted name for the series, at least not in England. The term became popular again in Australia first, when George Giffen, in his memoirs (With Bat and Ball, 1899), used the term as if it were well known. The true and global revitalisation of interest in the concept dates from 1903, when Pelham Warner took a team to Australia with the promise that he would regain "the ashes". As had been the case on Bligh's tour 20 years before, the Australian media latched fervently onto the term and, this time, it stuck. Having fulfilled his promise, Warner published a book entitled How We Recovered the Ashes. Although the origins of the term are not referred to in the text, the title served (along with the general hype created in Australia) to revive public interest in the legend. The first mention of "the Ashes" in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack occurs in 1905, while Wisden'''s first account of the legend is in the 1922 edition. Urn It took many years before the contests between England and Australia were consistently called "The Ashes", and so there was no concept of either a trophy or a physical representation of the ashes. As late as 1925, the following verse appeared in The Cricketers Annual: So here's to Chapman, Hendren and Hobbs, Gilligan, Woolley and Hearne May they bring back to the Motherland, The ashes which have no urn! Nevertheless, several attempts had been made to embody the Ashes in a physical memorial. Examples include one presented to Warner in 1904, another to Australian captain M. A. Noble in 1909, and another to Australian captain W. M. Woodfull in 1934. The oldest, and the one to enjoy enduring fame, was the one presented to Bligh, later Lord Darnley, during the 1882–83 tour. The precise nature of the origin of this urn is a matter of dispute. Based on a statement by Darnley in 1894, it was believed that a group of Victorian ladies, including Darnley's later wife Florence Morphy, made the presentation after the victory in the Third Test in 1883. More recent researchers, in particular Ronald Willis and Joy Munns have studied the tour in detail and concluded that the presentation was made after a private cricket match played over Christmas 1882 when the English team were guests of Sir William Clarke, at his property "Rupertswood", in Sunbury, Victoria. This was before the matches had started. The prime evidence for this theory was provided by a descendant of Clarke. In August 1926 Ivo Bligh (now Lord Darnley) displayed the Ashes urn at the Morning Post Decorative Art Exhibition held in the Central Hall, Westminster. He made the following statement about how he was given the urn: A more detailed account of how the Ashes were given to Ivo Bligh was outlined by his wife, the Countess of Darnley, in 1930 during a speech at a cricket luncheon. Her speech was reported by the Times as follows: There is another statement which is not totally clear made by Lord Darnley in 1921 about the timing of the presentation of the urn. He was interviewed in his home at Cobham Hall by Montague Grover and the report of this interview was as follows: He made a similar statement in 1926. The report of this statement in the Brisbane Courier was as follows: The contents of the urn are also problematic; they were variously reported to be the remains of a stump, bail or the outer casing of a ball, but in 1998 Darnley's 82-year-old daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law's veil, casting a further layer of doubt on the matter. However, during the tour of Australia in 2006/7, the MCC official accompanying the urn said the veil legend had been discounted, and it was now "95% certain" that the urn contains the ashes of a cricket bail. Speaking on Channel Nine TV on 25 November 2006, he said x-rays of the urn had shown the pedestal and handles were cracked, and repair work had to be carried out. The urn is made of terracotta and is about tall and may originally have been a perfume jar. A label containing a six-line verse is pasted on the urn. This is the fourth verse of a song-lyric published in the Melbourne Punch on 1 February 1883: When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn; Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return; The welkin will ring loud, The great crowd will feel proud, Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn; And the rest coming home with the urn. In February 1883, just before the disputed Fourth Test, a velvet bag made by Mrs Ann Fletcher, the daughter of Joseph Hines Clarke and Marion Wright, both of Dublin, was given to Bligh to contain the urn. During Darnley's lifetime there was little public knowledge of the urn, and no record of a published photograph exists before 1921. The Illustrated London News published this photo in January 1921 (shown above). When Darnley died in 1927 his widow presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club and that was the key event in establishing the urn as the physical embodiment of the legendary ashes. MCC first displayed the urn in the Long Room at Lord's and since 1953 in the MCC Cricket Museum at the ground. MCC's wish for it to be seen by as wide a range of cricket enthusiasts as possible has led to its being mistaken for an official trophy. It is in fact a private memento, and for this reason it is never awarded to either England or Australia, but is kept permanently in the MCC Cricket Museum where it can be seen together with the specially made red and gold velvet bag and the scorecard of the 1882 match. Because the urn itself is so delicate, it has been allowed to travel to Australia only twice. The first occasion was in 1988 for a museum tour as part of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations; the second was for the 2006/7 Ashes series. The urn arrived on 17 October 2006, going on display at the Museum of Sydney. It then toured to other states, with the final appearance at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery on 21 January 2007. In the 1990s, given Australia's long dominance of the Ashes and the popular acceptance of the Darnley urn as "the Ashes", the idea was mooted that the victorious team should be awarded the urn as a trophy and allowed to retain it until the next series. As its condition is fragile and it is a prized exhibit at the MCC Cricket Museum, the MCC would not agree. Furthermore, in 2002, Bligh's great-great-grandson Lord Clifton, the heir-apparent to the Earldom of Darnley, argued that the Ashes urn should not be returned to Australia because it belonged to his family and was given to the MCC only for safe keeping. As a compromise, the MCC commissioned a larger replica of the urn in Waterford Crystal, known as the Ashes Trophy, to award to the winning team of each series starting with the 1998–99 Ashes. This did little to diminish the status of the Darnley urn as the most important icon in cricket, the symbol of this old and keenly fought contest. Series and matches Quest to "recover those ashes" Later in 1882, following the famous Australian victory at The Oval, Bligh led an England team to Australia, as he said, to "recover those ashes". Publicity surrounding the series was intense, and it was at some time during this series that the Ashes urn was crafted. Australia won the First Test by nine wickets, but in the next two England were victorious. At the end of the Third Test, England were generally considered to have "won back the Ashes" 2–1. A fourth match was played, against a "United Australian XI", which was arguably stronger than the Australian sides that had competed in the previous three matches; this game, however, is not generally considered part of the 1882–83 series. It is counted as a Test, but as a standalone. This match ended in a victory for Australia. 1884 to 1896 After Bligh's victory, there was an extended period of English dominance. The tours generally had fewer Tests in the 1880s and 1890s than people have grown accustomed to in more recent years, the first five-Test series taking place only in 1894–95. England lost only four Ashes Tests in the 1880s out of 23 played, and they won all the seven series contested. There was more chopping and changing in the teams, given that there was no official board of selectors for each country (in 1887–88, two separate English teams were on tour in Australia) and popularity with the fans varied. The 1890s games were more closely fought, Australia taking its first series win since 1882 with a 2–1 victory in 1891–92. But England dominated, winning the next three series to 1896 despite continuing player disputes. The 1894–95 series began in sensational fashion when England won the First Test at Sydney by just 10 runs having followed on. Australia had scored a massive 586 (Syd Gregory 201, George Giffen 161) and then dismissed England for 325. But England responded with 437 and then dramatically dismissed Australia for 166 with Bobby Peel taking 6 for 67. At the close of the second last day's play, Australia were 113–2, needing only 64 more runs. But heavy rain fell overnight and next morning the two slow left-arm bowlers, Peel and Johnny Briggs, were all but unplayable. England went on to win the series 3–2 after it had been all square before the Final Test, which England won by 6 wickets. The English heroes were Peel, with 27 wickets in the series at an average of 26.70, and Tom Richardson, with 32 at 26.53. In 1896, England under the captaincy of W. G. Grace won the series 2–1, and this marked the end of England's longest period of Ashes dominance. 1897 to 1902 Australia resoundingly won the 1897–98 series by 4–1 under the captaincy of Harry Trott. His successor Joe Darling won the next three series in 1899, 1901–02, and the classic 1902 series, which became one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket. Five matches were played in 1902 but the first two were drawn after being hit by bad weather. In the First Test (the first played at Edgbaston), after scoring 376 England bowled out Australia for 36 (Wilfred Rhodes 7/17) and reduced them to 46–2 when they followed on. Australia won the Third and Fourth Tests at Bramall Lane and Old Trafford respectively. At Old Trafford, Australia won by just 3 runs after Victor Trumper had scored 104 on a "bad wicket", reaching his hundred before lunch on the first day. England won the last Test at The Oval by one wicket. Chasing 263 to win, they slumped to 48–5 before Gilbert Jessop's 104 gave them a chance. He reached his hundred in just 75 minutes. The last-wicket pair of George Hirst and Rhodes were required to score 15 runs for victory. When Rhodes joined him, Hirst reportedly said: "We'll get them in singles, Wilfred." In fact, they scored thirteen singles and a two. The period of Darling's captaincy saw the emergence of outstanding Australian players such as Trumper, Warwick Armstrong, James Kelly, Monty Noble, Clem Hill, Hugh Trumble and Ernie Jones. Reviving the legend After what the MCC saw as the problems of the earlier professional and amateur series they decided to take control of organising tours themselves, and this led to the first MCC tour of Australia in 1903–04. England won it against the odds, and Plum Warner, the England captain, wrote up his version of the tour in his book How We Recovered The Ashes. The title of this book revived the Ashes legend and it was after this that England v Australia series were customarily referred to as "The Ashes". 1905 to 1912 England and Australia were evenly matched until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Five more series took place between 1905 and 1912. In 1905, England's captain Stanley Jackson not only won the series 2–0, but also won the toss in all five matches and headed both the batting and the bowling averages. Monty Noble led Australia to victory in both 1907–08 and 1909. Then England won in 1911–12 by four matches to one. Jack Hobbs establishing himself as England's first-choice opening batsman with three centuries, while Frank Foster (32 wickets at 21.62) and Sydney Barnes (34 wickets at 22.88) formed a formidable bowling partnership. England retained the Ashes when it won the 1912 Triangular Tournament, which also featured South Africa. The Australian touring party had been severely weakened by a dispute between the board and players that caused Clem Hill, Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong, Tibby Cotter, Sammy Carter and Vernon Ransford to be omitted. 1920 to 1933 After the war, Australia took firm control of both the Ashes and world cricket. For the first time, the tactic of using two express bowlers in tandem paid off as Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald crippled the English batting on a regular basis. Australia recorded overwhelming victories both in England and on home soil. It won the first eight matches in succession including a 5–0 whitewash in 1920–1921 at the hands of Warwick Armstrong's team. The ruthless and belligerent Armstrong led his team back to England in 1921 where his men lost only two games late in the tour to narrowly miss out of being the first team to complete a tour of England without defeat. England won only one Test out of 15 from the end of the war until 1925. In a rain-hit series in 1926, England managed to eke out a 1–0 victory with a win in the final Test at The Oval. Because the series was at stake, the match was to be "timeless", i.e., played to a finish. Australia had a narrow first innings lead of 22. Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe took the score to 49–0 at the end of the second day, a lead of 27. Heavy rain fell overnight, and next day the pitch soon developed into a traditional sticky wicket. England seemed doomed to be bowled out cheaply and to lose the match. In spite of the very difficult batting conditions, however, Hobbs and Sutcliffe took their partnership to 172 before Hobbs was out for exactly 100. Sutcliffe went on to make 161 and England won the game comfortably. Australian captain Herbie Collins was stripped of all captaincy positions down to club level, and some accused him of throwing the match. Australia's ageing post-war team broke up after 1926, with Collins, Charlie Macartney and Warren Bardsley all departing, and Gregory breaking down at the start of the 1928–29 series. Despite the debut of Donald Bradman, the inexperienced Australians, led by Jack Ryder, were heavily defeated, losing 4–1. England had a very strong batting side, with Wally Hammond contributing 905 runs at an average of 113.12, and Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Patsy Hendren all scoring heavily; the bowling was more than adequate, without being outstanding. In 1930, Bill Woodfull led an extremely inexperienced team to England. Bradman fulfilled his promise in the 1930 series when he scored 974 runs at 139.14, which remains a world record Test series aggregate. A modest Bradman can be heard in a 1930 recording saying "I have always endeavoured to do my best for the side, and the few centuries that have come my way have been achieved in the hope of winning matches. My one idea when going into bat was to make runs for Australia." In the Headingley Test, he made 334, reaching 309* at the end of the first day, including a century before lunch. Bradman himself thought that his 254 in the preceding match, at Lord's, was a better innings. England managed to stay in contention until the deciding final Test at The Oval, but yet another double hundred by Bradman, and 7/92 by Percy Hornibrook in England's second innings, enabled Australia to win by an innings and take the series 2–1. Clarrie Grimmett's 29 wickets at 31.89 for Australia in this high-scoring series were also important. Australia had one of the strongest batting line-ups ever in the early 1930s, with Bradman, Archie Jackson, Stan McCabe, Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford and Jack Fingleton. It was the prospect of bowling at this line-up that caused England's 1932–33 captain Douglas Jardine to adopt the tactic of fast leg theory, better known as Bodyline. Jardine instructed his fast bowlers, most notably Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, to bowl at the bodies of the Australian batsmen, with the goal of forcing them to defend their bodies with their bats, thus providing easy catches to a stacked leg-side field. Jardine insisted that the tactic was legitimate and called it "leg theory" but it was widely disparaged by its opponents, who dubbed it "Bodyline" (from "on the line of the body"). Although England decisively won the Ashes 4–1, Bodyline caused such a furore in Australia that diplomats had to intervene to prevent serious harm to Anglo-Australian relations, and the MCC eventually changed the Laws of cricket to curtail the number of leg side fielders. Jardine's comment was: "I've not travelled 6,000 miles to make friends. I'm here to win the Ashes". Some of the Australians wanted to use Bodyline in retaliation, but Woodfull flatly refused. He famously told England manager Pelham Warner, "There are two teams out there. One is playing cricket; the other is making no attempt to do so" after the latter had come into the Australian rooms to express sympathy after a Larwood bouncer had struck the Australian skipper in the heart and felled him. 1934 to 1953 On the batting-friendly wickets that prevailed in the late 1930s, most Tests up to the Second World War still gave results. It should be borne in mind that Tests in Australia prior to the war were all played to a finish, with many batting records set during this period. The 1934 Ashes series began with the notable absence of Larwood, Voce and Jardine. The MCC had made it clear, in light of the revelations of the bodyline series, that these players would not face Australia. The MCC, although it had earlier condoned and encouraged bodyline tactics in the 1932–33 series, laid the blame on Larwood when relations turned sour. Larwood was forced by the MCC to either apologise or be removed from the Test side. He went for the latter. Australia recovered the Ashes in 1934 and held them until 1953, though no Test cricket was played during the Second World War. As in 1930, the 1934 series was decided in the final Test at The Oval. Australia, batting first, posted a massive 701 in the first innings. Bradman (244) and Ponsford (266) were in record-breaking form with a partnership of 451 for the second wicket. England eventually faced a massive 707-run target for victory and failed, Australia winning the series 2–1. This made Woodfull the only captain to regain the Ashes and he retired upon his return to Australia. In 1936–37 Bradman succeeded Woodfull as Australian captain. He started badly, losing the first two Tests heavily after Australia were caught on sticky wickets. However, the Australians fought back and Bradman won his first series in charge 3–2. The 1938 series was a high-scoring affair with two high-scoring draws, resulting in a 1–1 result, Australia retaining the Ashes. After the first two matches ended in stalemate and the Third Test at Old Trafford never started due to rain, Australia then scraped home by five wickets inside three days in a low-scoring match at Headingley to retain the urn. In the timeless Fifth Test at The Oval, the highlight was Len Hutton's then world-record score of 364 as England made 903-7 declared. Bradman and Jack Fingleton injured themselves during Hutton's marathon effort, and with only nine men, Australia fell to defeat by an innings and 579 runs, the heaviest in Test history. The Ashes resumed after the war when England toured in 1946–47 and, as in 1920–21, found that Australia had made the better post-war recovery. Still captained by Bradman and now featuring the potent new-ball partnership of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, Australia were convincing 3–0 winners. Aged 38 and having been unwell during the war, Bradman had been reluctant to play. He batted unconvincingly and reached 28 when he hit a ball to Jack Ikin; England believed it was a catch, but Bradman stood his ground, believing it to be a bump ball. The umpire ruled in the Australian captain's favour and he appeared to regain his fluency of yesteryear, scoring 187. Australia promptly seized the initiative, won the First Test convincingly and inaugurated a dominant post-war era. The controversy over the Ikin catch was one of the biggest disputes of the era. In 1948, Australia set new standards, completely outplaying its hosts to win 4–0 with one draw. This Australian team, led by Bradman, who turned 40 during his final tour of England, has gone down in history as The Invincibles. Playing 34 matches on tour—three of which were not first-class—and including the five Tests, they remained unbeaten, winning 27 and drawing 7. Bradman's men were greeted by packed crowds across the country, and records for Test attendances in England were set in the Second and Fourth Tests at Lord's and Headingley respectively. Before a record attendance of spectators at Headingley, Australia set a world record by chasing down 404 on the last day for a seven-wicket victory. The 1948 series ended with one of the most poignant moments in cricket history, as Bradman played his final innings for Australia in the Fifth Test at The Oval, needing to score only four runs to end with a career batting average of exactly 100. However, Bradman made a second-ball duck, bowled by an Eric Hollies googly that sent him into retirement with a career average of 99.94. Bradman was succeeded as Australian captain by Lindsay Hassett, who led the team to a 4–1 series victory in 1950–51. The series was not as one-sided as the number of wins suggest, with several tight matches. The tide finally turned in 1953 when England won the final Test at The Oval to take the series 1–0, having narrowly avoided defeat in the preceding Test at Headingley. This was the beginning of one of the greatest periods in English cricket history with players such as captain Len Hutton, batsmen Denis Compton, Peter May, Tom Graveney, Colin Cowdrey, bowlers Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Alec Bedser, Jim Laker, Tony Lock, wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans and all-rounder Trevor Bailey. 1954 to 1971 In 1954–55, Australia's batsmen had no answer to the pace of Frank Tyson and Statham. After winning the First Test by an innings after being controversially sent in by Hutton, Australia lost its way and England took a hat-trick of victories to win the series 3–1. A dramatic series in 1956 saw a record that will probably never be beaten: off-spinner Jim Laker's monumental effort at Old Trafford when he bowled 68 of 191 overs to take 19 out of 20 possible Australian wickets in the Fourth Test. It was Australia's second consecutive innings defeat in a wet summer, and the hosts were in strong positions in the two drawn Tests, in which half the playing time was washed out. Bradman rated the team that won the series 2–1 as England's best ever. England's dominance was not to last. Australia won 4–0 in 1958–59, having found a high-quality spinner of their own in new skipper Richie Benaud, who took 31 wickets in the five-Test series, and paceman Alan Davidson, who took 24 wickets at 19.00. The series was overshadowed by the furore over various Australian bowlers, most notably Ian Meckiff, whom the English management and media accused of illegally throwing Australia to victory. In 1961, Australia won a hard-fought series 2–1, their first Ashes series win in England for 13 years. After narrowly winning the Second Test at Lord's, dubbed "The Battle of the Ridge" because of a protrusion on the pitch that caused erratic bounce, Australia mounted a comeback on the final day of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford and sealed the series with Richie Benaud taking 6-70 during the English runchase. The tempo of the play changed over the next four series in the 1960s, held in 1962–63, 1964, 1965–66 and 1968. The powerful array of bowlers that both countries boasted in the preceding decade moved into retirement, and their replacements were of lesser quality, making it more difficult to force a result. England failed to win any series during the 1960s, a period dominated by draws as teams found it more prudent to save face than risk losing. Of the 20 Tests played during the four series, Australia won four and England three. As they held the Ashes, Australia's captains Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry were happy to adopt safety-first tactics and their strategy of sedate batting saw many draws. During this period, spectator attendances dropped and media condemnation increased, but Simpson and Lawry flatly disregarded the public dissatisfaction. It was in the 1960s that the bipolar dominance of England and Australia in world cricket was seriously challenged for the first time. West Indies defeated England twice in the mid-1960s and South Africa, in two series before they were banned for apartheid, completely outplayed Australia 3–1 and 4–0. Australia had lost 2–1 during a tour of the West Indies in 1964–65, the first time it had lost a series to any team other than England. In 1970–71, Ray Illingworth led England to a 2–0 win in Australia, mainly due to John Snow's fast bowling, and the prolific batting of Geoffrey Boycott and John Edrich. It was not until the last session of what was the 7th Test (one match having been abandoned without a ball bowled) that England's success was secured. Lawry was sacked after the Sixth Test after the selectors finally lost patience with Australia's lack of success and dour strategy. Lawry was not informed of the decision privately and heard his fate over the radio. 1972 to 1987 The 1972 series finished 2–2, with England under Illingworth retaining the Ashes. In the 1974–75 series, with the England team breaking up and their best batsman Geoff Boycott refusing to play, Australian pace bowlers Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee wreaked havoc. A 4–1 result was a fair reflection as England were left shell shocked. England then lost the 1975 series 0–1, but at least restored some pride under new captain Tony Greig. Australia won the 1977 Centenary Test which was not an Ashes contest, but then a storm broke as Kerry Packer announced his intention to form World Series Cricket. WSC affected all Test-playing nations but it weakened Australia especially as the bulk of its players had signed up with Packer; the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) would not select WSC-contracted players and an almost completely new Test team had to be formed. WSC came after an era during which the duopoly of Australian and English dominance dissipated; the Ashes had long been seen as a cricket world championship but the rise of the West Indies in the late 1970s challenged that view. The West Indies would go on to record resounding Test series wins over Australia and England and dominated world cricket until the 1990s. With Greig having joined WSC, England appointed Mike Brearley as its captain and he enjoyed great success against Australia. Largely assisted by the return of Boycott, Brearley's men won the 1977 series 3–0 and then completed an overwhelming 5–1 series win against an Australian side missing its WSC players in 1978–79. Allan Border made his Test debut for Australia in 1978–79. Brearley retired from Test cricket in 1980 and was succeeded by Ian Botham, who started the 1981 series as England captain, by which time the WSC split had ended. After Australia took a 1–0 lead in the first two Tests, Botham was forced to resign or was sacked (depending on the source). Brearley surprisingly agreed to be reappointed before the Third Test at Headingley. This was a remarkable match in which Australia looked certain to take a 2–0 series lead after it had forced England to follow-on 227 runs behind. England, despite being 135 for 7, produced a second innings total of 356, Botham scoring 149*. Chasing just 130, Australia were sensationally dismissed for 111, Bob Willis taking 8–43. It was the first time since 1894–95 that a team following on had won a Test match. Under Brearley's leadership, England went on to win the next two matches before a drawn final match at The Oval. This series became known as 'Botham's Ashes' for his extraordinary feats with both bat and ball, after being dismissed as captain. In 1982–83 Australia had Greg Chappell back from WSC as captain, while the England team was weakened by the enforced omission of their South African tour rebels, particularly Graham Gooch and John Emburey. Australia went 2–0 up after three Tests, but England won the Fourth Test by 3 runs (after a 70-run last wicket stand) to set up the final decider, which was drawn. In 1985, David Gower's England team was strengthened by the return of Gooch and Emburey as well as the emergence at international level of Tim Robinson and Mike Gatting. Australia, now captained by Allan Border, had itself been weakened by a rebel South African tour, the loss of Terry Alderman being a particular factor. England won 3–1. Despite suffering heavy defeats against the West Indies during the 1980s, England continued to do well in the Ashes. Mike Gatting was the captain in 1986–87 but his team started badly and attracted some criticism. Then Chris Broad scored three hundreds in successive Tests and bowling successes from Graham Dilley and Gladstone Small meant England won the series 2–1. 1989 to 2003 The Australian team of 1989 was comparable to the great Australian teams of the past, and resoundingly defeated England 4–0. Well led by Allan Border, the team included the young cricketers Mark Taylor, Merv Hughes, David Boon, Ian Healy and Steve Waugh, who were all to prove long-serving and successful Ashes competitors. England, now led once again by David Gower, suffered from injuries and poor form. During the Fourth Test news broke that prominent England players had agreed to take part in a "rebel tour" of South Africa the following winter; three of them (Tim Robinson, Neil Foster and John Emburey) were playing in the match, and were subsequently dropped from the England side. Australia reached a cricketing peak in the 1990s and early 2000s, coupled with a general decline in England's fortunes. After re-establishing its credibility in 1989, Australia underlined its superiority with victories in the 1990–91, 1993, 1994–95, 1997, 1998–99, 2001 and 2002–03 series, all by convincing margins. Great Australian players in the early years included batsmen Border, Boon, Taylor and Steve Waugh. The captaincy passed from Border to Taylor in the mid-1990s and then to Steve Waugh before the 2001 series. In the latter part of the 1990s Waugh himself, along with his twin brother Mark, scored heavily for Australia and fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie made a serious impact, especially the former. The wicketkeeper-batsman position was held by Ian Healy for most of the 1990s and by Adam Gilchrist from 2001 to 2006–07. In the 2000s, batsmen Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Matthew Hayden became noted players for Australia. But the most dominant Australian player was leg-spinner Shane Warne, whose first delivery in Ashes cricket in 1993, to dismiss Mike Gatting, became known as the Ball of the Century. Australia's record between 1989 and 2005 had a significant impact on the statistics between the two sides. Before the 1989 series began, the win–loss ratio was almost even, with 87 test wins for Australia to England's 86, 74 tests having been drawn. By the 2005 series Australia's test wins had increased to 115 whereas England's had increased to only 93 (with 82 draws). In the period between 1989 and the beginning of the 2005 series, the two sides had played 43 times; Australia winning 28 times, England 7 times, with 8 draws. Only a single England victory had come in a match in which the Ashes were still at stake, namely the First Test of the 1997 series. All others were consolation victories when the Ashes had been secured by Australia. 2005 to 2015 England were undefeated in Test matches through the 2004 calendar year. This elevated them to second in the ICC Test Championship. Hopes that the 2005 Ashes series would be closely fought proved well-founded, the series remaining undecided as the closing session of the final Test began. Experienced journalists including Richie Benaud rated the series as the most exciting in living memory. It has been compared with the great series of the distant past, such as 1894–95 and 1902. The First Test at Lord's was convincingly won by Australia, but in the remaining four matches the teams were evenly matched and England fought back to win the Second Test by 2 runs, the smallest winning margin in Ashes history, and the second-smallest in all Tests. The rain-affected Third Test ended with the last two Australian batsmen holding out for a draw; and England won the Fourth Test by three wickets after forcing Australia to follow-on for the first time in 191 Tests. A draw in the final Test gave England victory in an Ashes series for the first time in 18 years and their first Ashes victory at home since 1985. Australia regained the Ashes on its home turf in the 2006–07 series with a convincing 5–0 victory, only the second time an Ashes series had been won by that margin. Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer retired from Test cricket after that series, while Damien Martyn retired during the series. The 2009 series began with a tense draw in the First Test at SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, with England's last-wicket batsmen James Anderson and Monty Panesar surviving 69 balls. England then achieved its first Ashes win at Lord's since 1934 to go 1–0 up. After a rain-affected draw at Edgbaston, the fourth match at Headingley was convincingly won by Australia by an innings and 80 runs to level the series. Finally, England won the Fifth Test at The Oval by a margin of 197 runs to regain the Ashes. Andrew Flintoff retired from Test cricket soon afterwards. The 2010–11 series was played in Australia. The First Test at Brisbane ended in a draw, but England won the Second Test, at Adelaide, by an innings and 71 runs. Australia came back with a victory at Perth in the Third Test. In the Fourth Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, England batting second scored 513 to defeat Australia (98 and 258) by an innings and 157 runs. This gave England an unbeatable 2–1 lead in the series and so it retained the Ashes. England went on to win the series 3–1, beating Australia by an innings and 83 runs at Sydney in the Fifth Test, including their highest innings total since 1938 (644). England's series victory was its first on Australian soil for 24 years. The 2010–11 Ashes series was the only one in which a team had won three Tests by innings margins and it was the first time England had scored 500 or more four times in a single series. England opener Cook scored 766 runs at average 127.66 in the series, the most dominant batsman in an Ashes series since Bradman in 1930. Australia's build-up to the 2013 Ashes series was far from ideal. Darren Lehmann took over as coach from Mickey Arthur following a string of poor results. A batting line-up weakened by the previous year's retirements of former captain Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey was also shorn of opener David Warner, who was suspended for the start of the series following an off-field incident. England won a closely fought First Test by 14 runs, despite 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar making a world-record 98 for a number 11 in the first innings. England then won a very one-sided Second Test by 347 runs while the rain-affected Third Test, held at a newly refurbished Old Trafford, was drawn, ensuring that England retained the Ashes. England won the Fourth Test by 74 runs after Australia lost their last eight second-innings wickets for only 86 runs. The final Test was drawn, giving England a 3–0 series win. In the second of two Ashes series held in 2013 (the series ended in 2014), this time hosted by Australia, the home team won the series five test matches to nil. This was the third time Australia has completed a clean sweep (or "whitewash") in Ashes history, a feat never matched by England. All six Australian specialist batsmen scored more runs than any Englishman with 10 centuries among them, with only debutant Ben Stokes scoring a century for England. Mitchell Johnson took 37 English wickets at 13.97 and Ryan Harris 22 wickets at 19.31 in the 5-Test series. Only Stuart Broad and all-rounder Stokes bowled effectively for England, with their spinner Graeme Swann retiring due to a chronic elbow injury after the decisive Third Test. Australia came into the 2015 Ashes series in England as favourites to retain the Ashes. Although England won the first Test in Cardiff, Australia won comfortably in the second Test at Lords. In the next two Tests, the Australian batsmen struggled, being bowled out for 136 in the first innings at Edgbaston, with England proceeding to win by eight wickets. This was followed by Australia being bowled out for 60 as Stuart Broad took five wickets and finished the spell with 8 for 15 in the first innings at Trent Bridge, the quickest – in terms of balls faced – a team has been bowled out in the first innings of a Test match. With victory by an innings and 78 runs on the morning of the third day of the Fourth Test, England regained the Ashes. 2017 to present During the buildup, the 2017–18 Ashes series was regarded as a turning point for both sides. Australia were criticised for being too reliant on captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, while England was said to have a shoddy middle to lower order. Off the field, England all-rounder Ben Stokes was ruled out of the side indefinitely due to a police investigation. Australia won the first Test match in Brisbane by 10 wickets and the second Test at Adelaide by 120 runs in the first ever day-night Ashes test match. Australia regained The Ashes with an innings and 41 run win in the third Test at Perth; the final Ashes Test at the WACA Ground. Prior to the 2019 Ashes series, both teams were considered to have very strong bowling attacks but struggling batting orders. Australia had its top-order batsmen David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft available for international selection after being banned from international cricket for 9–12 months following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, during which time India had won its first ever Test series in Australia. However, Australia recovered to win the Test series against Sri Lanka 2–0. Despite winning the Cricket World Cup in July 2019 for the first time, England had also been criticised for its fragile top-order in Tests. The retirement of opener Alastair Cook in August 2018 ensured potential top-order batsmen Rory Burns, Joe Denly and Jason Roy were able to secure a place in the side. Despite losing a Test series 2–1 in their tour of the West Indies, England then improved to win the one-off Test against Ireland, by 143 runs. The 2019 series was eventually drawn 2–2, with Australia retaining the Ashes. The 2021 Ashes series was played from December 2021 through January 2022, and featured the first Ashes Test match to be played in Tasmania, at Hobart's Bellerive Oval. Australia retained the Ashes in the 2021–22 Ashes series, after comfortably beating England 4–0. England were the hosts of five Test matches of the 2023 Ashes series. The series got off to a good start for Australia as they won the first two Tests to go 0-2 up. The hosts won the third Test to put the series at 1-2 for the visitors. England needed to win the fourth Test in a hope to not only level the series but prevent Australia from retaining the Ashes. The match looked good for England to win, but rain intervened on the last two days and forced a draw, thus Australia retained the Ashes with the series at 1-2 after four Tests. The fifth and final Test was played at The Oval. During the contest Stuart Broad announced that he would retire from cricket at the end of the match. England went on to win the final Test match to draw the series at 2-2. Summary of results and statistics In the 140 years since 1883, Australia have held the Ashes for approximately 84.5 years, and England for 55.5 years: Test results, up to and including 31 July 2023: Series results, up to and including 31 July 2023: A team must win a series to gain the right to hold the Ashes. A drawn series results in the previous holders retaining the Ashes. Ashes series have generally been played over five Test matches, although there have been four-match series (1938 and 1975) and six-match series (1970–71, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993 and 1997). Australians have made 264 centuries in Ashes Tests, of which 23 have been scores over 200, while Englishmen have scored 212 centuries, of which 10 have been over 200. Australians have taken 10 wickets in a match on 41 occasions, Englishmen 38 times. Match venues The series alternates between England (and Wales) and Australia, and each match of a series is held at a different ground. Australia In Australia, the grounds currently used are The Gabba in Brisbane (first staged an England–Australia Test in the 1932–33 season), Adelaide Oval (1884–85), the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) (1876–77), and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) (1881–82). A single Test was held at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground in 1928–29. Traditionally, Melbourne hosts the Boxing Day Test and Sydney hosts the New Year's Day Test. Additionally the WACA in Perth (1970–71) hosted its final Ashes Test in 2017–18 and was due to be replaced by Perth Stadium for the 2021–22 series. However, Western Australian border restrictions and quarantine requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a change in venue for the final Ashes Test to Bellerive Oval in Hobart. This was the first Ashes Test match to be held in Tasmania. Cricket Australia proposed that the 2010–11 series consist of six Tests, with the additional game to be played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The England and Wales Cricket Board declined and the series was played over five Tests. England In England and Wales, the grounds currently used are: Old Trafford in Manchester (1884), The Oval in Kennington, South London (1884); Lord's in St John's Wood, North London (1884); Headingley in Leeds (1899) and Edgbaston in Birmingham (1902). Additionally Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales (2009); the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, County Durham (2013) and Trent Bridge at West Bridgford (1899), have been used and one Test was also held at Bramall Lane in Sheffield in 1902. Traditionally the final Test of the series is played at the Oval. Sophia Gardens and the Riverside were excluded as Test grounds between the years of 2020 and 2031 and therefore will not host an Ashes Test until at least 2035. The ECB announced the 2027 and 2031 Ashes series venues will be held at Lord's (2027 and 2031), The Oval (2027 and 2031), Edgbaston (2027), Trent Bridge (2027 and 2031), The Rose Bowl (2027), Old Trafford (2031) and Headingley (2031). *Including abandoned tests †County cricket clubs who play at the grounds ‡Former grounds which no longer host Test Matches Cultural references The popularity and reputation of the cricket series has led to other sports and games using the name "Ashes" for contests between England/Great Britain and Australia. The best-known and longest-running of these events is the rugby league Ashes competition between Great Britain now England and Australia national rugby league teams. Use of the name "Ashes" was suggested by the Australian team when rugby league matches between the two countries commenced in 1908. Other examples included the television game shows Gladiators and Sale of the Century, both of which broadcast special editions containing contestants from the Australian and English versions of the shows competing against each other. The term became further genericised in Australia in the first half of the twentieth century, and was used to describe many sports rivalries or competitions outside the context of Australia vs England. The Australian rules football interstate carnival, and the small silver casket which served as its trophy, were symbolically known as "the Ashes" of Australian football, and was spoken of as such until at least the 1940s. The soccer rivalry between Australia and New Zealand was described as "the soccer ashes of Australasia" until as late as the 1950s; ashes from cigars smoked by the two countries' captains were put into a casket in 1923 to make the trophy literal. The interstate rugby league rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales was known for a time as Australia's rugby league ashes, and bowls competitions between the two states also regularly used the term. Even some local rivalries, such as southern Western Australia's annual Great Southern Football Carnival, were locally described as "the ashes". This genericised usage is no longer common, and "the Ashes" would today be assumed only to apply to a contest between Australia and England. The Ashes featured in the film The Final Test, released in 1953, based on a television play by Terence Rattigan. It stars Jack Warner as an England cricketer playing the last Test of his career, which is the last of an Ashes series; the film includes cameo appearances of English captain Len Hutton and other players who were part of England's 1953 triumph. Douglas Adams's 1982 science fiction comedy novel Life, the Universe and Everything – the third part of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series – features the urn containing the Ashes as a significant element of its plot. The urn is stolen by alien robots, as the burnt stump inside is part of a key needed to unlock the "Wikkit Gate" and release an imprisoned world called Krikkit.Bodyline, a fictionalised television miniseries based on the "Bodyline" Ashes series of 1932–33, was screened in Australia in 1984. The cast included Gary Sweet as Donald Bradman and Hugo Weaving as England captain Douglas Jardine. In the 1938 film The Lady Vanishes, Charters and Caldicott, played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne are two cricket fans who are desperate to get home from Europe in order to see the last day's play in the Third Test at Manchester. It is not until they see a newsboy's poster near the end of the film that they discover that the match had been abandoned, due to floods. See also History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883 History of Test cricket from 1884 to 1889 History of Test cricket from 1890 to 1900 The Women's Ashes Ella-Mobbs Trophy (the Rugby Union equivalent of England-Australia matches) Notes References Further reading Willis, R. Cricket's Biggest Mystery: The Ashes , The Lutterworth Press (1987), . Other Wisden's Cricketers Almanack'' (various editions) External links Ashes to Ashes An audio history of the first hundred years of the Ashes, narrated by John Arlott Cricinfo's Ashes website The Origin of the Ashes – Rex Harcourt Listen to a young Don Bradman speaking after the 1930 Ashes tour Australia in international cricket Cricket awards and rankings Cricket rivalries England in international cricket Recurring events established in 1882 Recurring sporting events established in 1882 Test cricket competitions

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardipithecus

Ardipithecus

Ardipithecus is a genus of an extinct hominine that lived during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene epochs in the Afar Depression, Ethiopia. Originally described as one of the earliest ancestors of humans after they diverged from the chimpanzees, the relation of this genus to human ancestors and whether it is a hominin is now a matter of debate. Two fossil species are described in the literature: A. ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago during the early Pliocene, and A. kadabba, dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago (late Miocene). Initial behavioral analysis indicated that Ardipithecus could be very similar to chimpanzees, however more recent analysis based on canine size and lack of canine sexual dimorphism indicates that Ardipithecus was characterised by reduced aggression, and that they more closely resemble bonobos. Some analyses describe Australopithecus as being sister to Ardipithecus ramidus specifically. This means that Australopithecus is distinctly closer related to Ardipithecus ramidus than Ardipithecus kadabba. Cladistically, then, Australopithecus (and eventually Homo sapiens) indeed emerged within the Ardipithecus lineage, and this lineage is not literally extinct. Ardipithecus ramidus A. ramidus was named in September 1994. The first fossil found was dated to 4.4 million years ago on the basis of its stratigraphic position between two volcanic strata: the basal Gaala Tuff Complex (G.A.T.C.) and the Daam Aatu Basaltic Tuff (D.A.B.T.). The name Ardipithecus ramidus stems mostly from the Afar language, in which Ardi means "ground/floor" and ramid means "root". The pithecus portion of the name is from the Greek word for "ape". Like most hominids, but unlike all previously recognized hominins, it had a grasping hallux or big toe adapted for locomotion in the trees. It is not confirmed how many other features of its skeleton reflect adaptation to bipedalism on the ground as well. Like later hominins, Ardipithecus had reduced canine teeth and reduced canine sexual dimorphism. In 1992–1993 a research team headed by Tim White discovered the first A. ramidus fossils—seventeen fragments including skull, mandible, teeth and arm bones—from the Afar Depression in the Middle Awash river valley of Ethiopia. More fragments were recovered in 1994, amounting to 45% of the total skeleton. This fossil was originally described as a species of Australopithecus, but White and his colleagues later published a note in the same journal renaming the fossil under a new genus, Ardipithecus. Between 1999 and 2003, a multidisciplinary team led by Sileshi Semaw discovered bones and teeth of nine A. ramidus individuals at As Duma in the Gona area of Ethiopia's Afar Region. The fossils were dated to between 4.35 and 4.45 million years old. Ardipithecus ramidus had a small brain, measuring between 300 and 350 cm3. This is slightly smaller than a modern bonobo or female chimpanzee brain, but much smaller than the brain of australopithecines like Lucy (~400 to 550 cm3) and roughly 20% the size of the modern Homo sapiens brain. Like common chimpanzees, A. ramidus was much more prognathic than modern humans. The teeth of A. ramidus lacked the specialization of other apes, and suggest that it was a generalized omnivore and frugivore (fruit eater) with a diet that did not depend heavily on foliage, fibrous plant material (roots, tubers, etc.), or hard and or abrasive food. The size of the upper canine tooth in A. ramidus males was not distinctly different from that of females. Their upper canines were less sharp than those of modern common chimpanzees in part because of this decreased upper canine size, as larger upper canines can be honed through wear against teeth in the lower mouth. The features of the upper canine in A. ramidus contrast with the sexual dimorphism observed in common chimpanzees, where males have significantly larger and sharper upper canine teeth than females. Of the living apes, bonobos have the smallest canine sexual dimorphism, although still greater than that displayed by A. ramidus. The less pronounced nature of the upper canine teeth in A. ramidus has been used to infer aspects of the social behavior of the species and more ancestral hominids. In particular, it has been used to suggest that the last common ancestor of hominids and African apes was characterized by relatively little aggression between males and between groups. This is markedly different from social patterns in common chimpanzees, among which intermale and intergroup aggression are typically high. Researchers in a 2009 study said that this condition "compromises the living chimpanzee as a behavioral model for the ancestral hominid condition." Bonobo canine size and canine sexual dimorphism more closely resembles that of A. ramidus, and as a result, bonobos are now suggested as a behavioural model. A. ramidus existed more recently than the most recent common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees (CLCA or Pan-Homo LCA) and thus is not fully representative of that common ancestor. Nevertheless, it is in some ways unlike chimpanzees, suggesting that the common ancestor differs from the modern chimpanzee. After the chimpanzee and human lineages diverged, both underwent substantial evolutionary change. Chimp feet are specialized for grasping trees; A. ramidus feet are better suited for walking. The canine teeth of A. ramidus are smaller, and equal in size between males and females, which suggests reduced male-to-male conflict, increased pair-bonding, and increased parental investment. "Thus, fundamental reproductive and social behavioral changes probably occurred in hominids long before they had enlarged brains and began to use stone tools," the research team concluded. Ardi On October 1, 2009, paleontologists formally announced the discovery of the relatively complete A. ramidus fossil skeleton first unearthed in 1994. The fossil is the remains of a small-brained 50-kilogram (110 lb) female, nicknamed "Ardi", and includes most of the skull and teeth, as well as the pelvis, hands, and feet. It was discovered in Ethiopia's harsh Afar desert at a site called Aramis in the Middle Awash region. Radiometric dating of the layers of volcanic ash encasing the deposits suggest that Ardi lived about 4.3-4.5 million years ago. This date, however, has been questioned by others. Fleagle and Kappelman suggest that the region in which Ardi was found is difficult to date radiometrically, and they argue that Ardi should be dated at 3.9 million years. The fossil is regarded by its describers as shedding light on a stage of human evolution about which little was known, more than a million years before Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), the iconic early human ancestor candidate who lived 3.2 million years ago, and was discovered in 1974 just away from Ardi's discovery site. However, because the "Ardi" skeleton is no more than 200,000 years older than the earliest fossils of Australopithecus, and may in fact be younger than they are, some researchers doubt that it can represent a direct ancestor of Australopithecus. Some researchers infer from the form of her pelvis and limbs and the presence of her abductable hallux, that "Ardi" was a facultative biped: bipedal when moving on the ground, but quadrupedal when moving about in tree branches. A. ramidus had a more primitive walking ability than later hominids, and could not walk or run for long distances. The teeth suggest omnivory, and are more generalised than those of modern apes. Ardipithecus kadabba Ardipithecus kadabba is "known only from teeth and bits and pieces of skeletal bones", and is dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago. It has been described as a "probable chronospecies" (i.e. ancestor) of A. ramidus. Although originally considered a subspecies of A. ramidus, in 2004 anthropologists Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Gen Suwa, and Tim D. White published an article elevating A. kadabba to species level on the basis of newly discovered teeth from Ethiopia. These teeth show "primitive morphology and wear pattern" which demonstrate that A. kadabba is a distinct species from A. ramidus. The specific name comes from the Afar word for "basal family ancestor". Classification Due to several shared characteristics with chimpanzees, its closeness to ape divergence period, and due to its fossil incompleteness, the exact position of Ardipithecus in the fossil record is a subject of controversy. Primatologist Esteban Sarmiento had systematically compared and concluded that there is not sufficient anatomical evidence to support an exclusively human lineage. Sarmiento noted that Ardipithecus does not share any characteristics exclusive to humans, and some of its characteristics (those in the wrist and basicranium) suggest it diverged from humans prior to the human–gorilla last common ancestor. His comparative (narrow allometry) study in 2011 on the molar and body segment lengths (which included living primates of similar body size) noted that some dimensions including short upper limbs, and metacarpals are reminiscent of humans, but other dimensions such as long toes and relative molar surface area are great ape-like. Sarmiento concluded that such length measures can change back and forth during evolution and are not very good indicators of relatedness (homoplasy). However, some later studies still argue for its classification in the human lineage. In 2014, it was reported that the hand bones of Ardipithecus, Australopithecus sediba and A. afarensis have the third metacarpal styloid process, which is absent in other apes. Unique brain organisations (such as lateral shift of the carotid foramina, mediolateral abbreviation of the lateral tympanic, and a shortened, trapezoidal basioccipital element) in Ardipithecus are also found only in the Australopithecus and Homo. Comparison of the tooth root morphology with those of the earlier Sahelanthropus also indicated strong resemblance, also pointing to inclusion to the human line. Evolutionary tree according to a 2019 study: Paleobiology The Ardipithecus length measures are good indicators of function and together with dental isotope data and the fauna and flora from the fossil site indicate Ardipithecus was mainly a terrestrial quadruped collecting a large portion of its food on the ground. Its arboreal behaviors would have been limited and suspension from branches solely from the upper limbs rare. A comparative study in 2013 on carbon and oxygen stable isotopes within modern and fossil tooth enamel revealed that Ardipithecus fed both arboreally (on trees) and on the ground in a more open habitat, unlike chimpanzees. In 2015, Australian anthropologists Gary Clark and Maciej Henneberg said that Ardipithecus adults have a facial anatomy more similar to chimpanzee subadults than adults, with a less-projecting face and smaller canines (large canines in primate males are used to compete within mating hierarchies), and attributed this to a decrease in craniofacial growth in favour of brain growth. This is only seen in humans, so they argued that the species may show the first trend towards human social, parenting and sexual psychology. Previously, it was assumed that such ancient human ancestors behaved much like chimps, but this is no longer considered to be a viable comparison. This view has yet to be corroborated by more detailed studies of the growth of A.ramidus. The study also provides support for Stephen Jay Gould's theory in Ontogeny and Phylogeny that the paedomorphic (childlike) form of early hominin craniofacial morphology results from dissociation of growth trajectories. Clark and Henneberg also argued that such shortening of the skull—which may have caused a descension of the larynx—as well as lordosis—allowing better movement of the larynx—increased vocal ability, significantly pushing back the origin of language to well before the evolution of Homo. They argued that self domestication was aided by the development of vocalization, living in a pro-social society. They conceded that chimps and A. ramidus likely had the same vocal capabilities, but said that A. ramidus made use of more complex vocalizations, and vocalized at the same level as a human infant due to selective pressure to become more social. This would have allowed their society to become more complex. They also noted that the base of the skull stopped growing with the brain by the end of juvenility, whereas in chimps it continues growing with the rest of the body into adulthood; and considered this evidence of a switch from a gross skeletal anatomy trajectory to a neurological development trajectory due to selective pressure for sociability. Nonetheless, their conclusions are highly speculative. According to Scott Simpson, the Gona Project's physical anthropologist, the fossil evidence from the Middle Awash indicates that both A. kadabba and A. ramidus lived in "a mosaic of woodland and grasslands with lakes, swamps and springs nearby," but further research is needed to determine which habitat Ardipithecus at Gona preferred. Anatomically, Ardi is closer to the orangutan than to the chimpanzee, bonobo or gorilla. All three are adapted for knuckle walking on the forest floor and climbing trees. The orangutan spends virtually its entire life in the forest canopy. Its anatomy allows for maximum reach by its upper limbs for overhead branches while its lower limbs have a narrow stance that enables it to balance while walking "foot over foot" on lower branches and vines. Although not as closely related genetically as the knuckle walking apes, this would indicate that Ardi was behaviourly more similar to the orangutan than to the other three great apes. In nature, the orangutan is widely dispersed. There is one dominant male in a territory with wide cheek flaps who maintains contact with others in his territory by vocalizations. The female raises offspring one at a time with a maturation period of about eight years. This is the longest maturation period of any of the apes. During this period, the offspring learns the intricate task of weaving a sleeping platform. Rescue centers are now raising young orangutans that have lost their mother typically from deforestation. They are raised in age cohorts by these centers to learn the necessary skills to be able to be released into the forest. While in these cohorts, they show social behavior reminiscent of age appropriate behavior of human children. This suggests that Ardi was physically preadapted for bipedal locomotion as well as social behavior. See also Australopithecus Paranthropus Graecopithecus List of human evolution fossils Orrorin Sahelanthropus References External links Science Magazine: Ardipithecus special (requires free registration) The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program: Ardipithecus kadabba Ardipithecus ramidus Ardipithecus ramidus at Archaeology info Explore Ardipithecus at NationalGeographic.com Ardipithecus ramidus - Science Journal Article Discovering Ardi - Discovery Channel Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016). Hominini Prehistoric primate genera Pliocene primates Transitional fossils Fossil taxa described in 1995 Prehistoric Ethiopia Miocene genus first appearances Zanclean extinctions

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide ( ; ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demonym Adelaidean is used to denote the city and the residents of Adelaide. The Traditional Owners of the Adelaide region are the Kaurna. The area of the city centre and surrounding Park Lands is called in the Kaurna language. Adelaide is situated on the Adelaide Plains north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St Vincent in the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east. Its metropolitan area extends from the coast to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and stretches from Gawler in the north to Sellicks Beach in the south. Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city centre and chose its location close to the River Torrens. Light's design, now listed as national heritage, set out the city centre in a grid layout known as "Light's Vision", interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by park lands. Early colonial Adelaide was shaped by the diversity and wealth of its free settlers, in contrast to the convict history of other Australian cities. It was Australia's third most populated city until the post-war era. It has been noted for its leading examples of religious freedom and progressive political reforms, and became known as the "City of Churches" due to its diversity of faiths. Today, Adelaide is known by its many festivals and sporting events, its food and wine, its coastline and hills, its large defence and manufacturing sectors and its emerging space sector, including the Australian Space Agency being headquartered here. Adelaide's quality of life has ranked consistently highly in various measures through the 21st century, at one stage being named Australia's most liveable city. As South Australia's government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevards of North Terrace and King William Street. History Before European settlement The area around modern-day Adelaide was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Kaurna people, one of many Aboriginal nations in South Australia. The city and parklands area was known as Tarntanya, Tandanya, now the short name of Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Tarndanya, or Tarndanyangga, now the dual name for Victoria Square, in the Kaurna language. The name means 'male red kangaroo rock', referring to a rock formation on the site that has now been destroyed. The surrounding area was an open grassy plain with patches of trees and shrubs which had been managed by hundreds of generations. Kaurna country encompassed the plains which stretched north and south of Tarntanya as well as the wooded foothills of the Mt Lofty Ranges. The River Torrens was known as the Karrawirra Pari (Red Gum forest river). About 300 Kaurna populated the Adelaide area, and were referred to by the settlers as the Cowandilla. There were more than 20 local clans across the plain who lived semi-nomadic lives, with extensive mound settlements where huts were built repeatedly over centuries and a complex social structure including a class of sorcerers separated from regular society. Within a few decades of European settlement of South Australia, Kaurna culture was almost completely destroyed. The last speaker of Kaurna language died in 1929. Extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both, which has included a commitment by local and state governments to rename or include Kaurna names for many local places. 19th century Based on the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield about colonial reform, Robert Gouger petitioned the British government to create a new colony in Australia, resulting in the passage of the South Australia Act 1834. Physical establishment of the colony began with the arrival of the first British colonisers in February 1836. The first governor proclaimed the commencement of colonial government in South Australia on 28 December 1836, near The Old Gum Tree in what is now the suburb of Glenelg North. The event is commemorated in South Australia as Proclamation Day. The site of the colony's capital was surveyed and laid out by Colonel William Light, the first surveyor-general of South Australia, with his own original, unique, topographically sensitive design. The city was named after Queen Adelaide. Adelaide was established as a planned colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution, based upon the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Wakefield had read accounts of Australian settlement while in prison in London for attempting to abduct an heiress, and realised that the eastern colonies suffered from a lack of available labour, due to the practice of giving land grants to all arrivals. Wakefield's idea was for the Government to survey and sell the land at a rate that would maintain land values high enough to be unaffordable for labourers and journeymen. Funds raised from the sale of land were to be used to bring out working-class emigrants, who would have to work hard for the monied settlers to ever afford their own land. As a result of this policy, Adelaide does not share the convict settlement history of other Australian cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart. As it was believed that in a colony of free settlers there would be little crime, no provision was made for a gaol in Colonel Light's 1837 plan. But by mid-1837 the South Australian Register was warning of escaped convicts from New South Wales and tenders for a temporary gaol were sought. Following a burglary, a murder, and two attempted murders in Adelaide during March 1838, Governor Hindmarsh created the South Australian Police Force (now the South Australia Police) in April 1838 under 21-year-old Henry Inman. The first sheriff, Samuel Smart, was wounded during a robbery, and on 2 May 1838 one of the offenders, Michael Magee, became the first person to be hanged in South Australia. William Baker Ashton was appointed governor of the temporary gaol in 1839, and in 1840 George Strickland Kingston was commissioned to design Adelaide's new gaol. Construction of Adelaide Gaol commenced in 1841. Adelaide's early history was marked by economic uncertainty and questionable leadership. The first governor of South Australia, John Hindmarsh, clashed frequently with others, in particular the Resident Commissioner, James Hurtle Fisher. The rural area surrounding Adelaide was surveyed by Light in preparation to sell a total of over of land. Adelaide's early economy started to get on its feet in 1838 with the arrival of livestock from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Wool production provided an early basis for the South Australian economy. By 1860, wheat farms had been established from Encounter Bay in the south to Clare in the north. George Gawler took over from Hindmarsh in late 1838 and, despite being under orders from the Select Committee on South Australia in Britain not to undertake any public works, promptly oversaw construction of a governor's house, the Adelaide Gaol, police barracks, a hospital, a customs house and a wharf at Port Adelaide. Gawler was recalled and replaced by George Edward Grey in 1841. Grey slashed public expenditure against heavy opposition, although its impact was negligible at this point: silver was discovered in Glen Osmond that year, agriculture was well underway, and other mines sprung up all over the state, aiding Adelaide's commercial development. The city exported meat, wool, wine, fruit and wheat by the time Grey left in 1845, contrasting with a low point in 1842 when one-third of Adelaide houses were abandoned. Trade links with the rest of the Australian states were established after the Murray River was successfully navigated in 1853 by Francis Cadell, an Adelaide resident. South Australia became a self-governing colony in 1856 with the ratification of a new constitution by the British parliament. Secret ballots were introduced, and a bicameral parliament was elected on 9 March 1857, by which time 109,917 people lived in the province. In 1860, the Thorndon Park reservoir was opened, providing an alternative water source to the now turbid River Torrens. Gas street lighting was implemented in 1867, the University of Adelaide was founded in 1874, the South Australian Art Gallery opened in 1881 and the Happy Valley Reservoir opened in 1896. In the 1890s Australia was affected by a severe economic depression, ending a hectic era of land booms and tumultuous expansionism. Financial institutions in Melbourne and banks in Sydney closed. The national fertility rate fell and immigration was reduced to a trickle. The value of South Australia's exports nearly halved. Drought and poor harvests from 1884 compounded the problems, with some families leaving for Western Australia. Adelaide was not as badly hit as the larger gold-rush cities of Sydney and Melbourne, and silver and lead discoveries at Broken Hill provided some relief. Only one year of deficit was recorded, but the price paid was retrenchments and lean public spending. Wine and copper were the only industries not to suffer a downturn. 20th century Adelaide was Australia's third largest city for most of the 20th century. Electric street lighting was introduced in 1900 and electric trams were transporting passengers in 1909. 28,000 men were sent to fight in World War I. Historian F. W. Crowley examined the reports of visitors in the early 20th century, noting that "many visitors to Adelaide admired the foresighted planning of its founders", as well as pondering the riches of the young city. Adelaide enjoyed a postwar boom, entering a time of relative prosperity. Its population grew, and it became the third most populous metropolitan area in the country, after Sydney and Melbourne. Its prosperity was short-lived, with the return of droughts and the Great Depression of the 1930s. It later returned to fortune under strong government leadership. Secondary industries helped reduce the state's dependence on primary industries. World War II brought industrial stimulus and diversification to Adelaide under the Playford Government, which advocated Adelaide as a safe place for manufacturing due to its less vulnerable location. Shipbuilding was expanded at the nearby port of Whyalla. The South Australian Government in this period built on former wartime manufacturing industries but neglected cultural facilities which meant South Australia's economy lagged behind. International manufacturers like General Motors Holden and Chrysler made use of these factories around the Adelaide area in suburbs like Elizabeth, completing its transformation from an agricultural service centre to a 20th-century motor city. The Mannum–Adelaide pipeline brought River Murray water to Adelaide in 1955 and an airport opened at West Beach in 1955. Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre were established in the 1960s at Bedford Park, south of the city. Today, Flinders Medical Centre is one of the largest teaching hospitals in South Australia. In the post-war years around the early 1960s, Adelaide was surpassed by Brisbane as Australia's third largest city. The Dunstan Governments of the 1970s saw something of an Adelaide 'cultural revival', establishing a wide array of social reforms. The city became noted for its progressivism as South Australia became the first Australian state or territory to decriminalise homosexuality between consenting adults in 1975. Adelaide became a centre for the arts, building upon the biennial "Adelaide Festival of Arts" that commenced in 1960. The State Bank collapsed in 1991 during an economic recession. The effects lasted until 2004, when Standard & Poor's reinstated South Australia's AAA credit rating. Adelaide's tallest building, completed in 2020, is called the Adelaidean and is located at 11 Frome Street. 21st century In the early years of the 21st century, a significant increase in the state government's spending on Adelaide's infrastructure occurred. The Rann government invested A$535 million in a major upgrade of the Adelaide Oval to enable Australian Football League to be played in the city centre and more than A$2 billion to build a new Royal Adelaide Hospital on land adjacent to the Adelaide Railway Station. The Glenelg tramline was extended through the city to Hindmarsh down to East Terrace and the suburban railway line extended south to Seaford. Following a period of stagnation in the 1990s and 2000s, Adelaide began several major developments and redevelopments. The Adelaide Convention Centre was redeveloped and expanded at a cost of A$350 million beginning in 2012. Three historic buildings were adapted for modern use: the Torrens Building in Victoria Square as the Adelaide campus for Carnegie Mellon University, University College London, and Torrens University; the Stock Exchange building as the Science Exchange of the Royal Institution Australia; and the Glenside Psychiatric Hospital as the Adelaide Studios of the SA Film Corporation. The government invested more than A$2 billion to build a desalination plant, powered by renewable energy, as an 'insurance policy' against droughts affecting Adelaide's water supply. The Adelaide Festival, Fringe, and Womadelaide became annual events. Geography Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. The city stretches from the coast to the foothills, and from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. According to the Regional Development Australia, an Australian government planning initiative, the "Adelaide Metropolitan Region" has a total land area of , while a more expansive definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a "Greater Adelaide" statistical area totalling . The city sits at an average elevation of above sea level. Mount Lofty, east of the Adelaide metropolitan region in the Adelaide Hills at an elevation of , is the tallest point of the city and in the state south of Burra. The city borders the Temperate Grassland of South Australia in the east, an endangered vegetation community. Much of Adelaide was bushland before British settlement, with some variation – sandhills, swamps and marshlands were prevalent around the coast. The loss of the sandhills to urban development had a particularly destructive effect on the coastline due to erosion. Where practical, the government has implemented programs to rebuild and vegetate sandhills at several of Adelaide's beachside suburbs. Tennyson Dunes is the largest contiguous, tertiary dune system contained entirely within Metropolitan Adelaide, providing refuge for a variety of remnant species formerly found along the entire coastline. Much of the original vegetation has been cleared with what is left to be found in reserves such as the Cleland National Park and Belair National Park. A number of creeks and rivers flow through the Adelaide region. The largest are the Torrens and Onkaparinga catchments. Adelaide relies on its many reservoirs for water supply with the Happy Valley Reservoir supplying around 40% and the much larger Mount Bold Reservoir 10% of Adelaide's domestic requirements respectively. Geology Adelaide and its surrounding area is one of the most seismically active regions in Australia. On 1 March 1954 at 3:40 am Adelaide experienced its largest recorded earthquake to date, with the epicentre 12 km from the city centre at Darlington, and a reported magnitude of 5.6. There have been smaller earthquakes in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2022. The uplands of the Adelaide Hills, part of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges to the east of Adelaide, are defined on their western side by a number of arcuate faults (the Para, Eden, Clarendon and Willunga Faults), and consist of rocks such as siltstone, dolomite and quartzite, dating from the Neoproterozoic to the middle Cambrian, laid down in the Adelaide Rift Complex, the oldest part of the Adelaide Superbasin. Most of the Adelaide metropolitan area lies in the downthrown St Vincent Basin and its embayments, including the Adelaide Plains Sub-basin, and the Golden Grove, Noarlunga and Willunga Embayments. These basins contain deposits of Tertiary marine and non-marine sands and limestones, which form important aquifers. These deposits are overlain by Quaternary alluvial fans and piedmont slope deposits, derived from erosion of the uplands, consisting of sands, clays and gravels, interfingering to the west with transgressive Pleistocene to Holocene marine sands and coastal sediments of the shoreline of Gulf St Vincent. Urban layout Adelaide is a planned city, designed by the first Surveyor-General of South Australia, Colonel William Light. His plan, sometimes referred to as "Light's Vision" (also the name of a statue of him on Montefiore Hill), arranged Adelaide in a grid, with five squares in the Adelaide city centre and a ring of parks, known as the Adelaide Parklands, surrounding it. Light's selection of the location for the city was initially unpopular with the early settlers, as well as South Australia's first governor, John Hindmarsh, due to its distance from the harbour at Port Adelaide, and the lack of fresh water there. Light successfully persisted with his choice of location against this initial opposition. Recent evidence suggests that Light worked closely with George Kingston as well as a team of men to set out Adelaide, using various templates for city plans going back to Ancient Greece, including Italian Renaissance designs and the similar layouts of the American cities Philadelphia and Savannah–which, like Adelaide, follow the same layout of a central city square, four complementing city squares surrounding it and a parklands area that surrounds the city centre. The benefits of Light's design are numerous: Adelaide has had wide multi-lane roads from its beginning, an easily navigable cardinal direction grid layout and an expansive green ring around the city centre. There are two sets of ring roads in Adelaide that have resulted from the original design. The inner ring route (A21) borders the parklands, and the outer route (A3/A13/A16/A17) completely bypasses the inner city via (in clockwise order) Grand Junction Road, Hampstead Road, Ascot Avenue, Portrush Road, Cross Road and South Road. Suburban expansion has to some extent outgrown Light's original plan. Numerous former outlying villages and "country towns", as well as the satellite city of Elizabeth, have been enveloped by its suburban sprawl. Expanding developments in the Adelaide Hills region led to the construction of the South Eastern Freeway to cope with growth, which has subsequently led to new developments and further improvements to that transport corridor. Similarly, the booming development in Adelaide's South led to the construction of the Southern Expressway. New roads are not the only transport infrastructure developed to cope with the urban growth. The O-Bahn Busway is an example of a unique solution to Tea Tree Gully's transport woes in the 1980s. The development of the nearby suburb of Golden Grove in the late 1980s is an example of well-thought-out urban planning. In the 1960s, a Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study Plan was proposed to cater for the future growth of the city. The plan involved the construction of freeways, expressways and the upgrade of certain aspects of the public transport system. The then premier Steele Hall approved many parts of the plan and the government went as far as purchasing land for the project. The later Labor government elected under Don Dunstan shelved the plan, but allowed the purchased land to remain vacant, should the future need for freeways arise. In 1980, the Liberal party won government and premier David Tonkin committed his government to selling off the land acquired for the MATS plan, ensuring that even when needs changed, the construction of most MATS-proposed freeways would be impractical. Some parts of this land have been used for transport, (e.g. the O-Bahn Busway and Southern Expressway), while most has been progressively subdivided for residential use. In 2008, the SA Government announced plans for a network of transport-oriented developments across the Adelaide metropolitan area and purchased a 10 hectare industrial site at Bowden for $52.5 million as the first of these developments. Housing Historically, Adelaide's suburban residential areas have been characterised by single-storey detached houses built on blocks. A relative lack of suitable, locally-available timber for construction purposes led to the early development of a brick-making industry, as well as the use of stone, for houses and other buildings. By 1891, 68% of houses were built of stone, 15% of timber, and 10% of brick, with brick also being widely used in stone houses for quoins, door and window surrounds, and chimneys and fireplaces. There is a wide variety in the styles of these houses. Until the 1960s, most of the more substantial houses were built of red brick, though many front walls were of ornamental stone. Then cream bricks became fashionable, and in the 1970s, deep red and brown bricks became popular. Until the 1970s, roofs tended to be clad with (painted) corrugated iron or cement or clay tiles, usually red "terracotta". Since then, Colorbond corrugated steel has dominated. Most roofs are pitched. Flat roofs are not common. Up to the 1970s, most houses were of "double brick" construction on concrete footings, with timber floors laid on joists supported by "dwarf walls". Later houses have mainly been of "brick veneer" construction – structural timber or, more recently, lightweight steel frame on a concrete slab foundation, lined with Gyprock, and with an outer skin of brickwork, to cope with Adelaide's reactive soils, particularly Keswick Clay, black earth and some red-brown earth soils. The use of precast concrete panels for floor and wall construction has also increased. In addition to this, a significant factor in Adelaide's suburban history is the role of the South Australian Housing Trust. Climate Adelaide has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) under the Köppen climate classification. The city has hot, dry summers and cool winters with moderate rainfall. Most precipitation falls in the winter months, leading to the suggestion that the climate be classified as a "cold monsoon". Rainfall is unreliable, light and infrequent throughout summer, although heavy falls can occur. The winter has fairly reliable rainfall with June being the wettest month of the year, averaging around 80 mm. Frosts are occasional, with the most notable occurrences in 1908 and 1982. Hail is common in winter. Adelaide is a windy city with significant wind chill in winter, which makes the temperature seem colder than it actually is. Snowfall in the metropolitan area is extremely rare, although light and sporadic falls in the nearby hills and at Mount Lofty occur during winter. Dewpoints in the summer typically range from . There are usually several days in summer where the temperature reaches or above; the frequency of these temperatures has been increasing in recent years. Temperature extremes range from -0.4 °C (31.4 °F), 8 June 1982 to 47.7 °C (117.9 °F), 24 January 2019. The city features 90.6 clear days annually. The average sea temperature ranges from in August to in February. Liveability Adelaide was consistently ranked in the world's 10 most liveable cities through the 2010s by The Economist Intelligence Unit. In June 2021, The Economist ranked Adelaide the third most liveable city in the world, behind Auckland and Osaka. In June 2023, Adelaide was ranked the twelfth most liveable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In December 2021, Adelaide was named the world's second National Park City, after the state government had lobbied for this title. It was ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia, based on surveys of residents' views of their own city, between 2010 and 2013, dropping to second place in 2014. Governance Adelaide, as the capital of South Australia, is the seat of the Government of South Australia. The bicameral Parliament of South Australia consists of the lower house known as the House of Assembly and the upper house known as the Legislative Council. General elections are held every four years, the last being the 2022 South Australian state election. As Adelaide is South Australia's capital and most populous city, the State Government co-operates extensively with the City of Adelaide. In 2006, the Ministry for the City of Adelaide was created to facilitate the State Government's collaboration with the Adelaide City Council and the Lord Mayor to improve Adelaide's image. The State Parliament's Capital City Committee is also involved in the governance of the City of Adelaide, being primarily concerned with the planning of Adelaide's urban development and growth. Reflecting South Australia's status as Australia's most centralised state, Adelaide elects a substantial majority of the South Australian House of Assembly. Of the 47 seats in the chamber, 34 seats (three-quarters of the legislature) are based in Adelaide, and two rural seats include Adelaide suburbs. Local governments The Adelaide metropolitan area is divided between nineteen local government areas. At its centre, the City of Adelaide administers the Adelaide city centre, North Adelaide, and the surrounding Adelaide Parklands. It is the oldest municipal authority in Australia and was established in 1840, when Adelaide and Australia's first mayor, James Hurtle Fisher, was elected. From 1919 onwards, the city has had a Lord Mayor, the current being Lord Mayor The Right Honourable Jane Lomax-Smith. Demography Adelaide's inhabitants are known as Adelaideans. Compared with Australia's other state capitals, Adelaide is growing at a rate similar to Sydney, Canberra, and Hobart (see List of cities in Australia by population). In 2020, it had a metropolitan population (including suburbs) of more than 1,376,601, making it Australia's fifth-largest city. Some 77% of the population of South Australia are residents of the Adelaide metropolitan area, making South Australia one of the most centralised states. Major areas of population growth in recent years have been in outer suburbs such as Mawson Lakes and Golden Grove. Adelaide's inhabitants occupy 366,912 houses, 57,695 semi-detached, row terrace or town houses and 49,413 flats, units or apartments. About one sixth (17.1%) of the population had university qualifications. The number of Adelaideans with vocational qualifications (such as tradespersons) fell from 62.1% of the labour force in the 1991 census to 52.4% in the 2001 census. Adelaide is ageing more rapidly than other Australian capital cities. More than a quarter (27.5%) of Adelaide's population is aged 55 years or older, in comparison to the national average of 25.6%. Adelaide has the lowest number of children (under-15-year-olds), who comprised 17.7% of the population, compared to the national average of 19.3%. Ancestry and immigration At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: Overseas-born Adelaideans composed 31.3% of the total population at the 2021 census. The five largest groups of overseas-born were from England (5.7%), India (3.1%), Mainland China (1.8%), Vietnam (1.2%) and Italy (1.1%). Suburbs including Newton, Payneham and Campbelltown in the east and Torrensville, West Lakes and Fulham to the west, have large Greek and Italian communities. The Italian consulate is located in the western suburb of Hindmarsh. Large Vietnamese populations are settled in the north-western suburbs of Woodville, Kilkenny, Pennington, Mansfield Park and Athol Park and also Parafield Gardens and Pooraka in Adelaide's north. Migrants from India and Sri Lanka have settled into inner suburban areas of Adelaide including the inner northern suburbs of Blair Athol, Kilburn and Enfield and the inner southern suburbs of Plympton, Park Holme and Kurralta Park. Suburbs such as Para Hills, Salisbury, Ingle Farm and Blair Athol in the north and Findon, West Croydon and Seaton and other Western suburbs have sizeable Afghan communities. Chinese migrants favour settling in the eastern and north eastern suburbs including Kensington Gardens, Greenacres, Modbury and Golden Grove. Mawson Lakes has a large international student population, due to its proximity to the University of South Australia campus. At the 2021 census, 1.7% of Adelaide's population identified as being Indigenous — Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Language At the 2016 census, 75.4% of the population spoke English at home. The other languages most commonly spoken at home were Italian (2.1%), Standard Mandarin (2.1%), Greek (1.7%) Vietnamese (1.4%), and Cantonese (0.7%). The Kaurna language, spoken by the area's original inhabitants, had no living speakers in the middle of the 20th century, but since the 1990s there has been a sustained revival effort from academics and Kaurna elders. Religion Adelaide was founded on a vision of religious tolerance that attracted a wide variety of religious practitioners. This led to it being known as The City of Churches. But approximately 28% of the population expressed no religious affiliation in the 2011 Census, compared with the national average of 22.3%, making Adelaide one of Australia's least religious cities. Over half of the population of Adelaide identifies as Christian, with the largest denominations being Catholic (21.3%), Anglican (12.6%), Uniting Church (7.6%) and Eastern Orthodox (3.5%). The Jewish community of the city dates back to 1840. Eight years later, 58 Jews lived in the city. A synagogue was built in 1871, when 435 Jews lived in the city. Many took part in the city councils, such as Judah Moss Solomon (1852–66). Three Jews have been elected to the position of city mayor. In 1968, the Jewish population of Adelaide numbered about 1,200; in 2001, according to the Australian census, 979 persons declared themselves to be Jewish by religion. In 2011, over 1,000 Jews were living in the city, operating an Orthodox and a Reform school, in addition to a virtual Jewish museum. The "Afghan" community in Australia first became established in the 1860s when camels and their Pathan, Punjabi, Baluchi and Sindhi handlers began to be used to open up settlement in the continent's arid interior. Until eventually superseded by the advent of the railways and motor vehicles, camels played an invaluable economic and social role in transporting heavy loads of goods to and from isolated settlements and mines. This is acknowledged by the name of The Ghan, the passenger train operating between Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin. The Central Adelaide Mosque is regarded as Australia's oldest permanent mosque; an earlier mosque at Marree in northern South Australia, dating from 1861 to 1862 and subsequently abandoned or demolished, has now been rebuilt. Economy South Australia's largest employment sectors are health care and social assistance, surpassing manufacturing in SA as the largest employer since 2006–07. In 2009–10, manufacturing in SA had average annual employment of 83,700 persons compared with 103,300 for health care and social assistance. Health care and social assistance represented nearly 13% of the state average annual employment. The Adelaide Hills wine region is an iconic and viable economic region for both the state and country in terms of wine production and sale. The 2014 vintage is reported as consisting of red grapes crushed valued at A$8,196,142 and white grapes crushed valued at $14,777,631. The retail trade is the second largest employer in SA (2009–10), with 91,900 jobs, and 12 per cent of the state workforce. Manufacturing, defence technology, high-tech electronic systems and research, commodity export and corresponding service industries all play a role in the SA economy. Almost half of all cars produced in Australia were made in Adelaide at the General Motors Holden plant in Elizabeth. The site ceased operating in November 2017. The collapse of the State Bank in 1992 resulted in large levels of state public debt (as much as A$4 billion). The collapse meant that successive governments enacted lean budgets, cutting spending, which was a setback to the further economic development of the city and state. The debt has more recently been reduced with the State Government once again receiving a AAA+ Credit Rating. The global media conglomerate News Corporation was founded in, and until 2004 incorporated in, Adelaide and it is still considered its "spiritual" home by its founder, Rupert Murdoch. Australia's largest oil company, Santos, prominent South Australian brewery, Coopers, and national retailer Harris Scarfe also call Adelaide their home. In 2018, at which time more than 80 organisations employed 800 people in the space sector in South Australia, Adelaide was chosen for the headquarters of a new Australian Space Agency. The agency opened its in 2020. It is working to triple the size of the Australian space industry and create 20,000 new jobs by 2030. Defence industry Adelaide is home to a large proportion of Australia's defence industries, which contribute over A$1 billion to South Australia's Gross State Product. The principal government military research institution, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, and other defence technology organisations such as BAE Systems Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia, are north of Salisbury and west of Elizabeth in an area now called "Edinburgh Parks", adjacent to RAAF Base Edinburgh. Others, such as Saab Systems and Raytheon, are in or near Technology Park. ASC Pty Ltd, is based in the industrial suburb of Osborne and is also a part of Technology Park. South Australia was charged with constructing Australia's s and more recently the A$6 billion contract to construct the Royal Australian Navy's new air-warfare destroyers. Employment statistics , Greater Adelaide had an unemployment rate of 7.4% with a youth unemployment rate of 15%. The median weekly individual income for people aged 15 years and over was $447 per week in 2006, compared with $466 nationally. The median family income was $1,137 per week, compared with $1,171 nationally. Adelaide's housing and living costs are substantially lower than that of other Australian cities, with housing being notably cheaper. The median Adelaide house price is half that of Sydney and two-thirds that of Melbourne. The three-month trend unemployment rate to March 2007 was 6.2%. The Northern suburbs' unemployment rate is disproportionately higher than the other regions of Adelaide at 8.3%, while the East and South are lower than the Adelaide average at 4.9% and 5.0% respectively. House prices Over the decade March 2001 – March 2010, Metropolitan Adelaide median house prices approximately tripled. (approx. 285% – approx. 11%p.a. compounding) In the five years March 2007 – March 2012, prices increased by approx. 27% – approx. 5%p.a. compounding. March 2012 – March 2017 saw a further increase of 19% – approx. 3.5%p.a. compounding. In summary: Each quarter, The Alternative and Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA) publishes a list of median house sale prices by suburb and Local Government Area. (Previously, this was done by REISA) Due to the small sizes of many of Adelaide's suburbs, the low volumes of sales in these suburbs, and (over time) the huge variations in the numbers of sales in a suburb in a quarter, statistical analysis of "the most expensive suburb" is unreliable; the suburbs appearing in the "top 10 most expensive suburbs this quarter" list is constantly varying. Quarterly Reports for the last two years can be found on the REISA website. Education and research Education forms an increasingly important part of the city's economy, with the South Australian Government and educational institutions attempting to position Adelaide as "Australia's education hub" and marketing it as a "Learning City." The number of international students studying in Adelaide has increased rapidly in recent years to 30,726 in 2015, of which 1,824 were secondary school students. In addition to the city's existing institutions, foreign institutions have been attracted to set up campuses to increase its attractiveness as an education hub. Adelaide is the birthplace of three Nobel laureates, more than any other Australian city: physicist William Lawrence Bragg and pathologists Howard Florey and Robin Warren, all of whom completed secondary and tertiary education at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide. Primary and secondary education There are two systems of primary and secondary schools, a public system operated by the South Australian Government's Department for Education, and a private system of independent and Catholic schools. South Australian schools provide education under the Australian Curriculum for reception to Year 10 students. In Years 10 to 12, students study for the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE). They have the option of incorporating vocational education and training (VET) courses or a flexible learning option (FLO). South Australia also has 24 schools that use International Baccalaureate programs as an alternative to the Australian Curriculum or SACE. These programs include the IB Primary Years Programme, the IB Middle Years Programme, and the IB Diploma Programme. For South Australian students who cannot attend a traditional school, including students who live in rural or remote areas, the state government runs the Open Access College (OAC), which provides virtual teaching. The OAC has a campus in Marden which caters to students from reception to Year 12 and adults who haven't been able to complete their SACE. Guardians are also able to apply for their child to be educated from home as long as they provide an education program which meets the same requirements as the Australian Curriculum as well as opportunities for social interaction. Tertiary education There are three public universities local to Adelaide, as well as one private university and three constituent colleges of foreign universities. Flinders University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and Torrens University Australia—part of the Laureate International Universities are based in Adelaide. The University of Adelaide was ranked in the top 150 universities worldwide. Flinders ranked in the top 250 and Uni SA in the top 300. Torrens University Australia is part of an international network of over 70 higher education institutions in more than 30 countries worldwide. The historic Torrens Building in Victoria Square houses Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College Australia, and University College London's School of Energy and Resources (Australia), and constitute the city's international university precinct. The University of Adelaide, with 25,000 students, is Australia's third-oldest university and a member of the leading "Group of Eight". It has five campuses throughout the state, including two in the city-centre, and a campus in Singapore. The University of South Australia, with 37,000 students, has two North Terrace campuses, three other campuses in the metropolitan area and campuses in the regional cities of Whyalla and Mount Gambier. The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia have had multiple proposals to merge into a single university. A proposal in 2018 failed due to uncertainty as to the new name and leadership of the merged university. In 2022, the universities announced a new merger proposal, with the name and leadership issues settled and support from the South Australian government. Flinders University, with 25,184 students, is based in the southern suburb of Bedford Park, alongside the Flinders Medical Centre, with additional campuses in neighbouring Tonsley and in Victoria Square in the city centre. The Adelaide College of Divinity is at Brooklyn Park. There are several South Australian TAFE (Technical and Further Education) campuses in the metropolitan area that provide a range of vocational education and training. The Adelaide College of the Arts, as a school of TAFE SA, provides nationally recognised training in visual and performing arts. Research In addition to the universities, Adelaide is home to research institutes, including the Royal Institution of Australia, established in 2009 as a counterpart to the two-hundred-year-old Royal Institution of Great Britain. Many of the organisations involved in research tend to be geographically clustered throughout the Adelaide metropolitan area: The east end of North Terrace: SA Pathology; Hanson Institute; National Wine Centre. The west end of North Terrace: South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), located next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The Waite Research Precinct: SARDI Head Office and Plant Research Centre; AWRI; ACPFG; CSIRO research laboratories. SARDI also has establishments at Glenside and West Beach. Edinburgh, South Australia: DSTO; BAE Systems (Australia); Lockheed Martin Australia Electronic Systems. Technology Park (Mawson Lakes): BAE Systems; Optus; Raytheon; Topcon; Lockheed Martin Australia Electronic Systems. Research Park at Thebarton: businesses involved in materials engineering, biotechnology, environmental services, information technology, industrial design, laser/optics technology, health products, engineering services, radar systems, telecommunications and petroleum services. Science Park (adjacent to Flinders University): Playford Capital. The Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research in Woodville the research arm of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide The Joanna Briggs Institute, a global research collaboration for evidence-based healthcare with its headquarters in North Adelaide. Cultural life While established as a British province, and very much English in terms of its culture, Adelaide attracted immigrants from other parts of Europe early on, including German and other European non-conformists escaping religious persecution. The first German Lutherans arrived in 1838, bringing with them the vine cuttings that they used to found the acclaimed wineries of the Barossa Valley. The Royal Adelaide Show is an annual agricultural show and state fair, established in 1839 and now a huge event held in the Adelaide Showground annually. Adelaide's arts scene flourished in the 1960s and 1970s with the support of successive premiers from both major political parties. The renowned Adelaide Festival of Arts was established in 1960 under Thomas Playford, which in the same year spawned an unofficial uncurated series of performances and exhibits which grew into the Adelaide Fringe. Construction of the Adelaide Festival Centre began under Steele Hall in 1970 and was completed under the subsequent government of Don Dunstan, who also established the South Australian Film Corporation in 1972 and the State Opera of South Australia in 1976. Over time, the Adelaide Festival expanded to include Adelaide Writers' Week and WOMADelaide, and other separate festivals were established, such as the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (2002), the Adelaide Festival of Ideas (1999), the Adelaide Film Festival (2013), FEAST (1999, a queer culture), Tasting Australia (1997, a food and wine affair), and Illuminate Adelaide (2021). With the Festival, the Fringe, WOMADelaide, Writers' Week and the Adelaide 500 street motor racing event (along with evening music concerts) all happening in early March, the period became known colloquially as "Mad March". In 2014, Ghil'ad Zuckermann founded the Adelaide Language Festival. There are many international cultural fairs, most notably the German Schützenfest and Greek Glendi. Adelaide holds an annual Christmas pageant, the world's largest Christmas parade. North Terrace institutions As the state capital, Adelaide has a great number of cultural institutions, many of them along the boulevard of North Terrace. The Art Gallery of South Australia, with about 35,000 works, holds Australia's second largest state-based collection. Adjacent are the South Australian Museum and State Library of South Australia. The Adelaide Botanic Garden, National Wine Centre and Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute are nearby in the East End of the city. In the back of the State Library lies the Migration Museum, Australia's oldest museum of its kind. Further west, the Lion Arts Centre is home to ACE Open, which showcases contemporary art; Dance Hub SA; and other studios and arts industry spaces. The Mercury Cinema and the JamFactory ceramics and design gallery are just around the corner. Performing arts and music venues The Adelaide Festival Centre (which includes the Dunstan Playhouse, Festival Theatre and Space Theatre), on the banks of the Torrens, is the focal point for much of the cultural activity in the city and home to the State Theatre Company of South Australia. Other live music and theatre venues include the Adelaide Entertainment Centre; Adelaide Oval; Memorial Drive Park; Thebarton Theatre; Adelaide Town Hall; Her Majesty's Theatre; Queen's Theatre; Holden Theatres; and the Hopgood Theatre. The Lion Arts Factory, within the Lion Arts Centre, hosts contemporary music in a wide range of genres, as does "The Gov" in Hindmarsh. The city also has numerous smaller theatres, pubs and cabaret bars which host performances. Live music In 2015, it was said that there were now more live music venues per capita in Adelaide than any other capital city in the southern hemisphere, Lonely Planet labelled Adelaide "Australia's live music city", and the city was recognised as a "City of Music" by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. In addition to its own WOMAD (WOMADelaide), Adelaide attracts several touring music festivals, including Creamfields, Laneway and Groovin'. Adelaide has produced musical groups and individuals who have achieved national and international fame. These include the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Youth Orchestra, rock bands The Angels, Atlas Genius, Cold Chisel, The Superjesus, Wolf & Cub, roots/blues group The Audreys, internationally acclaimed metal acts I Killed The Prom Queen and Double Dragon, popular Australian hip-hop outfit Hilltop Hoods, pop acts like Sia, Orianthi, Guy Sebastian, and Wes Carr, as well as internationally successful tribute act, The Australian Pink Floyd Show. Noted rocker Jimmy Barnes (formerly lead vocalist with Cold Chisel) spent most of his youth in the northern suburb of Elizabeth. Paul Kelly grew up in Adelaide and was head prefect at Rostrevor College. The first Australian Idol winner, Guy Sebastian, hails from the north-eastern suburb of Golden Grove. Television Adelaide is served by numerous digital free-to-air television channels: ABC ABC HD (ABC broadcast in HD) ABC TV Plus ABC Me ABC News SBS SBS HD (SBS broadcast in HD) SBS World Movies HD SBS Viceland HD SBS Food NITV SBS WorldWatch Seven 7HD (Seven broadcast in HD) 7Two 7mate 7Bravo 7flix Racing.com Nine 9HD (Nine broadcast in HD) 9Gem 9Go! 9Life 9Gem HD 9Rush Extra 10 10 HD (10 broadcast in HD) 10 Bold 10 Peach 10 Shake TVSN Gecko TV C44 Adelaide (Adelaide's community TV station) All of the five Australian national television networks broadcast both high-definition digital and standard-definition digital television services in Adelaide. They share three transmission towers on the ridge near the summit of Mount Lofty. There are two other transmission sites at 25 Grenfell Street, Adelaide and Elizabeth Downs. The two government-funded stations are run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC South Australia) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The Seven Network and Network Ten both own their Adelaide stations (SAS-7 and ADS-10 respectively). Adelaide's NWS-9 is part of the Nine Network. Adelaide also has a community television station, Channel 44. As part of a nationwide phase-out of analogue television in Australia, Adelaide's analogue television service was shut down on 2 April 2013. The Foxtel pay TV service is also available via cable or satellite to the entire metropolitan area. All the major broadcasting networks also operate online on-demand television services, alongside internet-only services such as Stan, Fetch TV, Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and Kayo Sports. Radio There are 20 radio stations that serve the metropolitan area, as well as four stations that serve only parts of the metropolitan area; six commercial stations, six community stations, six national stations and two narrowcast stations. DAB+ digital radio has been broadcasting in metropolitan Adelaide since 20 May 2009, and currently offers a choice of 41 stations all operated by the existing licensed radio broadcasters, which includes high-quality simulcast of all AM and FM stations. Sport The main sports played professionally in Adelaide are Australian Rules football, soccer, cricket, netball, and basketball. Adelaide is the home of two Australian Football League teams: the Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club, and one A-League soccer team, Adelaide United. A local Australian rules football league, the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), is made up of 10 teams from around Adelaide. The SANFL has been in operation since 1877 when it began as the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) before changing its name to the SANFL in 1927. The SANFL is the oldest surviving football league of any code played in Australia. Adelaide has developed a strong culture of attracting crowds to major sporting events. Until the completion of the 2012–14 renovation and upgrade of the Adelaide Oval, most large sporting events took place at either Football Park (the then home base of the Adelaide Crows, and the then Port Adelaide home game venue), or the historic Adelaide Oval, home of the South Australia Redbacks and the Adelaide Strikers cricket teams. Since completion of the upgrade, home games for Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide now take place at Adelaide Oval. Since 1884, Adelaide Oval has also hosted an international cricket test every summer, along with a number of One Day International cricket matches. Memorial Drive Park, adjacent to the Adelaide Oval, used to host Davis Cup and other major tennis events, including the Australian Open and the Adelaide International. Adelaide's professional association football team, Adelaide United, play in the A-League. Founded in 2003, their home ground is Hindmarsh Stadium, which has a capacity of 17,000 and is one of the few purpose-built soccer stadia in Australia. Prior to United's foundation, Adelaide City and West Adelaide represented the city in the National Soccer League. The two sides, which contest the Adelaide derby against one another, now play in the National Premier Leagues South Australia. For two years, 1997 and 1998, Adelaide was represented in Australia's top level rugby league, after the New South Wales Rugby League had played a single game per season at the Adelaide Oval for five years starting in 1991. The Adelaide Rams were formed and played in the breakaway Super League (SL) competition in 1997 before moving to the new National Rugby League in 1998. Initially playing at the Adelaide Oval, the club moved to the more suitable Hindmarsh Stadium late in the 1998 season. As part of a peace deal with the Australian Rugby League to end the Super League war, the club's owners News Limited (who were also owners of the SL) suddenly closed the club only weeks before the start of the 1999 season. Adelaide has two professional basketball teams, the men's team being the Adelaide 36ers which plays in the National Basketball League (NBL) and the women's team, the Adelaide Lightning which plays in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Both teams play their home games at the Titanium Security Arena. Adelaide has a professional netball team, the Adelaide Thunderbirds, which plays in the national netball competition, the Suncorp Super Netball championship, with home games played at Netball SA Stadium. The Thunderbirds occasionally play games or finals at the Titanium Security Arena, while international netball matches are usually played at the 10,500 seat Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The Titanium Security Arena has a capacity of 8,000 and is the largest purpose-built basketball stadium in Australia. Since 1999 Adelaide and its surrounding areas have hosted the Tour Down Under bicycle race, organised and directed by Adelaide-based Michael Turtur. Turtur won an Olympic gold medal for Australia in the 4000 m team pursuit at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The Tour Down Under is the largest cycling event outside Europe and was the first event outside Europe to be granted UCI ProTour status. Adelaide maintains a franchise in the Australian Baseball League, the Adelaide Giants. They have been playing since 2009, and their home stadium (until 2016) was Norwood Oval. From 2016 the team moved to the Diamond Sports Stadium located near the Adelaide International Airport due to renovations at Norwood. Adelaide also has an ice hockey team, Adelaide Adrenaline in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It was national champions in 2009 and plays its games at the IceArenA. The Australian Grand Prix for World Championship Formula One racing was hosted by Adelaide from 1985 to 1995 on the Adelaide Street Circuit which was laid out in the city's East End as well as the eastern parklands including the Victoria Park Racecourse. The Grand Prix became a source of pride, and losing the event to Melbourne in a surprise announcement in mid-1993 left a void that has since been filled with the Adelaide 500 for V8 Supercar racing, held on a modified version of the same street circuit. The Classic Adelaide, a rally of classic sporting vehicles, is also held in the city and its surrounds. Adelaide formerly had three horse racing venues. Victoria Park, Cheltenham Park Racecourse, both of which have now closed, and Morphettville Racecourse that remains the home of the South Australian Jockey Club. It also has Globe Derby Park for Harness racing that opened in 1969, and by 1973 had become Adelaide's premier harness racing venue taking over from the Wayville Showgrounds, as well as Greyhound Park for greyhound racing that opened in 1972. The World Solar Challenge race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations, although some are fielded by high schools. The race has a 20-years' history spanning nine races, with the inaugural event taking place in 1987. Adelaide hosted the 2012 World Bowls Championships at Lockleys Bowling Club, becoming the third city in the world to have held the championships twice, having previously hosted the event in 1996. Dirt track speedway is also popular in Adelaide with three operating speedways. Adelaide Motorsport Park, located adjacent to the Adelaide International Raceway road racing circuit at Virginia ( north of the city centre) has been in continuous operation since 1979 after the closure of the popular Rowley Park Speedway. Gillman Speedway located in the semi-industrial suburb of Gillman, has been in operation since 1998 and caters to Motorcycle speedway and Sidecars, while the Sidewinders Speedway located in Wingfield is also a motorcycle speedway dedicated to Under-16 riders and has been in operation since 1978. In 2016, backed by South Australia's Peregrine Corporation opened up a multi-purpose facility; a state-of-the-art motorsporting park and a hotel alongside its newer OTR service station outside a small township of Tailem Bend currently named The Bend Motorsport Park. Design for thrill seekers and rev-heads the facility currently host South Australia's second Supercars motoring event during a round in August. Adelaide is home to the Great Southern Slam, the world's largest roller derby tournament. The tournament has been held biennially over Australia's Queen's Birthday holiday weekend since 2010. In 2014, and 2016 the tournament featured 45 teams playing in two divisions. In 2018, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams competing in three divisions. Infrastructure Transport Being centrally located on the Australian mainland, Adelaide forms a strategic transport hub for east–west and north–south routes. The city itself has a metropolitan public transport system managed by and known as the Adelaide Metro. The Adelaide Metro consists of a contracted bus system including the O-Bahn Busway, 6 commuter rail lines (diesel and electric), and a small tram network operating between inner suburb Hindmarsh, the city centre, and seaside Glenelg. Tramways were largely dismantled in the 1950s, but saw a revival in the 2010s with upgrades and extensions. Road transport in Adelaide has historically been easier than many of the other Australian cities, with a well-defined city layout and wide multiple-lane roads from the beginning of its development. Adelaide was known as a "twenty-minute city", with commuters having been able to travel from metropolitan outskirts to the city proper in roughly twenty minutes. However, such arterial roads often experience traffic congestion as the city grows. The Adelaide metropolitan area has one freeway and four expressways. In order of construction, they are: The South Eastern Freeway (M1), connects the south-east corner of the Adelaide Plain to the Adelaide Hills and beyond to Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend, where it then continues as National Highway 1 south-east to Melbourne. The Southern Expressway (M2), connecting the outer southern suburbs with the inner southern suburbs and the city centre. It duplicates the route of South Road. The North-South Motorway (M2), is an ongoing major project that will become the major north–south corridor, replacing most of what is now South Road, connecting the Southern Expressway and the Northern Expressway via a motorway with no traffic lights. As of 2020 the motorway's northern half is complete (save for a small link under construction at Croydon Park), connecting the Northern Expressway to Adelaide's inner north-west; the section running through Adelaide's inner west and inner south-west is awaiting funding. The Port River Expressway (A9), connects Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor to Port Wakefield Road at the northern "entrance" to the metropolitan area. The Northern Expressway (Max Fatchen Expressway) (M2), is the northern suburbs bypass route connecting the Sturt Highway (National Highway 20) via the Gawler Bypass to Port Wakefield Road at a point a few kilometres north of the Port River Expressway connection. The Northern Connector, completed in 2020, links the North South Motorway to the Northern Expressway. Airports The Adelaide metropolitan area has two commercial airports, Adelaide Airport and Parafield Airport. Adelaide Airport, in Adelaide's south-western suburbs, serves in excess of 8 million passengers annually. Parafield Airport, Adelaide's second airport north of the city centre, is used for small aircraft, pilot training and recreational aviation purposes. Parafield Airport served as Adelaide's main aerodrome until the opening of the Adelaide Airport in February 1955. Adelaide Airport serves many international and domestic destinations including all Australian state capitals. Adelaide is also home to a military airport, known as Edinburgh Airport, located in the northern suburbs. It was built in 1955 in a joint initiative with the United Kingdom for weapon development. Health Adelaide's two largest hospitals are the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in Adelaide Parklands, a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Adelaide (800 beds), and the Flinders Medical Centre (580 beds) at Bedford Park, affiliated with Flinders University. The RAH also operates additional campuses for specialist care throughout the suburbs including the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre (150 beds) at Northfield and the Glenside Campus (129 beds) for acute mental health services. Other major public hospitals are the Women's and Children's Hospital (305 beds), at North Adelaide; the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (340 beds) at Woodville; Modbury Hospital (178 beds) at Modbury; and the Lyell McEwin Hospital (198 beds) at Elizabeth Vale. Numerous private hospitals are also located throughout the city, with the largest operators being not-for-profits Adelaide Community Healthcare Alliance (3 hospitals) and Calvary Care (4 hospitals). In 2017, the RAH was relocated from the city's East End to a new AU$2.3 billion facility built over former railyards in the West End. The state-of-the-art hospital forms part of a new biomedical precinct called BioMed City that collocates the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), the University of Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building, the University of South Australia's Health Innovation Building, and the state's Dental Hospital. SAHMRI is building a $300 million second facility due to be completed by 2022 to house the Australian Bragg Centre with Australia's first proton therapy unit. There are also plans for the Women's and Children's Hospital to be relocated to the precinct adjacent the RAH by 2024. The largest provider of community health care within Adelaide is the not-for-profit Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS), which provides out of hospital care and hospital avoidance care. Energy Adelaide's energy requirements were originally met by the Adelaide Electric Supply Company, which was nationalised by the Playford government in 1946, becoming the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA). Despite significant public opposition and the Labor party's anti-privatisation stance which left the Liberal party one vote short of the numbers needed to pass the legislation, ETSA was privatised by the Olsen Government in 1999 by way of a 200-year lease for the distribution network (ETSA Utilities, later renamed SA Power Networks) and the outright purchase of ETSA Power by the Cheung Kong Holdings for $3.5 billion (11 times ETSA's annual earnings) after Labor MP Trevor Crothers resigned from the party and voted with the government. The electricity retail market was opened to competition in 2003 and although competition was expected to result in lower retail costs, prices increased by 23.7% in the market's first year. In 2004, the privatisation was deemed to be a failure with consumers paying 60% more for their power and with the state government estimated to lose $3 billion in power generation net income in the first ten years of privatisation. In 2012, the industry came under scrutiny for allegedly reducing supply by shutting down generators during periods of peak demand to force prices up. Increased media attention also revealed that in 2009 the state government had approved a 46% increase in retail prices to cover expected increases in the costs of generation while generation costs had in fact fallen 35% by 2012. South Australia has the highest retail price for electricity in the country. Privatisation led to competition from a variety of companies who now separately provide for the generation, transmission, distribution and retail sales of gas and electricity. Electricity generation comes from a range of technologies and operators. ElectraNet operates the high-voltage electricity transmission network. SA Power Networks distributes electricity to end users. The largest electricity and gas retailing companies are also the largest generating companies. The largest fossil fuel power stations are the Torrens Island Power Station gas-fired plant operated by AGL Energy and the Pelican Point Power Station operated by Engie. South Australia also has wind and solar power and connections to the national grid. Gas is supplied from the Moomba Gas Processing Plant in the Cooper Basin via the Moomba Adelaide Pipeline System and the SEAGas pipeline from Victoria. In 2011, South Australia generated 18% of its electricity from wind power, and had 51% of the installed capacity of wind generators in Australia. Due to almost universal blackouts within the city during September 2016, the state worked with Tesla to produce the world's largest electricity battery at Hornsdale Power Reserve which has increased that state's electrical security to the extent in which large blackouts are no longer an event. Water The provision of water services is by the government-owned SA Water. Adelaide's water is supplied from its seven reservoirs: Mount Bold, Happy Valley, Myponga, Millbrook, Hope Valley, Little Para and South Para. The yield from these reservoir catchments can be as little as 10% of the city's requirements (90GL per annum) in drought years and about 60% in average years. The remaining demand is met by the pumping of water from the River Murray. A sea-water desalination plant capable of supplying 100GL per annum was built during the 2001–2009 drought; however, it operated at about 8% of its capacity until 2019. In December 2018, the State and Federal Governments agreed to fund a $2m study to determine how the plant could be used to reduce reliance on river water, in an effort to help save the Murray River basin and mouth (including the Coorong) from further ecological damage. Communications AdelaideFree WiFi is a citywide free Wi-Fi network covering most of the inner city areas of Adelaide, primarily the Adelaide CBD and Northern Adelaide precincts. It was officially launched at the Adelaide Central Markets on Tuesday 25 June 2014. It is provided by Internode, with infrastructure provided by outdoor Cisco WiFi N access points attached to the top of lighting poles, as well as inside cafes and businesses across the city. See also Adelaide Hills City of Adelaide Music of Adelaide Port Adelaide Lists Images of Adelaide List of Adelaide obsolete suburb names List of Adelaide parks and gardens List of Adelaide railway stations List of Adelaide suburbs List of films shot in Adelaide List of people from Adelaide List of protected areas in Adelaide List of public art in South Australia List of public transport routes in Adelaide List of South Australian commercial icons List of sporting clubs in Adelaide List of tallest buildings in Adelaide Sister cities of the City of Adelaide (the Local government area that governs the city centre) Tourist attractions in South Australia Notes References Further reading (full text) External links Adelaide City Council > Official City Guide Adelaide City Council Kids in Adelaide Retrieved 12 May 2020. 1836 establishments in Australia Australian capital cities Cities in South Australia Coastal cities in Australia Planned capitals Populated places established in 1836 Metropolitan areas of Australia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%202

August 2

Events Pre-1600 338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. 216 BC – The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. 49 BC – Caesar, who marched to Spain earlier in the year leaving Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy, defeats Pompey's general Afranius and Petreius in Ilerda (Lerida) north of the Ebro river. 461 – Majorian is arrested near Tortona (northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer as puppet emperor. 932 – After a two-year siege, the city of Toledo, in Spain, surrenders to the forces of the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III, assuming an important victory in his campaign to subjugate the Central March. 1274 – Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later. 1343 – After the execution of her husband, Jeanne de Clisson sells her estates and raises a force of men with which to attack French shipping and ports. 1377 – Russian troops are defeated by forces of the Blue Horde Khan Arapsha in the Battle on Pyana River. 1415 – Thomas Grey is executed for participating in the Southampton Plot. 1601–1900 1610 – During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay. 1776 – The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place. 1790 – The first United States Census is conducted. 1798 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory. 1830 – Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri. 1858 – The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj. 1869 – Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. 1870 – Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom. 1873 – The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system. 1897 – Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states. 1901–present 1903 – The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins. 1914 – The German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I begins. 1916 – World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto. 1918 – The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver. 1922 – A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people. 1923 – Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes U.S. President upon the death of President Warren G. Harding. 1932 – The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson. 1934 – Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. 1937 – The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal. 1939 – Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. 1943 – The Holocaust: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months. 1943 – World War II: The Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and sinks. Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew. 1944 – ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia. 1944 – World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches. 1945 – World War II: End of the Potsdam Conference. 1947 – A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998. 1968 – An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261. 1973 – A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man. 1980 – A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. 1982 – The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public. 1985 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137. 1989 – Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972. 1989 – A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. 1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War. 1999 – The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. 2005 – Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to burst into flames leaving 12 injuries and no fatalities. 2014 – At least 146 people were killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China. Births Pre-1600 1260 – Kyawswa of Pagan, last ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (d. 1299) 1455 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1499) 1533 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar (d. 1588) 1549 – Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (d. 1616) 1601–1900 1612 – Saskia van Uylenburgh, Dutch model and wife of Rembrandt van Rijn (d. 1642) 1627 – Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, Dutch painter (d. 1678) 1630 – Estephan El Douaihy, Maronite patriarch (d. 1704) 1646 – Jean-Baptiste du Casse, French admiral and buccaneer (d. 1715) 1672 – Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss paleontologist and scholar (d. 1733) 1674 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1723) 1696 – Mahmud I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1754) 1702 – Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1769) 1703 – Lorenzo Ricci, Italian religious leader, 18th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1775) 1740 – Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (d. 1817) 1754 – Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French-American architect and engineer, designed Washington, D.C. (d. 1825) 1788 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist and academic (d. 1853) 1815 – Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet and historian (d. 1894) 1820 – John Tyndall, Irish-English physicist and mountaineer (d. 1893) 1828 – Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (d. 1895) 1834 – Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (d. 1904) 1835 – Elisha Gray, American businessman, co-founded Western Electric (d. 1901) 1861 – Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist and academic (d. 1944) 1865 – Irving Babbitt, American academic and critic (d. 1933) 1865 – John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (d. 1955) 1867 – Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1900) 1868 – Constantine I of Greece (d. 1923) 1870 – Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (d. 1954) 1871 – John French Sloan, American painter and illustrator (d. 1951) 1872 – George E. Stewart, Australian-American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1946) 1876 – Pingali Venkayya, Indian geologist, designed the Flag of India (d. 1963) 1877 – Ravishankar Shukla, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (d. 1956) 1878 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author (d. 1956) 1880 – Arthur Dove, American painter and educator (d. 1946) 1882 – Red Ames, American baseball player and manager (d. 1936) 1882 – Albert Bloch, American painter and academic (d. 1961) 1884 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan author and politician, 46th President of Venezuela (d. 1969) 1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian pilot and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (d. 1961) 1887 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and statistician (d. 1960) 1889 – Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (d. 1929) 1891 – Arthur Bliss, English composer and conductor (d. 1975) 1891 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian linguist and historian (d. 1971) 1892 – Jack L. Warner, Canadian-born American production manager and producer, co-founded Warner Bros. (d. 1978) 1894 – Bertha Lutz, Brazilian feminist and scientist (d. 1976) 1895 – Matt Henderson, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1970) 1897 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (d. 1945) 1897 – Max Weber, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 1974) 1898 – Ernő Nagy, Hungarian fencer (d. 1977) 1899 – Charles Bennett, English director and screenwriter (d. 1995) 1900 – Holling C. Holling, American author and illustrator (d. 1973) 1900 – Helen Morgan, American actress and singer (d. 1941) 1901–present 1902 – Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (d. 1971) 1902 – Mina Rees, American mathematician (d. 1997) 1905 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963) 1905 – Myrna Loy, American actress (d. 1993) 1905 – Ruth Nelson, American actress (d. 1992) 1907 – Mary Hamman, American journalist and author (d. 1984) 1910 – Roger MacDougall, Scottish director, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1993) 1911 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (d. 1979) 1912 – Palle Huld, Danish actor (d. 2010) 1912 – Håkon Stenstadvold, Norwegian painter, illustrator, and critic (d. 1977) 1912 – Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian economist and author (d. 2001) 1913 – Xavier Thaninayagam, Sri Lankan scholar and academic (d. 1980) 1914 – Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (d. 1988) 1914 – Big Walter Price, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2012) 1914 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001) 1915 – Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990) 1916 – Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (d. 1990) 1917 – Wah Chang, Chinese-American artist and designer (d. 2003) 1919 – Nehemiah Persoff, Israeli-American actor (d. 2022) 1920 – Louis Pauwels, French journalist and author (d. 1997) 1920 – Augustus Rowe, Canadian physician and politician (d. 2013) 1921 – Alan Whicker, Egyptian-English journalist (d. 2013) 1922 – Betsy Bloomingdale, American philanthropist and socialite (d. 2016) 1922 – Geoffrey Dutton, Australian historian and author (d. 1998) 1923 – Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (d. 2016) 1923 – Ike Williams, American boxer (d. 1994) 1924 – James Baldwin, American novelist, poet, and critic (d. 1987) 1924 – Joe Harnell, American pianist and composer (d. 2005) 1924 – Carroll O'Connor, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001) 1925 – K. Arulanandan, Ceylon-American engineer and academic (d. 2004) 1925 – John Dexter, English director and producer (d. 1990) 1925 – John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2017) 1925 – Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian general and politician, 43rd President of Argentina (d. 2013) 1927 – Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, English mathematician and academic (d. 2018) 1928 – Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (d. 1990) 1929 – Roy Crimmins, English trombonist and composer (d. 2014) 1929 – John Gale, English director and producer 1929 – Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2013) 1929 – David Waddington, Baron Waddington, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Bermuda (d. 2017) 1930 – Vali Myers, Australian painter and dancer (d. 2003) 1931 – Pierre DuMaine, American bishop and academic (d. 2019) 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (d. 2008) 1931 – Karl Miller, English journalist and critic (d. 2014) 1931 – Viliam Schrojf, Czech footballer (d. 2007) 1932 – Lamar Hunt, American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (d. 2006) 1932 – Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor and producer (d. 2013) 1933 – Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of Defence 1934 – Valery Bykovsky, Russian general and cosmonaut (d. 2019) 1935 – Hank Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010) 1936 – Anthony Payne, English composer and author (d. 2021) 1937 – Ron Brierley, New Zealand businessman 1937 – Billy Cannon, American football player and dentist (d. 2018) 1937 – María Duval, Mexican actress and singer 1937 – Garth Hudson, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter, and producer 1938 – Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2007) 1938 – Pierre de Bané, Israeli-Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2019) 1938 – Terry Peck, Falkland Islander soldier (d. 2006) 1939 – Benjamin Barber, American theorist, author, and academic (d. 2017) 1939 – Wes Craven, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1939 – John W. Snow, American businessman and politician, 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury 1940 – Angel Lagdameo, Filipino archbishop (d. 2022) 1940 – Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian physician and activist (d. 2006) 1940 – Will Tura, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1941 – Doris Coley, American singer (d. 2000) 1941 – Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgian-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1941 – François Weyergans, Belgian director and screenwriter (d. 2022) 1942 – Isabel Allende, Chilean-American novelist, essayist, essayist 1942 – Leo Beenhakker, Dutch football manager 1942 – Juan Formell, Cuban singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2014) 1942 – Nell Irvin Painter, American author and historian 1943 – Herbert M. Allison, American lieutenant and businessman (d. 2013) 1943 – Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player and coach 1943 – Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2014) 1943 – Rose Tremain, English novelist and short story writer 1944 – Jim Capaldi, English drummer and singer-songwriter (d. 2005) 1944 – Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian singer and berimbau player (d. 2016) 1945 – Joanna Cassidy, American actress 1945 – Alex Jesaulenko, Austrian-Australian footballer and coach 1945 – Bunker Roy, Indian educator and activist 1945 – Eric Simms, Australian rugby league player and coach 1946 – James Howe, American journalist and author 1947 – Ruth Bakke, Norwegian organist and composer 1947 – Lawrence Wright, American journalist, author, and screenwriter 1948 – Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1948 – Dennis Prager, American radio host and author 1948 – Tapan Kumar Sarkar, Indian-American electrical engineer and academic (d. 2021) 1948 – James Street, American football and baseball player (d. 2013) 1948 – Snoo Wilson, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1949 – James Fallows, American journalist and author 1949 – Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian general and cosmonaut 1950 – Jussi Adler-Olsen, Danish author and publisher 1950 – Ted Turner, British guitarist 1951 – Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011) 1951 – Steve Hillage, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1951 – Burgess Owens, American football player and politician 1951 – Joe Lynn Turner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1951 – Per Westerberg, Swedish businessman and politician, Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden 1952 – Alain Giresse, French footballer and manager 1953 – Donnie Munro, Scottish singer and guitarist 1953 – Butch Patrick, American actor 1953 – Anthony Seldon, English historian and author 1954 – Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager 1955 – Caleb Carr, American historian and author 1955 – Tony Godden, English footballer and manager 1955 – Butch Vig, American drummer, songwriter, and record producer 1956 – Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist, astrophysicist, and author 1957 – Jacky Rosen, United States senator 1959 – Victoria Jackson, American actress and singer 1959 – Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015) 1959 – Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress 1960 – Linda Fratianne, American figure skater 1960 – Neal Morse, American singer and keyboard player 1960 – David Yow, American singer-songwriter 1961 – Pete de Freitas, Trinidadian-British drummer and producer (d. 1989) 1962 – Lee Mavers, English singer, songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Cynthia Stevenson, American actress 1963 – Laura Bennett, American architect and fashion designer 1963 – Uğur Tütüneker, Turkish footballer and manager 1964 – Frank Biela, German race car driver 1964 – Mary-Louise Parker, American actress 1965 – Joe Hockey, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Treasurer of Australia 1965 – Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach 1966 – Takashi Iizuka, Japanese wrestler 1966 – Grainne Leahy, Irish cricketer 1966 – Tim Wakefield, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2023) 1967 – Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player 1967 – Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter and producer 1968 – Stefan Effenberg, German footballer and sportscaster 1969 – Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player 1969 – Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer and manager 1970 – Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Kevin Smith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1970 – Philo Wallace, Barbadian cricketer 1971 – Jason Bell, Australian rugby league player 1971 – Michael Hughes, Irish footballer and manager 1972 – Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer 1972 – Muriel Bowser, American politician, Mayor of Washington, D.C. 1973 – Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer 1973 – Miguel Mendonca, Zimbabwean journalist and author 1973 – Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer 1974 – Phil Williams, English journalist and radio host 1975 – Mineiro, Brazilian footballer 1975 – Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-German badminton player and coach 1975 – Tamás Molnár, Hungarian water polo player 1976 – Reyes Estévez, Spanish runner 1976 – Jay Heaps, American soccer player and coach 1976 – Michael Weiss, American figure skater 1976 – Sam Worthington, English-Australian actor and producer 1976 – Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer 1977 – Edward Furlong, American actor 1978 – Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer 1978 – Matt Guerrier, American baseball player 1978 – Deividas Šemberas, Lithuanian footballer 1978 – Dragan Vukmir, Serbian footballer 1979 – Marco Bonura, Italian footballer 1979 – Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan runner 1980 – Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer 1981 – Alexander Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and boxer 1981 – Tim Murtagh, Irish-English cricketer 1982 – Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer 1982 – Kerry Rhodes, American football player 1982 – Grady Sizemore, American baseball player 1983 – Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer 1983 – Huston Street, American baseball player 1984 – Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer 1985 – Stephen Ferris, Irish rugby player 1985 – David Hart Smith, Canadian wrestler 1985 – Britt Nicole, American Christian pop artist 1986 – Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian skier 1988 – Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player 1988 – Golden Tate, American football player 1989 – Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer 1990 – Ima Bohush, Belarusian tennis player 1990 – Vitalia Diatchenko, Russian tennis player 1990 – Skylar Diggins-Smith, American basketball player 1992 – Charli XCX, English singer-songwriter 1993 – Gael Bussa, Congolese politician 1994 – Laura Pigossi, Brazilian tennis player 1994 – Laremy Tunsil, American football player 1995 – Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvian basketball player 1996 – Keston Hiura, American baseball player 1996 – Simone Manuel, American swimmer 1997 – Austin Theory, American wrestler 1999 – Mark Lee, Korean-Canadian singer 2000 – Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 216 BC – Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, Roman consul 216 BC – Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Roman consul and general 216 BC – Marcus Minucius Rufus, Roman consul 257 – Pope Stephen I 575 – Ahudemmeh, Syriac Orthodox Grand Metropolitan of the East. 640 – Pope Severinus 686 – Pope John V 855 – Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Arab theologian and jurist (b. 780) 924 – Ælfweard of Wessex (b. 904) 1075 – Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople 1100 – William II of England (b. 1056) 1222 – Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (b. 1156) 1277 – Mu'in al-Din Sulaiman Pervane, Chancellor and Regent of the Sultanate of Rum 1316 – Louis of Burgundy (b. 1297) 1330 – Yolande of Dreux, Queen consort of Scotland and Duchess consort of Brittany (b. 1263) 1332 – King Christopher II of Denmark (b. 1276) 1415 – Thomas Grey, English conspirator (b. 1384) 1445 – Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian poet and composer (b. 1376) 1451 – Elizabeth of Görlitz (b. 1390) 1511 – Andrew Barton, Scottish admiral (b. 1466) 1512 – Alessandro Achillini, Italian physician and philosopher (b. 1463) 1589 – Henry III of France (b. 1551) 1601–1900 1605 – Richard Leveson, English admiral (b. c. 1570) 1611 – Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1562) 1667 – Francesco Borromini, Swiss architect, designed San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and Sant'Agnese in Agone (b. 1599) 1696 – Robert Campbell of Glenlyon (b. 1630) 1769 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1689) 1788 – Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (b. 1727) 1799 – Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (b. 1745) 1815 – Guillaume Brune, French general and politician (b. 1763) 1823 – Lazare Carnot, French mathematician, general, and politician, president of the National Convention (b. 1753) 1834 – Harriet Arbuthnot, English diarist (b. 1793) 1849 – Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman Albanian commander (b. 1769) 1854 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (b. 1771) 1859 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (b. 1796) 1876 – "Wild Bill" Hickok, American sheriff (b. 1837) 1889 – Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (b. 1851) 1890 – Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet and author (b. 1813) 1901–present 1903 – Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (b. 1847) 1903 – Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian and microbiologist (b. 1850) 1911 – Ioryi Mucitano, Aromanian revolutionary 1913 – Ferenc Pfaff, Hungarian architect and academic, designed Zagreb Central Station (b. 1851) 1915 – John Downer, Australian politician, 16th premier of South Australia (b. 1843) 1917 – Jaan Mahlapuu, Estonian military pilot (b. 1894) 1921 – Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1873) 1922 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone (b. 1847) 1923 – Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th president of the United States (b. 1865) 1923 – Joseph Whitty, Irish Republican died on hunger strike (b. 1904) 1934 – Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, 2nd president of Germany (b. 1847) 1937 – Artur Sirk, Estonian soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1900) 1939 – Harvey Spencer Lewis, American mystic and author (b. 1883) 1945 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer and educator (b. 1863) 1955 – Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1901) 1955 – Wallace Stevens, American poet and educator (b. 1879) 1963 – Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (b. 1901) 1967 – Walter Terence Stace, English-American epistemologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1886) 1970 – Angus MacFarlane-Grieve, English academic, mathematician, rower, and soldier (b. 1891) 1972 – Brian Cole, American bass player (b. 1942) 1972 – Paul Goodman, American psychotherapist and author (b. 1911) 1972 – Helen Hoyt, American poet and author (b. 1887) 1973 – Ismail Abdul Rahman, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1915) 1973 – Jean-Pierre Melville, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917) 1974 – Douglas Hawkes, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1893) 1976 – László Kalmár, Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1905) 1976 – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1890) 1978 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer and conductor (b. 1899) 1978 – Antony Noghès, French businessman, founded the Monaco Grand Prix (b. 1890) 1979 – Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947) 1981 – Kieran Doherty, Irish hunger striker and politician (b. 1955) 1981 – Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (b. 1900) 1983 – James Jamerson, American bass player (b. 1936) 1986 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927) 1988 – Joe Carcione, American activist and author (b. 1914) 1988 – Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (b. 1938) 1990 – Norman Maclean, American short story writer and essayist (b. 1902) 1990 – Edwin Richfield, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1921) 1992 – Michel Berger, French singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947) 1996 – Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, 150th prime minister of France (b. 1912) 1996 – Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1917) 1996 – Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somalian general and politician, 5th president of Somalia (b. 1934) 1997 – William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1914) 1997 – Fela Kuti, Nigerian singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1938) 1998 – Shari Lewis, American television host and puppeteer (b. 1933) 1999 – Willie Morris, American writer (b. 1934) 2003 – Peter Safar, Austrian-American physician and academic (b. 1924) 2004 – Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter and academic (b. 1929) 2004 – François Craenhals, Belgian illustrator (b. 1926) 2004 – Heinrich Mark, Estonian lawyer and politician, 5th prime minister of Estonia in exile (b. 1911) 2005 – Steven Vincent, American journalist and author (b. 1955) 2007 – Chauncey Bailey, American journalist (b. 1950) 2008 – Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese illustrator (b. 1935) 2011 – José Sanchis Grau, Spanish author and illustrator (b. 1932) 2012 – Gabriel Horn, English biologist and academic (b. 1927) 2012 – Magnus Isacsson, Canadian director and producer (b. 1948) 2012 – Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (b. 1930) 2012 – John Keegan, English historian and journalist (b. 1934) 2012 – Bernd Meier, German footballer (b. 1972) 2012 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano (b. 1920) 2013 – Julius L. Chambers, American lawyer and activist (b. 1936) 2013 – Richard E. 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Basil Fool for Christ (Russian Orthodox Church) Justin Russolillo Eusebius of Vercelli Peter Faber Peter Julian Eymard Plegmund Pope Stephen I Portiuncola Indulgence ("Pardon of Assisi"), the plenary indulgence related to St. Francis of Assisi (Catholic Church). Samuel David Ferguson (Episcopal Church) August 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan) Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica) Paratroopers Day (Russia) Republic Day (North Macedonia) Romani genocide-related observances, including: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day (Council of Europe, European Parliament) References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic%20%28disambiguation%29

Atlantic (disambiguation)

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceans, that separates the old world from the new world. Atlantic may also refer to: Places In Canada Atlantic, Nova Scotia Atlantic Canada In the United States Atlantic, Iowa Atlantic, Massachusetts Atlantic, North Carolina, an unincorporated community in eastern Carteret County Atlantic, Pennsylvania Atlantic, Seattle, a neighborhood in Washington state Atlantic, Virginia Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic County, New Jersey Atlantic Peak (Colorado), a mountain Art, entertainment, and media Companies and labels Atlantic Books, an independent British publishing house Atlantic Monthly Press, an American publishing house Atlantic Entertainment Group, a defunct movie studio company Atlantic FM, a former radio station serving Cornwall, United Kingdom Atlantic Records, a record company Music The Atlantics, an Australian surf rock band formed in the early 1960s Albums Atlantic (Dufresne album) Atlantic (Theatre album) Songs "Atlantic" (song), by Keane "Atlantic", a song by Björk from Vessel (DVD) "Atlantic", a song by Thrice from Vheissu Other art, entertainment, and media Atlantic (film), a 1929 black and white British film The Atlantic, an American magazine founded as The Atlantic Monthly in 1857 Atlantic., a 2014 Dutch film Atlantic (2015 film), an Irish documentary film, awarded Best Irish Documentary at the 2016 Dublin International Film Festival Enterprises and organizations Atlantic (cinema), a movie theater in Warsaw, Poland Atlantic (toy company), a defunct Italian toy manufacturer Atlantic (supermarkets), a defunct supermarket chain in Greece Atlantic Broadband, a cable company in Massachusetts Atlantic City Electric, a division of Elexon supplying electricity in New Jersey Atlantic LNG, a liquefied natural gas producing company based in Trinidad and Tobago Atlantic Petroleum, a former oil company in the United States Atlantic Petroleum (Faroe Islands), an oil and gas production company Atlantic Philanthropies, a defunct private foundation Atlantic Superstore, a Canadian supermarket chain Atlantic Technological University, north-western Ireland Atlantic University, Virginia Beach, Virginia Groupe Atlantic, a French climate control engineering company Sports Atlantic Championship, developmental open-wheel racing series in North America Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an American professional baseball league Structures Atlantic Building or Edificio Atlantic, a condominium building in Havana, Cuba The Atlantic (Atlanta), a skyscraper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States Transportation Airlines Air Atlantic, a Canadian airline Atlantic Airways, a Faroese airline company Aircraft Breguet Atlantic, a French long-range maritime patrol aircraft (1961) Motor vehicles Atlantic (1921 automobile), a defunct automobile company Austin Atlantic, a British car produced by the Austin Motor Company from 1949 to 1952 Fisker Atlantic, a 2012 plug-in electric concept car Railroads and trains Atlantic (locomotive), name of an early steam-powered locomotive of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Atlantic station (Los Angeles Metro) Atlantic station (Staten Island Railway) Atlantic (train), a named passenger train operated by Canadian Pacific Railway and later Via Rail Atlantic, a type of steam locomotive with a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement (UIC classification 2B1) Ships , any one of several vessels by that name Atlantic (yacht), a three-masted gaff-rigged schooner Atlantic 85-class lifeboats, lifeboats that serve the shores of the United Kingdom and Ireland as a part of the RNLI inshore fleet Other uses Atlantic (period) of palaeoclimatology Atlantic languages (formerly West Atlantic), a language family in West Africa Atlantic (horse), British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse of the 1870s See also Atlantik (disambiguation) Atlantique (disambiguation) Atlantic Beach (disambiguation) Atlantic Bridge (disambiguation) Atlantic City (disambiguation)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordion

Accordion

Accordions (from 19th-century German , from —"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame). The essential characteristic of the accordion is to combine in one instrument a melody section, also called the diskant, usually on the right-hand keyboard, with an accompaniment or Basso continuo functionality on the left-hand. The musician normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand side (referred to as the keyboard or sometimes the manual), and the accompaniment on bass or pre-set chord buttons on the left-hand side. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. The accordion belongs to the free-reed aerophone family. Other instruments in this family include the concertina, harmonica, and bandoneon. The concertina and bandoneon do not have the melody–accompaniment duality. The harmoneon is also related and, while having the descant vs. melody dualism, tries to make it less pronounced. The harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family, but are typically larger than an accordion and sit on a surface or the floor. The accordion is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds. These vibrate to produce sound inside the body. Valves on opposing reeds of each note are used to make the instrument's reeds sound louder without air leaking from each reed block. The accordion is widely spread across the world because of the waves of migration from Europe to the Americas and other regions. In some countries (for example: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama) it is used in popular music (for example: chamamé in Argentina; gaucho, forró, and sertanejo in Brazil; vallenato in Colombia; merengue in the Dominican Republic; and norteño in Mexico), whereas in other regions (such as Europe, North America, and other countries in South America) it tends to be more used for dance-pop and folk music. In Europe and North America, some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is used in cajun, zydeco, jazz, and klezmer music, and in both solo and orchestral performances of classical music. Many conservatories in Europe have classical accordion departments. The oldest name for this group of instruments is harmonika, from the Greek , meaning "harmonic, musical". Today, native versions of the name accordion are more common. These names refer to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, which concerned "automatically coupled chords on the bass side". History The accordion's basic form is believed to have been invented in Berlin, in 1822, by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann, although one instrument was discovered in 2006 that appears to have been built earlier. The earliest history of the accordion in Russia is poorly documented. Nevertheless, according to Russian researchers, the earliest known simple accordions were made in Tula, Russia, by Ivan Sizov and Timofey Vorontsov around 1830, after they received an early accordion from Germany. By the late 1840s, the instrument was already very widespread;<ref>[http://publ.lib.ru/ARCHIVES/__Raritetnye_knigi/IRGO_Etnograficheskij_sbornik_02_1854.pdf Etnograficheskii sbornik Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva. Vol. 2] , Saint Petersburg, 1854. pp. 26, 162.</ref> together the factories of the two masters were producing 10,000 instruments a year. By 1866, over 50,000 instruments were being produced yearly by Tula and neighbouring villages, and by 1874 the yearly production was over 700,000. By the 1860s, Novgorod, Vyatka and Saratov governorates also had significant accordion production. By the 1880s, the list included Oryol, Ryazan, Moscow, Tver, Vologda, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Simbirsk, and many of these places created their own varieties of the instrument. The accordion is one of several European inventions of the early 19th century that use free reeds driven by a bellows. An instrument called accordion was first patented in 1829 by Cyrill Demian, of Armenian origin, in Vienna. Demian's instrument bore little resemblance to modern instruments. It only had a left hand buttonboard, with the right hand simply operating the bellows. One key feature for which Demian sought the patent was the sounding of an entire chord by depressing one key. His instrument also could sound two different chords with the same key, one for each bellows direction (a bisonoric action). At that time in Vienna, mouth harmonicas with Kanzellen (chambers) had already been available for many years, along with bigger instruments driven by hand bellows. The diatonic key arrangement was also already in use on mouth-blown instruments. Demian's patent thus covered an accompanying instrument: an accordion played with the left hand, opposite to the way that contemporary chromatic hand harmonicas were played, small and light enough for travelers to take with them and used to accompany singing. The patent also described instruments with both bass and treble sections, although Demian preferred the bass-only instrument owing to its cost and weight advantages. The accordion was introduced from Germany into Britain in about the year 1828. The instrument was noted in The Times in 1831 as one new to British audiences and was not favourably reviewed, but nevertheless it soon became popular. It had also become popular with New Yorkers by the mid-1840s. After Demian's invention, other accordions appeared, some featuring only the right-handed keyboard for playing melodies. It took English inventor Charles Wheatstone to bring both chords and keyboard together in one squeezebox. His 1844 patent for what he called a concertina also featured the ability to easily tune the reeds from the outside with a simple tool. The Austrian musician Adolf Müller described a great variety of instruments in his 1854 book . At the time, Vienna and London had a close musical relationship, with musicians often performing in both cities in the same year, so it is possible that Wheatstone was aware of this type of instrument and may have used them to put his key-arrangement ideas into practice. Jeune's flutina resembles Wheatstone's concertina in internal construction and tone colour, but it appears to complement Demian's accordion functionally. The flutina is a one-sided bisonoric melody-only instrument whose keys are operated with the right hand while the bellows is operated with the left. When the two instruments are combined, the result is quite similar to diatonic button accordions still manufactured today. Further innovations followed and continue to the present. Various buttonboard and keyboard systems have been developed, as well as voicings (the combination of multiple tones at different octaves), with mechanisms to switch between different voices during performance, and different methods of internal construction to improve tone, stability and durability. Modern accordions may incorporate electronics such as condenser microphones and tone and volume controls, so that the accordion can be plugged into a PA system or keyboard amplifier for live shows. Some 2010s-era accordions may incorporate MIDI sensors and circuitry, enabling the accordion to be plugged into a synth module and produce accordion sounds or other synthesized instrument sounds, such as piano or organ. Construction Accordions have many configurations and types. What may be easy to do with one type of accordion could be technically challenging or impossible with another, and proficiency with one layout may not translate to another. The most obvious difference between accordions is their right-hand sides. Piano accordions use a piano-style musical keyboard; button accordions use a buttonboard. Button accordions are furthermore differentiated by their usage of a chromatic or diatonic buttonboard for the right-hand side. Accordions may be either bisonoric, producing different pitches depending on the direction of bellows movement, or unisonoric, producing the same pitch in both directions. Piano accordions are unisonoric. Chromatic button accordions also tend to be unisonoric, while diatonic button accordions tend to be bisonoric, though notable exceptions exist. Accordion size is not standardized, and may vary significantly from model to model. Accordions vary not only in their dimensions and weight, but also in number of buttons or keys present in the right- and left-hand keyboards. For example, piano accordions may have as few as 8 bass buttons (two rows of four), or up to 140 (seven rows of twenty) or beyond. Accordions also vary by their available registers and by their specific tuning and voicing. Despite these differences, all accordions share a number of common components. Universal components Bellows The bellows is the most recognizable part of the instrument, and the primary means of articulation. The production of sound in an accordion is in direct proportion to the motion of the bellows by the player. In a sense, the role of the bellows can be compared to the role of moving a violin's bow on bowed strings. For a more direct analogy, the bellows can be compared to the role of breathing for a singer. The bellows is located between the right- and left-hand keyboards, and is made from pleated layers of cloth and cardboard, with added leather and metal. It is used to create pressure and vacuum, driving air across the internal reeds and producing sound by their vibrations, applied pressure increases the volume. The keyboard touch is not expressive and does not affect dynamics: all expression is effected through the bellows. Bellows effects include: Volume control, including swells and fades Repeated short, rapid changes of direction ("bellows shake"), which has been popularized by musicians such as Renato Borghetti (gaucho music) and Luiz Gonzaga, and extensively used in Forró, called resfulego in Brazil Constant bellows motion while applying pressure at intervals Constant bellows motion to produce clear tones with no resonance Subtly changing the intonation to mimic the expressiveness of a singer Using the bellows with the silent air button gives the sound of air moving ("whooshing"), which is sometimes used in contemporary compositions for this instrument Body The accordion's body consists of two boxes, commonly made of wood, joined by the bellows. These boxes house reed chambers for the right- and left-hand keyboards. Each side has grilles in order to facilitate the transmission of air in and out of the instrument, and to allow the sound to project. The grille at the right-hand side is usually larger and is often shaped for decorative purposes. The right-hand keyboard is normally used for playing the melody and the left-hand one for playing the accompaniment; however, skilled players can reverse these roles and play melodies with the left hand. The size and weight of an accordion varies depending on its type, layout and playing range, which can be as small as to have only one or two rows of basses and a single octave on the right-hand keyboard, to the most common 120-bass accordion and through to large and heavy 160-bass free-bass converter models. Pallet mechanism The accordion is an aerophone. The keyboard mechanisms of the instrument either enable the air flow, or disable it: Variable components The term accordion covers a wide range of instruments, with varying components. All instruments have reed ranks of some format, apart from reedless digital accordions. Not all have switches to change registers or ranks, as some have only one treble register and one bass register. The most typical accordion is the piano accordion, which is used for many musical genres. Another type of accordion is the button accordion, which is used in musical traditions including Cajun, Conjunto and Tejano music, Swiss and Slovenian-Austro-German Alpine music, and Argentinian tango music. The Helikon-style accordion has multiple flared horns projecting out of the left side to strengthen the bass tone. The word "Helikon" refers to a deep-pitched tuba. Right-hand keyboard systems Different systems exist for the right-hand keyboard of an accordion, which is normally used for playing the melody (while it can also play chords). Some use a button layout arranged in one way or another, while others use a piano-style keyboard. Each system has different claimed benefits by those who prefer it. They are also used to define one accordion or another as a different "type": Chromatic button accordions and the bayan, a Russian variant, use a buttonboard where notes are arranged chromatically. Two major systems exist, referred to as the B-system and the C-system (there are also regional variants). Rarely, some chromatic button accordions have a decorative right-hand keyboard in addition to the rows of buttons, an approach used by the virtuoso accordionist Pietro Frosini. Diatonic button accordions use a buttonboard designed around the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys. The keys are often arranged in one row for each key available. Chromatic scales may be available by combining notes from different rows. The adjective "diatonic" is also commonly used to describe bisonic or bisonoric accordions—that is, instruments whose right-hand (and in some instances even bass) keys each sound two different notes depending on the direction of the bellows (for instance, producing major triad sequences while closing the bellows and dominant seventh or 7–9 while opening). Such is the case, for instance, with the Argentinian bandoneon, the Slovenian-Austro-German Steirische Harmonika, the Czech Heligonka Harmonika, the Italian organetto, the Swiss Schwyzerörgeli and the Anglo concertina. Piano accordions use a musical keyboard similar to a piano, at right angles to the cabinet, the tops of the keys inward toward the bellows. The rarely used bass accordion has only a right-hand keyboard, with ranks of 8', 16', and 32' reeds, with the lowest note being the deepest pitch on a pipe organ pedal keyboard (pedal C). It is intended for performing basslines in accordion orchestras. The rarely used piccolo accordion also has only a right-hand keyboard. 6-plus-6 accordions use a buttonboard with three rows of buttons in a "uniform" or "whole-tone" arrangement, generally known as a Jankó keyboard. The chromatic scale consists of two rows. The third row is a repetition of the first row, so there is the same fingering in all twelve scales. These accordions are produced only in special editions e.g. the logicordion produced by Harmona. Left-hand keyboard systems Different systems are also in use for the left-hand keyboard, which is normally used for playing the accompaniment. These usually use distinct bass buttons and often have buttons with concavities or studs to help the player navigate the layout despite not being able to see the buttons while playing. There are three general categories: The Stradella bass system, also called standard bass, is arranged in a circle of fifths and uses single buttons for bass notes and additional rows of single buttons for preset major, minor, dominant seventh, and diminished chords. The dominant seventh and diminished chords are three-note chord voicings that omit the fifths of the chords. The Belgian bass system is a variation used in Belgian chromatic accordions. It is also arranged in a circle of fifths but in reverse order. This system has three rows of basses, three rows of chord buttons allowing easier fingering for playing melodies, combined chords, better use of fingers one and five, and more space between the buttons. This system was rarely used outside of its native Belgium. Various free-bass systems for greater access to playing melodies and complex basslines on the left-hand keyboard and to forming one's own chords note-by-note. These are often chosen for playing jazz and classical music. Some models can convert between free-bass and Stradella bass; this is called converter bass. The free-bass left hand notes are arranged chromatically in three rows with one additional duplicate row of buttons. Luttbeg double-keyboard piano accordions have a piano keyboard layout on both the treble and bass sides. This allows pianists, most notably Duke Ellington, to double up on the accordion without difficulty. The Bercandeon is an improved version of that instrument, also making it a "keyboard bandoneon". In 2021, a patent was published by Valerio Chiovarelli for a new bass system called the "Chiovarelli Jazz System". This system is a variation of the Stradella bass system where, instead of triads, the chordal buttons of this system produce bichords (chords with only 2 pitches instead of 3). The "Chiovarellia Jazz System" (or "CJS" for short) prioritizes the effectiveness of left hand accordion in jazz music, hence the name of the system, but its chordal combinations can be appliccable to many other genres according to the inventor. Reed ranks and switches Inside the accordion are the reeds that generate the instrument tones. These are organized in different sounding banks, which can be further combined into registers producing differing timbres. All but the smaller accordions are equipped with switches that control which combination of reed banks operate, organized from high to low registers. Each register stop produces a separate sound timbre, many of which also differ in octaves or in how different octaves are combined. See the accordion reed ranks and switches article for further explanation and audio samples. All but the smaller accordions usually have treble switches. The larger and more expensive accordions often also have bass switches to give options for the reed bank on the bass side. Classification of chromatic and piano type accordions In describing or pricing an accordion, the first factor is size, expressed in number of keys on either side. For a piano type, this could for one example be 37/96, meaning 37 treble keys (three octaves plus one note) on the treble side and 96 bass keys. A second aspect of size is the width of the white keys, which means that even accordions with the same number of keys have keyboards of different lengths, ranging from for a child's accordion to for an adult-sized instrument. After size, the price and weight of an accordion is largely dependent on the number of reed ranks on either side, either on a cassotto or not, and to a lesser degree on the number of combinations available through register switches. The next, but important, factor is the quality of the reeds, the highest grade called "a mano" (meaning "hand-made"), the next "tipo a mano" ("like hand-made"), lower grades including "export" and several more. Price is also affected by the use of costly woods, luxury decorations, and features such as a palm switch, grille mute, and so on. Some accordion makers sell a range of different models, from a less-expensive base model to a more costly luxury model. Typically, the register switches are described as Reeds: 5 + 3, meaning five reeds on the treble side and three on the bass, and Registers: 13 + M, 7, meaning 13 register buttons on the treble side plus a special "master" that activates all ranks, like the "tutti" or "full organ" switch on an organ, and seven register switches on the bass side. Another factor affecting the price is the presence of electronics, such as condenser microphones, volume and tone controls, or MIDI sensors and connections. Straps The larger piano and chromatic button accordions are usually heavier than other smaller squeezeboxes, and are equipped with two shoulder straps to make it easier to balance the weight and increase bellows control while sitting, and avoid dropping the instrument while standing. Other accordions, such as the diatonic button accordion, have only a single shoulder strap and a right hand thumb strap. All accordions have a (mostly adjustable) leather strap on the left-hand side to keep the player's hand in position while drawing the bellows. There are also straps above and below the bellows to keep it securely closed when the instrument is not being played. Electronic and digital In the 2010s, a range of electronic and digital accordions were introduced. They have an electronic sound module which creates the accordion sound, and most use MIDI systems to encode the keypresses and transmit them to the sound module. A digital accordion can have hundreds of sounds, which can include different types of accordions and even non-accordion sounds, such as pipe organ, piano, or guitar. Sensors are used on the buttons and keys, such as magnetic reed switches. Sensors are also used on the bellows to transmit the pushing and pulling of the bellows to the sound module. Digital accordions may have features not found in acoustic instruments, such as a piano-style sustain pedal, a modulation control for changing keys, and a portamento effect. As an electronic instrument, these types of accordions are plugged into a PA system or keyboard amplifier to produce sound. Some digital accordions have a small internal speaker and amplifier, so they can be used without a PA system or keyboard amplifier, at least for practicing and small venues like coffeehouses. One benefit of electronic accordions is that they can be practiced with headphones, making them inaudible to other people nearby. On a digital accordion, the volume of the right-hand keyboard and the left-hand buttons can be independently adjusted. Acoustic-digital hybrid accordions also exist. They are acoustic accordions (with reeds, bellows, and so on), but they also contain sensors, electronics, and MIDI connections, which provides a wider range of sound options. An acoustic-digital hybrid may be manufactured in this form, or it may be an acoustic accordion which has had aftermarket electronics sensors and connections added. Several companies sell aftermarket electronics kits, but they are typically installed by professional accordion technicians, because of the complex and delicate nature of the internal parts of an accordion. Unusual accordions Various hybrid accordions have been created between instruments of different buttonboards and actions. Many remain curiosities – only a few have remained in use: The Schrammel accordion, used in Viennese chamber music and klezmer, which has the treble buttonboard of a chromatic button accordion and a bisonoric bass buttonboard, similar to an expanded diatonic button accordion The Steirische Harmonika, a type of bisonoric diatonic button accordion particular to the Alpine folk music of Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, the German state of Bavaria, and the Italian South Tyrol The schwyzerörgeli or Swiss organ, which usually has a three-row diatonic treble and 18 unisonoric bass buttons in a bass/chord arrangement – a subset of the Stradella system in reverse order like the Belgian bass – that travel parallel to the bellows motion The trikitixa of the Basque people, which has a two-row diatonic, bisonoric treble and a 12-button diatonic unisonoric bass The British chromatic accordion, the favoured diatonic accordion in Scotland. While the right hand is bisonoric, the left hand follows the Stradella system. The elite form of this instrument is generally considered the German manufactured Shand Morino, produced by Hohner with the input of Sir Jimmy Shand Pedal harmony, a type of accordion used sometimes in Polish folk music, which has a pair of pump organ-like bellows attached. The Finnish composer and accordionist Veli Kujala developed a quarter tone accordion together with the Italian accordion manufacturer Pigini in 2005, and has written works for it. It deploys the same system as the concert accordion, with a scale of five octaves, each divided into 24 quarter tones. Other notable composers who have written concertos for the quarter tone accordion include Jukka Tiensuu and Sampo Haapamäki. Manufacturing process The most expensive accordions are typically fully hand-made, particularly the reeds; completely hand-made reeds have a better tonal quality than even the best automatically manufactured ones. Some accordions have been modified by individuals striving to bring a more pure sound out of low-end instruments, such as the ones improved by Yutaka Usui, a Japanese craftsman. The manufacture of an accordion is only a partly automated process. In a sense, all accordions are handmade, since there is always some hand assembly of the small parts required. The general process involves making the individual parts, assembling the subsections, assembling the entire instrument, and final decorating and packaging. Notable centres of production are the Italian cities of Stradella and Castelfidardo, with many small and medium size manufacturers especially at the latter. Castelfidardo honours the memory of Paolo Soprani who was one of the first large-scale producers. Maugein Freres has built accordions in the French town of Tulle since 1919, and the company is now the last complete-process manufacturer of accordions in France. German companies such as Hohner and Weltmeister made large numbers of accordions, but production diminished by the end of the 20th century. Hohner still manufactures its top-end models in Germany, and Weltmeister instruments are still handmade by HARMONA Akkordeon GmbH in Klingenthal. Use in various music genres The accordion has traditionally been used to perform folk or ethnic music, popular music, and transcriptions from the operatic and light-classical music repertoire. It was also used by the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya and is the main instrument in the traditional Mwomboko dance. Today the instrument is sometimes heard in contemporary pop styles, such as rock and pop-rock, and occasionally even in serious classical music concerts, as well as advertisements. Use in traditional music The accordion's popularity spread rapidly: it has mostly been associated with the common people, and was propagated by Europeans who emigrated around the world. The accordion in both button and piano forms became a favorite of folk musicians and has been integrated into traditional music styles all over the world: see the list of music styles that incorporate the accordion. Use in jazz Notable jazz accordionists Early jazz accordionists include Charles Melrose, who recorded Wailing Blues/Barrel House Stomp (1930, Voc. 1503) with the Cellar Boys; Buster Moten, who played second piano and accordion in the Bennie Moten orchestra; and Jack Cornell, who did recordings with Irving Mills. Later jazz accordionists from the United States include Steve Bach, Milton DeLugg, Orlando DiGirolamo, Dominic Frontiere, Guy Klucevsek, Yuri Lemeshev, Frank Marocco, John Serry Sr., Lee Tomboulian, and Art Van Damme. French jazz accordionists include Richard Galliano, Bernard Lubat, and Vincent Peirani. Norwegian jazz accordionists include Asmund Bjørken, Stian Carstensen, Gabriel Fliflet, Frode Haltli, and Eivin One Pedersen. Left hand techniques The constraints of the Stradella bass system, limiting the left hand to preset chord buttons, is a barrier to some jazz chord conventions. Jazz accordionists expand the range of chord possibilities by using more than one chord button simultaneously, or by using combinations of a chord button and a bass note other than the typical root of the chord. An example of the former technique is used to play a minor seventh chord. To play an Am7(add9) chord, the Am and Em preset buttons are pressed simultaneously, along with an A bassnote. An example of the latter technique is used to play the half-diminished chord. To play an Eø7, a Gm preset button is pressed along with an E bassnote. For the left hand, the free-bass system is used in jazz as a means of creating complex chord voicings. Jazz harmony that would otherwise be difficult to replicate with the Stradella bass system, such as tritone substitutions, become more accessible using a free-bass accordion. Use in popular music The accordion appeared in popular music from the 1900s to the 1960s. This half-century is often called the "golden age of the accordion". Five players, Pietro Frosini, the two brothers Count Guido Deiro and Pietro Deiro and Slovenian brothers Vilko Ovsenik and Slavko Avsenik, Charles Magnante were major influences at this time. Most vaudeville theaters closed during the Great Depression, but accordionists during the 1930s–1950s taught and performed for radio. Included among this group was the concert virtuoso John Serry, Sr.Jacobson, Marion (2012). Squeeze This: A Cultural History of the Accordion in America. University of Illinois Press, Chicago, p. 61. During the 1950s through the 1980s the accordion received significant exposure on television with performances by Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the accordion declined in popularity because of the rise of rock and roll. The first accordionist to appear and perform at the Newport Jazz Festival was Angelo DiPippo. He can be seen playing his accordion in the motion picture The Godfather. He also composed and performed with his accordion on part of the soundtrack of Woody Allen's movie To Rome With Love. He was featured twice on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Richard Galliano is an internationally known accordionist whose repertoire covers jazz, tango nuevo, Latin, and classical. Some popular bands use the instrument to create distinctive sounds. A notable example is Grammy Award-winning parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, who plays the accordion on many of his musical tracks, particularly his polkas. Yankovic was trained in the accordion as a child. The accordion has also been used in the rock genre, most notably by John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, featuring more prominently in the band's earlier works. The instrument is still frequently used during live performances, and continues to make appearances in their studio albums. Accordion is also used in the music of the Dropkick Murphys and Gogol Bordello. Accordionists in heavy metal music make their most extensive appearances in the folk metal subgenre, and are otherwise generally rare. Full-time accordionists in folk metal seem even rarer, but they are still utilized for studio work, as flexible keyboardists are usually more accessible for live performances. The Finnish symphonic folk-metal band Turisas used to have a full-time accordionist, employing classical and polka sensibilities alongside a violinist. One of their accordionists, Netta Skog, is now a member of Ensiferum, another folk-metal band. Another Finnish metal band, Korpiklaani, invokes a type of Finnish polka called humppa, and also has a full-time accordionist. Sarah Kiener, the former hurdy-gurdy player for the Swiss melodic-death-folk metal band Eluveitie, played a Helvetic accordion known as a zugerörgeli. Use in classical music Although best known as a folk instrument, it has grown in popularity among classical composers. The earliest surviving concert piece is , written in 1836 by Louise Reisner of Paris. Other composers, including the Russian Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Italian Umberto Giordano, and the American Charles Ives, wrote works for the diatonic button accordion. The first composer to write specifically for the chromatic accordion was Paul Hindemith. In 1922, the Austrian Alban Berg included an accordion in Wozzeck, Op. 7. In 1937, the first accordion concerto was composed in Russia. Other notable composers have written for the accordion during the first half of the 20th century. Included among this group was the Italian-American John Serry Sr., whose Concerto for Free Bass Accordion was completed in 1964.Accordion World, Bedford Hills, NY, 1968. In addition, the American accordionist Robert Davine composed his Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Accordion as a work for chamber orchestra. American composer William P. Perry featured the accordion in his orchestral suite Six Title Themes in Search of a Movie (2008). The experimental composer Howard Skempton began his musical career as an accordionist, and has written numerous solo works for it. In his work Drang (1999), British composer John Palmer pushed the expressive possibilities of the accordion/bayan. Luciano Berio wrote Sequenza XIII (1995) for accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti. Accordionists like Mogens Ellegaard, Joseph Macerollo, Nick Ariondo, Friedrich Lips, Hugo Noth, Stefan Hussong, Teodoro Anzellotti, and Geir Draugsvoll, encouraged composers to write new music for the accordion (solo and chamber music) and also started playing baroque music on the free bass accordion. French composer Henri Dutilleux used an accordion in both his late song cycles Correspondances (2003) and Le Temps l'Horloge (2009). Russian-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina has composed solos, concertos, and chamber works for accordion. Astor Piazzolla's concert tangos are performed widely. Piazzolla performed on the bandoneon, but his works are performed on either bandoneon or accordion. Australia The earliest mention of the novel accordion instrument in Australian music occurs in the 1830s. The accordion initially competed against cheaper and more convenient reed instruments such as mouth organ, concertina and melodeon. Frank Fracchia was an Australian accordion composer and copies of his works "My dear, can you come out tonight" and "Dancing with you" are preserved in Australian libraries. Other Australian composers who arranged music for accordion include Reginald Stoneham. The popularity of the accordion peaked in the late 1930s and continued until the 1950s. The accordion was particularly favoured by buskers. Bosnia and Herzegovina The accordion is a traditional instrument in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the dominant instrument used in sevdalinka, a traditional genre of folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also considered a national instrument of the country. Brazil The accordion was brought to Brazil by settlers and immigrants from Europe, especially from Italy and Germany, who mainly settled in the south (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná). The first instrument brought was a "Concertina" (a 120 button chromatic accordion). The instrument was popular in the 1950s, and it was common to find several accordions in the same house. There are many different configurations and tunes which were adapted from the cultures that came from Europe. Accordion is the official symbol instrument of the Rio Grande do Sul state, where was voted by unanimity in the deputy chamber. During the boom of accordions there were around 65 factories in Brazil, where most of them (52) in the south, in Rio Grande do Sul state, with only 7 outside the south. One of the most famous and genuinely Brazilian brands was Acordeões Todeschini from Bento Gonçalves-RS, closed in 1973. The Todeschini accordion is very appreciated today and survives with very few maintainers. The most notable musicians of button accordions are Renato Borghetti, Adelar Bertussi, Albino Manique and Edson Dutra. Compared to many other countries, the instrument is very popular in mainstream pop music. In some parts of the country, such as the northeast it is the most popular melodic instrument. As opposed to most European folk accordions, a very dry tuning is usually used in Brazil. Outside the south, the accordion (predominantly the piano accordion) is used in almost all styles of Forró (in particular in the subgenres of Xote and Baião) as the principal instrument, Luiz Gonzaga (the "King of the Baião") and Dominguinhos being among the notable musicians in this style from the northeast. In this musical style the typical combination is a trio of accordion, triangle and zabumba (a type of drum). This style has gained popularity recently, in particular among the student population of the southeast of the country (in the Forró Universitário genre, with important exponents today being Falamansa, and trios such as Trio Dona Zefa, Trio Virgulino and Trio Alvorada). Moreover, the accordion is the principal instrument in Junina music (music of the São João Festival), with Mario Zan having been a very important exponent of this music. It is an important instrument in Sertanejo (and Caipira) music, which originated in the midwest and southeast of Brazil, and subsequently has gained popularity throughout the country. Colombia The accordion is also a traditional instrument in Colombia, commonly associated with the vallenato and cumbia genres. The accordion has been used by tropipop musicians such as Carlos Vives, Andrés Cabas, Fonseca (singer) and Bacilos, as well as rock musicians such as Juanes and pop musicians as Shakira. Vallenato, who emerged in the early twentieth century in Valledupar, and have come to symbolize the folk music of Colombia. Every year in April, Colombia holds one of the most important musical festivals in the country: the Vallenato Legend Festival. The festival holds contests for best accordion player. Once every decade, the "King of Kings" accordion competition takes place, where winners of the previous festivals compete for the highest possible award for a vallenato accordion player: the Pilonera Mayor prize. This is the world's largest competitive accordion festival. Czech Republic Accordion is often played at traditional Czech pubs, such as U Flekú, Prague. Mexico Norteño heavily relies on the accordion; it is a genre related to polka. Ramón Ayala, known in Mexico as the "King of the Accordion", is a norteño musician. Cumbia, which features the accordion, is also popular with musicians such as Celso Piña, creating a more contemporary style. U.S.-born Mexican musician Julieta Venegas incorporates the sound of the instrument into rock, pop and folk. She was influenced by her fellow Chicanos Los Lobos who also use the music of the accordion. North Korea According to Barbara Demick in Nothing to Envy'', the accordion is known as "the people's instrument" and all North Korean teachers were expected to learn the accordion. China The number of accordionists in China exceeds every other country in the world, and possibly every country combined. Introduced in 1926, the accordion has risen to popularity in China throughout the years, thanks to Russian teachers and its being a popular instrument in the People's Liberation Army, and remains popular. Other audio samples See also List of accordionists Steirische Harmonika Confédération internationale des accordéonistes Notes References External links Folk music instruments Articles containing video clips German inventions 19th-century inventions

1169

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL

APL

APL is an abbreviation, acronym, or initialism that may refer to: Science and technology 132524 APL, an asteroid Abductor pollicis longus muscle, in the human hand Acute promyelocytic leukemia, a subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia Applied Physics Letters, a physics journal Nampula Airport (IATA airport code: APL), in Mozambique Computers .apl, the file extension of the Monkey's Audio metadata file AMD Performance Library, renamed Framewave, a computer compiler library APL (programming language), an array-based programming language APL (codepage), the character set for programming in APL Address Prefix List, a DNS record type Address programming language, an early high-level programming language developed in the Soviet Union Advanced Physical Layer, an extension of Ethernet 10BASE-T1L for field devices Alexa Presentation Language, a language for developing Amazon Alexa skills Software licences Adaptive Public License, an Open Source license from the University of Victoria, Canada AROS Public License, a license of AROS Research Operating System Arphic Public License, a free font license Organizations APL (shipping company), a Singapore-based container and shipping company Aden Protectorate Levies, a militia force for local defense of the Aden Protectorate Advanced Production and Loading, a Norwegian marine engineering company formed in 1993 Afghanistan Premier League, an Afghan Twenty20 cricket league Afghan Premier League, a men's football league in Afghanistan American Patriot League, a proposed American football spring league American Premiere League, a Twenty20 cricket league in the US American President Lines, a container transportation and shipping company American Protective League, a World War I-era pro-war organization Applied Physics Laboratory, at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington Association of Pension Lawyers, UK Aurora Public Library (disambiguation) Australian Professional Leagues, an Australian soccer governing body Irish Anti-Partition League, a Northern Ireland political organisation Other uses apl.de.ap (born 1974), pseudonym of Allan Pineda Lindo, Filipino-American musician Auxiliary Personal Living, a US Navy hull classification for barracks craft; see

1170

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architect

Architect

An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latin , which derives from the Greek (-, chief + , builder), i.e., chief builder. The professional requirements for architects vary from location to location. An architect's decisions affect public safety and thus the architect must undergo specialized training consisting of advanced education and a practicum (or internship) for practical experience to earn a license to practice architecture. Practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction though the formal study of architecture in academic institutions has played a pivotal role in the development of the profession. Origins Throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans—such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times, there was no clear distinction between architect and engineer. In Europe, the titles architect and engineer were primarily geographical variations that referred to the same person, often used interchangeably. "Architect" derives from Greek (, "master builder", "chief ). It is suggested that various developments in technology and mathematics allowed the development of the professional 'gentleman' architect, separate from the hands-on craftsman. Paper was not used in Europe for drawing until the 15th century, but became increasingly available after 1500. Pencils were used for drawing by 1600. The availability of both paper and pencils allowed pre-construction drawings to be made by professionals. Concurrently, the introduction of linear perspective and innovations such as the use of different projections to describe a three-dimensional building in two dimensions, together with an increased understanding of dimensional accuracy, helped building designers communicate their ideas. However, development was gradual and slow going. Until the 18th-century, buildings continued to be designed and set out by craftsmen, with the exception of high-status projects. Architecture In most developed countries, only those qualified with an appropriate license, certification, or registration with a relevant body (often governmental), may legally practice architecture. Such licensure usually required a university degree, successful completion of exams, as well as a training period. Representation of oneself as an architect through the use of terms and titles were restricted to licensed individuals by law, although in general, derivatives such as architectural designer were not legally protected. To practice architecture implies the ability to practice independently of supervision. The term building design professional (or design professional), by contrast, is a much broader term that includes professionals who practice independently under an alternate profession such as engineering professionals, or those who assist in the practice of architecture under the supervision of a licensed architect such as intern architects. In many places, independent, non-licensed individuals, may perform design services outside the professional restrictions such as the design houses or other smaller structures. Practice In the architectural profession, technical and environmental knowledge, design, and construction management, require an understanding of business as well as design. However, design is the driving force throughout the project and beyond. An architect accepts a commission from a client. The commission might involve preparing feasibility reports, building audits, designing a building or several buildings, structures, and the spaces among them. The architect participates in developing the requirements the client wants in the building. Throughout the project (planning to occupancy), the architect coordinates a design team. Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers are hired by the client or architect, who must ensure that the work is coordinated to construct the design. Design role The architect, once hired by a client, is responsible for creating a design concept that meets the requirements of that client and provides a facility suitable to the required use. The architect must meet with and put questions to the client, in order to ascertain all the requirements (and nuances) of the planned project. Often the full brief is not clear in the beginning. It involves a degree of risk in the design undertaking. The architect may make early proposals to the client which may rework the terms of the brief. The "program" (or brief) is essential to producing a project that meets all the needs of the owner. This becomes a guide for the architect in creating the design concept. Design proposal(s) are generally expected to be both imaginative and pragmatic. Much depends upon the time, place, finance, culture, and available crafts and technology in which the design takes place. The extent and nature of these expectations will vary. Foresight is a prerequisite when designing buildings as it is a very complex and demanding undertaking. Any design concept during the early stage of its generation must take into account a great number of issues and variables including qualities of space(s), the end-use and life-cycle of these proposed spaces, connections, relations, and aspects between spaces including how they are put together and the impact of proposals on the immediate and wider locality. Selection of appropriate materials and technology must be considered, tested, and reviewed at an early stage in the design to ensure there are no setbacks (such as higher-than-expected costs) which could occur later in the project. The site and its surrounding environment as well as the culture and history of the place, will also influence the design. The design must also balance increasing concerns with environmental sustainability. The architect may introduce (intentionally or not), aspects of mathematics and architecture, new or current architectural theory, or references to architectural history. A key part of the design is that the architect often must consult with engineers, surveyors and other specialists throughout the design, ensuring that aspects such as structural supports and air conditioning elements are coordinated. The control and planning of construction costs are also a part of these consultations. Coordination of the different aspects involves a high degree of specialized communication including advanced computer technology such as building information modeling (BIM), computer-aided design (CAD), and cloud-based technologies. Finally, at all times, the architect must report back to the client who may have reservations or recommendations which might introduce further variables into the design. Architects also deal with local and federal jurisdictions regarding regulations and building codes. The architect might need to comply with local planning and zoning laws such as required setbacks, height limitations, parking requirements, transparency requirements (windows), and land use. Some jurisdictions require adherence to design and historic preservation guidelines. Health and safety risks form a vital part of the current design, and in some jurisdictions, design reports and records are required to include ongoing considerations of materials and contaminants, waste management and recycling, traffic control, and fire safety. Means of design Previously, architects employed drawings to illustrate and generate design proposals. While conceptual sketches are still widely used by architects, computer technology has now become the industry standard. Furthermore, design may include the use of photos, collages, prints, linocuts, 3D scanning technology, and other media in design production. Increasingly, computer software is shaping how architects work. BIM technology allows for the creation of a virtual building that serves as an information database for the sharing of design and building information throughout the life-cycle of the building's design, construction, and maintenance. Virtual reality (VR) presentations are becoming more common for visualizing structural designs and interior spaces from the point-of-view perspective. Environmental role Since modern buildings are known to place carbon into the atmosphere, increasing controls are being placed on buildings and associated technology to reduce emissions, increase energy efficiency, and make use of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources may be designed into the proposed building by local or national renewable energy providers. As a result, the architect is required to remain abreast of current regulations that are continually being updated. Some new developments exhibit extremely low energy use or passive solar building design. However, the architect is also increasingly being required to provide initiatives in a wider environmental sense. Examples of this include making provisions for low-energy transport, natural daylighting instead of artificial lighting, natural ventilation instead of air conditioning, pollution, and waste management, use of recycled materials, and employment of materials which can be easily recycled. Construction role As the design becomes more advanced and detailed, specifications and detail designs are made of all the elements and components of the building. Techniques in the production of a building are continually advancing which places a demand on the architect to ensure that he or she remains up to date with these advances. Depending on the client's needs and the jurisdiction's requirements, the spectrum of the architect's services during each construction stage may be extensive (detailed document preparation and construction review) or less involved (such as allowing a contractor to exercise considerable design-build functions). Architects typically put projects to tender on behalf of their clients, advise them on the award of the project to a general contractor, facilitate and administer a contract of agreement which is often between the client and the contractor. This contract is legally binding and covers a wide range of aspects including the insurance and commitments of all stakeholders, the status of the design documents, provisions for the architect's access, and procedures for the control of the works as they proceed. Depending on the type of contract utilized, provisions for further sub-contract tenders may be required. The architect may require that some elements are covered by a warranty which specifies the expected life and other aspects of the material, product, or work. In most jurisdictions, prior notification to the relevant authority must be given before commencement of the project, giving the local authority notice to carry out independent inspections. The architect will then review and inspect the progress of the work in coordination with the local authority. The architect will typically review contractor shop drawings and other submittals, prepare and issue site instructions, and provide Certificates for Payment to the contractor (see also Design-bid-build) which is based on the work done as well as any materials and other goods purchased or hired in the future. In the United Kingdom and other countries, a quantity surveyor is often part of the team to provide cost consulting. With large, complex projects, an independent construction manager is sometimes hired to assist in the design and management of the construction. In many jurisdictions, mandatory certification or assurance of the completed work or part of works, is required. This demand for certification entails a high degree of risk; therefore, regular inspections of the work as it progresses on site is required to ensure that the design is in compliance itself as well as following all relevant statutes and permissions. Alternate practice and specializations Recent decades have seen the rise of specializations within the profession. Many architects and architectural firms focus on certain project types (e.g. healthcare, retail, public housing, and event management), technological expertise, or project delivery methods. Some architects specialize in building code, building envelope, sustainable design, technical writing, historic preservation(US) or conservation (UK), and accessibility. Many architects elect to move into real estate (property) development, corporate facilities planning, project management, construction management, chief sustainability officers interior design, city planning, user experience design, and design research. Professional requirements Although there are variations in each location, most of the world's architects are required to register with the appropriate jurisdiction. Architects are typically required to meet three common requirements: education, experience, and examination. Basic educational requirement generally consist of a university degree in architecture. The experience requirement for degree candidates is usually satisfied by a practicum or internship (usually two to three years). Finally, a Registration Examination or a series of exams is required prior to licensure. Professionals who engaged in the design and supervision of construction projects prior to the late 19th century were not necessarily trained in a separate architecture program in an academic setting. Instead, they often trained under established architects. Prior to modern times, there was no distinction between architects and engineers and the title used varied depending on geographical location. They often carried the title of master builder or surveyor after serving a number of years as an apprentice (such as Sir Christopher Wren). The formal study of architecture in academic institutions played a pivotal role in the development of the profession as a whole, serving as a focal point for advances in architectural technology and theory. The use of "Architect" or abbreviations such as "Ar." as a title attached to a person's name was regulated by law in some countries. Fees Architects' fee structure was typically based on a percentage of construction value, as a rate per unit area of the proposed construction, hourly rates, or a fixed lump sum fee. Combination of these structures was also common. Fixed fees were usually based on a project's allocated construction cost and could range between 4 and 12% of new construction cost for commercial and institutional projects, depending on a project's size and complexity. Residential projects ranged from 12 to 20%. Renovation projects typically commanded higher percentages such as 15-20%. Overall billings for architectural firms range widely, depending on their location and economic climate. Billings have traditionally been dependent on the local economic conditions, but with rapid globalization, this is becoming less of a factor for large international firms. Salaries could also vary depending on experience, position within the firm (i.e. staff architect, partner, or shareholder, etc.), and the size and location of the firm. Professional organizations A number of national professional organizations exist to promote career and business development in architecture. The International Union of Architects (UIA) The American Institute of Architects (AIA) US Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) UK Architects Registration Board (ARB) UK The Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Australia The South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) South Africa Association of Consultant Architects (ACA) UK Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) US The Consejo Profesional de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (CPAU) Argentina Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) & Council of Architecture (COA) India The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) US Prizes and awards A wide variety of prizes is awarded by national professional associations and other bodies, recognizing accomplished architects, their buildings, structures, and professional careers. The most lucrative award an architect can receive is the Pritzker Prize, sometimes termed the "Nobel Prize for architecture." The inaugural Pritzker Prize winner was Philip Johnson who was cited "for 50 years of imagination and vitality embodied in a myriad of museums, theatres libraries, houses gardens and corporate structure". The Pritzker Prize has been awarded for forty-two straight editions without interruption, and there are now 22 countries with at least one winning architect. Other prestigious architectural awards are the Royal Gold Medal, the AIA Gold Medal (US), AIA Gold Medal (Australia), and the Praemium Imperiale. Architects in the UK, who have made contributions to the profession through design excellence or architectural education, or have in some other way advanced the profession, might until 1971 be elected Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects and can write FRIBA after their name if they feel so inclined. Those elected to chartered membership of the RIBA after 1971 may use the initials RIBA but cannot use the old ARIBA and FRIBA. An Honorary Fellow may use the initials, Hon. FRIBA. and an International Fellow may use the initials Int. FRIBA. Architects in the US, who have made contributions to the profession through design excellence or architectural education, or have in some other way advanced the profession, are elected Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and can write FAIA after their name. Architects in Canada, who have made outstanding contributions to the profession through contribution to research, scholarship, public service, or professional standing to the good of architecture in Canada, or elsewhere, may be recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and can write FRAIC after their name. In Hong Kong, those elected to chartered membership may use the initial HKIA, and those who have made a special contribution after nomination and election by The Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA), may be elected as fellow members of HKIA and may use FHKIA after their name. See also References Architecture occupations Professional certification in architecture

1175

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%201

April 1

Events Pre-1600 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troops spend three days extensively looting Constantinople, is formally crowned on April 4. 1572 – In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic. 1601–1900 1789 – In New York City, the United States House of Representatives achieves its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker. 1833 – The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, begins in San Felipe de Austin. 1865 – American Civil War: Union troops led by Philip Sheridan decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia's last supply line during the Siege of Petersburg. 1867 – Singapore becomes a British crown colony. 1873 – The White Star steamer SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century. 1900 – Prince George becomes absolute monarch of the Cretan State. 1901–present 1908 – The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army. 1918 – The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. 1924 – Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch" but spends only nine months in jail. 1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed. 1933 – The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in a series of anti-Semitic acts. 1935 – India's central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India, is formed. 1937 – Aden becomes a British crown colony. 1937 – The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrender. 1941 – Fântâna Albă massacre: Between two hundred and two thousand Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops. 1941 – A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of 'Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister. 1944 – World War II: Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. 1945 – World War II: The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa. 1946 – The 8.6 Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands resulting in dozens of deaths, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii. 1946 – The Malayan Union is established. Protests from locals led to the establishment of the Federation of Malaya two years later. 1947 – The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins. 1948 – Cold War: Communist forces respond to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark by attempting to force the western powers to withdraw from Berlin. 1948 – Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark. 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting. 1949 – The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years. 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 1955 – The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece. 1960 – The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space. 1964 – The British Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry are replaced by a unified Defence Council of the United Kingdom. 1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force. 1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law. 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacre more than a thousand people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh. 1973 – Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Jim Corbett National Park, India. 1974 – The Local Government Act 1972 of England and Wales comes into effect. 1976 – Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc. 1979 – Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah. 1984 – Singer Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father in his home in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, California. 1986 – Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion. 1989 – Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland. 1993 – NASCAR racer Alan Kulwicki is killed in a plane crash near the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tennessee. 1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion. 1999 – Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. 2001 – An EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Chinese pilot ejected but is subsequently lost. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China and is detained. 2001 – Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges. 2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first contemporary country to allow it. 2004 – Google launches its Email service Gmail. 2006 – Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013. 2011 – After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen people, including eight foreign workers. 2016 – The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict begins along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. Births Pre-1600 1220 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272) 1282 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1347) 1328 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (d. 1382) 1543 – François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières (d. 1626) 1578 – William Harvey, English physician and academic (d. 1657) 1601–1900 1610 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and critic (d. 1703) 1629 – Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, French organist and composer (d. 1691) 1640 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1697) 1647 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet and courtier (d. 1680) 1697 – Antoine François Prévost, French novelist and translator (d. 1763) 1721 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch-English organist, violinist, and composer (d. 1799) 1741 – George Dance the Younger, English architect and surveyor (d. 1825) 1753 – Joseph de Maistre, French philosopher, lawyer, and diplomat (d. 1821) 1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (d. 1826) 1765 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1810) 1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1831) 1786 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter (d. 1863) 1815 – Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1898) 1815 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (d. 1880) 1823 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1891) 1824 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (d. 1901) 1834 – James Fisk, American businessman (d. 1872) 1852 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (d. 1911) 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929) 1866 – William Blomfield, New Zealand cartoonist and politician (d. 1938) 1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1924) 1866 – Ève Lavallière, French actress (d. 1929) 1868 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (d. 1918) 1868 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (d. 1954) 1871 – F. Melius Christiansen, Norwegian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1955) 1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1943) 1874 – Ernest Barnes, English mathematician and theologian (d. 1953) 1874 – Prince Karl of Bavaria (d. 1927) 1875 – Edgar Wallace, English journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1932) 1878 – C. Ganesha Iyer, Ceylon Tamil philologist (d. 1958) 1879 – Stanislaus Zbyszko, Polish wrestler and strongman (d. 1967) 1881 – Octavian Goga, Romanian Prime Minister (d. 1938) 1883 – Lon Chaney, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1930) 1883 – Edvard Drabløs, Norwegian actor and director (d. 1976) 1883 – Laurette Taylor, Irish-American actress (d. 1946) 1885 – Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949) 1885 – Clementine Churchill, English wife of Winston Churchill (d. 1977) 1889 – K. B. Hedgewar, Indian physician and activist (d. 1940) 1893 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-English actress (d. 1980) 1895 – Alberta Hunter, African-American singer-songwriter and nurse (d. 1984) 1898 – William James Sidis, Ukrainian-Russian Jewish American mathematician, anthropologist, and historian (d. 1944) 1899 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian academic and politician (d. 1968) 1900 – Stefanie Clausen, Danish Olympic diver (d. 1981) 1901–present 1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American journalist and spy (d. 1961) 1902 – Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930) 1905 – Gaston Eyskens, Belgian economist and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1988) 1905 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian, poet, and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1993) 1906 – Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, Russian engineer, founded the Yakovlev Design Bureau (d. 1989) 1907 – Shivakumara Swami, Indian religious leader and philanthropist (d. 2019) 1908 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist and academic (d. 1970) 1908 – Harlow Rothert, American shot putter, lawyer, and academic (d. 1997) 1909 – Abner Biberman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1977) 1909 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1951) 1910 – Harry Carney, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1974) 1910 – Bob Van Osdel, American high jumper and soldier (d. 1987) 1911 – Augusta Braxton Baker, African American librarian (d. 1998) 1913 – Memos Makris, Greek sculptor (d. 1993) 1915 – O. W. Fischer, Austrian-Swiss actor and director (d. 2004) 1916 – Sheila May Edmonds, British mathematician (d. 2002) 1917 – Sydney Newman, Canadian screenwriter and producer, co-created Doctor Who (d. 1997) 1917 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007) 1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012) 1920 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997) 1921 – William Bergsma, American composer and educator (d. 1994) 1921 – Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (d. 2014) 1922 – Duke Jordan, American pianist and composer (d. 2006) 1922 – William Manchester, American historian and author (d. 2004) 1924 – Brendan Byrne, American lieutenant, judge, and politician, 47th Governor of New Jersey (d. 2018) 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American-Irish author (d. 2011) 1927 – Walter Bahr, American soccer player, coach, and manager (d. 2018) 1927 – Amos Milburn, American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980) 1927 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2006) 1929 – Jonathan Haze, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and production manager 1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech-French novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 2023) 1929 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (d. 2010) 1929 – Jane Powell, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2021) 1930 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress and singer (d. 2015) 1931 – George Baker, Bulgarian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2011) 1931 – Rolf Hochhuth, German author and playwright (d. 2020) 1932 – Debbie Reynolds, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2016) 1933 – Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Algerian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1933 – Dan Flavin, American sculptor and educator (d. 1996) 1933 – Bengt Holbek, Danish folklorist (d. 1992) 1934 – Vladimir Posner, French-American journalist and radio host 1935 – Larry McDonald, American physician and politician (d. 1983) 1936 – Peter Collinson, English-American director and producer (d. 1980) 1936 – Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician, 80th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1998) 1936 – Tarun Gogoi, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Assam (d. 2020) 1936 – Abdul Qadeer Khan, Indian-Pakistani physicist, chemist, and engineer (d. 2021) 1937 – Jordan Charney, American actor 1939 – Ali MacGraw, American model and actress 1939 – Phil Niekro, American baseball player and manager (d. 2020) 1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011) 1941 – Gideon Gadot, Israeli journalist and politician (d. 2012) 1941 – Ajit Wadekar, Indian cricketer, coach, and manager (d. 2018) 1942 – Samuel R. Delany, American author and critic 1942 – Richard D. Wolff, American economist and academic 1943 – Dafydd Wigley, Welsh academic and politician 1943 – Titina Silá, Bissau-Guinean revolutionary (d. 1973) 1946 – Nikitas Kaklamanis, Greek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Health and Social Security 1946 – Ronnie Lane, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 1997) 1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian footballer, coach, and manager 1947 – Alain Connes, French mathematician and academic 1948 – Javier Irureta, Spanish footballer and manager 1948 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent Member of Parliament (d. 2006) 1949 – Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman 1949 – Paul Manafort, American lobbyist, political consultant, and convicted felon 1949 – Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer and coach 1949 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2011) 1950 – Samuel Alito, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1950 – Loris Kessel, Swiss racing driver (d. 2010) 1950 – Daniel Paillé, Canadian academic and politician 1951 – John Abizaid, American general 1952 – Annette O'Toole, American actress 1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher and academic (d. 2020) 1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, American cinematographer, director, and producer 1953 – Alberto Zaccheroni, Italian footballer and manager 1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1992) 1955 – Don Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster 1955 – Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani politician, 5th Commerce Minister of Pakistan 1957 – David Gower, English cricketer and sportscaster 1957 – Denise Nickerson, American actress (d. 2019) 1958 – D. Boon, American singer and musician (d. 1985) 1959 – Helmuth Duckadam, Romanian footballer 1961 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer 1961 – Sergio Scariolo, Italian professional basketball head coach 1961 – Mark White, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Mark Shulman, American author 1962 – Chris Grayling, English journalist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1962 – Samboy Lim, Filipino basketball player and manager 1962 – Phillip Schofield, English television host 1963 – Teodoro de Villa Diaz, Filipino guitarist and songwriter (d. 1988) 1963 – Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, American aerospace engineer 1964 – Erik Breukink, Dutch cyclist and manager 1964 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (d. 2008) 1964 – John Morris, English cricketer 1964 – José Rodrigues dos Santos, Portuguese journalist, author, and educator 1965 – Jane Adams, American film, television, and stage actress 1965 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player and coach 1966 – Chris Evans, English radio and television host 1966 – Mehmet Özdilek, Turkish footballer and manager 1967 – Nicola Roxon, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Attorney-General for Australia 1968 – Mike Baird, Australian politician, 44th Premier of New South Wales 1968 – Andreas Schnaas, German actor and director 1968 – Alexander Stubb, Finnish academic and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Finland 1969 – Lev Lobodin, Ukrainian-Russian decathlete 1969 – Andrew Vlahov, Australian basketball player 1969 – Dean Windass, English footballer and manager 1970 – Brad Meltzer, American author, screenwriter, and producer 1971 – Sonia Bisset, Cuban javelin thrower 1971 – Shinji Nakano, Japanese racing driver 1972 – Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1972 – Jesse Tobias, American guitarist and songwriter 1973 – Christian Finnegan, American comedian and actor 1973 – Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer and coach 1973 – Rachel Maddow, American journalist and author 1974 – Hugo Ibarra, Argentinian footballer and manager 1975 – John Butler, American-Australian singer-songwriter and producer 1975 – Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player 1976 – Hazem El Masri, Lebanese-Australian rugby league player and educator 1976 – David Gilliland, American race car driver 1976 – David Oyelowo, English actor 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch-Brazilian footballer and manager 1976 – Yuka Yoshida, Japanese tennis player 1977 – Vitor Belfort, Brazilian-American boxer and mixed martial artist 1977 – Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist 1978 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (d. 2009) 1978 – Mirka Federer, Slovak-Swiss tennis player 1978 – Anamaria Marinca, Romanian-English actress 1978 – Etan Thomas, American basketball player 1979 – Ruth Beitia, Spanish high jumper 1980 – Dennis Kruppke, German footballer 1980 – Randy Orton, American wrestler 1980 – Bijou Phillips, American actress and model 1981 – Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player 1981 – Bjørn Einar Romøren, Norwegian ski jumper 1982 – Taran Killam, American actor, voice artist, comedian, and writer 1982 – Andreas Thorkildsen, Norwegian javelin thrower 1983 – Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer 1983 – Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007) 1984 – Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer 1985 – Daniel Murphy, American baseball player 1985 – Beth Tweddle, English gymnast 1986 – Nikolaos Kourtidis, Greek weightlifter 1986 – Hillary Scott, American country singer-songwriter 1987 – Ding Junhui, Chinese professional snooker player 1987 – Gianluca Musacci, Italian footballer 1987 – Oliver Turvey, English racing driver 1988 – Brook Lopez, American basketball player 1988 – Robin Lopez, American basketball player 1989 – Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch speed skater 1989 – David N'Gog, French footballer 1989 – Christian Vietoris, German racing driver 1990 – Julia Fischer, German discus thrower 1992 – Deng Linlin, Chinese gymnast 1995 – Jofra Archer, Barbadian-English cricketer 1995 – Logan Paul, American Youtuber, actor and wrestler 1997 – Asa Butterfield, English actor 1997 – Álex Palou, Spanish racing driver Deaths Pre-1600 996 – John XV, pope of the Catholic Church 1085 – Shen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1048) 1132 – Hugh of Châteauneuf, French bishop (b. 1053) 1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England (b. 1122) 1205 – Amalric II, king of Cyprus and Jerusalem 1282 – Abaqa Khan, ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate (b. 1234) 1431 – Nuno Álvares Pereira, Portuguese general (b. 1360) 1441 – Blanche I, queen of Navarre and Sicily (b. 1387) 1455 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (b. 1389). 1528 – Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer (b. 1470) 1548 – Sigismund I, king of Poland (b. 1467) 1580 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1510) 1601–1900 1621 – Cristofano Allori, Italian painter and educator (b. 1577) 1682 – Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, Bavarian bishop (b. 1625) 1787 – Floyer Sydenham, English scholar and academic (b. 1710) 1839 – Benjamin Pierce, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1757) 1865 – Antonios Kriezis, Greek Navy officer and Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1796) 1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797) 1872 – Frederick Denison Maurice, English theologian and academic (b. 1805) 1878 – John C.W. Daly, English-Canadian soldier and politician (b. 1796) 1890 – David Wilber, American politician (b. 1820) 1890 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier, pilot, and engineer (b. 1825) 1901–present 1914 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876) 1914 – Charles Wells, English founder of Charles Wells Ltd (b. 1842) 1917 – Scott Joplin, American pianist and composer (b. 1868) 1920 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (b. 1857) 1922 – Charles I, emperor of Austria (b. 1887) 1924 – Jacob Bolotin, American physician (b. 1888) 1924 – Lloyd Hildebrand, English cyclist (b. 1870) 1924 – Stan Rowley, Australian sprinter (b. 1876) 1946 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882) 1947 – George II, king of Greece (b. 1890) 1950 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (b. 1904) 1950 – Recep Peker, Turkish soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1889) 1962 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain and businessman (b. 1910) 1965 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American businesswoman (b. 1870) 1966 – Brian O'Nolan, Irish author (b. 1911) 1968 – Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908) 1971 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and prison reformer (b. 1903) 1976 – Max Ernst, German painter and sculptor (b. 1891) 1981 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai singer-songwriter and bandleader (b. 1910) 1984 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (b. 1939) 1984 – Elizabeth Goudge, English author (b. 1900) 1986 – Erik Bruhn, Danish actor, director, and choreographer (b. 1928) 1986 – Edwin Boston, English clergyman, author, and railway preservationist 1987 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (b. 1901) 1991 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894) 1991 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1946) 1992 – Michael Havers, Baron Havers, English lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1923) 1993 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954) 1994 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912) 1995 – H. Adams Carter, American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (b. 1914) 1995 – Francisco Moncion, Dominican American ballet dancer, choreographer, charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1918) 1995 – Lucie Rie, Austrian-English potter (b. 1902) 1997 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1912) 1998 – Rozz Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1963) 1999 – Jesse Stone, American pianist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1901) 2001 – Trịnh Công Sơn, Vietnamese guitarist and composer (b. 1939) 2002 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier and sniper (b. 1905) 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1956) 2004 – Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1952) 2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1945) 2005 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b 1925) 2005 – Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and academic (b. 1923) 2006 – In Tam, Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1916) 2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918) 2010 – Tzannis Tzannetakis, Greek soldier and politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1927) 2012 – Lionel Bowen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1922) 2012 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian-American soccer player and radio host (b. 1947) 2012 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican banker, academic, and politician, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934) 2013 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (b. 1947) 2013 – Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician (b. 1952) 2014 – King Fleming, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1922) 2014 – Jacques Le Goff, French historian and author (b. 1924) 2014 – Rolf Rendtorff, German theologian and academic (b. 1925) 2015 – Nicolae Rainea, Romanian footballer and referee (b. 1933) 2017 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1933) 2017 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet and Russian poet and writer (b. 1932) 2018 – Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (b. 1943) 2019 – Vonda N. McIntyre, American science fiction author (b. 1948) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Cellach of Armagh Hugh of Grenoble Frederick Denison Maurice (Church of England) Mary of Egypt Melito of Sardis Tewdrig Theodora Walric, abbot of Leuconay April 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) April Fools' Day Odisha Day (Odisha, India) Arbor Day (Tanzania) Civil Service Day (Thailand) Cyprus National Day (Cyprus) Edible Book Day Fossil Fools Day Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian New Year (Assyrian people) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 1 Days of the year April

1177

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister%20Crowley

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, philosopher, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, further suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. He went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu and Buddhist practices in India. In 1904, he married Rose Edith Kelly and they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should "Do what thou wilt" and seek to align themselves with their True Will through the practice of ceremonial magic. After the unsuccessful 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels and occult literature. In 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded an esoteric order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated Thelema. After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia and North America. Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting and campaigned for the German war effort against Britain, later revealing that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. In 1920, he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death. Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a drug user, bisexual and an individualist social critic. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over Western esotericism and the counterculture of the 1960s and continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. He is the subject of various biographies and academic studies. Early life Youth Crowley was born Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on 12 October 1875. His father, Edward Crowley (1829–1887), was trained as an engineer, but his share in a lucrative family brewing business, Crowley's Alton Ales, had allowed him to retire before his son was born. His mother, Emily Bertha Bishop (1848–1917), came from a Devonshire-Somerset family and had a strained relationship with her son; she described him as "the Beast", a name that he revelled in. The couple had been married at London's Kensington Registry Office in November 1874, and were evangelical Christians. Crowley's father had been born a Quaker, but had converted to the Exclusive Brethren, a faction of a Christian fundamentalist group known as the Plymouth Brethren; Emily likewise converted upon marriage. Crowley's father was particularly devout, spending his time as a travelling preacher for the sect and reading a chapter from the Bible to his wife and son after breakfast every day. Following the death of their baby daughter in 1880, in 1881 the Crowleys moved to Redhill, Surrey. At the age of 8, Crowley was sent to H.T. Habershon's evangelical Christian boarding school in Hastings, and then to Ebor preparatory school in Cambridge, run by the Reverend Henry d'Arcy Champney, whom Crowley considered a sadist. In March 1887, when Crowley was 11, his father died of tongue cancer. Crowley described this as a turning point in his life, and he always maintained an admiration of his father, describing him as "my hero and my friend". Inheriting a third of his father's wealth, he began misbehaving at school and was harshly punished by Champney; Crowley's family removed him from the school when he developed albuminuria. He then attended Malvern College and Tonbridge School, both of which he despised and left after a few terms. He became increasingly sceptical regarding Christianity, pointing out inconsistencies in the Bible to his religious teachers, and went against the Christian morality of his upbringing by smoking, masturbating, and having sex with prostitutes from whom he contracted gonorrhea. Sent to live with a Brethren tutor in Eastbourne, he undertook chemistry courses at Eastbourne College. Crowley developed interests in chess, poetry, and mountain climbing, and in 1894 climbed Beachy Head before visiting the Alps and joining the Scottish Mountaineering Club. The following year he returned to the Bernese Alps, climbing the Eiger, Trift, Jungfrau, Mönch, and Wetterhorn. Cambridge University: 1895–1898 Having adopted the name of Aleister over Edward, in October 1895 Crowley began a three-year course at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was entered for the Moral Science Tripos studying philosophy. With approval from his personal tutor, he changed to English literature, which was not then part of the curriculum offered. Crowley spent much of his time at university engaged in his pastimes, becoming president of the chess club and practising the game for two hours a day; he briefly considered a professional career as a chess player. Crowley also embraced his love of literature and poetry, particularly the works of Richard Francis Burton and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Many of his own poems appeared in student publications such as The Granta, Cambridge Magazine, and Cantab. He continued his mountaineering, going on holiday to the Alps to climb every year from 1894 to 1898, often with his friend Oscar Eckenstein, and in 1897 he made the first ascent of the Mönch without a guide. These feats led to his recognition in the Alpine mountaineering community. Crowley had his first significant mystical experience while on holiday in Stockholm in December 1896. Several biographers, including Lawrence Sutin, Richard Kaczynski, and Tobias Churton, believed that this was the result of Crowley's first same-sex sexual experience, which enabled him to recognize his bisexuality. At Cambridge, Crowley maintained a vigorous sex life with women—largely with female prostitutes, from one of whom he caught syphilis—but eventually he took part in same-sex activities, despite their illegality. In October 1897, Crowley met Herbert Charles Pollitt, president of the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, and the two entered into a relationship. They broke apart because Pollitt did not share Crowley's increasing interest in Western esotericism, a break-up that Crowley would regret for many years. In 1897, Crowley travelled to Saint Petersburg in Russia, later saying that he was trying to learn Russian as he was considering a future diplomatic career there. In October 1897, a brief illness triggered considerations of mortality and "the futility of all human endeavour", and Crowley abandoned all thoughts of a diplomatic career in favour of pursuing an interest in the occult. In March 1898, he obtained A.E. Waite's The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, and then Karl von Eckartshausen's The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary, furthering his occult interests. That same year, Crowley privately published 100 copies of his poem Aceldama: A Place to Bury Strangers In, but it was not a particular success. Aceldama was issued by Leonard Smithers. That same year, Crowley published a string of other poems, including White Stains, a Decadent collection of erotic poetry that was printed abroad lest its publication be prohibited by the British authorities. In July 1898, he left Cambridge, not having taken any degree at all despite a "first class" showing in his 1897 exams and consistent "second class honours" results before that. The Golden Dawn: 1898–1899 In August 1898, Crowley was in Zermatt, Switzerland, where he met the chemist Julian L. Baker, and the two began discussing their common interest in alchemy. Back in London, Baker introduced Crowley to George Cecil Jones, Baker's brother-in-law and a fellow member of the occult society known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which had been founded in 1888. Crowley was initiated into the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn on 18 November 1898 by the group's leader, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. The ceremony took place in the Golden Dawn's Isis-Urania Temple held at London's Mark Masons Hall, where Crowley took the magical motto and name "Frater Perdurabo", which he interpreted as "I shall endure to the end". Crowley moved into his own luxury flat at 67–69 Chancery Lane and soon invited a senior Golden Dawn member, Allan Bennett, to live with him as his personal magical tutor. Bennett taught Crowley more about ceremonial magic and the ritual use of drugs, and together they performed the rituals of the Goetia, until Bennett left for South Asia to study Buddhism. In November 1899, Crowley purchased Boleskine House in Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness in Scotland. He developed a love of Scottish culture, describing himself as the "Laird of Boleskine", and took to wearing traditional highland dress, even during visits to London. He continued writing poetry, publishing Jezebel and Other Tragic Poems, Tales of Archais, Songs of the Spirit, Appeal to the American Republic, and Jephthah in 1898–99; most gained mixed reviews from literary critics, although Jephthah was considered a particular critical success. Crowley soon progressed through the lower grades of the Golden Dawn, and was ready to enter the group's inner Second Order. He was unpopular in the group; his bisexuality and libertine lifestyle had gained him a bad reputation, and he had developed feuds with some of the members, including W. B. Yeats. When the Golden Dawn's London lodge refused to initiate Crowley into the Second Order, he visited Mathers in Paris, who personally admitted him into the Adeptus Minor Grade. A schism had developed between Mathers and the London members of the Golden Dawn, who were unhappy with his autocratic rule. Acting under Mathers' orders, Crowley—with the help of his mistress and fellow initiate Elaine Simpson—attempted to seize the Vault of the Adepts, a temple space at 36 Blythe Road in West Kensington, from the London lodge members. When the case was taken to court, the judge ruled in favour of the London lodge, as they had paid for the space's rent, leaving both Crowley and Mathers isolated from the group. Mexico, India, Paris, and marriage: 1900–1903 In 1900, Crowley travelled to Mexico via the United States, settling in Mexico City and starting a relationship with a local woman. Developing a love of the country, he continued experimenting with ceremonial magic, working with John Dee's Enochian invocations. He later claimed to have been initiated into Freemasonry while there, and he wrote a play based on Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser as well as a series of poems, published as Oracles (1905). Eckenstein joined him later in 1900, and together they climbed several mountains, including Iztaccihuatl, Popocatepetl, and Colima, the latter of which they had to abandon owing to a volcanic eruption. Leaving Mexico, Crowley headed to San Francisco before sailing for Hawaii aboard the Nippon Maru. On the ship, he had a brief affair with a married woman named Mary Alice Rogers; saying he had fallen in love with her, he wrote a series of poems about the romance, published as Alice: An Adultery (1903). Briefly stopping in Japan and Hong Kong, Crowley reached Ceylon, where he met with Allan Bennett, who was there studying Shaivism. The pair spent some time in Kandy before Bennett decided to become a Buddhist monk in the Theravada tradition, travelling to Burma to do so. Crowley decided to tour India, devoting himself to the Hindu practice of Rāja yoga, from which he claimed to have achieved the spiritual state of dhyana. He spent much of this time studying at the Meenakshi Temple in Madura. At this time he also wrote poetry which was published as The Sword of Song (1904). He contracted malaria, and had to recuperate from the disease in Calcutta and Rangoon. In 1902, he was joined in India by Eckenstein and several other mountaineers: Guy Knowles, H. Pfannl, V. Wesseley, and Jules Jacot-Guillarmod. Together, the Eckenstein-Crowley expedition attempted K2, which had never been climbed. On the journey, Crowley was afflicted with influenza, malaria, and snow blindness, and other expedition members were also struck with illness. They reached an altitude of before turning back. Having arrived in Paris in November 1902, he socialized with his friend the painter Gerald Kelly, and through him became a fixture of the Parisian arts scene. Whilst there, Crowley wrote a series of poems on the work of an acquaintance, the sculptor Auguste Rodin. These poems were later published as Rodin in Rime (1907). One of those frequenting this milieu was W. Somerset Maugham, who after briefly meeting Crowley later used him as a model for the character of Oliver Haddo in his novel The Magician (1908). He returned to Boleskine in April 1903. In August, Crowley wed Gerald Kelly's sister Rose Edith Kelly in a "marriage of convenience" to prevent her from entering an arranged marriage; the marriage appalled the Kelly family and damaged his friendship with Gerald. Heading on a honeymoon to Paris, Cairo, and then Ceylon, Crowley fell in love with Rose and worked to prove his affections. While on his honeymoon, he wrote her a series of love poems, published as Rosa Mundi and other Love Songs (1906), as well as authoring the religious satire Why Jesus Wept (1904). Developing Thelema Egypt and The Book of the Law: 1904 In February 1904, Crowley and Rose arrived in Cairo. Claiming to be a prince and princess, they rented an apartment in which Crowley set up a temple room and began invoking ancient Egyptian deities, while studying Islamic mysticism and Arabic. According to Crowley's later account, Rose regularly became delirious and informed him "they are waiting for you." On 18 March, she explained that "they" were the god Horus, and on 20 March proclaimed that "the Equinox of the Gods has come". She led him to a nearby museum, where she showed him a seventh-century BCE mortuary stele known as the Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu; Crowley thought it important that the exhibit's number was 666, the Number of the Beast in Christian belief, and in later years termed the artefact the "Stele of Revealing." According to Crowley's later statements, on 8 April he heard a disembodied voice claiming to be that of Aiwass, the messenger of Horus, or Hoor-Paar-Kraat. Crowley said that he wrote down everything the voice told him over the course of the next three days, and titled it Liber AL vel Legis or The Book of the Law. The book proclaimed that humanity was entering a new Aeon, and that Crowley would serve as its prophet. It stated that a supreme moral law was to be introduced in this Aeon, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," and that people should learn to live in tune with their Will. This book, and the philosophy that it espoused, became the cornerstone of Crowley's religion, Thelema. Crowley said that at the time he had been unsure what to do with The Book of the Law. Often resenting it, he said that he ignored the instructions which the text commanded him to perform, which included taking the Stele of Revealing from the museum, fortifying his own island, and translating the book into all the world's languages. According to his account, he instead sent typescripts of the work to several occultists he knew, putting the manuscript away and ignoring it. Kanchenjunga and China: 1905–1906 Returning to Boleskine, Crowley came to believe that Mathers had begun using magic against him, and the relationship between the two broke down. On 28 July 1905, Rose gave birth to Crowley's first child, a daughter named Lilith, with Crowley writing the pornographic Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden to entertain his recuperating wife. He also founded a publishing company through which to publish his poetry, naming it the Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth in parody of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Among its first publications were Crowley's Collected Works, edited by Ivor Back, an old friend of Crowley's who was both a practicing surgeon and an enthusiast of literature. His poetry often received strong reviews (either positive or negative), but never sold well. In an attempt to gain more publicity, he issued a reward of £100 for the best essay on his work. The winner of this was J. F. C. Fuller, a British Army officer and military historian, whose essay, The Star in the West (1907), heralded Crowley's poetry as some of the greatest ever written. Crowley decided to climb Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas of Nepal, widely recognised as the world's most treacherous mountain. The collaboration between Jacot-Guillarmod, Charles Adolphe Reymond, Alexis Pache, and Alcesti C. Rigo de Righi, the expedition was marred by much argument between Crowley and the others, who thought that he was reckless. They eventually mutinied against Crowley's control, with the other climbers heading back down the mountain as nightfall approached despite Crowley's warnings that it was too dangerous. Subsequently, Pache and several porters were killed in an accident, something for which Crowley was widely blamed by the mountaineering community. Spending time in Moharbhanj, where he took part in big-game hunting and wrote the homoerotic work The Scented Garden, Crowley met up with Rose and Lilith in Calcutta before being forced to leave India after non-lethally shooting two men who tried to mug him. Briefly visiting Bennett in Burma, Crowley and his family decided to tour Southern China, hiring porters and a nanny for the purpose. Crowley smoked opium throughout the journey, which took the family from Tengyueh through to Yungchang, Tali, Yunnanfu, and then Hanoi. On the way, he spent much time on spiritual and magical work, reciting the "Bornless Ritual", an invocation to his Holy Guardian Angel, on a daily basis. While Rose and Lilith returned to Europe, Crowley headed to Shanghai to meet old friend Elaine Simpson, who was fascinated by The Book of the Law; together they performed rituals in an attempt to contact Aiwass. Crowley then sailed to Japan and Canada, before continuing to New York City, where he unsuccessfully solicited support for a second expedition up Kanchenjunga. Upon arrival in Britain, Crowley learned that his daughter Lilith had died of typhoid in Rangoon, something he later blamed on Rose's increasing alcoholism. Under emotional distress, his health began to suffer, and he underwent a series of surgical operations. He began short-lived romances with actress Vera "Lola" Neville (née Snepp) and author Ada Leverson, while Rose gave birth to Crowley's second daughter, Lola Zaza, in February 1907. The A∴A∴ and The Holy Books of Thelema: 1907–1909 With his old mentor George Cecil Jones, Crowley continued performing the Abramelin rituals at the Ashdown Park Hotel in Coulsdon, Surrey. Crowley claimed that in doing so he attained samadhi, or union with Godhead, thereby marking a turning point in his life. Making heavy use of hashish during these rituals, he wrote an essay on "The Psychology of Hashish" (1909) in which he championed the drug as an aid to mysticism. He also claimed to have been contacted once again by Aiwass in late October and November 1907, adding that Aiwass dictated two further texts to him, "Liber VII" and "Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente", both of which were later classified in the corpus of The Holy Books of Thelema. Crowley wrote down more Thelemic Holy Books during the last two months of the year, including "Liber LXVI", "Liber Arcanorum", "Liber Porta Lucis, Sub Figura X", "Liber Tau", "Liber Trigrammaton" and "Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita", which he again claimed to have received from a preternatural source. Crowley stated that in June 1909, when the manuscript of The Book of the Law was rediscovered at Boleskine, he developed the opinion that Thelema represented objective truth. Crowley's inheritance was running out. Trying to earn money, he was hired by George Montagu Bennett, the Earl of Tankerville, to help protect him from witchcraft; recognising Bennett's paranoia as being based in his cocaine addiction, Crowley took him on holiday to France and Morocco to recuperate. In 1907, he also began taking in paying students, whom he instructed in occult and magical practice. Victor Neuburg, whom Crowley met in February 1907, became his sexual partner and closest disciple; in 1908 the pair toured northern Spain before heading to Tangier, Morocco. The following year Neuburg stayed at Boleskine, where he and Crowley engaged in sadomasochism. Crowley continued to write prolifically, producing such works of poetry as Ambergris, Clouds Without Water, and Konx Om Pax, as well as his first attempt at an autobiography, The World's Tragedy. Recognizing the popularity of short horror stories, Crowley wrote his own, some of which were published, and he also published several articles in Vanity Fair, a magazine edited by his friend Frank Harris. He also wrote Liber 777, a book of magical and Qabalistic correspondences that borrowed from Mathers and Bennett. In November 1907, Crowley and Jones decided to found an occult order to act as a successor to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, being aided in doing so by Fuller. The result was the A∴A∴. The group's headquarters and temple were situated at 124 Victoria Street in central London, and their rites borrowed much from those of the Golden Dawn, but with an added Thelemic basis. Its earliest members included solicitor Richard Noel Warren, artist Austin Osman Spare, Horace Sheridan-Bickers, author George Raffalovich, Francis Henry Everard Joseph Feilding, engineer Herbert Edward Inman, Kenneth Ward, and Charles Stansfeld Jones. In March 1909, Crowley began production of a biannual periodical titled The Equinox. He billed this periodical, which was to become the "Official Organ" of the A∴A∴, as "The Review of Scientific Illuminism". Crowley had become increasingly frustrated with Rose's alcoholism, and in November 1909 he divorced her on the grounds of his own adultery. Lola was entrusted to Rose's care; the couple remained friends and Rose continued to live at Boleskine. Her alcoholism worsened, and as a result she was institutionalized in September 1911. Algeria and the Rites of Eleusis: 1909–1911 In November 1909, Crowley and Neuburg travelled to Algeria, touring the desert from El Arba to Aumale, Bou Saâda, and then Dā'leh Addin, with Crowley reciting the Quran on a daily basis. During the trip he invoked the thirty aethyrs of Enochian magic, with Neuburg recording the results, later published in The Equinox as The Vision and the Voice. Following a mountaintop sex magic ritual, Crowley also performed an evocation to the demon Choronzon involving blood sacrifice, and considered the results to be a watershed in his magical career. Returning to London in January 1910, Crowley found that Mathers was suing him for publishing Golden Dawn secrets in The Equinox; the court found in favour of Crowley. The case was widely reported in the press, with Crowley gaining wider fame. Crowley enjoyed this, and played up to the sensationalist stereotype of being a Satanist and advocate of human sacrifice, despite being neither. The publicity attracted new members to the A∴A∴, among them Frank Bennett, James Bayley, Herbert Close, and James Windram. The Australian violinist Leila Waddell soon became Crowley's lover. Deciding to expand his teachings to a wider audience, Crowley developed the Rites of Artemis, a public performance of magic and symbolism featuring A∴A∴ members personifying various deities. It was first performed at the A∴A∴ headquarters, with attendees given a fruit punch containing peyote to enhance their experience. Various members of the press attended, and reported largely positively on it. In October and November 1910, Crowley decided to stage something similar, the Rites of Eleusis, at Caxton Hall, Westminster; this time press reviews were mixed. Crowley came under particular criticism from West de Wend Fenton, editor of The Looking Glass newspaper, who called him "one of the most blasphemous and cold-blooded villains of modern times". Fenton's articles suggested that Crowley and Jones were involved in homosexual activity; Crowley did not mind, but Jones unsuccessfully sued for libel. Fuller broke off his friendship and involvement with Crowley over the scandal, and Crowley and Neuburg returned to Algeria for further magical workings. The Equinox continued publishing, and various books of literature and poetry were also published under its imprint, like Crowley's Ambergris, The Winged Beetle, and The Scented Garden, as well as Neuburg's The Triumph of Pan and Ethel Archer's The Whirlpool. In 1911, Crowley and Waddell holidayed in Montigny-sur-Loing, where he wrote prolifically, producing poems, short stories, plays, and 19 works on magic and mysticism, including the two final Holy Books of Thelema. In Paris, he met Mary Desti, who became his next "Scarlet Woman", with the two undertaking magical workings in St. Moritz; Crowley believed that one of the Secret Chiefs, Ab-ul-Diz, was speaking through her. Based on Desti's statements when in trance, Crowley wrote the two-volume Book 4 (1912–13) and at the time developed the spelling "magick" in reference to the paranormal phenomenon as a means of distinguishing it from the stage magic of illusionists. Ordo Templi Orientis and the Paris Working: 1912–1914 In early 1912, Crowley published The Book of Lies, a work of mysticism that biographer Lawrence Sutin described as "his greatest success in merging his talents as poet, scholar, and magus". The German occultist Theodor Reuss later accused him of publishing some of the secrets of his own occult order, the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), within The Book. Crowley convinced Reuss that the similarities were coincidental, and the two became friends. Reuss appointed Crowley as head of the O.T.O's British branch, the Mysteria Mystica Maxima (MMM), and at a ceremony in Berlin Crowley adopted the magical name of Baphomet and was proclaimed "X° Supreme Rex and Sovereign Grand Master General of Ireland, Iona, and all the Britons". With Reuss' permission, Crowley set about advertising the MMM and re-writing many O.T.O. rituals, which were then based largely on Freemasonry; his incorporation of Thelemite elements proved controversial in the group. Fascinated by the O.T.O's emphasis on sex magic, Crowley devised a magical working based on anal sex and incorporated it into the syllabus for those O.T.O. members who had been initiated into the eleventh degree. In March 1913, Crowley acted as producer for The Ragged Ragtime Girls, a group of female violinists led by Waddell, as they performed at London's Old Tivoli theatre. They subsequently performed in Moscow for six weeks, where Crowley had a sadomasochistic relationship with the Hungarian Anny Ringler. In Moscow, Crowley continued to write plays and poetry, including "Hymn to Pan", and the Gnostic Mass, a Thelemic ritual that became a key part of O.T.O. liturgy. Churton suggested that Crowley had travelled to Moscow on the orders of British intelligence to spy on revolutionary elements in the city. In January 1914, Crowley and Neuburg settled into an apartment in Paris, where the former was involved in the controversy surrounding Jacob Epstein's new monument to Oscar Wilde. Together Crowley and Neuburg performed the six-week "Paris Working", a period of intense ritual involving strong drug use in which they invoked the gods Mercury and Jupiter. As part of the ritual, the couple performed acts of sex magic together, at times being joined by journalist Walter Duranty. Inspired by the results of the Working, Crowley wrote Liber Agapé, a treatise on sex magic. Following the Paris Working, Neuburg began to distance himself from Crowley, resulting in an argument in which Crowley cursed him. United States: 1914–1919 By 1914, Crowley was living a hand-to-mouth existence, relying largely on donations from A∴A∴ members and dues payments made to O.T.O. In May, he transferred ownership of Boleskine House to the MMM for financial reasons, and in July he went mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. During this time the First World War broke out. After recuperating from a bout of phlebitis, Crowley set sail for the United States aboard the RMS Lusitania in October 1914. Arriving in New York City, he moved into a hotel and began earning money writing for the American edition of Vanity Fair and undertaking freelance work for the famed astrologer Evangeline Adams. In the city, he continued experimenting with sex magic, through the use of masturbation, female prostitutes, and male clients of a Turkish bathhouse; all of these encounters were documented in his diaries. Professing to be of Irish ancestry and a supporter of Irish independence from Great Britain, Crowley began to espouse support for Germany in their war against Britain. He became involved in New York's pro-German movement, and in January 1915 German spy George Sylvester Viereck employed him as a writer for his propagandist paper, The Fatherland, which was dedicated to keeping the US neutral in the conflict. In later years, detractors denounced Crowley as a traitor to Britain for this action. Crowley entered into a relationship with Jeanne Robert Foster, with whom he toured the West Coast. In Vancouver, headquarters of the North American O.T.O., he met with Charles Stansfeld Jones and Wilfred Talbot Smith to discuss the propagation of Thelema on the continent. In Detroit he experimented with Peyote at Parke-Davis, then visited Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, and the Grand Canyon, before returning to New York. There he befriended Ananda Coomaraswamy and his wife Alice Richardson; Crowley and Richardson performed sex magic in April 1916, following which she became pregnant and then miscarried. Later that year he took a "magical retirement" to a cabin by Lake Pasquaney owned by Evangeline Adams. There, he made heavy use of drugs and undertook a ritual after which he proclaimed himself "Master Therion". He also wrote several short stories based on J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough and a work of literary criticism, The Gospel According to Bernard Shaw. In December, he moved to New Orleans, his favourite US city, before spending February 1917 with evangelical Christian relatives in Titusville, Florida. Returning to New York City, he moved in with artist and A∴A∴ member Leon Engers Kennedy in May, learning of his mother's death. After the collapse of The Fatherland, Crowley continued his association with Viereck, who appointed him contributing editor of arts journal The International. Crowley used it to promote Thelema, but it soon ceased publication. He then moved to the studio apartment of Roddie Minor, who became his partner and Scarlet Woman. Through their rituals, which Crowley called "The Amalantrah Workings", he believed that they were contacted by a preternatural entity named Lam. The relationship soon ended. In 1918, Crowley went on a magical retreat in the wilderness of Esopus Island on the Hudson River. Here, he began a translation of the Tao Te Ching, painted Thelemic slogans on the riverside cliffs, and—he later claimed—experienced past life memories of being Ge Xuan, Pope Alexander VI, Alessandro Cagliostro, and Eliphas Levi. Back in New York City, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he took Leah Hirsig as his lover and next Scarlet Woman. He took up painting as a hobby, exhibiting his work at the Greenwich Village Liberal Club and attracting the attention of the New York Evening World. With the financial assistance of sympathetic Freemasons, Crowley revived The Equinox with the first issue of volume III, known as The Blue Equinox. He spent mid-1919 on a climbing holiday in Montauk before returning to London in December. Abbey of Thelema: 1920–1923 Now destitute and back in London, Crowley came under attack from the tabloid John Bull, which labelled him traitorous "scum" for his work with the German war effort; several friends aware of his intelligence work urged him to sue, but he decided not to. When he was suffering from asthma, a doctor prescribed him heroin, to which he soon became addicted. In January 1920, he moved to Paris, renting a house in Fontainebleau with Leah Hirsig; they were soon joined in a ménage à trois by Ninette Shumway, and also (in living arrangement) by Leah's newborn daughter Anne "Poupée" Leah. Crowley had ideas of forming a community of Thelemites, which he called the Abbey of Thelema after the Abbaye de Thélème in François Rabelais' satire Gargantua and Pantagruel. After consulting the I Ching, he chose Cefalù (on Sicily, Italy) as a location, and after arriving there, began renting the old Villa Santa Barbara as his Abbey on 2 April. Moving to the commune with Hirsig, Shumway, and their children Hansi, Howard, and Poupée, Crowley described the scenario as "perfectly happy ... my idea of heaven." They wore robes, and performed rituals to the sun god Ra at set times during the day, also occasionally performing the Gnostic Mass; the rest of the day they were left to follow their own interests. Undertaking widespread correspondences, Crowley continued to paint, wrote a commentary on The Book of the Law, and revised the third part of Book 4. He offered a libertine education for the children, allowing them to play all day and witness acts of sex magic. He occasionally travelled to Palermo to visit rent boys and buy supplies, including drugs; his heroin addiction came to dominate his life, and cocaine began to erode his nasal cavity. There was no cleaning rota, and wild dogs and cats wandered throughout the building, which soon became unsanitary. Poupée died in October 1920, and Ninette gave birth to a daughter, Astarte Lulu Panthea, soon afterwards. New followers continued to arrive at the Abbey to be taught by Crowley. Among them was film star Jane Wolfe, who arrived in July 1920, where she was initiated into the A∴A∴ and became Crowley's secretary. Another was Cecil Frederick Russell, who often argued with Crowley, disliking the same-sex sexual magic that he was required to perform, and left after a year. More conducive was the Australian Thelemite Frank Bennett, who also spent several months at the Abbey. In February 1922, Crowley returned to Paris for a retreat in an unsuccessful attempt to kick his heroin addiction. He then went to London in search of money, where he published articles in The English Review criticising the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 and wrote a novel, Diary of a Drug Fiend, completed in July. On publication, it received mixed reviews; he was lambasted by the Sunday Express, which called for its burning and used its influence to prevent further reprints. Subsequently, a young Thelemite named Raoul Loveday moved to the Abbey with his wife Betty May; while Loveday was devoted to Crowley, May detested him and life at the commune. She later said that Loveday was made to drink the blood of a sacrificed cat, and that they were required to cut themselves with razors every time they used the pronoun "I". Loveday drank from a local polluted stream, soon developing a liver infection resulting in his death in February 1923. Returning to London, May told her story to the press. John Bull proclaimed Crowley "the wickedest man in the world" and "a man we'd like to hang", and although Crowley deemed many of their accusations against him to be slanderous, he was unable to afford the legal fees to sue them. As a result, John Bull continued its attack, with its stories being repeated in newspapers throughout Europe and in North America. The Fascist government of Benito Mussolini learned of Crowley's activities, and in April 1923 he was given a deportation notice forcing him to leave Italy; without him, the Abbey closed. Later life Tunisia, Paris, and London: 1923–1929 Crowley and Hirsig went to Tunis, where, dogged by continuing poor health, he unsuccessfully tried again to give up heroin, and began writing what he termed his "autohagiography", The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. They were joined in Tunis by the Thelemite Norman Mudd, who became Crowley's public relations consultant. Employing a local boy, Mohammad ben Brahim, as his servant, Crowley went with him on a retreat to Nefta, where they performed sex magic together. In January 1924, Crowley travelled to Nice, France, where he met with Frank Harris, underwent a series of nasal operations, and visited the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man and had a positive opinion of its founder, George Gurdjieff. Destitute, he took on a wealthy student, Alexander Zu Zolar, before taking on another American follower, Dorothy Olsen. Crowley took Olsen back to Tunisia for a magical retreat in Nefta, where he also wrote To Man (1924), a declaration of his own status as a prophet entrusted with bringing Thelema to humanity. After spending the winter in Paris, in early 1925 Crowley and Olsen returned to Tunis, where he wrote The Heart of the Master (1938) as an account of a vision he experienced in a trance. In March Olsen became pregnant, and Hirsig was called to take care of her; she miscarried, following which Crowley took Olsen back to France. Hirsig later distanced herself from Crowley, who then denounced her. According to Crowley, Reuss had named him head of the O.T.O. upon his death, but this was challenged by a leader of the German O.T.O., Heinrich Tränker. Tränker called the Hohenleuben Conference in Thuringia, Germany, which Crowley attended. There, prominent members like Karl Germer and Martha Küntzel championed Crowley's leadership, but other key figures like Albin Grau, Oskar Hopfer, and Henri Birven backed Tränker by opposing it, resulting in a split in the O.T.O. Moving to Paris, where he broke with Olsen in 1926, Crowley went through a large number of lovers over the following years, with whom he experimented in sex magic. Throughout, he was dogged by poor health, largely caused by his heroin and cocaine addictions. In 1928, Crowley was introduced to young Englishman Israel Regardie, who embraced Thelema and became Crowley's secretary for the next three years. That year, Crowley also met Gerald Yorke, who began organising Crowley's finances but never became a Thelemite. He also befriended the journalist Tom Driberg; Driberg did not accept Thelema either. It was here that Crowley also published one of his most significant works, Magick in Theory and Practice, which received little attention at the time. In December 1928 Crowley met the Nicaraguan Maria Teresa Sanchez (Maria Teresa Ferrari de Miramar). Crowley was deported from France by the authorities, who disliked his reputation and feared that he was a German agent. So that she could join him in Britain, Crowley married Sanchez in August 1929. Now based in London, Mandrake Press agreed to publish his autobiography in a limited edition six-volume set, also publishing his novel Moonchild and book of short stories The Stratagem. Mandrake went into liquidation in November 1930, before the entirety of Crowley's Confessions could be published. Mandrake's owner P.R. Stephenson meanwhile wrote The Legend of Aleister Crowley, an analysis of the media coverage surrounding him. Berlin and London: 1930–1938 In April 1930, Crowley moved to Berlin, where he took Hanni Jaegar as his magical partner; the relationship was troubled. In September he went to Lisbon in Portugal to meet the poet Fernando Pessoa. There, he decided to fake his own death, doing so with Pessoa's help at the Boca do Inferno rock formation. He then returned to Berlin, where he reappeared three weeks later at the opening of his art exhibition at the Gallery Neumann-Nierendorf. Crowley's paintings fitted with the fashion for German Expressionism; few of them sold, but the press reports were largely favourable. In August 1931, he took Bertha Busch as his new lover; they had a violent relationship, and often physically assaulted one another. He continued to have affairs with both men and women while in the city, and met with famous people like Aldous Huxley and Alfred Adler. After befriending him, in January 1932 he took the communist Gerald Hamilton as a lodger, through whom he was introduced to many figures within the Berlin far left; it is possible that he was operating as a spy for British intelligence at this time, monitoring the communist movement. Crowley left Busch and returned to London, where he took Pearl Brooksmith as his new Scarlet Woman. Undergoing further nasal surgery, it was here in 1932 that he was invited to be guest of honour at Foyles' Literary Luncheon, also being invited by Harry Price to speak at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. In need of money, he launched a series of court cases against people whom he believed to have libelled him, some of which proved successful. He gained much publicity for his lawsuit against Constable and Co for publishing Nina Hamnett's Laughing Torso (1932)—a book he claimed libelled him by referring to his occult practice as black magic—but lost the case. The court case added to Crowley's financial problems, and in February 1935 he was declared bankrupt. During the hearing, it was revealed that Crowley had been spending three times his income for several years. Crowley developed a friendship with Deidre Patricia Doherty; she offered to bear his child, who was born in May 1937. Named Randall Gair, Crowley nicknamed him Aleister Atatürk. He died in a car accident in 2002 at the age of 65. Crowley continued to socialize with friends, holding curry parties in which he cooked particularly spicy food for them. In 1936, he published his first book in six years, The Equinox of the Gods, which contained a facsimile of The Book of the Law and was considered to be volume III, number 3, of The Equinox periodical. The work sold well, resulting in a second print run. In 1937, he gave a series of public lectures on yoga in Soho. Crowley was now living largely off contributions supplied by the O.T.O.'s Agape Lodge in California, led by rocket scientist John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons. Crowley was intrigued by the rise of Nazism in Germany, and influenced by his friend Martha Küntzel believed that Adolf Hitler might convert to Thelema; when the Nazis abolished the German O.T.O. and imprisoned Germer, who fled to the US, Crowley then lambasted Hitler as a black magician. Second World War and death: 1939–1947 When the Second World War broke out, Crowley wrote to the Naval Intelligence Division offering his services, but they declined. He associated with a variety of figures in Britain's intelligence community at the time, including Dennis Wheatley, Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and Maxwell Knight, and claimed to have been behind the "V for Victory" sign first used by the BBC; this has never been proven. In 1940, his asthma worsened, and with his German-produced medication unavailable, he returned to using heroin, once again becoming addicted. As the Blitz hit London, Crowley relocated to Torquay, where he was briefly admitted to hospital with asthma, and entertained himself with visits to the local chess club. Tiring of Torquay, he returned to London, where he was visited by American Thelemite Grady McMurtry, to whom Crowley awarded the title of "Hymenaeus Alpha". He stipulated that though Germer would be his immediate successor, McMurty should succeed Germer as head of the O.T.O. after the latter's death. With O.T.O. initiate Lady Frieda Harris, Crowley developed plans to produce a tarot card set, designed by him and painted by Harris. Accompanying this was a book, published in a limited edition as The Book of Thoth by Chiswick Press in 1944. To aid the war effort, he wrote a proclamation on the rights of humanity, Liber Oz, and a poem for the liberation of France, Le Gauloise. Crowley's final publication during his lifetime was a book of poetry, Olla: An Anthology of Sixty Years of Song. Another of his projects, Aleister Explains Everything, was posthumously published as Magick Without Tears. In April 1944 Crowley briefly moved to Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, where he was visited by the poet Nancy Cunard, before relocating to Hastings in Sussex, where he took up residence at the Netherwood boarding house. He took a young man named Kenneth Grant as his secretary, paying him in magical teaching rather than wages. He was also introduced to John Symonds, whom he appointed to be his literary executor; Symonds thought little of Crowley, later publishing negative biographies of him. Corresponding with the illusionist Arnold Crowther, it was through him that Crowley was introduced to Gerald Gardner, the future founder of Gardnerian Wicca. They became friends, with Crowley authorising Gardner to revive Britain's ailing O.T.O. Another visitor was Eliza Marian Butler, who interviewed Crowley for her book The Myth of the Magus. Other friends and family also spent time with him, among them Doherty and Crowley's son Aleister Atatürk. On 1 December 1947, Crowley died at Netherwood of chronic bronchitis aggravated by pleurisy and myocardial degeneration, aged 72. His funeral was held at a Brighton crematorium on 5 December; about a dozen people attended, and Louis Wilkinson read excerpts from the Gnostic Mass, The Book of the Law, and "Hymn to Pan". The funeral generated press controversy, and was labelled a Black Mass by the tabloids. Crowley's body was cremated; his ashes were sent to Karl Germer in the US, who buried them in his garden in Hampton, New Jersey. Beliefs and thought Crowley's belief system, Thelema, has been described by scholars as a religion, and more specifically as both a new religious movement, and as a "magico-religious doctrine". It has also been characterized as a form of esotericism and Modern Paganism. Although holding The Book of the Law—which was composed in 1904—as its central text, Thelema took shape as a complete system in the years after 1904. In his autobiography, Crowley claimed that his purpose in life had been to "bring oriental wisdom to Europe and to restore paganism in a purer form", although what he meant by "paganism" was unclear. Crowley also wrote in the 4th Book of Magick about a great pagan Umbral fleet ruled by Ottovius that would be handed down to the great Spartan. The esoteric nature of this was also unclear. Crowley's thought was not always cohesive, and was influenced by a variety of sources, ranging from eastern religious movements and practices like Hindu yoga and Buddhism, scientific naturalism, and various currents within Western esotericism, among them ceremonial magic, alchemy, astrology, Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah, and the Tarot. He was steeped in the esoteric teachings he had learned from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, although pushed further with his own interpretations and strategies than the Golden Dawn had done. Crowley incorporated concepts and terminology from South Asian religious traditions like yoga and Tantra into his Thelemic system, believing that there was a fundamental underlying resemblance between Western and Eastern spiritual systems. The historian Alex Owen noted that Crowley adhered to the "modus operandi" of the Decadent movement throughout his life. Crowley believed that the twentieth century marked humanity's entry to the Aeon of Horus, a new era in which humans would take increasing control of their destiny. He believed that this Aeon follows on from the Aeon of Osiris, in which paternalistic religions like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism dominated the world, and that this in turn had followed the Aeon of Isis, which had been maternalistic and dominated by goddess worship. He believed that Thelema was the proper religion of the Aeon of Horus, and also deemed himself to be the prophet of this new Aeon. Thelema revolves around the idea that human beings each have their own True Will that they should discover and pursue, and that this exists in harmony with the Cosmic Will that pervades the universe. Crowley referred to this process of searching and discovery of one's True Will to be "the Great Work" or the attaining of the "knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel". His favoured method of doing so was through the performance of the Abramelin operation, a ceremonial magic ritual obtained from a 17th-century grimoire. The moral code of "Do What Thou Wilt" is believed by Thelemites to be the religion's ethical law, although the historian of religion Marco Pasi noted that this was not anarchistic or libertarian in structure, as Crowley saw individuals as part of a wider societal organism. Magick and theology Crowley believed in the objective existence of magic, which he chose to spell as "Magick", which is an archaic spelling of the word. He provided various different definitions of this term over his career. In his book Magick in Theory and Practice, Crowley defined Magick as "the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with Will". He also told his disciple Karl Germer that "Magick is getting into communication with individuals who exist on a higher plane than ours. Mysticism is the raising of oneself to their level." Crowley saw Magick as a third way between religion and science, giving The Equinox the subtitle of The Method of Science; the Aim of Religion. Within that journal, he expressed positive sentiments toward science and the scientific method, and urged magicians to keep detailed records of their magical experiments, having said: "The more scientific the record is, the better." His understanding of magic was also influenced by the work of the anthropologist James Frazer, in particular the belief that magic was a precursor to science in a cultural evolutionary framework. Unlike Frazer, however, Crowley did not see magic as a survival from the past that required eradication, but rather he believed that magic had to be adapted to suit the new age of science. In Crowley's alternative schema, old systems of magic had to decline (per Frazer's framework) so that science and magic could synthesize into magick, which would simultaneously accept the existence of the supernatural and an experimental method. Crowley deliberately adopted an exceptionally broad definition of magick that included almost all forms of technology as magick, adopting an instrumentalist definition of magic, science, and technology. Sexuality played an important role in Crowley's ideas about magick and his practice of it, and has been described as being central to Thelema. He outlined three forms of sex magick—the autoerotic, homosexual, and heterosexual—and argued that such acts could be used to focus the magician's will onto a specific goal such as financial gain or personal creative success. For Crowley, sex was treated as a sacrament, with the consumption of sexual fluids interpreted as a Eucharist. This was often manifested as the Cakes of Light, a biscuit containing either menstrual blood or a mixture of semen and vaginal fluids. The Gnostic Mass is the central religious ceremony within Thelema. Crowley's theological beliefs were not clear. The historian Ronald Hutton noted that some of Crowley's writings could be used to argue that he was an atheist, while some support the idea that he was a polytheist, and others would bolster the idea that he was a mystical monotheist. On the basis of the teachings in The Book of the Law, Crowley described a pantheon of three deities taken from the ancient Egyptian pantheon: Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit. In 1928, he made the claim that all true deities were derived from this trinity. Jason Josephson-Storm has argued that Crowley built on 19th-century attempts to link early Christianity to pre-Christian religions, such as Frazer's Golden Bough, to synthesize Christian theology and Neopaganism while remaining critical of institutional and traditional Christianity. Both during his life and after it, Crowley has been widely described as a Satanist, usually by detractors. Crowley stated he did not consider himself a Satanist, nor did he worship Satan, as he did not accept the Christian world view in which Satan was believed to exist. He nevertheless used Satanic imagery, for instance by describing himself as "the Beast 666" and referring to the Whore of Babylon in his work, while in later life he sent "Antichristmas cards" to his friends. In his writings, Crowley occasionally identified Aiwass as Satan and designated him as "Our Lord God the Devil" at one occasion. The scholar of religion Gordan Djurdjevic stated that Crowley "was emphatically not" a Satanist, "if for no other reason than simply because he did not identify himself as such". Crowley nevertheless expressed strong anti-Christian sentiment, stating that he hated Christianity "as Socialists hate soap", an animosity probably stemming from his experiences among the Plymouth Brethren. He was nevertheless influenced by the King James Bible, especially the Book of Revelation, the impact of which can be seen in his writings. He was also accused of advocating human sacrifice, largely because of a passage in Book 4 in which he stated that "A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory victim" and added that he had sacrificed about 150 every year. This was a tongue-in-cheek reference to ejaculation, something not realized by his critics. Image and opinions Crowley considered himself to be one of the outstanding figures of his time. The historian Ronald Hutton stated that in Crowley's youth, he was "a self-indulgent and flamboyant young man" who "set about a deliberate flouting and provocation of social and religious norms", while being shielded from an "outraged public opinion" by his inherited wealth. Hutton also described Crowley as having both an "unappeasable desire" to take control of any organisation that he belonged to, and "a tendency to quarrel savagely" with those who challenged him. Crowley biographer Martin Booth asserted that Crowley was "self-confident, brash, eccentric, egotistic, highly intelligent, arrogant, witty, wealthy, and, when it suited him, cruel". Similarly, Richard B. Spence noted that Crowley was "capable of immense physical and emotional cruelty". Biographer Lawrence Sutin noted that Crowley exhibited "courage, skill, dauntless energy, and remarkable focus of will" while at the same time showing a "blind arrogance, petty fits of bile, [and] contempt for the abilities of his fellow men". The Thelemite Lon Milo DuQuette noted that Crowley "was by no means perfect" and "often alienated those who loved him dearest." Political opinions Crowley enjoyed being outrageous and flouting conventional morality, with John Symonds noting that he "was in revolt against the moral and religious values of his time". Crowley's political thought was studied by academic Marco Pasi, who noted that for Crowley, socio-political concerns were subordinate to metaphysical and spiritual ones. He was neither on the political left nor right but perhaps best categorized as a "conservative revolutionary" despite not being affiliated with the German-based movement of the same name. Pasi described Crowley's fascination to the extreme ideologies of Nazism and Marxism–Leninism, which aimed to violently overturn society: "What Crowley liked about Nazism and communism, or at least what made him curious about them, was the anti-Christian position and the revolutionary and socially subversive implications of these two movements. In their subversive powers, he saw the possibility of an annihilation of old religious traditions, and the creation of a void that Thelema, subsequently, would be able to fill." Crowley described democracy as an "imbecile and nauseating cult of weakness", and commented that The Book of the Law proclaimed that "there is the master and there is the slave; the noble and the serf; the 'lone wolf' and the herd". In this attitude, he was influenced by the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and by Social Darwinism. Although he had contempt for most of the British aristocracy, he regarded himself as an aristocrat and styled himself as Laird Boleskine, once describing his ideology as "aristocratic communism". Opinions on race and gender Crowley was bisexual, but exhibited a preference for women, with his relationships with men being fewer and mostly in the early part of his life. In particular he had an attraction toward "exotic women", and claimed to have fallen in love on multiple occasions; Kaczynski stated that "when he loved, he did so with his whole being, but the passion was typically short-lived". Even in later life, Crowley was able to attract young bohemian women to be his lovers, largely due to his charisma. He applied the term "Scarlet Woman" to various female lovers whom he believed played an important role in his magical work. During homosexual acts, he usually played 'the passive role', which Booth believed "appealed to his masochistic side". An underlying theme in many of his writings is that spiritual enlightenment arises through transgressing socio-sexual norms. Crowley advocated complete sexual freedom for both men and women. He argued that homosexual and bisexual people should not suppress their sexual orientation, commenting that a person "must not be ashamed or afraid of being homosexual if he happens to be so at heart; he must not attempt to violate his own true nature because of public opinion, or medieval morality, or religious prejudice which would wish he were otherwise." On other issues he adopted a more conservative attitude; he opposed abortion on moral grounds, believing that no woman following her True Will would ever desire one. Biographer Lawrence Sutin stated that "blatant bigotry is a persistent minor element in Crowley's writings". Sutin thought Crowley "a spoiled scion of a wealthy Victorian family who embodied many of the worst John Bull racial and social prejudices of his upper-class contemporaries", noting that he "embodied the contradiction that writhed within many Western intellectuals of the time: deeply held racist viewpoints courtesy of society, coupled with a fascination with people of colour". Crowley is said to have insulted his close Jewish friend Victor Benjamin Neuburg, using antisemitic slurs, and he had mixed opinions about Jewish people as a group. Although he praised their "sublime" poetry and stated that they exhibited "imagination, romance, loyalty, probity and humanity", he also thought that centuries of persecution had led some Jewish people to exhibit "avarice, servility, falseness, cunning and the rest". He was also known to praise various ethnic and cultural groups, for instance he thought that the Chinese people exhibited a "spiritual superiority" to the English, and praised Muslims for exhibiting "manliness, straightforwardness, subtlety, and self-respect". Both critics of Crowley and adherents of Thelema have accused Crowley of sexism. Booth described Crowley as exhibiting a "general misogyny", something the biographer believed arose from Crowley's bad relationship with his mother. Sutin noted that Crowley "largely accepted the notion, implicitly embodied in Victorian sexology, of women as secondary social beings in terms of intellect and sensibility". The scholar of religion Manon Hedenborg White noted that some of Crowley's statements are "undoubtedly misogynist by contemporary standards", but characterized Crowley's attitude toward women as complex and multi-faceted. Crowley's comments on women's role varied dramatically within his written work, even that produced in similar periods. Crowley described women as "moral inferiors" who had to be treated with "firmness, kindness and justice", while also arguing that Thelema was essential to women's emancipation. Intelligence work Biographers Richard B. Spence and Tobias Churton have suggested that Crowley was a spy for the British secret services and that among other things he joined the Golden Dawn under their command to monitor the activities of Mathers, who was known to be a Carlist. Spence suggested that the conflict between Mathers and the London lodge for the temple was part of an intelligence operation to undermine Mathers' authority. Spence has suggested that the purpose of Crowley's trip to Mexico might have been to explore Mexican oil prospects for British intelligence. Spence has suggested that his trip to China was orchestrated as part of a British intelligence scheme to monitor the region's opium trade. Churton suggested that Crowley had travelled to Moscow on the orders of British intelligence to spy on revolutionary elements in the city. Spence and Sutin both claim that Crowley's pro-German work in the United States was actually a cover for him being a double agent for Britain, citing his hyperbolic articles in The Fatherland to make the German lobby appear ridiculous in the eyes of the American public. Spence also claims that Crowley encouraged the German Navy to destroy the Lusitania, informing them that it would ensure the US stayed out of the war, while in reality hoping that it would bring the US into the war on Britain's side. Legacy and influence Crowley has remained an influential figure, both amongst occultists and in popular culture, particularly that of Britain, but also of other parts of the world. In 2002, a BBC poll placed Crowley seventy-third in a list of the 100 Greatest Britons. Richard Cavendish has written of him that "In native talent, penetrating intelligence and determination, Aleister Crowley was the best-equipped magician to emerge since the seventeenth century." The scholar of esotericism Egil Asprem described him as "one of the most well-known figures in modern occultism". The scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff asserted that Crowley was an extreme representation of "the dark side of the occult", adding that he was "the most notorious occultist magician of the twentieth century". The philosopher John Moore opined that Crowley stood out as a "Modern Master" when compared with other prominent occult figures like George Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, or Helena Blavatsky, also describing him as a "living embodiment" of Oswald Spengler's "Faustian Man". Biographer Tobias Churton considered Crowley "a pioneer of consciousness research". Hutton noted that Crowley had "an important place in the history of modern Western responses to Oriental spiritual traditions", while Sutin thought that he had made "distinctly original contributions" to the study of yoga in the West. Thelema continued to develop and spread following Crowley's death. In 1969, the O.T.O. was reactivated in California under the leadership of Grady Louis McMurtry; in 1985 its right to the title was unsuccessfully challenged in court by a rival group, the Society Ordo Templi Orientis, led by Brazilian Thelemite Marcelo Ramos Motta. Another American Thelemite is the filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who had been influenced by Crowley's writings from a young age. In the United Kingdom, Kenneth Grant propagated a tradition known as Typhonian Thelema through his organisation, the Typhonian O.T.O., later renamed the Typhonian Order. Also in Britain, an occultist known as Amado Crowley claimed to be Crowley's son; this has been refuted by academic investigation. Amado argued that Thelema was a false religion created by Crowley to hide his true esoteric teachings, which Amado claimed to be propagating. Several Western esoteric traditions other than Thelema were also influenced by Crowley, with Djurdjevic observing that "Crowley's influence on twentieth-century and contemporary esotericism has been enormous". Gerald Gardner, founder of Gardnerian Wicca, made use of much of Crowley's published material when composing the Gardnerian ritual liturgy, and the Australian witch Rosaleen Norton was also heavily influenced by Crowley's ideas. More widely, Crowley became "a dominant figure" in the modern Pagan community. L. Ron Hubbard, the American founder of Scientology, was involved in Thelema in the early 1940s (with Jack Parsons), and it has been argued that Crowley's ideas influenced some of Hubbard's work. The scholars of religion Asbjørn Dyrendel, James R. Lewis, and Jesper Petersen noted that despite the fact that Crowley was not a Satanist, he "in many ways embodies the pre-Satanist esoteric discourse on Satan and Satanism through his lifestyle and his philosophy", with his "image and ought" becoming an "important influence" on the later development of religious Satanism. For instance, two prominent figures in religious Satanism, Anton LaVey and Michael Aquino, were influenced by Crowley's work. In popular culture Crowley also had a wider influence in British popular culture. After his time in Cefalù which had brought him to public attention in Britain, various "literary Crowleys" appeared: characters in fiction based upon him. One of the earliest was the character of the poet Shelley Arabin in John Buchan's 1926 novel The Dancing Floor. In his novel The Devil Rides Out, the writer Dennis Wheatley used Crowley as a partial basis for the character of Damien Morcata, a portly bald defrocked priest who engages in black magic. The occultist Dion Fortune used Crowley as a basis for characters in her books The Secrets of Doctor Taverner (1926) and The Winged Bull (1935). He was included as one of the figures on the cover art of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and his motto of "Do What Thou Wilt" was inscribed on the vinyl of Led Zeppelin's album Led Zeppelin III (1970). Led Zeppelin co-founder Jimmy Page bought Boleskine in 1971, and part of the band's film The Song Remains the Same was filmed in the grounds. He sold it in 1992. Though David Bowie makes but a fleeting reference to Crowley in the lyrics of his song "Quicksand" (1971), it has been suggested that the lyrics of Bowie's No. 1 hit single "Let's Dance" (1983) may substantially paraphrase Crowley's 1923 poem "Lyric of Love to Leah". Ozzy Osbourne and his lyricist Bob Daisley wrote a song titled "Mr. Crowley" (1980). A prophetic quote about the coming of the New Aeon borrowed from Crowley's work Magick in Theory and Practice (1911) has been featured as the opening introduction to the video game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996). Crowley began to receive scholarly attention from academics in the late 1990s. Bibliography References Footnotes Sources Further reading Crowley, Aleister., John. Symonds, and Kenneth. Grant. The Confessions of Aleister Crowley:  an Autohagiography. 1989. London: Arkana. External links Aleister Crowley Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas "Aleister Crowley and the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù" at WondersOfSicily.com, with photos Perdurabo (Where is Aleister Crowley?) – film on the Abbey of Thelema by Carlos Atanes 1875 births 1947 deaths 19th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Atlantis proponents English bisexual writers Bisexual sportsmen Bisexual poets Bisexual novelists Bisexual dramatists and playwrights British psychedelic drug advocates Burials in New Jersey Ceremonial magicians Channellers British critics of Christianity Deaths from bronchitis English astrologers English astrological writers English autobiographers English dramatists and playwrights English expatriates in India English expatriates in Switzerland English Freemasons English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists English mountain climbers English occultists English occult writers English spiritual writers English Thelemites Founders of new religious movements Free love advocates Goetia Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Hermetic Qabalists LGBT climbers English LGBT poets English LGBT novelists English LGBT dramatists and playwrights English LGBT sportspeople Members of Ordo Templi Orientis 20th-century mystics Obscenity controversies in literature People educated at Eastbourne College People educated at Malvern College People educated at Tonbridge School People from Leamington Spa People who faked their own death Prophets Tarotologists Thelema Victorian writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers British people of World War I

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife

Afterlife

The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity. Belief in an afterlife is in contrast to the belief in oblivion after death. In some views, this continued existence takes place in a spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics. Some belief systems, such as those in the Abrahamic tradition, hold that the dead go to a specific place (e.g. Paradise) after death, as determined by God, based on their actions and beliefs during life. In contrast, in systems of reincarnation, such as those in the Indian religions, the nature of the continued existence is determined directly by the actions of the individual in the ended life. Different metaphysical models Theist immortalists generally believe some afterlife awaits people when they die. Members of some generally non-theistic religions believe in an afterlife without reference to a deity. The Sadducees were an ancient Jewish sect that generally believed that there was a God but no existence after death. Many religions, whether they believe in the soul's existence in another world like Christianity, Islam, and many pagan belief systems, or reincarnation like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, believe that one's status in the afterlife is a consequence of one's conduct during life. Reincarnation Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each death. This concept is also known as rebirth or transmigration and is part of the Saṃsāra/karma doctrine of cyclic existence. Samsara refers to the process in which souls (jivas) go through a sequence of human and animal forms. Traditional Hinduism teaches that each life helps the soul (jivas) learn until the soul becomes purified to the point of enlightenment (unity with the cosmos). All major Indian religions, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism have their own interpretations of the idea of reincarnation. The human idea of reincarnation is found in many diverse ancient cultures, and a belief in rebirth/metempsychosis was held by historic Greek figures, such as Pythagoras and Plato. It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, theosophy, and Eckankar. It is found as well in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Australia, East Asia, Siberia, and South America. Although the majority of denominations within the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah, the Cathars, Alawites, the Druze, and the Rosicrucians. The historical relations between these sects and the beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of neoplatonism, Orphism, Hermeticism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism of the Roman era as well as the Indian religions have been the subject of recent scholarly research. Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teach reincarnation. Rosicrucians speak of a life review period occurring immediately after death and before entering the afterlife's planes of existence (before the silver cord is broken), followed by a judgment, more akin to a final review or end report over one's life. Heaven and Hell Heaven, the heavens, seven heavens, pure lands, Tian, Jannah, Valhalla, or the Summerland, is a common religious, cosmological, or transcendent place where beings such as gods, angels, jinn, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or live. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases, enter heaven alive. Heaven is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a paradise, in contrast to hell or the underworld or the "low places", and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith or other virtues or right beliefs or the will of God. Some believe in the possibility of a heaven on Earth in a world to come. In Hinduism, heaven is considered as Svarga loka. There are seven positive regions the soul can go to after death and seven negative regions. After completing its stay in the respective region, the soul is subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma. This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside the tangible world (heaven, hell, or other) is referred to as otherworld. Hell, in many religious and folkloric traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell as an eternal destination, while religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations. Typically, these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under the Earth's surface and often include entrances to hell from the land of the living. Other afterlife destinations include purgatory and limbo. Traditions that do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward merely describe hell as an abode of the dead, the grave, a neutral place (for example, Sheol or Hades) located under the surface of Earth. Ancient religions Ancient Egyptian religion The afterlife played an important role in Ancient Egyptian religion, and its belief system is one of the earliest known in recorded history. When the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul dwelt in the Fields of Aaru, Osiris demanded work as restitution for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the deceased. Arriving at one's reward in afterlife was a demanding ordeal, requiring a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead. In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at. If the heart was lighter than the feather, they could pass on, but if it were heavier they would be devoured by the demon Ammit. Egyptians also believed that being mummified and put in a sarcophagus (an ancient Egyptian "coffin" carved with complex symbols and designs, as well as pictures and hieroglyphs) was the only way to have an afterlife. What are referred to as the Coffin Texts, are inscribed on a coffin and serve as a guide for the challenges in the afterlife. The Coffin texts are more or less a duplication of the Pyramid Texts, which would serve as a guide for Egyptian pharaohs or queens in the afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba, could the dead live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride. Due to the dangers the afterlife posed, the Book of the Dead was placed in the tomb with the body as well as food, jewelry, and 'curses'. They also used the "opening of the mouth". Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religion. The belief in the rebirth after death became the driving force behind funeral practices; for them, death was a temporary interruption rather than complete cessation of life. Eternal life could be ensured by means like piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through mummification, and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. Each human consisted of the physical body, the ka, the ba, and the akh. The Name and Shadow were also living entities. To enjoy the afterlife, all these elements had to be sustained and protected from harm. On 30 March 2010, a spokesman for the Egyptian Culture Ministry claimed it had unearthed a large red granite door in Luxor with inscriptions by User, a powerful adviser to the 18th Dynasty Queen Hatshepsut who ruled between 1479 BC and 1458 BC, the longest of any woman. It believes the false door is a 'door to the Afterlife'. According to the archaeologists, the door was reused in a structure in Roman Egypt. Ancient Greek and Roman religions The Greek god Hades is known in Greek mythology as the king of the underworld, a place where souls live after death. The Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the gods, would take the dead soul of a person to the underworld (sometimes called Hades or the House of Hades). Hermes would leave the soul on the banks of the River Styx, the river between life and death. Charon, also known as the ferry-man, would take the soul across the river to Hades, if the soul had gold: Upon burial, the family of the dead soul would put coins under the deceased's tongue. Once crossed, the soul would be judged by Aeacus, Rhadamanthus and King Minos. The soul would be sent to Elysium, Tartarus, or Asphodel Fields. The Elysian Fields were for the ones that lived pure lives. It consisted of green fields, valleys and mountains, everyone there was peaceful and contented, and the Sun always shone there. Tartarus was for the people that blasphemed against the gods or were rebellious and consciously evil. In Tartarus, the soul would be punished by being burned in lava or stretched on racks. The Asphodel Fields were for a varied selection of human souls including those whose sins equaled their goodness, those who were indecisive in their lives, and those who were not judged. Some heroes of Greek legend are allowed to visit the underworld. The Romans had a similar belief system about the afterlife, with Hades becoming known as Pluto. In the ancient Greek myth about the Labours of Heracles, the hero Heracles had to travel to the underworld to capture Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog, as one of his tasks. In Dream of Scipio, Cicero describes what seems to be an out of body experience, of the soul traveling high above the Earth, looking down at the small planet, from far away. In Book VI of Virgil's Aeneid, the hero, Aeneas, travels to the underworld to see his father. By the River Styx, he sees the souls of those not given a proper burial, forced to wait by the river until someone buries them. While down there, along with the dead, he is shown the place where the wrongly convicted reside, the fields of sorrow where those who committed suicide and now regret it reside, including Aeneas' former lover, the warriors and shades, Tartarus (where the titans and powerful non-mortal enemies of the Olympians reside) where he can hear the groans of the imprisoned, the palace of Pluto, and the fields of Elysium where the descendants of the divine and bravest heroes reside. He sees the river of forgetfulness, Lethe, which the dead must drink to forget their life and begin anew. Lastly, his father shows him all of the future heroes of Rome who will live if Aeneas fulfills his destiny in founding the city. Other eschatological views populate the ancient-Greek worldview. For instance, Plato argued for reincarnation in several dialogues, including the Timaeus. Norse religion The Poetic and Prose Eddas, the oldest sources for information on the Norse concept of the afterlife, vary in their description of the several realms that are described as falling under this topic. The most well-known are: Valhalla: (lit. "Hall of the Slain" i.e. "the Chosen Ones") Half the warriors who die in battle join the god Odin who rules over a majestic hall called Valhalla in Asgard. Fólkvangr: (lit. "Field of the Host") The other half join the goddess Freyja in a great meadow known as Fólkvangr. Niflhel: (lit. "The Dark" or "Misty Hel"). Niflhel is believed to be a place of punishment, where the oathbreakers and other wicked people go. Hel: (lit. "The Covered Hall"). Hel was the daughter of god Loki and her kingdom was located in downward and northward. Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning tells of evil men going to Niflhel via Hel. Abrahamic religions Judaism Sheol Sheol, in the Hebrew Bible, is a place of darkness (Job x. 21, 22) to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, (Gen. xxxvii. 36; Ezek. xxxii.; Isa. xiv.; Job xxx. 23), a place of stillness, (Ps. lxxxviii. 13, xciv. 17; Eccl. ix. 10), at the longest possible distance from heaven (Job xi. 8; Amos ix. 2; Ps. cxxxix. 8). The inhabitants of Sheol were the "shades" (rephaim), entities without personality or strength. Under some circumstances they were thought to be able to be contacted by the living, as the Witch of Endor contacts the shade of Samuel for Saul, but such practices were forbidden (Deuteronomy 18:10). While the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (roughly 500 BC – 70 AD) a more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BC, the word "Hades" (the Greek underworld) was substituted for Sheol. This is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the evil it represents. World to Come The Talmud offers a number of thoughts relating to the afterlife. After death, the soul is brought for judgment. Those who have led pristine lives enter immediately into the Olam Haba or world to come. Most do not enter the world to come immediately, but experience a period of reflection of their earthly actions and are made aware of what they have done wrong. Some view this period as being a "re-schooling", with the soul gaining wisdom as one's errors are reviewed. Others view this period to include spiritual discomfort for past wrongs. At the end of this period, not longer than one year, the soul then takes its place in the world to come. Although discomforts are made part of certain Jewish conceptions of the afterlife, the concept of eternal damnation is not a tenet of the Jewish afterlife. According to the Talmud, extinction of the soul is reserved for a far smaller group of malicious and evil leaders, either whose very evil deeds go way beyond norms, or who lead large groups of people to utmost evil. This is also part of Maimonides' 13 principles of faith. Maimonides describes the Olam Haba in spiritual terms, relegating the prophesied physical resurrection to the status of a future miracle, unrelated to the afterlife or the Messianic era. According to Maimonides, an afterlife continues for the soul of every human being, a soul now separated from the body in which it was "housed" during its earthly existence. The Zohar describes Gehenna not as a place of punishment for the wicked but as a place of spiritual purification for souls. Reincarnation in Jewish tradition Although there is no reference to reincarnation in the Talmud or any prior writings, according to rabbis such as Avraham Arieh Trugman, reincarnation is recognized as being part and parcel of Jewish tradition. Trugman explains that it is through oral tradition that the meanings of the Torah, its commandments and stories, are known and understood. The classic work of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar, is quoted liberally in all Jewish learning; in the Zohar the idea of reincarnation is mentioned repeatedly. Trugman states that in the last five centuries the concept of reincarnation, which until then had been a much hidden tradition within Judaism, was given open exposure. Shraga Simmons commented that within the Bible itself, the idea [of reincarnation] is intimated in Deut. 25:5–10, Deut. 33:6 and Isaiah 22:14, 65:6. Yirmiyahu Ullman wrote that reincarnation is an "ancient, mainstream belief in Judaism". The Zohar makes frequent and lengthy references to reincarnation. Onkelos, a righteous convert and authoritative commentator of the same period, explained the verse, "Let Reuben live and not die ..." (Deuteronomy 33:6) to mean that Reuben should merit the World to Come directly, and not have to die again as a result of being reincarnated. Torah scholar, commentator and kabbalist, Nachmanides (Ramban 1195–1270), attributed Job's suffering to reincarnation, as hinted in Job's saying "God does all these things twice or three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit to... the light of the living' (Job 33:29, 30)." Reincarnation, called gilgul, became popular in folk belief, and is found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews. Among a few kabbalists, it was posited that some human souls could end up being reincarnated into non-human bodies. These ideas were found in a number of Kabbalistic works from the 13th century, and also among many mystics in the late 16th century. Martin Buber's early collection of stories of the Baal Shem Tov's life includes several that refer to people reincarnating in successive lives. Among well known (generally non-kabbalist or anti-kabbalist) rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation are Saadia Gaon, David Kimhi, Hasdai Crescas, Yedayah Bedershi (early 14th century), Joseph Albo, Abraham ibn Daud, the Rosh and Leon de Modena. Saadia Gaon, in Emunoth ve-Deoth (Hebrew: "beliefs and opinions") concludes Section VI with a refutation of the doctrine of metempsychosis (reincarnation). While rebutting reincarnation, Saadia Gaon further states that Jews who hold to reincarnation have adopted non-Jewish beliefs. By no means do all Jews today believe in reincarnation, but belief in reincarnation is not uncommon among many Jews, including Orthodox. Other well-known rabbis who are reincarnationists include Yonassan Gershom, Abraham Isaac Kook, Talmud scholar Adin Steinsaltz, DovBer Pinson, David M. Wexelman, Zalman Schachter, and many others. Reincarnation is cited by authoritative biblical commentators, including Ramban (Nachmanides), Menachem Recanti and Rabbenu Bachya. Among the many volumes of Yitzchak Luria, most of which come down from the pen of his primary disciple, Chaim Vital, are insights explaining issues related to reincarnation. His Shaar HaGilgulim, "The Gates of Reincarnation", is a book devoted exclusively to the subject of reincarnation in Judaism. Rabbi Naftali Silberberg of The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute notes that "Many ideas that originate in other religions and belief systems have been popularized in the media and are taken for granted by unassuming Jews." Christianity Mainstream Christianity professes belief in the Nicene Creed, and English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." When questioned by the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead (in a context relating to who one's spouse would be if one had been married several times in life), Jesus said that marriage will be irrelevant after the resurrection as the resurrected will be like the angels in heaven. Jesus also maintained that the time would come when the dead would hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who were in the tombs would come out; those who have heard His "[commandments] and believes in the one who sent [Him]" to the resurrection of life, but those who do not to the resurrection of condemnation. The Book of Enoch describes Sheol as divided into four compartments for four types of the dead: the faithful saints who await resurrection in Paradise, the merely virtuous who await their reward, the wicked who await punishment, and the wicked who have already been punished and will not be resurrected on Judgment Day. The Book of Enoch is considered apocryphal by most denominations of Christianity and all denominations of Judaism. The book of 2 Maccabees gives a clear account of the dead awaiting a future resurrection and judgment in addition to prayers and offerings for the dead to remove the burden of sin. The author of Luke recounts the story of Lazarus and the rich man, which shows people in Hades awaiting the resurrection either in comfort or torment. The author of the Book of Revelation writes about God and the angels versus Satan and demons in an epic battle at the end of times when all souls are judged. There is mention of ghostly bodies of past prophets, and the transfiguration. The non-canonical Acts of Paul and Thecla speak of the efficacy of prayer for the dead so that they might be "translated to a state of happiness". Hippolytus of Rome pictures the underworld (Hades) as a place where the righteous dead, awaiting in the bosom of Abraham their resurrection, rejoice at their future prospect, while the unrighteous are tormented at the sight of the "lake of unquenchable fire" into which they are destined to be cast. Gregory of Nyssa discusses the long-before believed possibility of purification of souls after death. Pope Gregory I repeats the concept, articulated over a century earlier by Gregory of Nyssa that the saved suffer purification after death, in connection with which he wrote of "purgatorial flames". The noun "purgatorium" (Latin: place of cleansing) is used for the first time to describe a state of painful purification of the saved after life. The same word in adjectival form (purgatorius -a -um, cleansing), which appears also in non-religious writing, was already used by Christians such as Augustine of Hippo and Pope Gregory I to refer to an after-death cleansing. During the Age of Enlightenment, theologians and philosophers presented various philosophies and beliefs. A notable example is Emanuel Swedenborg who wrote some 18 theological works which describe in detail the nature of the afterlife according to his claimed spiritual experiences, the most famous of which is Heaven and Hell. His report of life there covers a wide range of topics, such as marriage in heaven (where all angels are married), children in heaven (where they are raised by angel parents), time and space in heaven (there are none), the after-death awakening process in the World of Spirits (a place halfway between Heaven and Hell and where people first wake up after death), the allowance of a free will choice between Heaven or Hell (as opposed to being sent to either one by God), the eternity of Hell (one could leave but would never want to), and that all angels or devils were once people on earth. The Catholic Church The Catholic conception of the afterlife teaches that after the body dies, the soul is judged, the righteous and free of sin enter Heaven. However, those who die in unrepented mortal sin go to hell. In the 1990s, the Catechism of the Catholic Church defined hell not as punishment imposed on the sinner but rather as the sinner's self-exclusion from God. Unlike other Christian groups, the Catholic Church teaches that those who die in a state of grace, but still carry venial sin, go to a place called Purgatory where they undergo purification to enter Heaven. Limbo Despite popular opinion, Limbo, which was elaborated upon by theologians beginning in the Middle Ages, was never recognized as a dogma of the Catholic Church, yet, at times, it has been a very popular theological theory within the Church. Limbo is a theory that unbaptized but innocent souls, such as those of infants, virtuous individuals who lived before Jesus Christ was born on earth, or those that die before baptism exist in neither Heaven nor Hell proper. Therefore, these souls neither merit the beatific vision, nor are subjected to any punishment, because they are not guilty of any personal sin although they have not received baptism, so still bear original sin. So they are generally seen as existing in a state of natural, but not supernatural, happiness, until the end of time. In other Christian denominations it has been described as an intermediate place or state of confinement in oblivion and neglect. Purgatory The notion of purgatory is associated particularly with the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, all those who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven or the final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The tradition of the church, by reference to certain texts of scripture, speaks of a "cleansing fire" although it is not always called purgatory. Anglicans of the Anglo-Catholic tradition generally also hold to the belief. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed in an intermediate state between death and the resurrection of the dead and in the possibility of "continuing to grow in holiness there", but Methodism does not officially affirm this belief and denies the possibility of helping by prayer any who may be in that state. Orthodox Christianity The Orthodox Church is intentionally reticent on the afterlife, as it acknowledges the mystery especially of things that have not yet occurred. Beyond the second coming of Jesus, bodily resurrection, and final judgment, all of which is affirmed in the Nicene Creed (325 CE), Orthodoxy does not teach much else in any definitive manner. Unlike Western forms of Christianity, however, Orthodoxy is traditionally non-dualist and does not teach that there are two separate literal locations of heaven and hell, but instead acknowledges that "the 'location' of one's final destiny—heaven or hell—as being figurative." Instead, Orthodoxy teaches that the final judgment is one's uniform encounter with divine love and mercy, but this encounter is experienced multifariously depending on the extent to which one has been transformed, partaken of divinity, and is therefore compatible or incompatible with God. "The monadic, immutable, and ceaseless object of eschatological encounter is therefore the love and mercy of God, his glory which infuses the heavenly temple, and it is the subjective human reaction which engenders multiplicity or any division of experience." For instance, St. Isaac the Syrian observes in his Ascetical Homilies that "those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love. ... The power of love works in two ways: it torments sinners ... [as] bitter regret. But love inebriates the souls of the sons of Heaven by its delectability." In this sense, the divine action is always, immutably, and uniformly love and if one experiences this love negatively, the experience is then one of self-condemnation because of free will rather than condemnation by God. Orthodoxy therefore uses the description of Jesus' judgment in John 3:19–21 as their model: "19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." As a characteristically Orthodox understanding, then, Fr. Thomas Hopko writes, "[I]t is precisely the presence of God's mercy and love which cause the torment of the wicked. God does not punish; he forgives... . In a word, God has mercy on all, whether all like it or not. If we like it, it is paradise; if we do not, it is hell. Every knee will bend before the Lord. Everything will be subject to Him. God in Christ will indeed be "all and in all," with boundless mercy and unconditional pardon. But not all will rejoice in God's gift of forgiveness, and that choice will be judgment, the self-inflicted source of their sorrow and pain." Moreover, Orthodoxy includes a prevalent tradition of apokatastasis, or the restoration of all things in the end. This has been taught most notably by Origen, but also many other Church fathers and Saints, including Gregory of Nyssa. The Second Council of Constantinople (553 CE) affirmed the orthodoxy of Gregory of Nyssa while simultaneously condemning Origen's brand of universalism because it taught the restoration back to our pre-existent state, which Orthodoxy doesn't teach. It is also a teaching of such eminent Orthodox theologians as Olivier Clément, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, and Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev. Although apokatastasis is not a dogma of the church but instead a theologoumenon, it is no less a teaching of the Orthodox Church than its rejection. As Met. Kallistos Ware explains, "It is heretical to say that all must be saved, for this is to deny free will; but, it is legitimate to hope that all may be saved," as insisting on torment without end also denies free will. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Joseph F. Smith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presents an elaborate vision of the afterlife. It is revealed as the scene of an extensive missionary effort by righteous spirits in paradise to redeem those still in darkness—a spirit prison or "hell" where the spirits of the dead remain until judgment. It is divided into two parts: Spirit Prison and Paradise. Together these are also known as the Spirit World (also Abraham's Bosom; see Luke 16:19–25). They believe that Christ visited spirit prison (1 Peter 3:18–20) and opened the gate for those who repent to cross over to Paradise. This is similar to the Harrowing of Hell doctrine of some mainstream Christian faiths. Both Spirit Prison and Paradise are temporary according to Latter-day Saint beliefs. After the resurrection, spirits are assigned "permanently" to three degrees of heavenly glory, determined by how they lived – Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. (1 Cor 15:44–42; Doctrine and Covenants, Section 76) Sons of Perdition, or those who have known and seen God and deny it, will be sent to the realm of Satan, which is called Outer Darkness, where they shall live in misery and agony forever. However, according to the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, most persons lack the amount of knowledge to commit the Eternal sin and are therefore incapable of becoming sons of perdition. The Celestial Kingdom is believed to be a place where the righteous can live eternally with their families. Progression does not end once one has entered the Celestial Kingdom, but extends eternally. According to "True to the Faith" (a handbook on doctrines in the LDS faith), "The celestial kingdom is the place prepared for those who have "received the testimony of Jesus" and been "made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood" (Doctrine and Covenants, 76:51, 69). To inherit this gift, we must receive the ordinances of salvation, keep the commandments, and repent of our sins." Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses occasionally use terms such as "afterlife" to refer to any hope for the dead, but they understand Ecclesiastes 9:5 to preclude belief in an immortal soul. Individuals judged by God to be wicked, such as in the Great Flood or at Armageddon, are given no hope of an afterlife. However, they believe that after Armageddon there will be a bodily resurrection of "both righteous and unrighteous" dead (but not the "wicked"). Survivors of Armageddon and those who are resurrected are then to gradually restore earth to a paradise. After Armageddon, unrepentant sinners are punished with eternal death (non-existence). Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church's beliefs regarding the afterlife differ from other Christian churches. Rather than ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell, Adventists believe the dead "remain unconscious until the return of Christ in judgement". The concept that the dead remain dead until resurrection is one of the fundamental beliefs of Seventh-day Adventism. Adventists believe that death is an unconscious state (a "sleep"). This is based on Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; John 11:11–14; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:13–17; 2 Peter 3:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10. At death, all consciousness ends. The dead person does not know anything and does not do anything. They believe that death is a decreation, or an undoing of what was created. This is described in Ecclesiastes 12:7: "When a person dies, the body turns to dust again, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it." The spirit of every person who dies—whether saved or unsaved—returns to God at death. The spirit that returns to God at death is the breath of life. Islam The Quran (the holy book of Islam), emphasizes the insignificance of worldly life (ḥayāt ad-dunyā usually translated as "this world") vis-a-vis the hereafter. A central doctrine of Islamic faith is the Last Day (al-yawm al-ākhir, also known by other names), on which the world will come to an end and God will raise all mankind (as well as the jinn) from the dead and evaluate their worldly actions. The resurrected will be judged according to their deeds, records of which are kept on two books compiled for every human being—one for their good deeds and one for their evil ones. Having been judged, the resurrected will cross the bridge of As-Sirāt over the pit of hell; when the condemned attempt to they will be made to fall off into hellfire below; while the righteous will have no trouble and continue on to their eternal abode of heaven. Afterlife in Islam actually begins before the Last Day. After death, humans will be questioned about their faith by two angels, Munkar and Nakīr. Those who die as martyrs go immediately to paradise. Others who have died and been buried, will receive a taste of their eternal reward from the al-qabr or "the grave" (compare the Jewish concept of Sheol). Those bound for hell will suffer "punishment of the grave", while those bound for heaven will find the grave "peaceful and blessed". Islamic scripture — the Quran and hadith (reports of the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad who is believed to have visited heaven and hell during his Isra and Mi'raj journey) – give vivid descriptions of the pleasures of paradise (Jannah) and sufferings of hell (Jahannam). The gardens of jannah have cool shade adorned couchs and cushions rich carpets spread out, cups full of wine and every meat and fruit . Men will be provided with perpetually youthful, beautiful ḥūr, "untouched beforehand by man or jinn", with large, beautiful eyes . (In recent years some have argued that the term ḥūr refers both to pure men and pure women, and/or that Quranic references to "immortal boys" (, ) or "young men" () (ghilmān, wildān, and suqāh) who serve wine and meals to the blessed, are the male equivalents of hur.) In contrast, those in Jahannam will dwell in a land infested with thousands of serpents and scorpions; be "burnt" by "scorching fire" and when "their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins" to repeat the process forever ; they will have nothing to drink but "boiling water and running sores" ; their cries of remorse and pleading for forgiveness will be in vain . Traditionally jannah and jahannam are thought to have different levels. Eight gates and eight levels in Jannah, where the higher the level the better it is and the happier you are. Jahannam possess seven layers. Each layer more horrible than the one above. The Quran teaches that the purpose of Man's creation is to worship God and God alone. Those it describes as being punished in hell are "most typically", unbelievers, including those who worship others besides Allah , those who deny the divine origin of the Quran , or the coming of Judgement Day . Straightforward crimes/sins against other people are also grounds for going to hell: the murder of a believer , usury (Q.2:275), devouring the property of an orphan , slander , particularly of a chaste woman . However it is a common belief among Muslims that whatever crimes/sins Muslims may have committed, their punishment in hell will be temporary. Only unbelievers will reside in hell permanently. Thus Jahannam combines both the concept of an eternal hell (for unbelievers), and what is known in Christian Catholicism as purgatory (for believers eventually destined for heaven after punishment for their sins). The common belief holds that Jahannam coexists with the temporal world. Mainstream Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a transformed physical existence after death. The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical, and is explained by suggesting that God will re-create the decayed body ("Have they not realized that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, can ˹easily˺ re-create them?" ). Ahmadiyya Ahmadi Muslims believe that the afterlife is not material but of a spiritual nature. According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the soul will give birth to another rarer entity and will resemble the life on this earth in the sense that this entity will bear a similar relationship to the soul as the soul bears relationship with the human existence on earth. On earth, if a person leads a righteous life and submits to the will of God, his or her tastes become attuned to enjoying spiritual pleasures as opposed to carnal desires. With this, an "embryonic soul" begins to take shape. Different tastes are said to be born which a person given to carnal passions finds no enjoyment. For example, sacrifice of one's own rights over that of others becomes enjoyable, or that forgiveness becomes second nature. In such a state a person finds contentment and peace at heart and at this stage, according to Ahmadiyya beliefs, it can be said that a soul within the soul has begun to take shape. Sufism The Sufi Muslim scholar Ibn 'Arabi defined Barzakh as the intermediate realm or "isthmus". It is between the world of corporeal bodies and the world of spirits, and is a means of contact between the two worlds. Without it, there would be no contact between the two and both would cease to exist. He described it as simple and luminous, like the world of spirits, but also able to take on many different forms just like the world of corporeal bodies can. In broader terms Barzakh, "is anything that separates two things". It has been called the dream world in which the dreamer is in both life and death. Baháʼí Faith The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith state that the nature of the afterlife is beyond the understanding of those living, just as an unborn fetus cannot understand the nature of the world outside of the womb. The Baháʼí writings state that the soul is immortal and after death it will continue to progress until it finally attains God's presence. In Baháʼí belief, souls in the afterlife will continue to retain their individuality and consciousness and will be able to recognize and communicate spiritually with other souls whom they have made deep profound friendships with, such as their spouses. The Baháʼí scriptures also state there are distinctions between souls in the afterlife, and that souls will recognize the worth of their own deeds and understand the consequences of their actions. It is explained that those souls that have turned toward God will experience gladness, while those who have lived in error will become aware of the opportunities they have lost. Also, in the Baháʼí view, souls will be able to recognize the accomplishments of the souls that have reached the same level as themselves, but not those that have achieved a rank higher than them. Indian religions Early Indian religions were characterized by the belief in an afterlife, Ancestor worship, and related rites. These concepts started to significantly change after the period of the Upanishads. Buddhism Afterlife in Buddhism is complex, consisting of an intermediated spirit world, the six realms of existence, and the pure land after achieving enlightenment. Ancestor worship, and links to one's ancestors, was once an important component of early Buddhism, but became less relevant already before the formation of the different Buddhist streams. The concepts and importance of afterlife vary among modern Buddhist teachings. Buddhists maintain that rebirth takes place without an unchanging self or soul passing from one form to another. The type of rebirth will be conditioned by the moral tone of the person's actions (kamma or karma). For example, if a person has committed harmful actions by body, speech and mind based on greed, hate and delusion, would have his/her rebirth in a lower realm, i.e. an animal, a hungry ghost or a hell realm, is to be expected. On the other hand, where a person has performed skillful actions based on generosity, loving-kindness (metta), compassion and wisdom, rebirth in a happy realm, i.e. human or one of the many heavenly realms, can be expected. However, the mechanism of rebirth with Kamma is not deterministic. It depends on various levels of kamma. The most important moment that determines where a person is reborn into is the last thought moment. At that moment, heavy kamma would ripen if there were performed. If not, near death kamma would ripen, and if not death kamma, then habitual kamma would ripen. Finally if none of the above happened, then residual kamma from previous actions can ripen. According to Theravada Buddhism, there are 31 realms of existence that one can be reborn into. According to these, 31 existences comprise 20 existences of supreme deities (Brahmas); 6 existences of deities (Devas); the human existence (Manussa); and, lastly, 4 existences of deprivation or unhappiness (Apaya). Pure Land Buddhism of Mahayana believes in a special place apart from the 31 planes of existence called Pure Land. It is believed that each Buddha has their own pure land, created out of their merits for the sake of sentient beings who recall them mindfully to be able to be reborn in their pure land and train to become a Buddha there. Thus the main practice of pure land Buddhism is to chant a Buddha's name. In Tibetan Buddhism the Tibetan Book of the Dead explains the intermediate state of humans between death and reincarnation. The deceased will find the bright light of wisdom, which shows a straightforward path to move upward and leave the cycle of reincarnation. There are various reasons why the deceased do not follow that light. Some had no briefing about the intermediate state in the former life. Others only used to follow their basic instincts like animals. And some have fear, which results from foul deeds in the former life or from insistent haughtiness. In the intermediate state the awareness is very flexible, so it is important to be virtuous, adopt a positive attitude, and avoid negative ideas. Ideas which are rising from subconsciousness can cause extreme tempers and cowing visions. In this situation they have to understand, that these manifestations are just reflections of the inner thoughts. No one can really hurt them, because they have no more material body. The deceased get help from different Buddhas who show them the path to the bright light. The ones who do not follow the path after all will get hints for a better reincarnation. They have to release the things and beings on which or whom they still hang from the life before. It is recommended to choose a family where the parents trust in the Dharma and to reincarnate with the will to care for the welfare of all beings. Hinduism There are two major views of afterlife in Hinduism: mythical and philosophical. The philosophies of Hinduism consider each individual consists of 3 bodies: physical body compose of water and bio-matter (sthūla śarīra), an energetic/psychic/mental/subtle body (sūkṣma-śarīra) and a causal body (kāraṇa śarīra) comprising subliminal stuff i.e. mental impressions etc. The individual is a stream of consciousness (Ātman) which flows through all the physical changes of the body and at the death of the physical body, flows on into another physical body. The two components that transmigrate are the subtle body and the causal body. The thought that occupies the mind at the time of death determines the quality of our rebirth (antim smaraṇa), hence Hinduism advises to be mindful of one's thoughts and cultivate positive wholesome thoughts – Mantra chanting (Japa) is commonly practiced for this. The mythical includes the philosophical but adds heaven and hell myths. When one leaves the physical body at death he appears in the court of Lord Yama, the God of Death for an exit interview. The panel consists of Yama and Chitragupta – the cosmic accountant, he has a book which consists the history of the dead persons according to his/her mistakes the Lord Yama decides the punishment is and Varuna the cosmic intelligence officer. He is counseled about his life, achievements and failures and is shown a mirror in which his entire life is reflected. (Philosophically these three men are projections of one's mind) Yama the Lord of Justice then sends him to a heavenly realm (svarga) if he has been exceptionally benevolent and beneficent for a period of Rest and Recreation. his period is limited in time by the weight of his good deeds. If he has been exceptionally malevolent and caused immense suffering to other beings then he is sent to a hell realm (naraka) for his sins. After one has exhausted his karmas, he takes birth again to continue his spiritual evolution. However, belief in rebirth was not a part of early Vedic religions and texts. It was later developed by Rishis who challenged the idea of one life as being simplistic. Rebirth can take place as a god (deva), a human (manuṣya) an animal (tiryak) — but it is generally taught that the spiritual evolution takes place from lower to higher species. In certain cases of traumatic death a person can take the form of a Preta or Hungry Ghost – and remains in an earth-bound state interminably – until certain ceremonies are done to liberate them. This mythological part is extensively elaborated in the Hindu Puranas especially in the Garuda Purana. The Upanishads are the first scriptures in Hinduism which explicitly mention about Afterlife, The Bhagavad Gita, a famous Hindu script, says that just as a man discards his old clothes and wears new ones; similarly the Atman discards the old body and takes on a new one. In Hinduism, the belief is that the body is nothing but a shell, the consciousness inside is immutable and indestructible and takes on different lives in a cycle of birth and death. The end of this cycle is called mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति) and staying finally with the ultimate reality forever; is moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष) or liberation. The (diverse) views of modern Hinduism in part differ significantly from the Historical Vedic religion. Jainism Jainism also believes in the afterlife. They believe that the soul takes on a body form based on previous karmas or actions performed by that soul through eternity. Jains believe the soul is eternal and that the freedom from the cycle of reincarnation is the means to attain eternal bliss. Sikhism The essential doctrine of Sikhism is to experience the divine through simple living, meditation, and contemplation while being alive. Sikhism also has the belief of being in union with God while living. Accounts of afterlife are considered to be aimed at the popular prevailing views of the time so as to provide a referential framework without necessarily establishing a belief in the afterlife. Thus while it is also acknowledged that living the life of a householder is above the metaphysical truth, Sikhism can be considered agnostic to the question of an afterlife. Some scholars also interpret the mention of reincarnation to be naturalistic akin to the biogeochemical cycles. But if one analyses the Sikh Scriptures carefully, one may find that on many occasions the afterlife and the existence of heaven and hell are mentioned and criticised in Guru Granth Sahib and in Dasam Granth as non true man made ideas, so from that it can be concluded that Sikhism does not believe in the existence of heaven and hell; however, heaven and hell are created to temporarily reward and punish, and one will then take birth again until one merges in God. According to the Sikh scriptures, the human form is the closet form to God if the Guru is read and understood, and the best opportunity for a human being to attain salvation and merge back with God and fully understand Him. Sikh Gurus said that nothing dies, nothing is born, everything is ever present, and it just changes forms. Like standing in front of a wardrobe, you pick up a dress and wear it and then you discard it. You wear another one. Thus, in the view of Sikhism, your soul is never born and never dies. Your soul is a part of God and hence lives forever. Others Confucianism Confucius did not directly discuss the afterlife. Nonetheless, Chinese folk religion has had a strong influence on Confucianism, so adherents believe that their ancestors become deified spirits after death. Ancestor veneration in China is widespread. Gnosticism In Gnostic teachings humans contain a divine spark within them said to have been trapped in their bodies by the creator of the material universe known as the Demiurge. It was believed that this spark could be released from the material world and enter into the heavenly spiritual world beyond it if special knowledge or gnosis was attained. The Cathars, for example, viewed reincarnation as a trap made by Satan, who tricked angels from the heavenly realm into entering the physical bodies of humans. They viewed the purpose of life as a way to escape the constant cycle of spiritual incarnations by letting go of worldly attachments. Shinto It is common for families to participate in ceremonies for children at a shrine, yet have a Buddhist funeral at the time of death. In old Japanese legends, it is often claimed that the dead go to a place called yomi (黄泉), a gloomy underground realm with a river separating the living from the dead mentioned in the legend of Izanami and Izanagi. This yomi very closely resembles the Greek Hades; however, later myths include notions of resurrection and even Elysium-like descriptions such as in the legend of Ōkuninushi and Susanoo. Shinto tends to hold negative views on death and corpses as a source of pollution called kegare. However, death is also viewed as a path towards apotheosis in Shintoism as can be evidenced by how legendary individuals become enshrined after death. Perhaps the most famous would be Emperor Ōjin who was enshrined as Hachiman the God of War after his death. Spiritualism According to Edgar Cayce, the afterlife consisted of nine realms equated with the nine planets of astrology. The first, symbolized by Saturn, was a level for the purification of the souls. The second, Mercury's realm, gives us the ability to consider problems as a whole. The third of the nine soul realms is ruled by Earth and is associated with the Earthly pleasures. The fourth realm is where we find out about love and is ruled by Venus. The fifth realm is where we meet our limitations and is ruled by Mars. The sixth realm is ruled by Neptune, and is where we begin to use our creative powers and free ourselves from the material world. The seventh realm is symbolized by Jupiter, which strengthens the soul's ability to depict situations, to analyze people and places, things, and conditions. The eighth afterlife realm is ruled by Uranus and develops psychic ability. The ninth afterlife realm is symbolized by Pluto, the astrological realm of the unconscious. This afterlife realm is a transient place where souls can choose to travel to other realms or other solar systems, it is the soul’s liberation into eternity, and is the realm that opens the doorway from our solar system into the cosmos point of view. Mainstream Spiritualists postulate a series of seven realms that are not unlike Edgar Cayce's nine realms ruled by the planets. As it evolves, the soul moves higher and higher until it reaches the ultimate realm of spiritual oneness. The first realm, equated with hell, is the place where troubled souls spend a long time before they are compelled to move up to the next level. The second realm, where most souls move directly, is thought of as an intermediate transition between the lower planes of life and hell and the higher perfect realms of the universe. The third level is for those who have worked with their karmic inheritance. The fourth level is that from which evolved souls teach and direct those on Earth. The fifth level is where the soul leaves human consciousness behind. At the sixth plane, the soul is finally aligned with the cosmic consciousness and has no sense of separateness or individuality. Finally, the seventh level, the goal of each soul, is where the soul transcends its own sense of "soulfulness" and reunites with the World Soul and the universe. Taoism Taoism views life as an illusion and death as a transformation into immortality. Taoists believe that immortality of the soul can be achieved by living a virtuous life in harmony with the Tao. They are taught not to fear death, as it is simply part of nature. Traditional African religions Traditional African religions are diverse in their beliefs in an afterlife. Hunter-gatherer societies such as the Hadza have no particular belief in an afterlife, and the death of an individual is a straightforward end to their existence. Ancestor cults are found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, including cultures like the Yombe, Beng, Yoruba and Ewe, "[T]he belief that the dead come back into life and are reborn into their families is given concrete expression in the personal names that are given to children....What is reincarnated are some of the dominant characteristics of the ancestor and not his soul. For each soul remains distinct and each birth represents a new soul." The Yoruba, Dogon and LoDagoa have eschatological ideas similar to Abrahamic religions, "but in most African societies, there is a marked absence of such clear-cut notions of heaven and hell, although there are notions of God judging the soul after death." In some societies like the Mende, multiple beliefs coexist. The Mende believe that people die twice: once during the process of joining the secret society, and again during biological death after which they become ancestors. However, some Mende also believe that after people are created by God they live ten consecutive lives, each in progressively descending worlds. One cross-cultural theme is that the ancestors are part of the world of the living, interacting with it regularly. Unitarian Universalism Some Unitarian Universalists believe in universalism: that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Unitarian Universalists differ widely in their theology hence there is no exact same stance on the issue. Although Unitarians historically believed in a literal hell, and Universalists historically believed that everyone goes to heaven, modern Unitarian Universalists can be categorized into those believing in a heaven, reincarnation and oblivion. Most Unitarian Universalists believe that heaven and hell are symbolic places of consciousness and the faith is largely focused on the worldly life rather than any possible afterlife. Wicca The Wiccan afterlife is most commonly described as The Summerland. Here, souls rest, recuperate from life, and reflect on the experiences they had during their lives. After a period of rest, the souls are reincarnated, and the memory of their previous lives is erased. Many Wiccans see The Summerland as a place to reflect on their life actions. It is not a place of reward, but rather the end of a life journey at an end point of incarnations. Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism states that the urvan, the disembodied spirit, lingers on earth for three days before departing downward to the kingdom of the dead that is ruled by Yima. For the three days that it rests on Earth, righteous souls sit at the head of their body, chanting the Ustavaiti Gathas with joy, while a wicked person sits at the feet of the corpse, wails and recites the Yasna. Zoroastrianism states that for the righteous souls, a beautiful maiden, which is the personification of the soul's good thoughts, words and deeds, appears. For a wicked person, a very old, ugly, naked hag appears. After three nights, the soul of the wicked is taken by the demon Vizaresa (Vīzarəša), to Chinvat bridge, and is made to go to darkness (hell). Yima is believed to have been the first king on earth to rule, as well as the first man to die. Inside of Yima's realm, the spirits live a shadowy existence, and are dependent on their own descendants which are still living on Earth. Their descendants are to satisfy their hunger and clothe them, through rituals done on earth. Rituals which are done on the first three days are vital and important, as they protect the soul from evil powers and give it strength to reach the underworld. After three days, the soul crosses Chinvat bridge which is the Final Judgment of the soul. Rashnu and Sraosha are present at the final judgment. The list is expanded sometimes, and include Vahman and Ormazd. Rashnu is the yazata who holds the scales of justice. If the good deeds of the person outweigh the bad, the soul is worthy of paradise. If the bad deeds outweigh the good, the bridge narrows down to the width of a blade-edge, and a horrid hag pulls the soul in her arms, and takes it down to hell with her. Misvan Gatu is the "place of the mixed ones" where the souls lead a gray existence, lacking both joy and sorrow. A soul goes here if his/her good deeds and bad deeds are equal, and Rashnu's scale is equal. Parapsychology The Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882 with the express intention of investigating phenomena relating to Spiritualism and the afterlife. Its members continue to conduct scientific research on the paranormal to this day. Some of the earliest attempts to apply scientific methods to the study of phenomena relating to an afterlife were conducted by this organization. Its earliest members included noted scientists like William Crookes, and philosophers such as Henry Sidgwick and William James. Parapsychological investigation of the afterlife includes the study of haunting, apparitions of the deceased, instrumental trans-communication, electronic voice phenomena, and mediumship. A study conducted in 1901 by physician Duncan MacDougall sought to measure the weight lost by a human when the soul "departed the body" upon death. MacDougall weighed dying patients in an attempt to prove that the soul was material, tangible and thus measurable. Although MacDougall's results varied considerably from "21 grams", for some people this figure has become synonymous with the measure of a soul's mass. The title of the 2003 movie 21 Grams is a reference to MacDougall's findings. His results have never been reproduced, and are generally regarded either as meaningless or considered to have had little if any scientific merit. Frank Tipler has argued that physics can explain immortality, although such arguments are not falsifiable and, in Karl Popper's views, they do not qualify as science. After 25 years of parapsychological research Susan Blackmore came to the conclusion that, according to her experiences, there is not enough empirical evidence for many of these cases. Mediumship Mediums purportedly act as a vessel for communications from spirits in other realms. Mediumship is not specific to one culture or religion; it can be identified in several belief systems, most notably Spiritualism. While the practice gained popularity in Europe and North America in the 19th century, evidence of mediumship dates back thousands of years in Asia. Mediums who claim to have contact with deceased people include Tyler Henry and Pascal Voggenhuber. Near death research Research also includes the study of the near death experience. Scientists who have worked in this area include Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Raymond Moody, Sam Parnia, Michael Sabom, Bruce Greyson, Peter Fenwick, Jeffrey Long, Susan Blackmore, Charles Tart, William James, Ian Stevenson, Michael Persinger, Pim van Lommel, Penny Sartori, Walter van Laack among others. Past life regression Past life regression is a method that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations. The technique used during past-life regression involves the subject answering a series of questions while hypnotized to reveal identity and events of alleged past lives, a method similar to that used in recovered memory therapy and one that, similarly, often misrepresents memory as a faithful recording of previous events rather than a constructed set of recollections. However, medical experts and practitioners do not agree that the past life memories gained from past life regressions are truly from past lives; experts generally regard claims of recovered memories of past lives as fantasies or delusions or a type of confabulation, because the use of hypnosis and suggestive questions can tend to leave the subject particularly likely to hold distorted or false memories. Philosophy Modern philosophy There is a view based on the philosophical question of personal identity, termed open individualism by Daniel Kolak, that concludes that individual conscious experience is illusory, and because consciousness continues after death in all conscious beings, you do not die. This position has allegedly been supported by physicists such as Erwin Schrödinger and Freeman Dyson. Certain problems arise with the idea of a particular person continuing after death. Peter van Inwagen, in his argument regarding resurrection, notes that the materialist must have some sort of physical continuity. John Hick also raises questions regarding personal identity in his book, Death and Eternal Life, using an example of a person ceasing to exist in one place while an exact replica appears in another. If the replica had all the same experiences, traits, and physical appearances of the first person, we would all attribute the same identity to the second, according to Hick. Process philosophy In the panentheistic model of process philosophy and theology the writers Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne rejected the idea that the universe was made of substance, instead saying reality is composed of living experiences (occasions of experience). According to Hartshorne people do not experience subjective (or personal) immortality in the afterlife, but they do have objective immortality because their experiences live on forever in God, who contains all that was. However other process philosophers such as David Ray Griffin have written that people may have subjective experience after death. Science Psychological proposals for the origin of a belief in an afterlife include cognitive disposition, cultural learning, and as an intuitive religious idea. In 2008, a large-scale study conducted by the University of Southampton involving 2060 patients from 15 hospitals in the United Kingdom, United States and Austria was launched. The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study examined the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death. In a large study, researchers also tested the validity of conscious experiences for the first time using objective markers, to determine whether claims of awareness compatible with out-of-body experiences correspond with real or hallucinatory events. The results revealed that 40% of those who survived a cardiac arrest were aware during the time that they were clinically dead and before their hearts were restarted. One patient also had a verified out-of-body experience (over 80% of patients did not survive their cardiac arrest or were too sick to be interviewed), but his cardiac arrest occurred in a room without markers. Dr. Parnia in the interview stated, "The evidence thus far suggests that in the first few minutes after death, consciousness is not annihilated." The AWARE study drew the following primary conclusions: In some cases of cardiac arrest, memories of visual awareness compatible with so called out-of-body experiences may correspond with actual events. A number of NDErs may have vivid death experiences, but do not recall them due to the effects of brain injury or sedative drugs on memory circuits. The recalled experience surrounding death merits a genuine investigation without prejudice. Studies have also been done on the widely reported phenomenon of near death experiences (NDE). Experiencers commonly report being transported to a different "realm" or "plane of existence" and they have been shown to display a lasting positive aftereffect on most experiencers. See also Allegory of the long spoons Astral Plane Bardo Brig of Dread (Bridge of Dread) Empiricism Epistemology Eternal oblivion Exaltation (Mormonism) Fate of the unlearned Heaven Rebecca Hensler Hell Immortality Mictlan Mind uploading Nirvana Omega Point Paradise Phowa Pre-existence Purgatory Rebirth Reincarnation Soul Soul flight Soul retrieval Spiritism Suspended animation Spirit World Undead Underworld References Explanatory notes Citations Bibliography Philip C Almond, Afterlife: A History of Life after Death, London and Ithaca NY: I.B. Tauris and Cornell University Press, 2015. Campbell, Douglas R. "Plato's Theory of Reincarnation: Eschatology and Natural Philosophy," Review of Metaphysics 75 (4): 643–665. 2022. Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Christopher Lewis, (eds.), Beyond Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Life after Death, Pelgrave-MacMillan, 1995. David Fontana, Is there an afterlife: a comprehensive overview of the evidence, O Books 2005. Jane Idelman Smith and Yazbeck Haddad, The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection. Oxford UP, 2002. Michael Martin and Keith Augustine (eds.), The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death, Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. . John J. McGraw, Brain & Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul, Aegis Press, 2004. Mark Mirabello, A Traveler's Guide to the Afterlife: Traditions and Beliefs on Death, Dying, and What Lies Beyond, Inner Traditions. 2016. Christopher M. Moreman, Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Robert A. Morey, Death and the Afterlife, Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, 1984. 315 p. Hiroshi Obayashi (ed.), Death and Afterlife: Perspectives of World Religions, Praeger, 1991. Alan F. Segal, Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion, Doubleday, 2004. Gregory Shushan, Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations: Universalism, Constructivism and Near-Death Experience, New York & London, Continuum, 2009. . Further reading (Extensive 1878 text by William Rounseville Alger) External links Vatican.va: Catechism of the Catholic Church Islamic Guide: Life After Death Judaism 101: Olam Ha-Ba: The Afterlife Stewart Salmond, Christian Doctrine of Immortality Dictionary of the History of Ideas: "Death and Immortality" Online searchable edition of Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg Foundation 2000) Collection: Heaven, Hell, and Afterlives from the University of Michigan Museum of Art Philosophy of religion Religious belief and doctrine

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism

Agrarianism

Agrarianism is a social and political philosophy that has promoted subsistence agriculture, family farming, widespread property ownership, and political decentralization. Adherents of agrarianism tend to value traditional bonds of local community over urban modernity. Agrarian political parties sometimes aim to support the rights and sustainability of small farmers and poor peasants against the wealthy in society. Philosophy Some scholars suggest that agrarianism values rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values. It stresses the superiority of a simpler rural life as opposed to the complexity of city life. For example, M. Thomas Inge defines agrarianism by the following basic tenets: Farming is the sole occupation that offers total independence and self-sufficiency. Urban life, capitalism, and technology destroy independence and dignity and foster vice and weakness. The agricultural community, with its fellowship of labor and co-operation, is the model society. The farmer has a solid, stable position in the world order. They have "a sense of identity, a sense of historical and religious tradition, a feeling of belonging to a concrete family, place, and region, which are psychologically and culturally beneficial." The harmony of their life checks the encroachments of a fragmented, alienated modern society. Cultivation of the soil "has within it a positive spiritual good" and from it the cultivator acquires the virtues of "honor, manliness, self-reliance, courage, moral integrity, and hospitality." They result from a direct contact with nature and, through nature, a closer relationship to God. The agrarian is blessed in that they follow the example of God in creating order out of chaos. History The philosophical roots of agrarianism include European and Chinese philosophers. The Chinese school of Agriculturalism (农家/農家) was a philosophy that advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism. In societies influenced by Confucianism, the farmer was considered an esteemed productive member of society, but merchants who made money were looked down upon. That influenced European intellectuals like François Quesnay, an avid Confucianist and advocate of China's agrarian policies, in forming the French agrarian philosophy of physiocracy. The physiocrats, along with the ideas of John Locke and the Romantic Era, formed the basis of modern European and American agrarianism. Types of agrarianism Physiocracy Jeffersonian democracy The United States president Thomas Jefferson was an agrarian who based his ideas about the budding American democracy around the notion that farmers are "the most valuable citizens" and the truest republicans. Jefferson and his support base were committed to American republicanism, which they saw as being in opposition to aristocracy and corruption, and which prioritized virtue, exemplified by the "yeoman farmer", "planters", and the "plain folk". In praising the rural farmfolk, the Jeffersonians felt that financiers, bankers and industrialists created "cesspools of corruption" in the cities and should thus be avoided. The Jeffersonians sought to align the American economy more with agriculture than industry. Part of their motive to do so was Jefferson's fear that the over-industrialization of America would create a class of wage slaves who relied on their employers for income and sustenance. In turn, these workers would cease to be independent voters as their vote could be manipulated by said employers. To counter this, Jefferson introduced, as scholar Clay Jenkinson noted, "a graduated income tax that would serve as a disincentive to vast accumulations of wealth and would make funds available for some sort of benign redistribution downward" and tariffs on imported articles, which were mainly purchased by the wealthy. In 1811, Jefferson, writing to a friend, explained: "these revenues will be levied entirely on the rich... . the rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the general government are levied. the poor man ... pays not a farthing of tax to the general government, but on his salt." There is general agreement that the substantial United States' federal policy of offering land grants (such as thousands of gifts of land to veterans) had a positive impact on economic development in the 19th century. Agrarian socialism Agrarian socialism is a form of agrarianism that is anti-capitalist in nature and seeks to introduce socialist economic systems in their stead. Zapatismo Notable agrarian socialists include Emiliano Zapata who was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution. As part of the Liberation Army of the South, his group of revolutionaries fought on behalf of the Mexican peasants, whom they saw as exploited by the landowning classes. Zapata published Plan of Ayala, which called for significant land reforms and land redistribution in Mexico as part of the revolution. Zapata was killed and his forces crushed over the course of the Revolution, but his political ideas lived on in the form of Zapatismo. Zapatismo would form the basis for neozapatismo, the ideology of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Known as Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional or EZLN in Spanish, EZLN is a far-left libertarian socialist political and militant group that emerged in the state of Chiapas in southmost Mexico in 1994. EZLN and Neozapatismo, as explicit in their name, seek to revive the agrarian socialist movement of Zapata, but fuse it with new elements such as a commitment to indigenous rights and community-level decision making. Subcommander Marcos, a leading member of the movement, argues that the peoples' collective ownership of the land was and is the basis for all subsequent developments the movement sought to create:...When the land became property of the peasants ... when the land passed into the hands of those who work it ... [This was] the starting point for advances in government, health, education, housing, nutrition, women’s participation, trade, culture, communication, and information ...[it was] recovering the means of production, in this case, the land, animals, and machines that were in the hands of large property owners.” Maoism Maoism, the far-left ideology of Mao Zedong and his followers, places a heavy emphasis on the role of peasants in its goals. In contrast to other Marxist schools of thought which normally seek to acquire the support of urban workers, Maoism sees the peasantry as key. Believing that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun", Maoism saw the Chinese Peasantry as the prime source for a Marxist vanguard because it possessed two qualities: (i) they were poor, and (ii) they were a political blank slate; in Mao's words, “A clean sheet of paper has no blotches, and so the newest and most beautiful words can be written on it”. During the Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party made extensive use of peasants and rural bases in their military tactics, often eschewing the cities. Following the eventual victory of the Communist Party in both wars, the countryside and how it should be run remained a focus for Mao. In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, a social and economic campaign which, amongst other things, altered many aspects of rural Chinese life. It introduced mandatory collective farming and forced the peasantry to organize itself into communal living units which were known as people's communes. These communes, which consisted of 5,000 people on average, were expected to meet high production quotas while the peasants who lived on them adapted to this radically new way of life. The communes were run as co-operatives where wages and money were replaced by work points. Peasants who criticised this new system were persecuted as "rightists" and "counter-revolutionaries". Leaving the communes was forbidden and escaping from them was difficult or impossible, and those who attempted it were subjected to party-orchestrated "public struggle sessions," which further jeopardized their survival. These public criticism sessions were often used to intimidate the peasants into obeying local officials and they often devolved into little more than public beatings. On the communes, experiments were conducted in order to find new methods of planting crops, efforts were made to construct new irrigation systems on a massive scale, and the communes were all encouraged to produce steel backyard furnaces as part of an effort to increase steel production. However, following the Anti-Rightist Campaign, Mao had instilled a mass distrust of intellectuals into China, and thus engineers often were not consulted with regard to the new irrigation systems and the wisdom of asking untrained peasants to produce good quality steel from scrap iron was not publicly questioned. Similarly, the experimentation with the crops did not produce results. In addition to this the Four Pests Campaign was launched, in which the peasants were called upon to destroy sparrows and other wild birds that ate crop seeds, in order to protect fields. Pest birds were shot down or scared away from landing until they dropped from exhaustion. This campaign resulted in an ecological disaster that saw an explosion of the vermin population, especially crop-eating insects, which was consequently not in danger of being killed by predators. None of these new systems were working, but local leaders did not dare to state this, instead, they falsified reports so as not to be punished for failing to meet the quotas. In many cases they stated that they were greatly exceeding their quotas, and in turn, the Chinese state developed a completely false sense of success with regard to the commune system. All of this culminated in the Great Chinese Famine, which began in 1959, lasted 3 years, and saw an estimated 15 to 30 million Chinese people die. A combination of bad weather and the new, failed farming techniques that were introduced by the state led to massive shortages of food. By 1962, the Great Leap Forward was declared to be at an end. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mao once again radically altered life in rural China with the launching of the Down to the Countryside Movement. As a response to the Great Chinese Famine, the Chinese President Liu Shaoqi began "sending down" urban youths to rural China in order to recover its population losses and alleviate overcrowding in the cities. However, Mao turned the practice into a political crusade, declaring that the sending down would strip the youth of any bourgeois tendencies by forcing them to learn from the unprivileged rural peasants. In reality, it was the Communist Party's attempt to reign in the Red Guards, who had become uncontrollable during the course of the Cultural Revolution. 10% of the 1970 urban population of China was sent out to remote rural villages, often in Inner Mongolia. The villages, which were still poorly recovering from the effects of the Great Chinese Famine, did not have the excess resources that were needed to support the newcomers. Furthermore, the so-called "sent-down youth" had no agricultural experience and as a result, they were unaccustomed to the harsh lifestyle that existed in the countryside, and their unskilled labor in the villages provided little benefit to the agricultural sector. As a result, many of the sent-down youth died in the countryside. The relocation of the youths was originally intended to be permanent, but by the end of the Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party relented and some of those who had the capacity to return to the cities were allowed to do so. In imitation of Mao's policies, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia (who were heavily funded and supported by the People's Republic of China) created their own version of the Great Leap Forward which was known as "Maha Lout Ploh". With the Great Leap Forward as its model, it had similarly disastrous effects, contributing to what is now known as the Cambodian genocide. As a part of the Maha Lout Ploh, the Khmer Rouge sought to create an entirely agrarian socialist society by forcibly relocating 100,000 people to move from Cambodia's cities into newly created communes. The Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot sought to "purify" the country by setting it back to "Year Zero", freeing it from "corrupting influences". Besides trying to completely de-urbanize Cambodia, ethnic minorities were slaughtered along with anyone else who was suspected of being a "reactionary" or a member of the "bourgeoisie", to the point that wearing glasses was seen as grounds for execution. The killings were only brought to an end when Cambodia was invaded by the neighboring socialist nation of Vietnam, whose army toppled the Khmer Rouge. However, with Cambodia's entire society and economy in disarray, including its agricultural sector, the country still plunged into renewed famine due to vast food shortages. However, as international journalists began to report on the situation and send images of it out to the world, a massive international response was provoked, leading to one of the most concentrated relief efforts of its time. Notable agrarian parties Peasant parties first appeared across Eastern Europe between 1860 and 1910, when commercialized agriculture and world market forces disrupted traditional rural society, and the railway and growing literacy facilitated the work of roving organizers. Agrarian parties advocated land reforms to redistribute land on large estates among those who work it. They also wanted village cooperatives to keep the profit from crop sales in local hands and credit institutions to underwrite needed improvements. Many peasant parties were also nationalist parties because peasants often worked their land for the benefit of landlords of different ethnicity. Peasant parties rarely had any power before World War I but some became influential in the interwar era, especially in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. For a while, in the 1920s and the 1930s, there was a Green International (International Agrarian Bureau) based on the peasant parties in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Serbia. It functioned primarily as an information center that spread the ideas of agrarianism and combating socialism on the left and landlords on the right and never launched any significant activities. Europe Bulgaria In Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS) was organized in 1899 to resist taxes and build cooperatives. BZNS came to power in 1919 and introduced many economic, social, and legal reforms. However, conservative forces crushed BZNS in a 1923 coup and assassinated its leader, Aleksandar Stamboliyski (1879–1923). BZNS was made into a communist puppet group until 1989, when it reorganized as a genuine party. Czechoslovakia In Czechoslovakia, the Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People often shared power in parliament as a partner in the five-party pětka coalition. The party's leader, Antonín Švehla (1873–1933), was prime minister several times. It was consistently the strongest party, forming and dominating coalitions. It moved beyond its original agrarian base to reach middle-class voters. The party was banned by the National Front after the Second World War. France In France, the Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition party is a moderate conservative, agrarian party, reaching a peak of 4.23% in the 2002 French presidential election. It would later on become affiliated to France's main conservative party, Union for a Popular Movement. More recently, the Resistons! movement of Jean Lassalle espoused agrarianism. Hungary In Hungary, the first major agrarian party, the small-holders party was founded in 1908. The party became part of the government in the 1920s but lost influence in the government. A new party, the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party was established in 1930 with a more radical program representing larger scale land redistribution initiatives. They implemented this program together with the other coalition parties after WWII. However, after 1949 the party was outlawed when a one-party system was introduced. They became part of the government again 1990–1994, and 1998-2002 after which they lost political support. The ruling Fidesz party has an agrarian faction, and promotes agrarian interest since 2010 with the emphasis now placed on supporting larger family farms versus small-holders. Ireland In the late 19th century, the Irish National Land League aimed to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on. The "Land War" of 1878–1909 led to the Irish Land Acts, ending absentee landlords and ground rent and redistributing land among peasant farmers. Post-independence, the Farmers' Party operated in the Irish Free State from 1922, folding into the National Centre Party in 1932. It was mostly supported by wealthy farmers in the east of Ireland. Clann na Talmhan (Family of the Land; also called the National Agricultural Party) was founded in 1938. They focused more on the poor smallholders of the west, supporting land reclamation, afforestation, social democracy and rates reform. They formed part of the governing coalition of the Government of the 13th Dáil and Government of the 15th Dáil. Economic improvement in the 1960s saw farmers vote for other parties and Clann na Talmhan disbanded in 1965. Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan, the Peasants' Union, originally a communist organization, was formed as one of first agrarian parties in independent Kazakhstan and would win four seats in the 1994 legislative election. The Agrarian Party of Kazakhstan, led by Romin Madinov, was founded in 1999, which favored the privatization of agricultural land, developments towards rural infrastructure, as well as changes in the tax system in agrarian economy. The party would go on to win three Mäjilis seats in the 1999 legislative election and eventually unite with the Civic Party of Kazakhstan to form the pro-government Agrarian-Industrial Union of Workers (AIST) bloc that would be chaired by Madinov for the 2004 legislative election, with the AIST bloc winning 11 seats in the Mäjilis. From there, the bloc remained short-lived as it would merge with the ruling Nur Otan party in 2006. Several other parties in Kazakhstan over the years have embraced agrarian policies in their programs in an effort to appeal towards a large rural Kazakh demographic base, which included Amanat, ADAL, and Respublica. Since late 2000s, the "Auyl" People's Democratic Patriotic Party remains the largest and most influential agrarian-oriented party in Kazakhstan, as its presidential candidate Jiguli Dairabaev had become the second-place frontrunner in the 2022 presidential election after sweeping 3.4% of the vote. In the 2023 legislative election, the Auyl party for the first time was represented the parliament after winning nine seats in the lower chamber Mäjilis. The party raises rural issues in regard to decaying villages, rural development and the agro-industrial complex, the issues of social security of the rural population, and has consistently opposed the ongoing rural flight in Kazakhstan. Latvia In Latvia, the Union of Greens and Farmers is supportive of traditional small farms and perceives them as more environmentally friendly than large-scale farming: Nature is threatened by development, while small farms are threatened by large industrial-scale farms. Lithuania In Lithuania, as of 2017, the government is led by the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, under the leadership of industrial farmer Ramūnas Karbauskis. Nordic countries Poland In Poland, the Polish People's Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) traces its tradition to an agrarian party in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Galician Poland. After the fall of the communist regime, PSL's biggest success came in 1993 elections, where it won 132 out of 460 parliamentary seats. Since then, PSL's support has steadily declined, until 2019, when they formed Polish Coalition with an anti- establishment, direct democracy Kukiz'15 party, and managed to get 8.5% of popular vote. Moreover, PSL tends to get much better results in local elections. In 2014 elections they have managed to get 23.88% of votes. The right-wing Law and Justice party has also become supportive of agrarian policies in recent years and polls show that most of their support comes from rural areas. AGROunia resembles the features of agrarianism. Romania In Romania, older party parties from Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia merged to become the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ) in 1926. Iuliu Maniu (1873–1953) was a prime minister with an agrarian cabinet from 1928 to 1930 and briefly in 1932–1933, but the Great Depression made proposed reforms impossible. The forcefully-introduced and illegal communist regime dissolved the party in 1947 (along with other historical parties such as the National Liberal Party), but it reformed in 1989 after they fell from power. The reformed party, which also incorporated elements of Christian democracy in its ideology, governed Romania as part of the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) between 1996 and 2000. Serbia In Serbia, Nikola Pašić (1845–1926) and his People's Radical Party dominated Serbian politics after 1903. The party also monopolized power in Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1929. During the dictatorship of the 1930s, the prime minister was from that party. Ukraine In Ukraine, the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko has promised to purify the country of oligarchs "with a pitchfork". The party advocates a number of traditional left-wing positions (a progressive tax structure, a ban on agricultural land sale and eliminating the illegal land market, a tenfold increase in budget spending on health, setting up primary health centres in every village) and mixes them with strong nationalist sentiments. United Kingdom In land law the heyday of English, Irish (and thus Welsh) agrarianism was to 1603, led by the Tudor royal advisors, who sought to maintain a broad pool of agricultural commoners from which to draw military men, against the interests of larger landowners who sought enclosure (meaning complete private control of common land, over which by custom and common law lords of the manor always enjoyed minor rights). The heyday was eroded by hundreds of Acts of Parliament to expressly permit enclosure, chiefly from 1650 to the 1810s. Politicians standing strongly as reactionaries to this included the Levellers, those anti-industrialists (Luddites) going beyond opposing new weaving technology and, later, radicals such as William Cobbett. A high level of net national or local self-sufficiency has a strong base in campaigns and movements. In the 19th century such empowered advocates included Peelites and most Conservatives. The 20th century saw the growth or start of influential non-governmental organisations, such as the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, Campaign for Rural England, Friends of the Earth (EWNI) and of the England Wales, Scottish and Northern Irish political parties prefixed by and focussed on Green politics. The 21st century has seen decarbonisation already in electricity markets. Following protests and charitable lobbying local food has seen growing market share, sometimes backed by wording in public policy papers and manifestos. The UK has many sustainability-prioritising businesses, green charity campaigns, events and lobby groups ranging from espousing allotment gardens (hobby community farming) through to a clear policy of local food and/or self-sustainability models. Oceania Australia Historian F.K. Crowley finds that: The National Party of Australia (formerly called the Country Party), from the 1920s to the 1970s, promulgated its version of agrarianism, which it called "countrymindedness". The goal was to enhance the status of the graziers (operators of big sheep stations) and small farmers and justified subsidies for them. New Zealand The New Zealand Liberal Party aggressively promoted agrarianism in its heyday (1891–1912). The landed gentry and aristocracy ruled Britain at this time. New Zealand never had an aristocracy but its wealthy landowners largely controlled politics before 1891. The Liberal Party set out to change that by a policy it called "populism." Richard Seddon had proclaimed the goal as early as 1884: "It is the rich and the poor; it is the wealthy and the landowners against the middle and labouring classes. That, Sir, shows the real political position of New Zealand." The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small landowning farmers who supported Liberal ideals. The Liberal government also established the basis of the later welfare state such as old age pensions and developed a system for settling industrial disputes, which was accepted by both employers and trade unions. In 1893, it extended voting rights to women, making New Zealand the first country in the world to do so. To obtain land for farmers, the Liberal government from 1891 to 1911 purchased of Maori land. The government also purchased from large estate holders for subdivision and closer settlement by small farmers. The Advances to Settlers Act (1894) provided low-interest mortgages, and the agriculture department disseminated information on the best farming methods. The Liberals proclaimed success in forging an egalitarian, anti-monopoly land policy. The policy built up support for the Liberal Party in rural North Island electorates. By 1903, the Liberals were so dominant that there was no longer an organized opposition in Parliament. North America The United States and Canada both saw a rise of Agrarian-oriented parties in the early twentieth century as economic troubles motivated farming communities to become politically active. It has been proposed that different responses to agrarian protest largely determined the course of power generated by these newly-energized rural factions. According to Sociologist Barry Eidlin:"In the United States, Democrats adopted a co-optive response to farmer and labor protest, incorporating these constituencies into the New Deal coalition. In Canada, both mainstream parties adopted a coercive response, leaving these constituencies politically excluded and available for an independent left coalition."These reactions may have helped determine the outcome of agrarian power and political associations in the US and Canada. United States of America Kansas Economic desperation experienced by farmers across the state of Kansas in the nineteenth century spurred the creation of The People's Party in 1890, and soon-after would gain control of the governor's office in 1892. This party, consisting of a mix of Democrats, Socialists, Populists, and Fusionists, would find itself buckling from internal conflict regarding the unlimited coinage of silver. The Populists permanently lost power in 1898. Oklahoma Oklahoma farmers considered their political activity during the early twentieth century due to the outbreak of war, depressed crop prices, and an inhibited sense of progression towards owning their own farms. Tenancy had been reportedly as high as 55% in Oklahoma by 1910. These pressures saw agrarian counties in Oklahoma supporting Socialist policies and politics, with the Socialist platform proposing a deeply agrarian-radical platform:...the platform proposed a "Renters and Farmer's Program" which was strongly agrarian radical in its insistence upon various measures to put land into "The hands of the actual tillers of the soil." Although it did not propose to nationalize privately owned land, it did offer numerous plans to enlarge the state's public domain, from which land would be rented at prevailing share rents to tenants until they had paid rent equal to the land's value. The tenant and his children would have the right of occupancy and use, but the 'title' would remind in the 'commonwealth', an arrangement that might be aptly termed 'Socialist fee simple'. They proposed to exempt from taxation all farm dwellings, animals, and improvements up to the value of $1,000. The State Board of Agriculture would encourage 'co-operative societies' of farmers to make plans f or the purchase of land, seed, tools, and for preparing and selling produce. In order to give farmers essential services at cost, the Socialists called for the creation of state banks and mortgage agencies, crop insurance, elevators, and warehouses.This agrarian-backed Socialist party would win numerous offices, causing a panic within the local Democratic party. This agrarian-Socialist movement would be inhibited by voter suppression laws aimed at reducing the participation of voters of color, as well as national wartime policies intended to disrupt political elements considered subversive. This party would peak in power in 1914. Back-to-the-land movement Agrarianism is similar to but not identical with the back-to-the-land movement. Agrarianism concentrates on the fundamental goods of the earth, on communities of more limited economic and political scale than in modern society, and on simple living, even when the shift involves questioning the "progressive" character of some recent social and economic developments. Thus, agrarianism is not industrial farming, with its specialization on products and industrial scale. See also Agrarian socialism Farmer–Labor Party, USA early 20th century Jeffersonian democracy Labour-Farmer Party, Japan 1920s Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party, USA early 20th century Nordic agrarian parties Yeoman, English farmers References Further reading Agrarian values Brass, Tom. Peasants, Populism and Postmodernism: The Return of the Agrarian Myth (2000) * Inge, M. Thomas. Agrarianism in American Literature (1969) Kolodny, Annette. The Land before Her: Fantasy and Experience of the American Frontiers, 1630–1860 (1984). online edition Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America (1964). Murphy, Paul V. The Rebuke of History: The Southern Agrarians and American Conservative Thought (2000) Parrington, Vernon. Main Currents in American Thought (1927), 3-vol online Thompson, Paul, and Thomas C. Hilde, eds. The Agrarian Roots of Pragmatism (2000) Primary sources Sorokin, Pitirim A. et al., eds. A Systematic Source Book in Rural Sociology (3 vol. 1930) vol 1 pp. 1–146 covers many major thinkers down to 1800 Europe Bell, John D. Peasants in Power: Alexander Stamboliski and the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, 1899–1923(1923) Donnelly, James S. Captain Rock: The Irish Agrarian Rebellion of 1821–1824 (2009) Donnelly, James S. Irish Agrarian Rebellion, 1760–1800 (2006) Gross, Feliks, ed. European Ideologies: A Survey of 20th Century Political Ideas (1948) pp. 391–481 online edition , on Russia and Bulgaria Kubricht, Andrew Paul. "The Czech Agrarian Party, 1899-1914: a study of national and economic agitation in the Habsburg monarchy" (PhD thesis, Ohio State University Press, 1974) Narkiewicz, Olga A. The Green Flag: Polish Populist Politics, 1867–1970 (1976). Oren, Nissan. Revolution Administered: Agrarianism and Communism in Bulgaria (1973), focus is post 1945 Stefanov, Kristian. Between Ideological Loyalty and Political Adaptation: 'The Agrarian Question' in the Development of Bulgarian Social Democracy, 1891-1912, East European Politics, Societies and Cultures, Is. 4, 2023. Paine, Thomas. Agrarian Justice (1794) Roberts, Henry L. Rumania: Political Problems of an Agrarian State (1951). North America Goodwyn, Lawrence. The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America (1978), 1880s and 1890s in U.S. Lipset, Seymour Martin. Agrarian socialism: the Coöperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan (1950), 1930s-1940s McConnell, Grant. The decline of agrarian democracy(1953), 20th century U.S. Mark, Irving. Agrarian conflicts in colonial New York, 1711–1775 (1940) Ochiai, Akiko. Harvesting Freedom: African American Agrarianism in Civil War Era South Carolina (2007) Robison, Dan Merritt. Bob Taylor and the agrarian revolt in Tennessee (1935) Stine, Harold E. The agrarian revolt in South Carolina;: Ben Tillman and the Farmers' Alliance (1974) Summerhill, Thomas. Harvest of Dissent: Agrarianism in Nineteenth-Century New York (2005) Szatmary, David P. Shays' Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection (1984), 1787 in Massachusetts Woodward, C. Vann. Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel (1938) online edition Global South Brass, Tom (ed.). New Farmers' Movements in India (1995) 304 pages. Handy, Jim. Revolution in the Countryside: Rural Conflict and Agrarian Reform in Guatemala, 1944–1954 (1994) Paige, Jeffery M. Agrarian revolution: social movements and export agriculture in the underdeveloped world (1978) 435 pages excerpt and text search Sanderson, Steven E. Agrarian populism and the Mexican state: the struggle for land in Sonora (1981) Stokes, Eric. The Peasant and the Raj: Studies in Agrarian Society and Peasant Rebellion in Colonial India (1980) Tannenbaum, Frank. The Mexican Agrarian Revolution'' (1930) External links Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian The New Agrarian

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Atomic

Atomic may refer to: Of or relating to the atom, the smallest particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties Atomic physics, the study of the atom Atomic Age, also known as the "Atomic Era" Atomic scale, distances comparable to the dimensions of an atom Atom (order theory), in mathematics Atomic (cocktail), a champagne cocktail Atomic (magazine), an Australian computing and technology magazine Atomic Skis, an Austrian ski producer Music Atomic (band), a Norwegian jazz quintet Atomic (Lit album), 2001 Atomic (Mogwai album), 2016 Atomic, an album by Rockets, 1982 Atomic (EP), by , 2013 "Atomic" (song), by Blondie, 1979 "Atomic", a song by Tiger Army from Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise See also Atom (disambiguation) Atomicity (database systems) Nuclear (disambiguation) Atomism, philosophy about the basic building blocks of reality Atomic City (disambiguation) Atomic formula, a formula without subformulas Atomic number, the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom Atomic chess, a chess variant Atomic coffee machine, a 1950s stovetop coffee machine Atomic operation, in computer science Atomic TV, a channel launched in 1997 in Poland Nuclear power Nuclear weapon

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Acoustics

Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics technology may be called an acoustical engineer. The application of acoustics is present in almost all aspects of modern society with the most obvious being the audio and noise control industries. Hearing is one of the most crucial means of survival in the animal world and speech is one of the most distinctive characteristics of human development and culture. Accordingly, the science of acoustics spreads across many facets of human society—music, medicine, architecture, industrial production, warfare and more. Likewise, animal species such as songbirds and frogs use sound and hearing as a key element of mating rituals or for marking territories. Art, craft, science and technology have provoked one another to advance the whole, as in many other fields of knowledge. Robert Bruce Lindsay's "Wheel of Acoustics" is a well accepted overview of the various fields in acoustics. History Etymology The word "acoustic" is derived from the Greek word ἀκουστικός (akoustikos), meaning "of or for hearing, ready to hear" and that from ἀκουστός (akoustos), "heard, audible", which in turn derives from the verb ἀκούω(akouo), "I hear". The Latin synonym is "sonic", after which the term sonics used to be a synonym for acoustics and later a branch of acoustics. Frequencies above and below the audible range are called "ultrasonic" and "infrasonic", respectively. Early research in acoustics In the 6th century BC, the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras wanted to know why some combinations of musical sounds seemed more beautiful than others, and he found answers in terms of numerical ratios representing the harmonic overtone series on a string. He is reputed to have observed that when the lengths of vibrating strings are expressible as ratios of integers (e.g. 2 to 3, 3 to 4), the tones produced will be harmonious, and the smaller the integers the more harmonious the sounds. For example, a string of a certain length would sound particularly harmonious with a string of twice the length (other factors being equal). In modern parlance, if a string sounds the note C when plucked, a string twice as long will sound a C an octave lower. In one system of musical tuning, the tones in between are then given by 16:9 for D, 8:5 for E, 3:2 for F, 4:3 for G, 6:5 for A, and 16:15 for B, in ascending order. Aristotle (384–322 BC) understood that sound consisted of compressions and rarefactions of air which "falls upon and strikes the air which is next to it...", a very good expression of the nature of wave motion. On Things Heard, generally ascribed to Strato of Lampsacus, states that the pitch is related to the frequency of vibrations of the air and to the speed of sound. In about 20 BC, the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius wrote a treatise on the acoustic properties of theaters including discussion of interference, echoes, and reverberation—the beginnings of architectural acoustics. In Book V of his De architectura (The Ten Books of Architecture) Vitruvius describes sound as a wave comparable to a water wave extended to three dimensions, which, when interrupted by obstructions, would flow back and break up following waves. He described the ascending seats in ancient theaters as designed to prevent this deterioration of sound and also recommended bronze vessels of appropriate sizes be placed in theaters to resonate with the fourth, fifth and so on, up to the double octave, in order to resonate with the more desirable, harmonious notes. During the Islamic golden age, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) is believed to have postulated that the speed of sound was much slower than the speed of light. The physical understanding of acoustical processes advanced rapidly during and after the Scientific Revolution. Mainly Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) but also Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), independently, discovered the complete laws of vibrating strings (completing what Pythagoras and Pythagoreans had started 2000 years earlier). Galileo wrote "Waves are produced by the vibrations of a sonorous body, which spread through the air, bringing to the tympanum of the ear a stimulus which the mind interprets as sound", a remarkable statement that points to the beginnings of physiological and psychological acoustics. Experimental measurements of the speed of sound in air were carried out successfully between 1630 and 1680 by a number of investigators, prominently Mersenne. Meanwhile, Newton (1642–1727) derived the relationship for wave velocity in solids, a cornerstone of physical acoustics (Principia, 1687). Age of Enlightenment and onward Substantial progress in acoustics, resting on firmer mathematical and physical concepts, was made during the eighteenth century by Euler (1707–1783), Lagrange (1736–1813), and d'Alembert (1717–1783). During this era, continuum physics, or field theory, began to receive a definite mathematical structure. The wave equation emerged in a number of contexts, including the propagation of sound in air. In the nineteenth century the major figures of mathematical acoustics were Helmholtz in Germany, who consolidated the field of physiological acoustics, and Lord Rayleigh in England, who combined the previous knowledge with his own copious contributions to the field in his monumental work The Theory of Sound (1877). Also in the 19th century, Wheatstone, Ohm, and Henry developed the analogy between electricity and acoustics. The twentieth century saw a burgeoning of technological applications of the large body of scientific knowledge that was by then in place. The first such application was Sabine's groundbreaking work in architectural acoustics, and many others followed. Underwater acoustics was used for detecting submarines in the first World War. Sound recording and the telephone played important roles in a global transformation of society. Sound measurement and analysis reached new levels of accuracy and sophistication through the use of electronics and computing. The ultrasonic frequency range enabled wholly new kinds of application in medicine and industry. New kinds of transducers (generators and receivers of acoustic energy) were invented and put to use. Definition Acoustics is defined by ANSI/ASA S1.1-2013 as "(a) Science of sound, including its production, transmission, and effects, including biological and psychological effects. (b) Those qualities of a room that, together, determine its character with respect to auditory effects." The study of acoustics revolves around the generation, propagation and reception of mechanical waves and vibrations. The steps shown in the above diagram can be found in any acoustical event or process. There are many kinds of cause, both natural and volitional. There are many kinds of transduction process that convert energy from some other form into sonic energy, producing a sound wave. There is one fundamental equation that describes sound wave propagation, the acoustic wave equation, but the phenomena that emerge from it are varied and often complex. The wave carries energy throughout the propagating medium. Eventually this energy is transduced again into other forms, in ways that again may be natural and/or volitionally contrived. The final effect may be purely physical or it may reach far into the biological or volitional domains. The five basic steps are found equally well whether we are talking about an earthquake, a submarine using sonar to locate its foe, or a band playing in a rock concert. The central stage in the acoustical process is wave propagation. This falls within the domain of physical acoustics. In fluids, sound propagates primarily as a pressure wave. In solids, mechanical waves can take many forms including longitudinal waves, transverse waves and surface waves. Acoustics looks first at the pressure levels and frequencies in the sound wave and how the wave interacts with the environment. This interaction can be described as either a diffraction, interference or a reflection or a mix of the three. If several media are present, a refraction can also occur. Transduction processes are also of special importance to acoustics. Fundamental concepts Wave propagation: pressure levels In fluids such as air and water, sound waves propagate as disturbances in the ambient pressure level. While this disturbance is usually small, it is still noticeable to the human ear. The smallest sound that a person can hear, known as the threshold of hearing, is nine orders of magnitude smaller than the ambient pressure. The loudness of these disturbances is related to the sound pressure level (SPL) which is measured on a logarithmic scale in decibels. Wave propagation: frequency Physicists and acoustic engineers tend to discuss sound pressure levels in terms of frequencies, partly because this is how our ears interpret sound. What we experience as "higher pitched" or "lower pitched" sounds are pressure vibrations having a higher or lower number of cycles per second. In a common technique of acoustic measurement, acoustic signals are sampled in time, and then presented in more meaningful forms such as octave bands or time frequency plots. Both of these popular methods are used to analyze sound and better understand the acoustic phenomenon. The entire spectrum can be divided into three sections: audio, ultrasonic, and infrasonic. The audio range falls between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. This range is important because its frequencies can be detected by the human ear. This range has a number of applications, including speech communication and music. The ultrasonic range refers to the very high frequencies: 20,000 Hz and higher. This range has shorter wavelengths which allow better resolution in imaging technologies. Medical applications such as ultrasonography and elastography rely on the ultrasonic frequency range. On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest frequencies are known as the infrasonic range. These frequencies can be used to study geological phenomena such as earthquakes. Analytic instruments such as the spectrum analyzer facilitate visualization and measurement of acoustic signals and their properties. The spectrogram produced by such an instrument is a graphical display of the time varying pressure level and frequency profiles which give a specific acoustic signal its defining character. Transduction in acoustics A transducer is a device for converting one form of energy into another. In an electroacoustic context, this means converting sound energy into electrical energy (or vice versa). Electroacoustic transducers include loudspeakers, microphones, particle velocity sensors, hydrophones and sonar projectors. These devices convert a sound wave to or from an electric signal. The most widely used transduction principles are electromagnetism, electrostatics and piezoelectricity. The transducers in most common loudspeakers (e.g. woofers and tweeters), are electromagnetic devices that generate waves using a suspended diaphragm driven by an electromagnetic voice coil, sending off pressure waves. Electret microphones and condenser microphones employ electrostatics—as the sound wave strikes the microphone's diaphragm, it moves and induces a voltage change. The ultrasonic systems used in medical ultrasonography employ piezoelectric transducers. These are made from special ceramics in which mechanical vibrations and electrical fields are interlinked through a property of the material itself. Acoustician An acoustician is an expert in the science of sound. Education There are many types of acoustician, but they usually have a Bachelor's degree or higher qualification. Some possess a degree in acoustics, while others enter the discipline via studies in fields such as physics or engineering. Much work in acoustics requires a good grounding in Mathematics and science. Many acoustic scientists work in research and development. Some conduct basic research to advance our knowledge of the perception (e.g. hearing, psychoacoustics or neurophysiology) of speech, music and noise. Other acoustic scientists advance understanding of how sound is affected as it moves through environments, e.g. underwater acoustics, architectural acoustics or structural acoustics. Other areas of work are listed under subdisciplines below. Acoustic scientists work in government, university and private industry laboratories. Many go on to work in Acoustical Engineering. Some positions, such as Faculty (academic staff) require a Doctor of Philosophy. Subdisciplines Archaeoacoustics Archaeoacoustics, also known as the archaeology of sound, is one of the only ways to experience the past with senses other than our eyes. Archaeoacoustics is studied by testing the acoustic properties of prehistoric sites, including caves. Iegor Rezkinoff, a sound archaeologist, studies the acoustic properties of caves through natural sounds like humming and whistling. Archaeological theories of acoustics are focused around ritualistic purposes as well as a way of echolocation in the caves. In archaeology, acoustic sounds and rituals directly correlate as specific sounds were meant to bring ritual participants closer to a spiritual awakening. Parallels can also be drawn between cave wall paintings and the acoustic properties of the cave; they are both dynamic. Because archaeoacoustics is a fairly new archaeological subject, acoustic sound is still being tested in these prehistoric sites today. Aeroacoustics Aeroacoustics is the study of noise generated by air movement, for instance via turbulence, and the movement of sound through the fluid air. This knowledge is applied in acoustical engineering to study how to quieten aircraft. Aeroacoustics is important for understanding how wind musical instruments work. Acoustic signal processing Acoustic signal processing is the electronic manipulation of acoustic signals. Applications include: active noise control; design for hearing aids or cochlear implants; echo cancellation; music information retrieval, and perceptual coding (e.g. MP3 or Opus). Architectural acoustics Architectural acoustics (also known as building acoustics) involves the scientific understanding of how to achieve good sound within a building. It typically involves the study of speech intelligibility, speech privacy, music quality, and vibration reduction in the built environment. Commonly studied environments are hospitals, classrooms, dwellings, performance venues, recording and broadcasting studios. Focus considerations include room acoustics, airborne and impact transmission in building structures, airborne and structure-borne noise control, noise control of building systems and electroacoustic systems . Bioacoustics Bioacoustics is the scientific study of the hearing and calls of animal calls, as well as how animals are affected by the acoustic and sounds of their habitat. Electroacoustics This subdiscipline is concerned with the recording, manipulation and reproduction of audio using electronics. This might include products such as mobile phones, large scale public address systems or virtual reality systems in research laboratories. Environmental noise and soundscapes Environmental acoustics is concerned with noise and vibration caused by railways, road traffic, aircraft, industrial equipment and recreational activities. The main aim of these studies is to reduce levels of environmental noise and vibration. Research work now also has a focus on the positive use of sound in urban environments: soundscapes and tranquility. Musical acoustics Musical acoustics is the study of the physics of acoustic instruments; the audio signal processing used in electronic music; the computer analysis of music and composition, and the perception and cognitive neuroscience of music. Noise The goal this acoustics sub-discipline is to reduce the impact of unwanted sound. Scope of noise studies includes the generation, propagation, and impact on structures, objects, and people. Innovative model development Measurement techniques Mitigation strategies Input to the establishment of standards and regulations Noise research investigates the impact of noise on humans and animals to include work in definitions, abatement, transportation noise, hearing protection, Jet and rocket noise, building system noise and vibration, atmospheric sound propagation, soundscapes, and low-frequency sound. Psychoacoustics Many studies have been conducted to identify the relationship between acoustics and cognition, or more commonly known as psychoacoustics, in which what one hears is a combination of perception and biological aspects. The information intercepted by the passage of sound waves through the ear is understood and interpreted through the brain, emphasizing the connection between the mind and acoustics. Psychological changes have been seen as brain waves slow down or speed up as a result of varying auditory stimulus which can in turn affect the way one thinks, feels, or even behaves. This correlation can be viewed in normal, everyday situations in which listening to an upbeat or uptempo song can cause one's foot to start tapping or a slower song can leave one feeling calm and serene. In a deeper biological look at the phenomenon of psychoacoustics, it was discovered that the central nervous system is activated by basic acoustical characteristics of music. By observing how the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spine, is influenced by acoustics, the pathway in which acoustic affects the mind, and essentially the body, is evident. Speech Acousticians study the production, processing and perception of speech. Speech recognition and Speech synthesis are two important areas of speech processing using computers. The subject also overlaps with the disciplines of physics, physiology, psychology, and linguistics. Structural Vibration and Dynamics Structural acoustics is the study of motions and interactions of mechanical systems with their environments and the methods of their measurement, analysis, and control . There are several sub-disciplines found within this regime: Modal Analysis Material characterization Structural health monitoring Acoustic Metamaterials Friction Acoustics Applications might include: ground vibrations from railways; vibration isolation to reduce vibration in operating theatres; studying how vibration can damage health (vibration white finger); vibration control to protect a building from earthquakes, or measuring how structure-borne sound moves through buildings. Ultrasonics Ultrasonics deals with sounds at frequencies too high to be heard by humans. Specialisms include medical ultrasonics (including medical ultrasonography), sonochemistry, ultrasonic testing, material characterisation and underwater acoustics (sonar). Underwater acoustics Underwater acoustics is the scientific study of natural and man-made sounds underwater. Applications include sonar to locate submarines, underwater communication by whales, climate change monitoring by measuring sea temperatures acoustically, sonic weapons, and marine bioacoustics. Acoustic Conferences InterNoise NoiseCon Forum Acousticum SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition Professional societies The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Australian Acoustical Society (AAS) The European Acoustics Association (EAA) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Institute of Acoustics (IoA UK) The Audio Engineering Society (AES) American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Noise Control and Acoustics Division (ASME-NCAD) International Commission for Acoustics (ICA) American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Aeroacoustics (AIAA) International Computer Music Association (ICMA) Academic journals Acoustics | An Open Access Journal from MDPI Acoustics Today Acta Acustica united with Acustica Advances in Acoustics and Vibration Applied Acoustics Building Acoustics IEEE Transacions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA) Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Express Letters (JASA-EL) Journal of the Audio Engineering Society Journal of Sound and Vibration (JSV) Journal of Vibration and Acoustics American Society of Mechanical Engineers MDPI Acoustics Noise Control Engineering Journal SAE International Journal of Vehicle Dynamics, Stability and NVH Ultrasonics (journal) Ultrasonics Sonochemistry Wave Motion See also Outline of acoustics Acoustic attenuation Acoustic emission Acoustic engineering Acoustic impedance Acoustic levitation Acoustic location Acoustic phonetics Acoustic streaming Acoustic tags Acoustic thermometry Acoustic wave Audiology Auditory illusion Diffraction Doppler effect Fisheries acoustics Friction acoustics Helioseismology Lamb wave Linear elasticity The Little Red Book of Acoustics (in the UK) Longitudinal wave Musicology Music therapy Noise pollution One-Way Wave Equation Phonon Picosecond ultrasonics Rayleigh wave Shock wave Seismology Sonification Sonochemistry Soundproofing Soundscape Sonic boom Sonoluminescence Surface acoustic wave Thermoacoustics Transverse wave Wave equation References Further reading External links International Commission for Acoustics European Acoustics Association Acoustical Society of America Institute of Noise Control Engineers National Council of Acoustical Consultants Institute of Acoustic in UK Australian Acoustical Society (AAS) Sound

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%20Sign%20Language

American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employing both manual and nonmanual features. Besides North America, dialects of ASL and ASL-based creoles are used in many countries around the world, including much of West Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. ASL is also widely learned as a second language, serving as a lingua franca. ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (LSF). It has been proposed that ASL is a creole language of LSF, although ASL shows features atypical of creole languages, such as agglutinative morphology. ASL originated in the early 19th century in the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford, Connecticut, from a situation of language contact. Since then, ASL use has been propagated widely by schools for the deaf and Deaf community organizations. Despite its wide use, no accurate count of ASL users has been taken. Reliable estimates for American ASL users range from 250,000 to 500,000 persons, including a number of children of deaf adults and other hearing individuals. ASL signs have a number of phonemic components, such as movement of the face, the torso, and the hands. ASL is not a form of pantomime although iconicity plays a larger role in ASL than in spoken languages. English loan words are often borrowed through fingerspelling, although ASL grammar is unrelated to that of English. ASL has verbal agreement and aspectual marking and has a productive system of forming agglutinative classifiers. Many linguists believe ASL to be a subject–verb–object language. However, there are several alternative proposals to account for ASL word order. Classification ASL emerged as a language in the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded by Thomas Gallaudet in 1817, which brought together Old French Sign Language, various village sign languages, and home sign systems. ASL was created in that situation by language contact. ASL was influenced by its forerunners but distinct from all of them. The influence of French Sign Language (LSF) on ASL is readily apparent; for example, it has been found that about 58% of signs in modern ASL are cognate to Old French Sign Language signs. However, that is far less than the standard 80% measure used to determine whether related languages are actually dialects. That suggests that nascent ASL was highly affected by the other signing systems brought by the ASD students although the school's original director, Laurent Clerc, taught in LSF. In fact, Clerc reported that he often learned the students' signs rather than conveying LSF: It has been proposed that ASL is a creole in which LSF is the superstrate language and the native village sign languages are substrate languages. However, more recent research has shown that modern ASL does not share many of the structural features that characterize creole languages. ASL may have begun as a creole and then undergone structural change over time, but it is also possible that it was never a creole-type language. There are modality-specific reasons that sign languages tend towards agglutination, such as the ability to simultaneously convey information via the face, head, torso, and other body parts. That might override creole characteristics such as the tendency towards isolating morphology. Additionally, Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet may have used an artificially constructed form of manually coded language in instruction rather than true LSF. Although the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia share English as a common oral and written language, ASL is not mutually intelligible with either British Sign Language (BSL) or Auslan. All three languages show degrees of borrowing from English, but that alone is not sufficient for cross-language comprehension. It has been found that a relatively high percentage (37–44%) of ASL signs have similar translations in Auslan, which for oral languages would suggest that they belong to the same language family. However, that does not seem justified historically for ASL and Auslan, and it is likely that the resemblance is caused by the higher degree of iconicity in sign languages in general as well as contact with English. American Sign Language is growing in popularity in many states. Many high school and university students desire to take it as a foreign language, but until recently, it was usually not considered a creditable foreign language elective. ASL users, however, have a very distinct culture, and they interact very differently when they talk. Their facial expressions and hand movements reflect what they are communicating. They also have their own sentence structure, which sets the language apart. American Sign Language is now being accepted by many colleges as a language eligible for foreign language course credit; many states are making it mandatory to accept it as such. In some states however, this is only true with regard to high school coursework. History Prior to the birth of ASL, sign language had been used by various communities in the United States. In the United States, as elsewhere in the world, hearing families with deaf children have historically employed ad hoc home sign, which often reaches much higher levels of sophistication than gestures used by hearing people in spoken conversation. As early as 1541 at first contact by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, there were reports that the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains widely spoke a sign language to communicate across vast national and linguistic lines. In the 19th century, a "triangle" of village sign languages developed in New England: one in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; one in Henniker, New Hampshire, and one in Sandy River Valley, Maine. Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL), which was particularly important for the history of ASL, was used mainly in Chilmark, Massachusetts. Due to intermarriage in the original community of English settlers of the 1690s, and the recessive nature of genetic deafness, Chilmark had a high 4% rate of genetic deafness. MVSL was used even by hearing residents whenever a deaf person was present, and also in some situations where spoken language would be ineffective or inappropriate, such as during church sermons or between boats at sea. ASL is thought to have originated in the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817. Originally known as The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf And Dumb, the school was founded by the Yale graduate and divinity student Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet, inspired by his success in demonstrating the learning abilities of a young deaf girl Alice Cogswell, traveled to Europe in order to learn deaf pedagogy from European institutions. Ultimately, Gallaudet chose to adopt the methods of the French Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, and convinced Laurent Clerc, an assistant to the school's founder Charles-Michel de l'Épée, to accompany him back to the United States. Upon his return, Gallaudet founded the ASD on April 15, 1817. The largest group of students during the first seven decades of the school were from Martha's Vineyard, and they brought MVSL with them. There were also 44 students from around Henniker, New Hampshire, and 27 from the Sandy River valley in Maine, each of which had their own village sign language. Other students brought knowledge of their own home signs. Laurent Clerc, the first teacher at ASD, taught using French Sign Language (LSF), which itself had developed in the Parisian school for the deaf established in 1755. From that situation of language contact, a new language emerged, now known as ASL. More schools for the deaf were founded after ASD, and knowledge of ASL spread to those schools. In addition, the rise of Deaf community organizations bolstered the continued use of ASL. Societies such as the National Association of the Deaf and the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf held national conventions that attracted signers from across the country. All of that contributed to ASL's wide use over a large geographical area, atypical of a sign language. While oralism, an approach to educating deaf students focusing on oral language, had previously been used in American schools, the Milan Congress made it dominant and effectively banned the use of sign languages at schools in the United States and Europe. However, the efforts of Deaf advocates and educators, more lenient enforcement of the Congress's mandate, and the use of ASL in religious education and proselytism ensured greater use and documentation compared to European sign languages, albeit more influenced by fingerspelled loanwords and borrowed idioms from English as students were societally pressured to achieve fluency in spoken language. Nevertheless, oralism remained the predominant method of deaf education up to the 1950s. Linguists did not consider sign language to be true "language" but as something inferior. Recognition of the legitimacy of ASL was achieved by William Stokoe, a linguist who arrived at Gallaudet University in 1955 when that was still the dominant assumption. Aided by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Stokoe argued for manualism, the use of sign language in deaf education. Stokoe noted that sign language shares the important features that oral languages have as a means of communication, and even devised a transcription system for ASL. In doing so, Stokoe revolutionized both deaf education and linguistics. In the 1960s, ASL was sometimes referred to as "Ameslan", but that term is now considered obsolete. Population Counting the number of ASL signers is difficult because ASL users have never been counted by the American census. The ultimate source for current estimates of the number of ASL users in the United States is a report for the National Census of the Deaf Population (NCDP) by Schein and Delk (1974). Based on a 1972 survey of the NCDP, Schein and Delk provided estimates consistent with a signing population between 250,000 and 500,000. The survey did not distinguish between ASL and other forms of signing; in fact, the name "ASL" was not yet in widespread use. Incorrect figures are sometimes cited for the population of ASL users in the United States based on misunderstandings of known statistics. Demographics of the deaf population have been confused with those of ASL use since adults who become deaf late in life rarely use ASL in the home. That accounts for currently-cited estimations that are greater than 500,000; such mistaken estimations can reach as high as 15,000,000. A 100,000-person lower bound has been cited for ASL users; the source of that figure is unclear, but it may be an estimate of prelingual deafness, which is correlated with but not equivalent to signing. ASL is sometimes incorrectly cited as the third- or fourth-most-spoken language in the United States. Those figures misquote Schein and Delk (1974), who actually concluded that ASL speakers constituted the third-largest population "requiring an interpreter in court". Although that would make ASL the third-most used language among monolinguals other than English, it does not imply that it is the fourth-most-spoken language in the United States since speakers of other languages may also speak English. Geographic distribution ASL is used throughout Anglo-America. That contrasts with Europe, where a variety of sign languages are used within the same continent. The unique situation of ASL seems to have been caused by the proliferation of ASL through schools influenced by the American School for the Deaf, wherein ASL originated, and the rise of community organizations for the Deaf. Throughout West Africa, ASL-based sign languages are signed by educated Deaf adults. Such languages, imported by boarding schools, are often considered by associations to be the official sign languages of their countries and are named accordingly, such as Nigerian Sign Language, Ghanaian Sign Language. Such signing systems are found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo. Due to lack of data, it is still an open question how similar those sign languages are to the variety of ASL used in America. In addition to the aforementioned West African countries, ASL is reported to be used as a first language in Barbados, Bolivia, Cambodia (alongside Cambodian Sign Language), the Central African Republic, Chad, China (Hong Kong), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Zimbabwe. ASL is also used as a lingua franca throughout the deaf world, widely learned as a second language. Regional variation Sign production Sign production can often vary according to location. Signers from the South tend to sign with more flow and ease. Native signers from New York have been reported as signing comparatively quicker and sharper. Sign production of native Californian signers has also been reported as being fast. Research on that phenomenon often concludes that the fast-paced production for signers from the coasts could be due to the fast-paced nature of living in large metropolitan areas. That conclusion also supports how the ease with which Southern sign could be caused by the easygoing environment of the South in comparison to that of the coasts. Sign production can also vary depending on age and native language. For example, sign production of letters may vary in older signers. Slight differences in finger spelling production can be a signal of age. Additionally, signers who learned American Sign Language as a second language vary in production. For Deaf signers who learned a different sign language before learning American Sign Language, qualities of their native language may show in their ASL production. Some examples of that varied production include fingerspelling towards the body, instead of away from it, and signing certain movement from bottom to top, instead of top to bottom. Hearing people who learn American Sign Language also have noticeable differences in signing production. The most notable production difference of hearing people learning American Sign Language is their rhythm and arm posture. Sign variants Most popularly, there are variants of the signs for English words such as "birthday", "pizza", "Halloween", "early", and "soon", just a sample of the most commonly recognized signs with variants based on regional change. The sign for "school" is commonly varied between black and white signers; the variants used by black signers are sometimes called Black American Sign Language. Social variation is also found between citation forms and forms used by Deaf gay men for words such as "pain" and "protest". History and implications The prevalence of residential Deaf schools can account for much of the regional variance of signs and sign productions across the United States. Deaf schools often serve students of the state in which the school resides. That limited access to signers from other regions, combined with the residential quality of Deaf Schools promoted specific use of certain sign variants. Native signers did not have much access to signers from other regions during the beginning years of their education. It is hypothesized that because of that seclusion, certain variants of a sign prevailed over others due to the choice of variant used by the student of the school/signers in the community. However, American Sign Language does not appear to be vastly varied in comparison to other signed languages. That is because when Deaf education was beginning in the United States, many educators flocked to the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, whose central location for the first generation of educators in Deaf education to learn American Sign Language allows ASL to be more standardized than its variant. Varieties Varieties of ASL are found throughout the world. There is little difficulty in comprehension among the varieties of the United States and Canada. Mutual intelligibility among those ASL varieties is high, and the variation is primarily lexical. For example, there are three different words for English about in Canadian ASL; the standard way, and two regional variations (Atlantic and Ontario). Variation may also be phonological, meaning that the same sign may be signed in a different way depending on the region. For example, an extremely common type of variation is between the handshapes /1/, /L/, and /5/ in signs with one handshape. There is also a distinct variety of ASL used by the Black Deaf community. Black ASL evolved as a result of racially segregated schools in some states, which included the residential schools for the deaf. Black ASL differs from standard ASL in vocabulary, phonology, and some grammatical structure. While African American English (AAE) is generally viewed as more innovating than standard English, Black ASL is more conservative than standard ASL, preserving older forms of many signs. Black sign language speakers use more two-handed signs than in mainstream ASL, are less likely to show assimilatory lowering of signs produced on the forehead (e.g. KNOW) and use a wider signing space. Modern Black ASL borrows a number of idioms from AAE; for instance, the AAE idiom "I feel you" is calqued into Black ASL. ASL is used internationally as a lingua franca, and a number of closely related sign languages derived from ASL are used in many different countries. Even so, there have been varying degrees of divergence from standard ASL in those imported ASL varieties. Bolivian Sign Language is reported to be a dialect of ASL, no more divergent than other acknowledged dialects. On the other hand, it is also known that some imported ASL varieties have diverged to the extent of being separate languages. For example, Malaysian Sign Language, which has ASL origins, is no longer mutually comprehensible with ASL and must be considered its own language. For some imported ASL varieties, such as those used in West Africa, it is still an open question how similar they are to American ASL. When communicating with hearing English speakers, ASL-speakers often use what is commonly called Pidgin Signed English (PSE) or 'contact signing', a blend of English structure with ASL vocabulary. Various types of PSE exist, ranging from highly English-influenced PSE (practically relexified English) to PSE which is quite close to ASL lexically and grammatically, but may alter some subtle features of ASL grammar. Fingerspelling may be used more often in PSE than it is normally used in ASL. There have been some constructed sign languages, known as Manually Coded English (MCE), which match English grammar exactly and simply replace spoken words with signs; those systems are not considered to be varieties of ASL. Tactile ASL (TASL) is a variety of ASL used throughout the United States by and with the deaf-blind. It is particularly common among those with Usher's syndrome. It results in deafness from birth followed by loss of vision later in life; consequently, those with Usher's syndrome often grow up in the Deaf community using ASL, and later transition to TASL. TASL differs from ASL in that signs are produced by touching the palms, and there are some grammatical differences from standard ASL in order to compensate for the lack of nonmanual signing. ASL changes over time and from generation to generation. The sign for telephone has changed as the shape of phones and the manner of holding them have changed. The development of telephones with screens has also changed ASL, encouraging the use of signs that can be seen on small screens. Stigma In 2013, the White House published a response to a petition that gained over 37,000 signatures to officially recognize American Sign Language as a community language and a language of instruction in schools. The response is titled "there shouldn't be any stigma about American Sign Language" and addressed that ASL is a vital language for the Deaf and hard of hearing. Stigmas associated with sign languages and the use of sign for educating children often lead to the absence of sign during periods in children's lives when they can access languages most effectively. Scholars such as Beth S. Benedict advocate not only for bilingualism (using ASL and English training) but also for early childhood intervention for children who are deaf. York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok has also campaigned for bilingualism, arguing that those who are bilingual acquire cognitive skills that may help to prevent dementia later in life. Most children born to deaf parents are hearing. Known as CODAs ("Children Of Deaf Adults"), they are often more culturally Deaf than deaf children, most of whom are born to hearing parents. Unlike many deaf children, CODAs acquire ASL as well as Deaf cultural values and behaviors from birth. Such bilingual hearing children may be mistakenly labeled as being "slow learners" or as having "language difficulties" because of preferential attitudes towards spoken language. Writing systems Although there is no well-established writing system for ASL, written sign language dates back almost two centuries. The first systematic writing system for a sign language seems to be that of Roch-Ambroise Auguste Bébian, developed in 1825. However, written sign language remained marginal among the public. In the 1960s, linguist William Stokoe created Stokoe notation specifically for ASL. It is alphabetic, with a letter or diacritic for every phonemic (distinctive) hand shape, orientation, motion, and position, though it lacks any representation of facial expression, and is better suited for individual words than for extended passages of text. Stokoe used that system for his 1965 A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. SignWriting, proposed in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, is the first writing system to gain use among the public and the first writing system for sign languages to be included in the Unicode Standard. SignWriting consists of more than 5000 distinct iconic graphs/glyphs. Currently, it is in use in many schools for the Deaf, particularly in Brazil, and has been used in International Sign forums with speakers and researchers in more than 40 countries, including Brazil, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Tunisia, and the United States. Sutton SignWriting has both a printed and an electronically produced form so that persons can use the system anywhere that oral languages are written (personal letters, newspapers, and media, academic research). The systematic examination of the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA) as an equivalent usage structure to the International Phonetic Alphabet for spoken languages has been proposed. According to some researchers, SignWriting is not a phonemic orthography and does not have a one-to-one map from phonological forms to written forms. That assertion has been disputed, and the process for each country to look at the ISWA and create a phonemic/morphemic assignment of features of each sign language was proposed by researchers Msc. Roberto Cesar Reis da Costa and Madson Barreto in a thesis forum on June 23, 2014. The SignWriting community has an open project on Wikimedia Labs to support the various Wikimedia projects on Wikimedia Incubator and elsewhere involving SignWriting. The ASL Wikipedia request was marked as eligible in 2008 and the test ASL Wikipedia has 50 articles written in ASL using SignWriting. The most widely used transcription system among academics is HamNoSys, developed at the University of Hamburg. Based on Stokoe Notation, HamNoSys was expanded to about 200 graphs in order to allow transcription of any sign language. Phonological features are usually indicated with single symbols, though the group of features that make up a handshape is indicated collectively with a symbol. Several additional candidates for written ASL have appeared over the years, including SignFont, ASL-phabet, and Si5s. For English-speaking audiences, ASL is often glossed using English words. Such glosses are typically all-capitalized and are arranged in ASL order. For example, the ASL sentence DOG NOW CHASE>IX=3 CAT, meaning "the dog is chasing the cat", uses NOW to mark ASL progressive aspect and shows ASL verbal inflection for the third person (>IX=3). However, glossing is not used to write the language for speakers of ASL. Phonology Each sign in ASL is composed of a number of distinctive components, generally referred to as parameters. A sign may use one hand or both. All signs can be described using the five parameters involved in signed languages, which are handshape, movement, palm orientation, location and nonmanual markers. Just as phonemes of sound distinguish meaning in spoken languages, those parameters are the phonemes that distinguish meaning in signed languages like ASL. Changing any one of them may change the meaning of a sign, as illustrated by the ASL signs THINK and DISAPPOINTED: There are also meaningful nonmanual signals in ASL, which may include movement of the eyebrows, the cheeks, the nose, the head, the torso, and the eyes. William Stokoe proposed that such components are analogous to the phonemes of spoken languages. There has also been a proposal that they are analogous to classes like place and manner of articulation. As in spoken languages, those phonological units can be split into distinctive features. For instance, the handshapes /2/ and /3/ are distinguished by the presence or absence of the feature [± closed thumb], as illustrated to the right. ASL has processes of allophony and phonotactic restrictions. There is ongoing research into whether ASL has an analog of syllables in spoken language. Grammar Morphology ASL has a rich system of verbal inflection, which involves both grammatical aspect: how the action of verbs flows in time—and agreement marking. Aspect can be marked by changing the manner of movement of the verb; for example, continuous aspect is marked by incorporating rhythmic, circular movement, while punctual aspect is achieved by modifying the sign so that it has a stationary hand position. Verbs may agree with both the subject and the object, and are marked for number and reciprocity. Reciprocity is indicated by using two one-handed signs; for example, the sign SHOOT, made with an L-shaped handshape with inward movement of the thumb, inflects to SHOOT[reciprocal], articulated by having two L-shaped hands "shooting" at each other. ASL has a productive system of classifiers, which are used to classify objects and their movement in space. For example, a rabbit running downhill would use a classifier consisting of a bent V classifier handshape with a downhill-directed path; if the rabbit is hopping, the path is executed with a bouncy manner. In general, classifiers are composed of a "classifier handshape" bound to a "movement root". The classifier handshape represents the object as a whole, incorporating such attributes as surface, depth, and shape, and is usually very iconic. The movement root consists of a path, a direction and a manner. In linguistics, there are two primary ways of changing the form of a word: derivation and inflection. Derivation involves creating new words by adding something to an existing word, while inflection involves changing the form of a word to convey grammatical information without altering its fundamental meaning or category. For example, adding the suffix "-ship" to the noun "friend" creates the new word "friendship", which has a different meaning than the original word. Inflection, on the other hand, involves modifying a word's form to indicate grammatical features such as tense, number, gender, person, case, and degree of comparison. In American Sign Language (ASL), inflection is conveyed through facial expressions, body movements, and other non-manual markers. For instance, to indicate past tense in ASL, one might sign the present tense of a verb (such as "walk"), and then add a facial expression and head tilt to signify that the action occurred in the past (i.e., "walked"). While inflection does not change the basic meaning or category of a word, it does provide additional information that helps us better understand how the word is being used in a sentence. This is similar to how subtitles in a movie provide additional information without altering the content of the film itself. According to the book Linguistics of American Sign Language, ASL signs have two main components: hold segments and movement segments. Hold segments consist of hand-shape, location, orientation, and non-manual features, while movement segments possess similar features. Morphology is the study of how languages form words by using smaller units to construct larger units. The smallest meaningful unit in a language is known as a "morpheme", with some morphemes able to stand alone as independent units (free morphemes), while others must occur with other morphemes (bound morphemes). For example, the plural "-s" and third person "-s" in English are bound morphemes. In ASL, the 3 handshape in signs like THREE-WEEKS and THREE-MONTHS are also bound morphemes. Affixes, which are morphemes added to words to create new words or modify their meanings, are part of the derivational process. For example, in English, prefixes like "re-" and suffixes like "-able" are affixes. In ASL, affixation can be used to modify the sign for CHAIR to indicate different types of chairs. The inflectional process, on the other hand, adds grammatical information to existing units. By studying morphemes and how they can be combined or modified, linguists gain insight into the underlying structure of language and the creative ways in which it can be used to express meaning. Understanding morphology is essential to understanding how languages are built and how new signs or words can be formed. Furthermore, understanding morphology has practical applications in language learning and teaching. For example, teaching students the basic morphological structures of a language can help them to better understand the language's grammar and syntax, and can also aid in their acquisition of new vocabulary. In summary, morphology is an essential component of language and provides valuable insights into the structure and function of languages. By understanding the morphological processes involved in language formation, we can gain a deeper understanding of how languages work and how they can be effectively taught and learned. Fingerspelling ASL possesses a set of 26 signs known as the American manual alphabet, which can be used to spell out words from the English language. Such signs make use of the 19 handshapes of ASL. For example, the signs for 'p' and 'k' use the same handshape but different orientations. A common misconception is that ASL consists only of fingerspelling; although such a method (Rochester Method) has been used, it is not ASL. Fingerspelling is a form of borrowing, a linguistic process wherein words from one language are incorporated into another. In ASL, fingerspelling is used for proper nouns and for technical terms with no native ASL equivalent. There are also some other loan words which are fingerspelled, either very short English words or abbreviations of longer English words, e.g. O-N from English 'on', and A-P-T from English 'apartment'. Fingerspelling may also be used to emphasize a word that would normally be signed otherwise. Syntax ASL is a subject–verb–object (SVO) language, but various phenomena affect that basic word order. Basic SVO sentences are signed without any pauses: However, other word orders may also occur since ASL allows the topic of a sentence to be moved to sentence-initial position, a phenomenon known as topicalization. In object–subject–verb (OSV) sentences, the object is topicalized, marked by a forward head-tilt and a pause: Besides, word orders can be obtained through the phenomenon of subject copy in which the subject is repeated at the end of the sentence, accompanied by head nodding for clarification or emphasis: ASL also allows null subject sentences whose subject is implied, rather than stated explicitly. Subjects can be copied even in a null subject sentence, and the subject is then omitted from its original position, yielding a verb–object–subject (VOS) construction: Topicalization, accompanied with a null subject and a subject copy, can produce yet another word order, object–verb–subject (OVS). Those properties of ASL allow it a variety of word orders, leading many to question which is the true, underlying, "basic" order. There are several other proposals that attempt to account for the flexibility of word order in ASL. One proposal is that languages like ASL are best described with a topic–comment structure whose words are ordered by their importance in the sentence, rather than by their syntactic properties. Another hypothesis is that ASL exhibits free word order, in which syntax is not encoded in word order but can be encoded by other means such as head nods, eyebrow movement, and body position. Iconicity Common misconceptions are that signs are iconically self-explanatory, that they are a transparent imitation of what they mean, or even that they are pantomime. In fact, many signs bear no resemblance to their referent because they were originally arbitrary symbols, or their iconicity has been obscured over time. Even so, in ASL iconicity plays a significant role; a high percentage of signs resemble their referents in some way. That may be because the medium of sign, three-dimensional space, naturally allows more iconicity than oral language. In the era of the influential linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, it was assumed that the mapping between form and meaning in language must be completely arbitrary. Although onomatopoeia is a clear exception, since words like 'choo-choo' bear clear resemblance to the sounds that they mimic, the Saussurean approach was to treat them as marginal exceptions. ASL, with its significant inventory of iconic signs, directly challenges that theory. Research on acquisition of pronouns in ASL has shown that children do not always take advantage of the iconic properties of signs when they interpret their meaning. It has been found that when children acquire the pronoun "you", the iconicity of the point (at the child) is often confused, being treated more like a name. That is a similar finding to research in oral languages on pronoun acquisition. It has also been found that iconicity of signs does not affect immediate memory and recall; less iconic signs are remembered just as well as highly-iconic signs. See also American Sign Language grammar American Sign Language literature Baby sign language Bimodal bilingualism Great ape language, of which ASL has been one attempted mode Legal recognition of sign languages Pointing Sign name ASL interpreting Notes References Bibliography External links Accessible American Sign Language vocabulary site American Sign Language discussion forum One-stop resource American Sign Language and video dictionary National Institute of Deafness ASL section National Association of the Deaf ASL information American Sign Language The American Sign Language Linguistics Research Project Video Dictionary of ASL American Sign Language Dictionary American Sign Language family Articles containing video clips Deaf culture in the United States French Sign Language family Fusional languages Languages of Barbados Languages of Belize Languages of Botswana Languages of Burundi Sign languages of Canada Languages of Grenada Languages of Guyana Languages of Haiti Languages of Saint Kitts and Nevis Languages of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Languages of the United States Virgin Islands Sign languages of the United States Languages of Zimbabwe Subject–verb–object languages 1817 introductions Languages attested from the 19th century Languages of Canada Languages of the United States

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity, with around 110 million adherents worldwide . Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. The majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of the international Anglican Communion, which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These provinces are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus with the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the communion refers to as its primus inter pares (Latin, 'first among equals'). The Archbishop calls the decennial Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, and is the president of the Anglican Consultative Council. Some churches that are not part of the Anglican Communion or recognised by it also call themselves Anglican, including those that are within the Continuing Anglican movement and Anglican realignment. Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic church, apostolic succession ("historic episcopate"), and the writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of historical Protestantism. These reforms in the Church of England were understood by one of those most responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism. In the first half of the 17th century, the Church of England and its associated Church of Ireland were presented by some Anglican divines as comprising a distinct Christian tradition, with theologies, structures, and forms of worship representing a different kind of middle way, or via media, between Protestantism and Catholicism – a perspective that came to be highly influential in later theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the description of Anglicanism as "catholic and reformed". The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within the Anglican tradition is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and throughout the Anglican Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services in one prayer book used for centuries. The book is acknowledged as a principal tie which binds the Anglican Communion together as a liturgical rather than a confessional tradition, or one which claims to possess a formal magisterium, as in the Roman Catholic Church. After the American Revolution, Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America (which would later form the basis for the modern country of Canada) were each reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures; these were known as the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada. Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions, this model was adopted as the model for many newly formed churches, especially in Africa, Australasia, and the Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches and also that of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which, though originating earlier within the Church of Scotland, had come to be recognised as sharing this common identity. Terminology The word Anglican originates in , a phrase from Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning 'the Anglican Church shall be free'. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions, and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups that have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is considered a misuse by the Anglican Communion. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century. The word originally referred only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout the world in communion with the see of Canterbury but has come to sometimes be extended to any church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the modern Anglican Communion. Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. In British parliamentary legislation referring to the English Established Church, there is no need for a description; it is simply the Church of England, though the word Protestant is used in many legal acts specifying the succession to the Crown and qualifications for office. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is specified that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from the Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland. The word Episcopal is preferred in the title of the Episcopal Church (the province of the Anglican Communion covering the United States) and the Scottish Episcopal Church, though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity. Definition Anglicanism, in its structures, theology, and forms of worship, is commonly understood as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between what are perceived to be the extremes of the claims of 16th-century Roman Catholicism and the Lutheran and Reformed varieties of Protestantism of that era. As such, it is often referred to as being a via media ('middle way') between these traditions. The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Scriptures and the Gospels, the traditions of the Apostolic Church, the historical episcopate, the first four ecumenical councils, and the early Church Fathers (among these councils, especially the premier four ones, and among these Fathers, especially those active during the five initial centuries of Christianity, according to the quinquasaecularist principle proposed by the English bishop Lancelot Andrewes and the Lutheran dissident Georg Calixtus). Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as "containing all things necessary for salvation" and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. Reason and tradition are seen as valuable means to interpret scripture (a position first formulated in detail by Richard Hooker), but there is no full mutual agreement among Anglicans about exactly how scripture, reason, and tradition interact (or ought to interact) with each other. Anglicans understand the Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans believe the catholic and apostolic faith is revealed in Holy Scripture and the Catholic creeds and interpret these in light of the Christian tradition of the historic church, scholarship, reason, and experience. Anglicans celebrate the traditional sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass. The Eucharist is central to worship for most Anglicans as a communal offering of prayer and praise in which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are proclaimed through prayer, reading of the Bible, singing, giving God thanks over the bread and wine for the innumerable benefits obtained through the passion of Christ, the breaking of the bread, the blessing of the cup, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ as instituted at the Last Supper. The consecrated bread and wine, which are the true body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner, are outward symbols of an inner grace given by Christ, which to the repentant conveys forgiveness and cleansing from sin. While many Anglicans celebrate the Eucharist in similar ways to the predominant Latin Catholic tradition, a considerable degree of liturgical freedom is permitted, and worship styles range from simple to elaborate. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches have used for centuries. It was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches, which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world. In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books, the Prayer Book is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind Anglicans together. Identity Early history The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, and is commemorated in Glastonbury Abbey. Many of the early Church Fathers wrote of the presence of Christianity in Roman Britain, with Tertullian stating "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms had never penetrated were become subject to Christ". Saint Alban, who was executed in AD 209, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. For this reason he is venerated as the British protomartyr. The historian Heinrich Zimmer writes that "Just as Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, so the British Church formed (during the fourth century) a branch of the Catholic Church of the West; and during the whole of that century, from the Council of Arles (316) onward, took part in all proceedings concerning the Church." After Roman troops withdrew from Britain, the "absence of Roman military and governmental influence and overall decline of Roman imperial political power enabled Britain and the surrounding isles to develop distinctively from the rest of the West. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core. What resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices." The historian Charles Thomas, in addition to the Celticist Heinrich Zimmer, writes that the distinction between sub-Roman and post-Roman Insular Christianity, also known as Celtic Christianity, began to become apparent around AD 475, with the Celtic churches allowing married clergy, observing Lent and Easter according to their own calendar, and having a different tonsure; moreover, like the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Celtic churches operated independently of the Pope's authority, as a result of their isolated development in the British Isles. In what is known as the Gregorian mission, Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles in AD 596, with the purpose of evangelising the pagans there (who were largely Anglo-Saxons), as well as to reconcile the Celtic churches in the British Isles to the See of Rome. In Kent, Augustine persuaded the Anglo-Saxon king "Æthelberht and his people to accept Christianity". Augustine, on two occasions, "met in conference with members of the Celtic episcopacy, but no understanding was reached between them." Eventually, the "Christian Church of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria convened the Synod of Whitby in 663/664 to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages." This meeting, with King Oswiu as the final decision maker, "led to the acceptance of Roman usage elsewhere in England and brought the English Church into close contact with the Continent". As a result of assuming Roman usages, the Celtic Church surrendered its independence, and, from this point on, the Church in England "was no longer purely Celtic, but became Anglo-Roman-Celtic". The theologian Christopher L. Webber writes that, although "the Roman form of Christianity became the dominant influence in Britain as in all of western Europe, Anglican Christianity has continued to have a distinctive quality because of its Celtic heritage." The Church in England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament, through the Act of Supremacy (1534), declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England to fulfill the "English desire to be independent from continental Europe religiously and politically." As the change was mostly political, done in order to allow for the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage, the English Church under Henry VIII continued to maintain Roman Catholic doctrines and the sacraments despite the separation from Rome. With little exception, Henry VIII allowed no changes during his lifetime. Under King Edward VI (1547–1553), however, the church in England underwent what is known as the English Reformation, in the course of which it acquired a number of characteristics that would subsequently become recognised as constituting its distinctive "Anglican" identity. Development With the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, the Protestant identity of the English and Irish churches was affirmed by means of parliamentary legislation which mandated allegiance and loyalty to the English Crown in all their members. The Elizabethan church began to develop distinct religious traditions, assimilating some of the theology of Reformed churches with the services in the Book of Common Prayer (which drew extensively on the Sarum Rite native to England), under the leadership and organisation of a continuing episcopate. Over the years, these traditions themselves came to command adherence and loyalty. The Elizabethan Settlement stopped the radical Protestant tendencies under Edward VI by combining the more radical elements of the 1552 prayer book with the conservative "Catholic" 1549 prayer book into the 1559 Book of Common Prayer. From then on, Protestantism was in a "state of arrested development", regardless of the attempts to detach the Church of England from its "idiosyncratic anchorage in the medieval past" by various groups which tried to push it towards a more Reformed theology and governance in the years 1560–1660. Although two important constitutive elements of what later would emerge as Anglicanism were present in 1559 – scripture, the historic episcopate, the Book of Common Prayer, the teachings of the First Four Ecumenical Councils as the yardstick of catholicity, the teaching of the Church Fathers and Catholic bishops, and informed reason – neither the laypeople nor the clergy perceived themselves as Anglicans at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign, as there was no such identity. Neither does the term via media appear until the 1627 to describe a church which refused to identify itself definitely as Catholic or Protestant, or as both, "and had decided in the end that this is virtue rather than a handicap". Historical studies on the period 1560–1660 written before the late 1960s tended to project the predominant conformist spirituality and doctrine of the 1660s on the ecclesiastical situation one hundred years before, and there was also a tendency to take polemically binary partitions of reality claimed by contestants studied (such as the dichotomies Protestant-"Popish" or "Laudian"-"Puritan") at face value. Since the late 1960s, these interpretations have been criticised. Studies on the subject written during the last forty-five years have, however, not reached any consensus on how to interpret this period in English church history. The extent to which one or several positions concerning doctrine and spirituality existed alongside the more well-known and articulate Puritan movement and the Durham House Party, and the exact extent of continental Calvinism among the English elite and among the ordinary churchgoers from the 1560s to the 1620s are subjects of current and ongoing debate. In 1662, under King Charles II, a revised Book of Common Prayer was produced, which was acceptable to high churchmen as well as some Puritans, and is still considered authoritative to this day. In so far as Anglicans derived their identity from both parliamentary legislation and ecclesiastical tradition, a crisis of identity could result wherever secular and religious loyalties came into conflict – and such a crisis indeed occurred in 1776 with the American Declaration of Independence, most of whose signatories were, at least nominally, Anglican. For these American patriots, even the forms of Anglican services were in doubt, since the Prayer Book rites of Matins, Evensong, and Holy Communion all included specific prayers for the British Royal Family. Consequently, the conclusion of the War of Independence eventually resulted in the creation of two new Anglican churches, the Episcopal Church in the United States in those states that had achieved independence; and in the 1830s The Church of England in Canada became independent from the Church of England in those North American colonies which had remained under British control and to which many Loyalist churchmen had migrated. Reluctantly, legislation was passed in the British Parliament (the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act 1786) to allow bishops to be consecrated for an American church outside of allegiance to the British Crown (since no dioceses had ever been established in the former American colonies). Both in the United States and in Canada, the new Anglican churches developed novel models of self-government, collective decision-making, and self-supported financing; that would be consistent with separation of religious and secular identities. In the following century, two further factors acted to accelerate the development of a distinct Anglican identity. From 1828 and 1829, Dissenters and Catholics could be elected to the House of Commons, which consequently ceased to be a body drawn purely from the established churches of Scotland, England, and Ireland; but which nevertheless, over the following ten years, engaged in extensive reforming legislation affecting the interests of the English and Irish churches; which, by the Acts of Union of 1800, had been reconstituted as the United Church of England and Ireland. The propriety of this legislation was bitterly contested by the Oxford Movement (Tractarians), who in response developed a vision of Anglicanism as religious tradition deriving ultimately from the ecumenical councils of the patristic church. Those within the Church of England opposed to the Tractarians, and to their revived ritual practices, introduced a stream of bills in parliament aimed to control innovations in worship. This only made the dilemma more acute, with consequent continual litigation in the secular and ecclesiastical courts. Over the same period, Anglican churches engaged vigorously in Christian missions, resulting in the creation, by the end of the century, of over ninety colonial bishoprics, which gradually coalesced into new self-governing churches on the Canadian and American models. However, the case of John Colenso, Bishop of Natal, reinstated in 1865 by the English Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the heads of the Church in South Africa, demonstrated acutely that the extension of episcopacy had to be accompanied by a recognised Anglican ecclesiology of ecclesiastical authority, distinct from secular power. Consequently, at the instigation of the bishops of Canada and South Africa, the first Lambeth Conference was called in 1867; to be followed by further conferences in 1878 and 1888, and thereafter at ten-year intervals. The various papers and declarations of successive Lambeth Conferences have served to frame the continued Anglican debate on identity, especially as relating to the possibility of ecumenical discussion with other churches. This ecumenical aspiration became much more of a possibility, as other denominational groups rapidly followed the example of the Anglican Communion in founding their own transnational alliances: the Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Ecumenical Methodist Council, the International Congregational Council, and the Baptist World Alliance. Theories Anglicanism was seen as a middle way, or via media, between two branches of Protestantism, Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity. In their rejection of absolute parliamentary authority, the Tractarians – and in particular John Henry Newman – looked back to the writings of 17th-century Anglican divines, finding in these texts the idea of the English church as a via media between the Protestant and Catholic traditions. This view was associated – especially in the writings of Edward Bouverie Pusey – with the theory of Anglicanism as one of three "branches" (alongside the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church) historically arising out of the common tradition of the earliest ecumenical councils. Newman himself subsequently rejected his theory of the via media, as essentially historicist and static and hence unable to accommodate any dynamic development within the church. Nevertheless, the aspiration to ground Anglican identity in the writings of the 17th-century divines and in faithfulness to the traditions of the Church Fathers reflects a continuing theme of Anglican ecclesiology, most recently in the writings of Henry Robert McAdoo. The Tractarian formulation of the theory of the via media between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism was essentially a party platform, and not acceptable to Anglicans outside the confines of the Oxford Movement. However, this theory of the via media was reworked in the ecclesiological writings of Frederick Denison Maurice, in a more dynamic form that became widely influential. Both Maurice and Newman saw the Church of England of their day as sorely deficient in faith; but whereas Newman had looked back to a distant past when the light of faith might have appeared to burn brighter, Maurice looked forward to the possibility of a brighter revelation of faith in the future. Maurice saw the Protestant and Catholic strands within the Church of England as contrary but complementary, both maintaining elements of the true church, but incomplete without the other; such that a true catholic and evangelical church might come into being by a union of opposites. Central to Maurice's perspective was his belief that the collective elements of family, nation, and church represented a divine order of structures through which God unfolds his continuing work of creation. Hence, for Maurice, the Protestant tradition had maintained the elements of national distinction which were amongst the marks of the true universal church, but which had been lost within contemporary Roman Catholicism in the internationalism of centralised papal authority. Within the coming universal church that Maurice foresaw, national churches would each maintain the six signs of Catholicity: baptism, Eucharist, the creeds, Scripture, an episcopal ministry, and a fixed liturgy (which could take a variety of forms in accordance with divinely ordained distinctions in national characteristics). This vision of a becoming universal church as a congregation of autonomous national churches proved highly congenial in Anglican circles; and Maurice's six signs were adapted to form the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Maurice's theory, and the various strands of Anglican thought that derived from it, have been criticised by Stephen Sykes, who argues that the terms Protestant and Catholic as used in these approaches are synthetic constructs denoting ecclesiastic identities unacceptable to those to whom the labels are applied. Hence, the Catholic Church does not regard itself as a party or strand within the universal church – but rather identifies itself as the universal church. Moreover, Sykes criticises the proposition, implicit in theories of via media, that there is no distinctive body of Anglican doctrines, other than those of the universal church; accusing this of being an excuse not to undertake systematic doctrine at all. Contrariwise, Sykes notes a high degree of commonality in Anglican liturgical forms and in the doctrinal understandings expressed within those liturgies. He proposes that Anglican identity might rather be found within a shared consistent pattern of prescriptive liturgies, established and maintained through canon law, and embodying both a historic deposit of formal statements of doctrine, and also framing the regular reading and proclamation of scripture. Sykes nevertheless agrees with those heirs of Maurice who emphasise the incompleteness of Anglicanism as a positive feature, and quotes with qualified approval the words of Michael Ramsey: Doctrine "Catholic and reformed" The distinction between Reformed and Catholic, and the coherence of the two, is a matter of debate within the Anglican Communion. The Oxford Movement of the mid-19th century revived and extended doctrinal, liturgical, and pastoral practices similar to those of Roman Catholicism. This extends beyond the ceremony of high church services to even more theologically significant territory, such as sacramental theology (see Anglican sacraments). While Anglo-Catholic practices, particularly liturgical ones, have become more common within the tradition over the last century, there are also places where practices and beliefs resonate more closely with the evangelical movements of the 1730s (see Sydney Anglicanism). Guiding principles For high-church Anglicans, doctrine is neither established by a magisterium, nor derived from the theology of an eponymous founder (such as Calvinism), nor summed up in a confession of faith beyond the ecumenical creeds (such as the Lutheran Book of Concord). For them, the earliest Anglican theological documents are its prayer books, which they see as the products of profound theological reflection, compromise, and synthesis. They emphasise the Book of Common Prayer as a key expression of Anglican doctrine. The principle of looking to the prayer books as a guide to the parameters of belief and practice is called by the Latin name lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"). Within the prayer books are the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine: the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the Athanasian Creed (now rarely used), the scriptures (via the lectionary), the sacraments, daily prayer, the catechism, and apostolic succession in the context of the historic threefold ministry. For some low-church and evangelical Anglicans, the 16th-century Reformed Thirty-Nine Articles form the basis of doctrine. Distinctives of Anglican belief The Thirty-Nine Articles played a significant role in Anglican doctrine and practice. Following the passing of the 1604 canons, all Anglican clergy had to formally subscribe to the articles. Today, however, the articles are no longer binding, but are seen as a historical document which has played a significant role in the shaping of Anglican identity. The degree to which each of the articles has remained influential varies. On the doctrine of justification, for example, there is a wide range of beliefs within the Anglican Communion, with some Anglo-Catholics arguing for a faith with good works and the sacraments. At the same time, however, some evangelical Anglicans ascribe to the Reformed emphasis on sola fide ("faith alone") in their doctrine of justification (see Sydney Anglicanism). Still other Anglicans adopt a nuanced view of justification, taking elements from the early Church Fathers, Catholicism, Protestantism, liberal theology, and latitudinarian thought. Arguably, the most influential of the original articles has been Article VI on the "sufficiency of scripture", which says that "Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." This article has informed Anglican biblical exegesis and hermeneutics since earliest times. Anglicans look for authority in their "standard divines" (see below). Historically, the most influential of these – apart from Cranmer – has been the 16th-century cleric and theologian Richard Hooker, who after 1660 was increasingly portrayed as the founding father of Anglicanism. Hooker's description of Anglican authority as being derived primarily from scripture, informed by reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church), has influenced Anglican self-identity and doctrinal reflection perhaps more powerfully than any other formula. The analogy of the "three-legged stool" of scripture, reason, and tradition is often incorrectly attributed to Hooker. Rather, Hooker's description is a hierarchy of authority, with scripture as foundational and reason and tradition as vitally important, but secondary, authorities. Finally, the extension of Anglicanism into non-English cultures, the growing diversity of prayer books, and the increasing interest in ecumenical dialogue have led to further reflection on the parameters of Anglican identity. Many Anglicans look to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 as the sine qua non of communal identity. In brief, the quadrilateral's four points are the scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation; the creeds (specifically, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds) as the sufficient statement of Christian faith; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion; and the historic episcopate. Divines Within the Anglican tradition, "divines" are clergy of the Church of England whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship, and spirituality, and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years. While there is no authoritative list of these Anglican divines, there are some whose names would likely be found on most lists – those who are commemorated in lesser feasts of the Anglican churches and those whose works are frequently anthologised. The corpus produced by Anglican divines is diverse. What they have in common is a commitment to the faith as conveyed by scripture and the Book of Common Prayer, thus regarding prayer and theology in a manner akin to that of the Apostolic Fathers. On the whole, Anglican divines view the via media of Anglicanism not as a compromise, but as "a positive position, witnessing to the universality of God and God's kingdom working through the fallible, earthly ecclesia Anglicana". These theologians regard scripture as interpreted through tradition and reason as authoritative in matters concerning salvation. Reason and tradition, indeed, are extant in and presupposed by scripture, thus implying co-operation between God and humanity, God and nature, and between the sacred and secular. Faith is thus regarded as incarnational and authority as dispersed. Amongst the early Anglican divines of the 16th and 17th centuries, the names of Thomas Cranmer, John Jewel, Matthew Parker, Richard Hooker, Lancelot Andrewes, and Jeremy Taylor predominate. The influential character of Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity cannot be overestimated. Published in 1593 and subsequently, Hooker's eight-volume work is primarily a treatise on church-state relations, but it deals comprehensively with issues of biblical interpretation, soteriology, ethics, and sanctification. Throughout the work, Hooker makes clear that theology involves prayer and is concerned with ultimate issues and that theology is relevant to the social mission of the church. The 17th century saw the rise of two important movements in Anglicanism: Cambridge Platonism, with its mystical understanding of reason as the "candle of the Lord", and the evangelical revival, with its emphasis on the personal experience of the Holy Spirit. The Cambridge Platonist movement evolved into a school called Latitudinarianism, which emphasised reason as the barometer of discernment and took a stance of indifference towards doctrinal and ecclesiological differences. The evangelical revival, influenced by such figures as John Wesley and Charles Simeon, re-emphasised the importance of justification through faith and the consequent importance of personal conversion. Some in this movement, such as Wesley and George Whitefield, took the message to the United States, influencing the First Great Awakening and creating an Anglo-American movement called Methodism that would eventually break away, structurally, from the Anglican churches after the American Revolution. By the 19th century, there was a renewed interest in pre-Reformation English religious thought and practice. Theologians such as John Keble, Edward Bouverie Pusey, and John Henry Newman had widespread influence in the realm of polemics, homiletics and theological and devotional works, not least because they largely repudiated the old high-church tradition and replaced it with a dynamic appeal to antiquity which looked beyond the Reformers and Anglican formularies. Their work is largely credited with the development of the Oxford Movement, which sought to reassert Catholic identity and practice in Anglicanism. In contrast to this movement, clergy such as the Bishop of Liverpool, J. C. Ryle, sought to uphold the distinctly Reformed identity of the Church of England. He was not a servant of the status quo, but argued for a lively religion which emphasised grace, holy and charitable living, and the plain use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (interpreted in a partisan evangelical way) without additional rituals. Frederick Denison Maurice, through such works as The Kingdom of Christ, played a pivotal role in inaugurating another movement, Christian socialism. In this, Maurice transformed Hooker's emphasis on the incarnational nature of Anglican spirituality to an imperative for social justice. In the 19th century, Anglican biblical scholarship began to assume a distinct character, represented by the so-called "Cambridge triumvirate" of Joseph Lightfoot, F. J. A. Hort, and Brooke Foss Westcott. Their orientation is best summed up by Westcott's observation that "Life which Christ is and which Christ communicates, the life which fills our whole beings as we realise its capacities, is active fellowship with God." The earlier part of the 20th century is marked by Charles Gore, with his emphasis on natural revelation, and William Temple's focus on Christianity and society, while, from outside England, Robert Leighton, Archbishop of Glasgow, and several clergy from the United States have been suggested, such as William Porcher DuBose, John Henry Hobart (1775–1830, Bishop of New York 1816–30), William Meade, Phillips Brooks, and Charles Brent. Churchmanship Churchmanship can be defined as the manifestation of theology in the realms of liturgy, piety and, to some extent, spirituality. Anglican diversity in this respect has tended to reflect the diversity in the tradition's Reformed and Catholic identity. Different individuals, groups, parishes, dioceses and provinces may identify more closely with one or the other, or some mixture of the two. The range of Anglican belief and practice became particularly divisive during the 19th century, when some clergy were disciplined and even imprisoned on charges of introducing illegal ritual while, at the same time, others were criticised for engaging in public worship services with ministers of Reformed churches. Resistance to the growing acceptance and restoration of traditional Catholic ceremonial by the mainstream of Anglicanism ultimately led to the formation of small breakaway churches such as the Free Church of England in England (1844) and the Reformed Episcopal Church in North America (1873). Anglo-Catholic (and some broad-church) Anglicans celebrate public liturgy in ways that understand worship to be something very special and of utmost importance. Vestments are worn by the clergy, sung settings are often used, and incense may be used. Nowadays, in most Anglican churches, the Eucharist is celebrated in a manner similar to the usage of Roman Catholics and some Lutherans, though, in many churches, more traditional, "pre–Vatican II" models of worship are common (e.g., an "eastward orientation" at the altar). Whilst many Anglo-Catholics derive much of their liturgical practice from that of the pre-Reformation English church, others more closely follow traditional Roman Catholic practices. The Eucharist may sometimes be celebrated in the form known as High Mass, with a priest, deacon and subdeacon (usually actually a layman) dressed in traditional vestments, with incense and sanctus bells and prayers adapted from the Roman Missal or other sources by the celebrant. Such churches may also have forms of eucharistic adoration such as Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In terms of personal piety, some Anglicans may recite the Rosary and Angelus, be involved in a devotional society dedicated to "Our Lady" (the Blessed Virgin Mary) and seek the intercession of the saints. In recent decades, the prayer books of several provinces have, out of deference to a greater agreement with Eastern Conciliarism (and a perceived greater respect accorded Anglicanism by Eastern Orthodoxy than by Roman Catholicism), instituted a number of historically Eastern and Oriental Orthodox elements in their liturgies, including introduction of the Trisagion and deletion of the filioque clause from the Nicene Creed. For their part, those evangelical (and some broad-church) Anglicans who emphasise the more Protestant aspects of the Church stress the Reformation theme of salvation by grace through faith. They emphasise the two dominical sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, viewing the other five as "lesser rites". Some evangelical Anglicans may even tend to take the inerrancy of scripture literally, adopting the view of Article VI that it contains all things necessary to salvation in an explicit sense. Worship in churches influenced by these principles tends to be significantly less elaborate, with greater emphasis on the Liturgy of the Word (the reading of the scriptures, the sermon, and the intercessory prayers). The Order for Holy Communion may be celebrated bi-weekly or monthly (in preference to the daily offices), by priests attired in choir habit, or more regular clothes, rather than Eucharistic vestments. Ceremony may be in keeping with their view of the provisions of the 17th-century Puritans – being a Reformed interpretation of the Ornaments Rubric – no candles, no incense, no bells, and a minimum of manual actions by the presiding celebrant (such as touching the elements at the Words of Institution). In recent decades, there has been a growth of charismatic worship among Anglicans. Both Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals have been affected by this movement such that it is not uncommon to find typically charismatic postures, music, and other themes evident during the services of otherwise Anglo-Catholic or evangelical parishes. The spectrum of Anglican beliefs and practice is too large to be fit into these labels. Many Anglicans locate themselves somewhere in the spectrum of the broad-church tradition and consider themselves an amalgam of evangelical and Catholic. Such Anglicans stress that Anglicanism is the via media (middle way) between the two major strains of Western Christianity and that Anglicanism is like a "bridge" between the two strains. Sacramental doctrine and practice In accord with its prevailing self-identity as a via media or "middle path" of Western Christianity, Anglican sacramental theology expresses elements in keeping with its status as being both a church in the Catholic tradition as well as a Reformed church. With respect to sacramental theology, the Catholic heritage is perhaps most strongly asserted in the importance Anglicanism places on the sacraments as a means of grace, sanctification, and salvation, as expressed in the church's liturgy and doctrine. Of the seven sacraments, all Anglicans recognise Baptism and the Eucharist as being directly instituted by Christ. The other five – Confession/Absolution, Matrimony, Confirmation, Holy Orders (also called Ordination), and Anointing of the Sick (also called Unction) – are regarded variously as full sacraments by Anglo-Catholics and many high church and some broad-church Anglicans, but merely as "sacramental rites" by other broad-church and low-church Anglicans, especially evangelicals associated with Reform UK and the Diocese of Sydney. Eucharistic theology Anglican eucharistic theology is divergent in practice, reflecting the essential comprehensiveness of the tradition. A few low-church Anglicans take a strictly memorialist (Zwinglian) view of the sacrament. In other words, they see Holy Communion as a memorial to Christ's suffering, and participation in the Eucharist as both a re-enactment of the Last Supper and a foreshadowing of the heavenly banquet – the fulfilment of the eucharistic promise. Other low-church Anglicans believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist but deny that the presence of Christ is carnal or is necessarily localised in the bread and wine. Despite explicit criticism in the Thirty-Nine Articles, many high-church or Anglo-Catholic Anglicans hold, more or less, the Catholic view of the real presence as expressed in the doctrine of transubstantiation, seeing the Eucharist as a liturgical representation of Christ's atoning sacrifice with the elements actually transformed into Christ's body and blood. The majority of Anglicans, however, have in common a belief in the real presence, defined in one way or another. To that extent, they are in the company of the continental reformer Martin Luther and Calvin rather than Ulrich Zwingli. The Catechism of the American BCP of 1976 repeats the standard Anglican view ("The outward and visible sign in the Eucharist is the bread and wine"..."The inward and spiritual grace in the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ given to his people, and received by faith") without further definition. It should be remembered that Anglicanism has no official doctrine on this matter, believing it is wiser to leave the Presence a mystery. The faithful can believe privately whatever explanation they favour, be it transubstantiation, consubstantiation, receptionism, or virtualism (the two most congenial to Anglicans for centuries until the Oxford Movement), each of which espouses belief in the real presence in one way or another, or memorialism, which has never been an option with Anglicans. A famous Anglican aphorism regarding Christ's presence in the sacrament, commonly misattributed to Queen Elizabeth I, is first found in print in a poem by John Donne: He was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it: And what that word did make it, I do believe and take it. An Anglican position on the eucharistic sacrifice ("Sacrifice of the Mass") was expressed in the response Saepius officio of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to Pope Leo XIII's Papal Encyclical Apostolicae curae: viz. that the Prayer Book contained a strong sacrificial theology. Later revisions of the Prayer Book influenced by the Scottish Canon of 1764 first adopted by the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1789 made this assertion quite evident: "we do make and celebrate before thy Divine Majesty with these thy holy gifts, which we now OFFER unto thee, the memorial thy Son has commanded us to make", which is repeated in the 1929 English BCP and included in such words or others such as "present" or "show forth" in subsequent revisions. Anglican and Roman Catholic representatives declared that they had "substantial agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist" in the Windsor Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation (1971) and the Elucidation of the ARCIC Windsor Statement (1979). The final response (1991) to these documents by the Vatican made it plain that it did not consider the degree of agreement reached to be satisfactory. Practices In Anglicanism, there is a distinction between liturgy, which is the formal public and communal worship of the Church, and personal prayer and devotion, which may be public or private. Liturgy is regulated by the prayer books and consists of the Holy Eucharist (some call it Holy Communion or Mass), the other six Sacraments, and the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. Book of Common Prayer The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the foundational prayer book of Anglicanism. The original book of 1549 (revised in 1552) was one of the instruments of the English Reformation, replacing the various "uses" or rites in Latin that had been used in different parts of the country with a single compact volume in the language of the people, so that "now from henceforth all the Realm shall have but one use". Suppressed under Queen Mary I, it was revised in 1559, and then again in 1662, after the Restoration of Charles II. This version was made mandatory in England and Wales by the Act of Uniformity and was in standard use until the mid-20th century. With British colonial expansion from the 17th century onwards, Anglican churches were planted around the globe. These churches at first used and then revised the Book of Common Prayer until they, like their parent church, produced prayer books which took into account the developments in liturgical study and practice in the 19th and 20th centuries, which come under the general heading of the Liturgical Movement. Worship Anglican worship services are open to all visitors. Anglican worship originates principally in the reforms of Thomas Cranmer, who aimed to create a set order of service like that of the pre-Reformation church but less complex in its seasonal variety and said in English rather than Latin. This use of a set order of service is not unlike the Catholic tradition. Traditionally, the pattern was that laid out in the Book of Common Prayer. Although many Anglican churches now use a wide range of modern service books written in the local language, the structures of the Book of Common Prayer are largely retained. Churches which call themselves Anglican will have identified themselves so because they use some form or variant of the Book of Common Prayer in the shaping of their worship. Anglican worship, however, is as diverse as Anglican theology. A contemporary "low-church" service may differ little from the worship of many mainstream non-Anglican Protestant churches. The service is constructed around a sermon focused on Biblical exposition and opened with one or more Bible readings and closed by a series of prayers (both set and extemporised) and hymns or songs. A "high church" or Anglo-Catholic service, by contrast, is usually a more formal liturgy celebrated by clergy in distinctive vestments and may be almost indistinguishable from a Roman Catholic service, often resembling the "pre–Vatican II" Tridentine rite. Between these extremes are a variety of styles of worship, often involving a robed choir and the use of the organ to accompany the singing and to provide music before and after the service. Anglican churches tend to have pews or chairs, and it is usual for the congregation to kneel for some prayers but to stand for hymns and other parts of the service such as the Gloria, Collect, Gospel reading, Creed and either the Preface or all of the Eucharistic Prayer. Anglicans may genuflect or cross themselves in the same way as Roman Catholics. Other more traditional Anglicans tend to follow the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and retain the use of the King James Bible. This is typical in many Anglican cathedrals and particularly in Royal Peculiars such as the Savoy Chapel and the Queen's Chapel. These services reflect older Anglican liturgies and differ from the Traditional Anglican Communion in that they are in favour of women priests and the ability of clergy to marry. These Anglican church services include classical music instead of songs, hymns from the New English Hymnal (usually excluding modern hymns such as "Lord of the Dance"), and are generally non-evangelical and formal in practice. Until the mid-20th century the main Sunday service was typically morning prayer, but the Eucharist has once again become the standard form of Sunday worship in many Anglican churches; this again is similar to Roman Catholic practice. Other common Sunday services include an early morning Eucharist without music, an abbreviated Eucharist following a service of morning prayer, and a service of evening prayer, sometimes in the form of sung Evensong, usually celebrated between 3 and 6 pm. The late-evening service of Compline was revived in parish use in the early 20th century. Many Anglican churches will also have daily morning and evening prayer, and some have midweek or even daily celebration of the Eucharist. An Anglican service (whether or not a Eucharist) will include readings from the Bible that are generally taken from a standardised lectionary, which provides for much of the Bible (and some passages from the Apocrypha) to be read out loud in the church over a cycle of one, two, or three years (depending on which eucharistic and office lectionaries are used, respectively). The sermon (or homily) is typically about ten to twenty minutes in length, often comparably short to sermons in evangelical churches. Even in the most informal Anglican services, it is common for set prayers such as the weekly Collect to be read. There are also set forms for intercessory prayer, though this is now more often extemporaneous. In high and Anglo-Catholic churches there are generally prayers for the dead. Although Anglican public worship is usually ordered according to the canonically approved services, in practice many Anglican churches use forms of service outside these norms. Liberal churches may use freely structured or experimental forms of worship, including patterns borrowed from ecumenical traditions such as those of the Taizé Community or the Iona Community. Anglo-Catholic parishes might use the modern Roman Catholic liturgy of the Mass or more traditional forms, such as the Tridentine Mass (which is translated into English in the English Missal), the Anglican Missal, or, less commonly, the Sarum Rite. Catholic devotions such as the Rosary, Angelus, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament are also common among Anglo-Catholics. Eucharistic discipline Only baptised persons are eligible to receive communion, although in many churches communion is restricted to those who have not only been baptised but also confirmed. In many Anglican provinces, however, all baptised Christians are now often invited to receive communion and some dioceses have regularised a system for admitting baptised young people to communion before they are confirmed. The discipline of fasting before communion is practised by some Anglicans. Most Anglican priests require the presence of at least one other person for the celebration of the Eucharist (referring back to Christ's statement in Matthew 18:20, "When two or more are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them."), though some Anglo-Catholic priests (like Roman Catholic priests) may say private Masses. As in the Roman Catholic Church, it is a canonical requirement to use fermented wine for communion. Unlike in Roman Catholicism, the consecrated bread and wine are always offered to the congregation at a eucharistic service ("communion in both kinds"). This practice is becoming more frequent in the Roman Catholic Church as well, especially through the Neocatechumenal Way. In some churches, the sacrament is reserved in a tabernacle or aumbry with a lighted candle or lamp nearby. In Anglican churches, only a priest or a bishop may be the celebrant at the Eucharist. Divine office All Anglican prayer books contain offices for Morning Prayer (Matins) and Evening Prayer (Evensong). In the original Book of Common Prayer, these were derived from combinations of the ancient monastic offices of Matins and Lauds; and Vespers and Compline, respectively. The prayer offices have an important place in Anglican history. Prior to the Catholic revival of the 19th century, which eventually restored the Holy Eucharist as the principal Sunday liturgy, and especially during the 18th century, a morning service combining Matins, the Litany, and ante-Communion comprised the usual expression of common worship, while Matins and Evensong were sung daily in cathedrals and some collegiate chapels. This nurtured a tradition of distinctive Anglican chant applied to the canticles and psalms used at the offices (although plainsong is often used as well). In some official and many unofficial Anglican service books, these offices are supplemented by other offices such as the Little Hours of Prime and prayer during the day such as (Terce, Sext, None, and Compline). Some Anglican monastic communities have a Daily Office based on that of the Book of Common Prayer but with additional antiphons and canticles, etc., for specific days of the week, specific psalms, etc. See, for example, Order of the Holy Cross and Order of St Helena, editors, A Monastic Breviary (Wilton, Conn.: Morehouse-Barlow, 1976). The All Saints Sisters of the Poor, with convents in Catonsville, Maryland, and elsewhere, use an elaborated version of the Anglican Daily Office. The Society of St. Francis publishes Celebrating Common Prayer, which has become especially popular for use among Anglicans. In England, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some other Anglican provinces, the modern prayer books contain four offices: Morning Prayer, corresponding to Matins, Lauds and Prime; Prayer During the Day, roughly corresponding to the combination of Terce, Sext, and None (Noonday Prayer in the USA); Evening Prayer, corresponding to Vespers (and Compline); Compline. In addition, most prayer books include a section of prayers and devotions for family use. In the US, these offices are further supplemented by an "Order of Worship for the Evening", a prelude to or an abbreviated form of Evensong, partly derived from Orthodox prayers. In the United Kingdom, the publication of Daily Prayer, the third volume of Common Worship, was published in 2005. It retains the services for Morning and Evening Prayer and Compline and includes a section entitled "Prayer during the Day". A New Zealand Prayer Book of 1989 provides different outlines for Matins and Evensong on each day of the week, as well as "Midday Prayer", "Night Prayer" and "Family Prayer". Some Anglicans who pray the office on daily basis use the present Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. In many cities, especially in England, Anglican and Roman Catholic priests and lay people often meet several times a week to pray the office in common. A small but enthusiastic minority use the Anglican Breviary, or other translations and adaptations of the pre–Vatican II Roman Rite and Sarum Rite, along with supplemental material from cognate western sources, to provide such things as a common of Octaves, a common of Holy Women, and other additional material. Others may privately use idiosyncratic forms borrowed from a wide range of Christian traditions. "Quires and Places where they sing" In the late medieval period, many English cathedrals and monasteries had established small choirs of trained lay clerks and boy choristers to perform polyphonic settings of the Mass in their Lady chapels. Although these "Lady Masses" were discontinued at the Reformation, the associated musical tradition was maintained in the Elizabethan Settlement through the establishment of choral foundations for daily singing of the Divine Office by expanded choirs of men and boys. This resulted from an explicit addition by Elizabeth herself to the injunctions accompanying the 1559 Book of Common Prayer (that had itself made no mention of choral worship) by which existing choral foundations and choir schools were instructed to be continued, and their endowments secured. Consequently, some thirty-four cathedrals, collegiate churches, and royal chapels maintained paid establishments of lay singing men and choristers in the late 16th century. All save four of these have – with interruptions during the Commonwealth and the COVID-19 pandemic – continued daily choral prayer and praise to this day. In the Offices of Matins and Evensong in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, these choral establishments are specified as "Quires and Places where they sing". For nearly three centuries, this round of daily professional choral worship represented a tradition entirely distinct from that embodied in the intoning of Parish Clerks, and the singing of "west gallery choirs" which commonly accompanied weekly worship in English parish churches. In 1841, the rebuilt Leeds Parish Church established a surpliced choir to accompany parish services, drawing explicitly on the musical traditions of the ancient choral foundations. Over the next century, the Leeds example proved immensely popular and influential for choirs in cathedrals, parish churches, and schools throughout the Anglican communion. More or less extensively adapted, this choral tradition also became the direct inspiration for robed choirs leading congregational worship in a wide range of Christian denominations. In 1719, the cathedral choirs of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester combined to establish the annual Three Choirs Festival, the precursor for the multitude of summer music festivals since. By the 20th century, the choral tradition had become for many the most accessible face of worldwide Anglicanism – especially as promoted through the regular broadcasting of choral evensong by the BBC; and also in the annual televising of the festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge. Composers closely concerned with this tradition include Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Benjamin Britten. A number of important 20th-century works by non-Anglican composers were originally commissioned for the Anglican choral tradition – for example, the Chichester Psalms of Leonard Bernstein and the Nunc dimittis of Arvo Pärt. Communion Principles of governance Contrary to popular misconception, the British monarch is not the constitutional "head" of the Church of England but is, in law, the church's "supreme governor", nor does the monarch have any role in provinces outside England. The role of the crown in the Church of England is practically limited to the appointment of bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, and even this role is limited, as the church presents the government with a short list of candidates from which to choose. This process is accomplished through collaboration with and consent of ecclesial representatives (see Ecclesiastical Commissioners). Although the monarch has no constitutional role in Anglican churches in other parts of the world, the prayer books of several countries where the monarch is head of state contain prayers for him or her as sovereign. A characteristic of Anglicanism is that it has no international juridical authority. All forty-two provinces of the Anglican Communion are autonomous, each with their own primate and governing structure. These provinces may take the form of national churches (such as in Canada, Uganda or Japan) or a collection of nations (such as the West Indies, Central Africa or South Asia), or geographical regions (such as Vanuatu and Solomon Islands) etc. Within these provinces there may exist subdivisions, called ecclesiastical provinces, under the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop. All provinces of the Anglican Communion consist of dioceses, each under the jurisdiction of a bishop. In the Anglican tradition, bishops must be consecrated according to the strictures of apostolic succession, which Anglicans consider one of the marks of catholicity. Apart from bishops, there are two other orders of ordained ministry: deacon and priest. No requirement is made for clerical celibacy, though many Anglo-Catholic priests have traditionally been bachelors. Because of innovations that occurred at various points after the latter half of the 20th century, women may be ordained as deacons in almost all provinces, as priests in most and as bishops in many. Anglican religious orders and communities, suppressed in England during the Reformation, have re-emerged, especially since the mid-19th century, and now have an international presence and influence. Government in the Anglican Communion is synodical, consisting of three houses of laity (usually elected parish representatives), clergy and bishops. National, provincial and diocesan synods maintain different scopes of authority, depending on their canons and constitutions. Anglicanism is not congregational in its polity: it is the diocese, not the parish church, which is the smallest unit of authority in the church. (See Episcopal polity). Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury has a precedence of honour over the other primates of the Anglican Communion, and for a province to be considered a part of the communion means specifically to be in full communion with the see of Canterbury – though this principle is currently subject to considerable debate, especially among those in the so-called Global South, including American Anglicans. The archbishop is, therefore, recognised as primus inter pares ("first amongst equals"), even though he does not exercise any direct authority in any province outside England, of which he is chief primate. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012, was the first archbishop appointed from outside the Church of England since the Reformation: he was formerly the Archbishop of Wales. As "spiritual head" of the communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury maintains a certain moral authority and has the right to determine which churches will be in communion with his see. He hosts and chairs the Lambeth Conferences of Anglican Communion bishops and decides who will be invited to them. He also hosts and chairs the Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting and is responsible for the invitations to it. He acts as president of the secretariat of the Anglican Communion Office and its deliberative body, the Anglican Consultative Council. Conferences The Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. All international bodies are consultative and collaborative, and their resolutions are not legally binding on the autonomous provinces of the communion. There are three international bodies of note. The Lambeth Conference is the oldest international consultation. It was first convened by Archbishop Charles Longley in 1867 as a vehicle for bishops of the communion to "discuss matters of practical interest, and pronounce what we deem expedient in resolutions which may serve as safe guides to future action". Since then, it has been held roughly every ten years. Invitation is by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Consultative Council was created by a 1968 Lambeth Conference resolution and meets biennially. The council consists of representative bishops, clergy and laity chosen by the forty-two provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the Anglican Communion Office, of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is president. The Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting is the most recent manifestation of international consultation and deliberation, having been first convened by Archbishop Donald Coggan in 1978 as a forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation". Ordained ministry Like the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, the Anglican Communion maintains the threefold ministry of deacons, presbyters (usually called "priests"), and bishops. Episcopate Bishops, who possess the fullness of Christian priesthood, are the successors of the apostles. Primates, archbishops, and metropolitans are all bishops and members of the historical episcopate who derive their authority through apostolic succession – an unbroken line of bishops that can be traced back to the 12 apostles of Jesus. Priesthood Bishops are assisted by priests and deacons. Most ordained ministers in the Anglican Communion are priests, who usually work in parishes within a diocese. Priests are in charge of the spiritual life of parishes and are usually called the rector or vicar. A curate (or, more correctly, an "assistant curate") is a priest or deacon who assists the parish priest. Non-parochial priests may earn their living by any vocation, although employment by educational institutions or charitable organisations is most common. Priests also serve as chaplains of hospitals, schools, prisons, and in the armed forces. An archdeacon is a priest or deacon responsible for administration of an archdeaconry, which is often the name given to the principal subdivisions of a diocese. An archdeacon represents the diocesan bishop in his or her archdeaconry. In the Church of England, the position of archdeacon can only be held by someone in priestly orders who has been ordained for at least six years. In some other parts of the Anglican Communion, the position can also be held by deacons. In parts of the Anglican Communion where women cannot be ordained as priests or bishops but can be ordained as deacons, the position of archdeacon is effectively the most senior office to which an ordained woman can be appointed. A dean is a priest who is the principal cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish. However, in the Church of Ireland, the roles are often separated, and most cathedrals in the Church of England do not have associated parishes. In the Church in Wales, however, most cathedrals are parish churches and their deans are now also vicars of their parishes. The Anglican Communion recognises Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox ordinations as valid. Outside the Anglican Communion, Anglican ordinations (at least of male priests) are recognised by the Old Catholic Church, Porvoo Communion Lutherans, and various Independent Catholic churches. Diaconate In Anglican churches, deacons often work directly in ministry to the marginalised inside and outside the church: the poor, the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned. Unlike Orthodox and most Roman Catholic deacons who may be married only before ordination, deacons are permitted to marry freely both before and after ordination, as are priests. Most deacons are preparing for priesthood and usually only remain as deacons for about a year before being ordained priests. However, there are some deacons who remain so. Many provinces of the Anglican Communion ordain both men and women as deacons. Many of those provinces that ordain women to the priesthood previously allowed them to be ordained only to the diaconate. The effect of this was the creation of a large and overwhelmingly female diaconate for a time, as most men proceeded to be ordained priest after a short time as a deacon. Deacons, in some dioceses, can be granted licences to solemnise matrimony, usually under the instruction of their parish priest and bishop. They sometimes officiate at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in churches which have this service. Deacons are not permitted to preside at the Eucharist (but can lead worship with the distribution of already consecrated communion where this is permitted), absolve sins, or pronounce a blessing. It is the prohibition against deacons pronouncing blessings that leads some to believe that deacons cannot solemnise matrimony. Laity All baptised members of the church are called Christian faithful, truly equal in dignity and in the work to build the church. Some non-ordained people also have a formal public ministry, often on a full-time and long-term basis – such as lay readers (also known as readers), churchwardens, vergers, and sextons. Other lay positions include acolytes (male or female, often children), lay eucharistic ministers (also known as chalice bearers), and lay eucharistic visitors (who deliver consecrated bread and wine to "shut-ins" or members of the parish who are unable to leave home or hospital to attend the Eucharist). Lay people also serve on the parish altar guild (preparing the altar and caring for its candles, linens, flowers, etc.), in the choir and as cantors, as ushers and greeters, and on the church council (called the "vestry" in some countries), which is the governing body of a parish. Religious orders A small yet influential aspect of Anglicanism is its religious orders and communities. Shortly after the beginning of the Catholic Revival in the Church of England, there was a renewal of interest in re-establishing religious and monastic orders and communities. One of Henry VIII's earliest acts was their dissolution and seizure of their assets. In 1841, Marian Rebecca Hughes became the first woman to take the vows of religion in communion with the Province of Canterbury since the Reformation. In 1848, Priscilla Lydia Sellon became the superior of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity at Devonport, Plymouth, the first organised religious order. Sellon is called "the restorer, after three centuries, of the religious life in the Church of England". For the next one hundred years, religious orders for both men and women proliferated throughout the world, becoming a numerically small but disproportionately influential feature of global Anglicanism. Anglican religious life at one time boasted hundreds of orders and communities, and thousands of religious. An important aspect of Anglican religious life is that most communities of both men and women lived their lives consecrated to God under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience (or, in Benedictine communities, Stability, Conversion of Life, and Obedience) by practising a mixed life of reciting the full eight services of the Breviary in choir, along with a daily Eucharist, plus service to the poor. The mixed life, combining aspects of the contemplative orders and the active orders, remains to this day a hallmark of Anglican religious life. Another distinctive feature of Anglican religious life is the existence of some mixed-gender communities. Since the 1960s, there has been a sharp decline in the number of professed religious in most parts of the Anglican Communion, especially in North America, Europe, and Australia. Many once large and international communities have been reduced to a single convent or monastery with memberships of elderly men or women. In the last few decades of the 20th century, novices have for most communities been few and far between. Some orders and communities have already become extinct. There are, however, still thousands of Anglican religious working today in approximately 200 communities around the world, and religious life in many parts of the Communion – especially in developing nations – flourishes. The most significant growth has been in the Melanesian countries of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea. The Melanesian Brotherhood, founded at Tabalia, Guadalcanal, in 1925 by Ini Kopuria, is now the largest Anglican Community in the world, with over 450 brothers in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The Sisters of the Church, started by Mother Emily Ayckbowm in England in 1870, has more sisters in the Solomons than all their other communities. The Community of the Sisters of Melanesia, started in 1980 by Sister Nesta Tiboe, is a growing community of women throughout the Solomon Islands. The Society of Saint Francis, founded as a union of various Franciscan orders in the 1920s, has experienced great growth in the Solomon Islands. Other communities of religious have been started by Anglicans in Papua New Guinea and in Vanuatu. Most Melanesian Anglican religious are in their early to mid-20s – vows may be temporary and it is generally assumed that brothers, at least, will leave and marry in due course – making the average age 40 to 50 years younger than their brothers and sisters in other countries. Growth of religious orders, especially for women, is marked in certain parts of Africa. Worldwide distribution Anglicanism represents the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The number of Anglicans in the world is over 85 million . The 11 provinces in Africa saw growth in the last two decades. They now include 36.7 million members, more Anglicans than there are in England. England remains the largest single Anglican province, with 26 million members. In most industrialised countries, church attendance has decreased since the 19th century. Anglicanism's presence in the rest of the world is due to large-scale emigration, the establishment of expatriate communities, or the work of missionaries. The Church of England has been a church of missionaries since the 17th century, when the Church first left English shores with colonists who founded what would become the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, and established Anglican churches. For example, an Anglican chaplain, Robert Wolfall, with Martin Frobisher's Arctic expedition, celebrated the Eucharist in 1578 in Frobisher Bay. The first Anglican church in the Americas was built at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. By the 18th century, missionaries worked to establish Anglican churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The great Church of England missionary societies were founded; for example, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1698, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) in 1701, and the Church Mission Society (CMS) in 1799. The 19th century saw the founding and expansion of social-oriented evangelism with societies such as the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) in 1836, Mission to Seafarers in 1856, Girls' Friendly Society (GFS) in 1875, Mothers' Union in 1876, and Church Army in 1882, all carrying out a personal form of evangelism. The 20th century saw the Church of England developing new forms of evangelism such as the Alpha course in 1990, which was developed and propagated from Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London. In the 21st century, there has been renewed effort to reach children and youth. Fresh expressions is a Church of England missionary initiative to youth begun in 2005, and has ministries at a skate park through the efforts of St George's Church, Benfleet, Essex – Diocese of Chelmsford – or youth groups with evocative names, like the C.L.A.W (Christ Little Angels – Whatever!) youth group at Coventry Cathedral. And for the unchurched who do not actually wish to visit a brick and mortar church, there are Internet ministries such as the Diocese of Oxford's online Anglican i-Church, which appeared on the web in 2005. Ecumenism Anglican interest in ecumenical dialogue can be traced back to the time of the Reformation and dialogues with both Orthodox and Lutheran churches in the 16th century. In the 19th century, with the rise of the Oxford Movement, there arose greater concern for reunion of the churches of "Catholic confession". This desire to work towards full communion with other denominations led to the development of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, approved by the third Lambeth Conference of 1888. The four points (the sufficiency of scripture, the historic creeds, the two dominical sacraments, and the historic episcopate) were proposed as a basis for discussion, although they have frequently been taken as a non-negotiable bottom-line for any form of reunion. Theological diversity Anglicanism in general has always sought a balance between the emphases of Catholicism and Protestantism, while tolerating a range of expressions of evangelicalism and ceremony. Clergy and laity from all Anglican churchmanship traditions have been active in the formation of the Continuing movement. While there are high church, broad-church and low-church Continuing Anglicans, many Continuing churches are Anglo-Catholic with highly ceremonial liturgical practices. Others belong to a more evangelical or low-church tradition and tend to support the Thirty-nine Articles and simpler worship services. Morning Prayer, for instance, is often used instead of the Holy Eucharist for Sunday worship services, although this is not necessarily true of all low-church parishes. Most Continuing churches in the United States reject the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer by the Episcopal Church and use the 1928 version for their services instead. In addition, Anglo-Catholic bodies may use the Anglican Missal, Anglican Service Book or English Missal when celebrating Mass. Internal conflict A changing focus on social issues after the Second World War led to Lambeth Conference resolutions countenancing contraception and the remarriage of divorced persons. Eventually, most provinces approved the ordination of women. In more recent years, some jurisdictions have permitted the ordination of people in same-sex relationships and authorised rites for the blessing of same-sex unions (see Homosexuality and Anglicanism). "The more liberal provinces that are open to changing Church doctrine on marriage in order to allow for same-sex unions include Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, South India, South Africa, the US and Wales," while the more conservative provinces are primarily located in the Global South. The lack of social consensus among and within provinces of diverse cultural traditions has resulted in considerable conflict and even schism concerning some or all of these developments (see Anglican realignment). More conservative elements within and outside of Anglicanism (primarily African churches and factions within North American Anglicanism) have opposed these changes, while some liberal and moderate Anglicans see this opposition as representing a new fundamentalism within Anglicanism and "believe a split is inevitable and preferable to continued infighting and paralysis." Some Anglicans opposed to various liberalising changes, in particular the ordination of women, have become Roman Catholics or Orthodox. Others have, at various times, joined the Continuing Anglican movement or departed for non-Anglican evangelical churches. Continuum The term "Continuing Anglicanism" refers to a number of church bodies which have formed outside of the Anglican Communion in the belief that traditional forms of Anglican faith, worship, and order have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some Anglican Communion churches in recent decades. They therefore claim that they are "continuing" traditional Anglicanism. The modern Continuing Anglican movement principally dates to the Congress of St. Louis, held in the United States in 1977, where participants rejected changes that had been made in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer and also the Episcopal Church's approval of the ordination of women to the priesthood. More recent changes in the North American churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the introduction of same-sex marriage rites and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the priesthood and episcopate, have created further separations. Continuing churches have generally been formed by people who have left the Anglican Communion. The original Anglican churches are charged by the Continuing Anglicans with being greatly compromised by secular cultural standards and liberal theology. Many Continuing Anglicans believe that the faith of some churches in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury has become unorthodox and therefore have not sought to also be in communion with him. The original continuing parishes in the United States were found mainly in metropolitan areas. Since the late 1990s, a number have appeared in smaller communities, often as a result of a division in the town's existing Episcopal churches. The 2007–08 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes, published by the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, contained information on over 900 parishes affiliated with either the Continuing Anglican churches or the Anglican realignment movement, a more recent wave of Anglicans withdrawing from the Anglican Communion's North American provinces. Social activism A concern for social justice can be traced to very early Anglican beliefs, relating to an intertwined theology of God, nature, and humanity. The Anglican theologian Richard Hooker wrote in his book The Works of that Learned and Judicious Divine that "God hath created nothing simply for itself, but each thing in all things, and of every thing each part in other have such interest, that in the whole world nothing is found whereunto any thing created can say, 'I need thee not.'" Such statements demonstrate a theological Anglican interest in social activism, which has historically appeared in movements such as evangelical Anglican William Wilberforce's campaign against slavery in the 18th century, or 19th century issues concerning industrialisation. Working conditions and Christian socialism Lord Shaftesbury, a devout evangelical, campaigned to improve the conditions in factories, in mines, for chimney sweeps, and for the education of the very poor. For years, he was chairman of the Ragged School Board. Frederick Denison Maurice was a leading figure advocating reform, founding so-called "producer's co-operatives" and the Working Men's College. His work was instrumental in the establishment of the Christian socialist movement, although he himself was not in any real sense a socialist but "a Tory paternalist with the unusual desire to theories his acceptance of the traditional obligation to help the poor", influenced Anglo-Catholics such as Charles Gore, who wrote that "the principle of the incarnation is denied unless the Christian spirit can be allowed to concern itself with everything that interests and touches human life." Anglican focus on labour issues culminated in the work of William Temple in the 1930s and 1940s." Pacifism A question of whether or not Christianity is a pacifist religion has remained a matter of debate for Anglicans. The leading Anglican spokesman for pacifist ideas, from 1914 to 1945, was Ernest Barnes, bishop of Birmingham from 1924 to 1953. He opposed both world wars. In 1937, the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship emerged as a distinct reform organisation, seeking to make pacifism a clearly defined part of Anglican theology. The group rapidly gained popularity amongst Anglican intellectuals, including Vera Brittain, Evelyn Underhill, and the former British political leader George Lansbury. Furthermore, Dick Sheppard, who during the 1930s was one of Britain's most famous Anglican priests due to his landmark sermon broadcasts for BBC Radio, founded the Peace Pledge Union, a secular pacifist organisation for the non-religious that gained considerable support throughout the 1930s. Whilst never actively endorsed by Anglican churches, many Anglicans unofficially have adopted the Augustinian "Just War" doctrine. The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship remains highly active throughout the Anglican world. It rejects this doctrine of "just war" and seeks to reform the Church by reintroducing the pacifism inherent in the beliefs of many of the earliest Christians and present in their interpretation of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. The principles of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship are often formulated as a statement of belief that "Jesus' teaching is incompatible with the waging of war ... that a Christian church should never support or justify war ... [and] that our Christian witness should include opposing the waging or justifying of war." Confusing the matter was that the 37th Article of Religion in the Book of Common Prayer states that "it is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars." Therefore, the Lambeth Council in the modern era has sought to provide a clearer position by repudiating modern war and developed a statement that has been affirmed at each subsequent meeting of the council. This statement was strongly reasserted when "the 67th General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirms the statement made by the Anglican Bishops assembled at Lambeth in 1978 and adopted by the 66th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1979, calling "Christian people everywhere ... to engage themselves in non-violent action for justice and peace and to support others so engaged, recognising that such action will be controversial and may be personally very costly... this General Convention, in obedience to this call, urges all members of this Church to support by prayer and by such other means as they deem appropriate, those who engaged in such non-violent action, and particularly those who suffer for conscience' sake as a result; and be it further Resolved, that this General Convention calls upon all members of this Church seriously to consider the implications for their own lives of this call to resist war and work for peace for their own lives." After World War II The focus on other social issues became increasingly diffuse after the Second World War. On the one hand, the growing independence and strength of Anglican churches in the Global South brought new emphasis to issues of global poverty, the inequitable distribution of resources, and the lingering effects of colonialism. In this regard, figures such as Desmond Tutu and Ted Scott were instrumental in mobilising Anglicans worldwide against the apartheid policies of South Africa. Rapid social change in the industrialised world during the 20th century compelled the church to examine issues of gender, sexuality, and marriage. Ordinariates within the Roman Catholic Church On 4 November 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued an apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, to allow groups of former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church as members of personal ordinariates. 20 October 2009 announcement of the imminent constitution mentioned: Pope Benedict XVI approved, within the apostolic constitution, a canonical structure that provides for personal ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony. For each personal ordinariate, the ordinary may be a former Anglican bishop or priest. It was expected that provision would be made to allow the retention of aspects of Anglican liturgy. Notes References Citations Sources Further reading Buchanan, Colin. Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism (2nd ed. 2015) excerpt External links Anglican Communion website What it means to be an Anglican article Anglican History website Anglicans Online website Online Anglican resources Protestant denominations established in the 16th century Christian denominations founded in Great Britain

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguilla

Anguilla

Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla, approximately long by wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The territory's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is , with a population of approximately (). Etymology The native Arawak name for the island was Malliouhana. In reference to the island's shape, the Italian , meaning "eel" (in turn, from the Latin diminutive of anguis, "snake") was used as its name. Christopher Columbus is held in Anguillan tradition to have named the island. History Anguilla was first settled by Indigenous Amerindian peoples who migrated from South America. The earliest Native American artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC; remains of settlements date from AD 600. There are two known petroglyph sites in Anguilla: Big Spring and Fountain Cavern. The rock ledges of Big Spring contain over 100 petroglyphs (dating back to AD 600–1200), the majority consisting of three indentations that form faces. Precisely when Anguilla was first seen by Europeans is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island during his second voyage in 1493, while others state that the first European explorer was the French Huguenot nobleman and merchant René Goulaine de Laudonnière in 1564. The Dutch West India Company established a fort on the island in 1631. However, the Company later withdrew after its fort was destroyed by the Spanish in 1633. Traditional accounts state that Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts beginning in 1650. The settlers focused on planting tobacco, and to a lesser extent cotton. The French temporarily took over the island in 1666 but returned it to English control under the terms of the Treaty of Breda the next year. Major John Scott who visited in September 1667, wrote of leaving the island "in good condition" and noted that in July 1668, "200 or 300 people fled thither in time of war". The French attacked again in 1688, 1745 and 1798, causing much destruction but failing to capture the island. The Indigenous Amerindian population was almost entirely gone within decades of European contact, with disease and enslavement as contributing factors. It is likely that the early European settlers brought enslaved Africans with them. Historians confirm that African slaves lived in the region in the early 17th century, such as slaves from Senegal living on St Kitts in the mid-1600s. By 1672 a slave depot existed on the island of Nevis, serving the Leeward Islands. While the time of African arrival in Anguilla is difficult to place precisely, archival evidence indicates a substantial African presence of at least 100 enslaved people by 1683; these seem to have come from Central Africa as well as West Africa. The slaves were forced to work on the sugar plantations which had begun to replace tobacco as Anguilla's main crop. Over time the African slaves and their descendants came to vastly outnumber the white settlers. The African slave trade was eventually terminated within the British Empire in 1807, and slavery was outlawed completely in 1834. Many planters subsequently sold up or left the island. During the early colonial period, Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua; in 1825, it was placed under the administrative control of nearby Saint Kitts. Anguilla was federated with St Kitts and Nevis in 1882, against the wishes of many Anguillans. Economic stagnation, and the severe effects of several droughts in the 1890s and later the Great Depression of the 1930s led many Anguillans to emigrate for better prospects elsewhere. Full adult suffrage was introduced to Anguilla in 1952. After a brief period as part of the West Indies Federation (1958–1962), the island of Anguilla became part of the associated state of Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla with full internal autonomy in 1967. However many Anguillans had no wish to be a part of this union, and resented the dominance of St Kitts within it. On 30 May 1967 Anguillans forcibly ejected the St Kitts police force from the island and declared their separation from St Kitts following a referendum. The events, led by Atlin Harrigan and Ronald Webster among others, became known as the Anguillan Revolution; its goal was not independence per se, but rather independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis and a return to being a British colony. With negotiations failing to break the deadlock, a second referendum confirming Anguillans' desire for separation from St Kitts was held and the Republic of Anguilla was declared unilaterally, with Ronald Webster as president. Efforts by British envoy William Whitlock failed to break the impasse and 300 British troops were subsequently sent in March 1969. British authority was restored, and confirmed by the Anguilla Act of July 1971. In 1980, Anguilla was finally allowed to formally secede from Saint Kitts and Nevis and become a separate British Crown colony (now a British overseas territory). Since then, Anguilla has been politically stable, and has seen a large growth in its tourism and offshore financing sectors. Geography and geology Anguilla is a flat, low-lying island of coral and limestone in the Caribbean Sea, measuring some 16 miles (26 km) long and 3.5 miles (6 km) in width. It lies to the east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin, separated from that island by the Anguilla Channel. The soil is generally thin and poor, supporting scrub, tropical and forest vegetation. The terrain is generally low-lying, with the highest terrain located in the vicinity of The Valley; Crocus Hill, Anguilla's highest peak at , lies in the western regions of the town. Anguilla is noted for its ecologically important coral reefs and beaches. Apart from the main island of Anguilla itself, the territory includes a number of other smaller islands and cays, mostly tiny and uninhabited: Anguillita Blowing Rock Dog Island Little Scrub Island Prickly Pear Cays Scrub Island Seal Island Sombrero, also known as Hat Island Sandy Island Scilly Cay Geology Anguilla (and the wider Anguilla Bank) is of volcanic origin, lying on the Lesser Antilles volcanic island arc, and tuffs and volcaniclastic breccias of Eocene age are exposed locally on the island. The island was largely submerged during the Miocene, leading to the formation of the reefal limestone Anguilla Formation, which was subsequently tectonically uplifted and covers most of the island today. Since the late Pleistocene, however, Anguilla has undergone tectonic subsidence at a rate of around 1-2mm/yr. Climate Temperature Northeastern trade winds keep this tropical island relatively cool and dry. Average annual temperature is . July–October is its hottest period, December–February, its coolest. Rainfall Rainfall averages annually, although the figures vary from season to season and year to year. The island is subject to both sudden tropical storms and hurricanes, which occur in the period from July to November. The island suffered damage in 1995 from Hurricane Luis and severe flooding from Hurricane Lenny in 1999. Governance Political system Anguilla is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Its politics take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. A governor is appointed by the British government to represent the king. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Anguilla on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The territory's constitution is the Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982 (amended 1990). Executive power is exercised by the government, with legislative power being vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Defence As a British overseas territory, the UK is responsible for Anguilla's military defence, although there are no active garrisons or armed forces present in the territory. Since 2020, the Royal Navy has forward-deployed the offshore patrol vessel HMS Medway long-term to the Caribbean for patrol and sovereignty protection duties. In October 2023, the destroyer HMS Dauntless (which had temporarily replaced Medway on her normal Caribbean tasking), visited the territory in order to assist local authorities in preparing for the climax of the hurricane season. Anguilla had a small marine police force, comprising around 32 personnel, which operated one VT Halmatic M160-class 52-foot fast patrol boat. Policing on the island is the responsibility of the Royal Anguilla Police Force. Population Demographics The majority of residents (90.08%) are black, most of whom are the descendants of enslaved people transported from Africa. Minorities include whites at 3.74% and people of mixed race at 4.65% (figures from 2001 census). 72% of the population is Anguillan while 28% is non-Anguillan (2001 census). Of the non-Anguillan population, many are citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, St Kitts & Nevis, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Nigeria. 2006 and 2007 saw an influx of large numbers of Chinese, Indian and Mexican workers, brought in as labour for major tourist developments due to the local population not being large enough to support the labour requirements. Religion Christian churches did not have a consistent or strong presence during the initial period of English colonisation; spiritual and religious practices of Europeans and Africans tended to reflect their regional origins. As early as 1813, Christian ministers formally ministered to enslaved Africans and promoted literacy among converts. The Wesleyan (Methodist) Missionary Society of England built churches and schools from 1817. According to the 2001 census, Christianity is Anguilla's predominant religion, with 29% of the population practising Anglicanism; another 23.9% are Methodist. Other churches on the island include Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Roman Catholic (served by the Diocese of Saint John's–Basseterre, with the See at Saint John on Antigua and Barbuda) and a small community of Jehovah's Witnesses (0.7%). Between 1992 and 2001, the number of followers of the Church of God and Pentecostals increased considerably. There are at least 15 churches on the island. Although a minority on the island, Anguilla is an important location to followers of Rastafarian religion as the birthplace of Robert Athlyi Rogers, author of the Holy Piby which had a strong influence on Rastafarian and other Africa-centre belief systems. More recently, a Muslim cultural centre has opened on the island. Languages Today most people in Anguilla speak a British-influenced variety of standard English. Other languages are also spoken on the island, including varieties of Spanish, Chinese and the languages of other immigrant communities. However, the most common language other than Standard English is the island's own English-lexifier Creole language (not to be confused with Antillean Creole ('French Creole'), spoken in French islands such as Martinique and Guadeloupe). It is referred to locally by terms such as "dialect" (pronounced "dialek"), Anguilla Talk or "Anguillian". It has its main roots in early varieties of English and West African languages, and is similar to the dialects spoken in English-speaking islands throughout the Eastern Caribbean in terms of its structural features. Linguists who are interested in the origins of Anguillan and other Caribbean Creoles point out that some of its grammatical features can be traced to African languages while others can be traced to European languages. Three areas have been identified as significant for the identification of the linguistic origins of those forced migrants who arrived before 1710: the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast and the Windward Coast. Sociohistorical information from Anguilla's archives suggest that Africans and Europeans formed two distinct, but perhaps overlapping speech communities in the early phases of the island's colonisation. "Anguillian" is believed to have emerged as the language of the masses as time passed, slavery was abolished and locals began to see themselves as "belonging" to Anguillan society. Education There are six government primary schools, one government secondary school (Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School), and two private schools. There is a single library, the Edison L. Hughes Education & Library Complex of the Anguilla Public Library. A branch of the Saint James School of Medicine was established in 2011 in Anguilla. It is a private, for-profit medical school headquartered in Park Ridge, Illinois. There is a University of the West Indies Open campus site in the island. Culture The island's cultural history begins with the native Taino, Arawak and Carib. Their artifacts have been found around the island, telling of life before European settlers arrived. Anguillan culture has also been built through immigration. Many European families have moved to the island and have impacted the formalities of the Anguillan people. Restaurants such as Dolce Vita and Roy's Bayside Grill, located in Meads Bay, represent the European culture assimilating within the island. Similar to nearby islands, Anguillans geography and location require a cultural reliance on the ocean. The island's abundance of sea life has led to the incorporation of many fish and crustacean into daily life. They have become a part of the local cuisine, opened up opportunities for ecotourism, and introduced celebrations such as Lobster Fest and boat races. As throughout the Caribbean, holidays are a cultural fixture. Anguilla's most important holidays are of historic as much as cultural importance – particularly the anniversary of the emancipation (previously August Monday in the Park), celebrated as the Summer Festival, or Carnival, the sailboat races, and Lobster Fest. British festivities, such as the King's Birthday, are also celebrated. Music in Anguilla presents itself as an important part of its culture as well. All different genres of music are played at the celebrations mentioned above. This music represents the deep history of talent that Anguillans have displayed for decades. The Anguilla National Trust (ANT) was established in 1989 and opened its current office in 1991 charged with the responsibility of preserving the heritage of the island, including its cultural heritage. Cuisine Anguillan cuisine is influenced by native Caribbean, West African, Spanish, French, and English cuisines. Seafood is abundant, including prawns, shrimp, crab, spiny lobster, conch, mahi-mahi, red snapper, marlin, and grouper. Salt cod is a staple food eaten on its own and used in stews, casseroles and soups. Livestock is limited due to the small size of the island and people there use poultry, pork, goat, and mutton, along with imported beef. Goat is the most commonly eaten meat, used in a variety of dishes. The official national food of Anguilla is pigeon peas and rice. A significant amount of the island's produce is imported due to limited land suitable for agriculture production; much of the soil is sandy and infertile. The agriculture produce of Anguilla includes tomatoes, peppers, limes and other citrus fruits, onion, garlic, squash, pigeon peas, and callaloo. Starch staple foods include imported rice and other foods that are imported or locally grown, including yams, sweet potatoes and breadfruit. Literature The Anguilla National Trust has programmes encouraging Anguillan writers and the preservation of the island's history. In 2015, Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in Anguilla A New Anthology by Lasana M. Sekou was published by House of Nehesi Publishers. Among the forty three poets in the collection are Rita Celestine-Carty, Bankie Banx, John T. Harrigan, Patricia J. Adams, Fabian Fahie, Dr. Oluwakemi Linda Banks, and Reuel Ben Lewi. Music Various Caribbean musical genres are popular on the island, such as soca and calypso, but reggae most deeply roots itself in Anguillan society. Anguilla has produced many artists and groups in this genre. Reggae has shown itself to be the most popular genre in Anguilla. The most successful of reggae artists originating in Anguilla come from the Banks family. Bankie "Banx" and his son Omari Banks have had many chart-topping songs listened to around the world. The two musicians continue to provide live performances across the island quite often. British Dependency has also gained popularity throughout the 21st century. The band, who began in Anguilla, boasts the island's first female bass player. Performing alongside The Wailers on tour, British Dependency have earned attention from an American audience. One of many musical events that take place in Anguilla is Moonsplash. Moonsplash is an annual reggae music festival that has occurred in Anguilla for 33 consecutive years and proves to be the oldest independent musical event in the Caribbean. Along with its longstanding history, it is the largest festival annually alongside carnival. While not many soca and calypso artists have gained extreme popularity, the genres are still widely listened to across the island. Sports Boat racing has deep roots in Anguillan culture and is the national sport. There are regular sailing regattas on national holidays, such as Carnival, which are contested by locally built and designed boats. These boats have names and have sponsors that print their logo on their sails. As in many other former British colonies, cricket is also a popular sport. Anguilla is the home of Omari Banks, who played for the West Indies Cricket Team, while Cardigan Connor played first-class cricket for English county side Hampshire and was 'chef de mission' (team manager) for Anguilla's Commonwealth Games team in 2002. Other noted players include Chesney Hughes, who played for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in England. Rugby union is represented in Anguilla by the Anguilla Eels RFC, who were formed in April 2006. The Eels have been finalists in the St. Martin tournament in November 2006 and semi-finalists in 2007, 2008, 2009 and Champions in 2010. The Eels were formed in 2006 by Scottish club national second row Martin Welsh, Club Sponsor and President of the AERFC Ms. Jacquie Ruan, and Canadian standout Scrumhalf Mark Harris (Toronto Scottish RFC). Anguilla is the birthplace of sprinter Zharnel Hughes who has represented Great Britain since 2015, and England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He won the 100 metres at the 2018 European Athletics Championships, the 4 x 100 metres at the same championships, and the 4 x 100 metres for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He also won a relay team gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and a silver on the relay for Great Britain at the 2020 Olympic Games. In 2023 he broke the British record for the 100m sprint, with a time of 9.83 seconds. Shara Proctor, British Long Jump Silver Medalist at the World Championships in Beijing, first represented Anguilla in the event until 2010 when she began to represent Great Britain and England. Under the Anguillan Flag she achieved several medals in the NACAC games. Keith Connor, triple jumper, is also an Anguillan. He represented Great Britain and England and achieved several international titles including Commonwealth and European Games gold medals and an Olympic bronze medal. Keith later became Head Coach of Australia Athletics. Natural history Wildlife Anguilla has habitat for the Cuban tree frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis). The red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria) is a species of tortoise found here, which originally came from South America. Hurricanes in the mid-90s led to over-water dispersal of the green iguanas (Iguana iguana) to Anguilla. All three animals are introductions. Five species of bats are known in the literature from Anguilla – the threatened insular single leaf bat (Monophyllus plethodon), the Antillean fruit-eating bat (Brachyphylla cavernarum), the Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), the Mexican funnel-eared bat (Natalus stramineus), and the velvety free-tailed bat (Molossus molossus). Notable people Zharnel Hughes (born 1995), sprinter Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers (born 1993), politician, model and Miss Universe Great Britain 2018 Carlos Newton (born 1976), former UFC Welterweight Champion Shara Proctor (born 1988), long jump athlete Economy Anguilla's thin arid soil being largely unsuitable for agriculture, the island has few land-based natural resources. Its main industries are tourism, offshore incorporation and management, offshore banking, captive insurance and fishing. Anguilla's currency is the East Caribbean dollar, though the US dollar is also widely accepted. The exchange rate is fixed to the US dollar at US$1 = EC$2.70. The economy, and especially the tourism sector, suffered a setback in late 1995 due to the effects of Hurricane Luis in September. Hotels were hit particularly hard but a recovery occurred the following year. Another economic setback occurred during the aftermath of Hurricane Lenny in 2000. Before the 2008 worldwide crisis, the economy of Anguilla was growing strongly, especially the tourism sector, which was driving major new developments in partnerships with multi-national companies. Anguilla's tourism industry received a major boost when it was selected to host the World Travel Awards in December 2014. Known as "the Oscars of the travel industry", the awards ceremony was held at the CuisinArt Resort and Spa and was hosted by Vivica A. Fox. Anguilla was voted the World's Leading Luxury Island Destination from a short list of top-tier candidates such as St. Barts, the Maldives, and Mauritius. Anguilla's financial system comprises seven banks, two money services businesses, more than 40 company managers, more than 50 insurers, 12 brokers, more than 250 captive intermediaries, more than 50 mutual funds, and eight trust companies. Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having no capital gains, estate, profit, sales, or corporate taxes. In April 2011, faced with a mounting deficit, it introduced a 3% "Interim Stabilisation Levy", Anguilla's first form of income tax. Anguilla also has a 0.75% property tax. Anguilla aims to obtain 15% of its energy from solar power to become less reliant on expensive imported diesel. The Climate & Development Knowledge Network is helping the government gather the information it needs to change the territory's legislation, so that it can integrate renewables into its grid. Barbados has also made good progress in switching to renewables, but many other Small Island Developing States are still at the early stages of planning how to integrate renewable energy into their grids. "For a small island we're very far ahead," said Beth Barry, Coordinator of the Anguilla Renewable Energy Office. "We've got an Energy Policy and a draft Climate Change policy and have been focusing efforts on the question of sustainable energy supply for several years now. As a result, we have a lot of information we can share with other islands." According to a Bloomberg report, due to a skyrocketing interest in artificial intelligence, Anguilla was expected to profit in 2023 from a surge in demand for web addresses ending with the country's top-level domain .ai. The total number of registrations of .ai domain names had already doubled in 2022, and according to Vince Cate, who has managed the top-level domain, Anguilla will bring in as much as $30 million in domain-registration fees for 2023. Transportation Air Anguilla is served by Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (prior to 4 July 2010 known as Wallblake Airport). The primary runway at the airport is in length and can accommodate moderate-sized aircraft. Regional scheduled passenger services connect to various other Caribbean islands via local airlines. In December 2021 Anguilla inaugurated its first ever international regular commercial jet service flight to and from the mainland U.S. American Eagle operating on behalf of American Airlines began nonstop Embraer 175 regional jet service to Anguilla from Miami in an aviation watershed moment for Anguilla with the airport also currently attempting to attract other international air carriers. Other airlines currently serving the airport include Tradewind Aviation and Cape Air which provide scheduled air service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Several other small airlines serve the airport as well. The airport can handle large narrow-body jets such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 and has growing private jet service flights with a new private jet terminal being built. Road Aside from taxis, there is no public transport on the island. Cars drive on the left. Boat There are regular ferries from Saint Martin to Anguilla. It is a 20-minute crossing from Marigot, St. Martin to Blowing Point, Anguilla. Ferries commence service from 7:00 am. There is also a charter service, from Blowing Point, Anguilla to Princess Juliana Airport to make travel easier. This way of travel is the most common method of transport between Anguilla and St. Martin. See also Bibliography of Anguilla Outline of Anguilla Index of Anguilla-related articles References Further reading . . Harris, David R. - Plants, Animals and Man in the Outer Leeward Islands, West Indies. An Ecological Study of Antigua, Barbuda, and Anguilla. External links Government Government of Anguilla—Official government website General information Anguilla. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Anguilla from UCB Libraries GovPubs battle for freedom -- youtube video compilation archived at Ghostarchive.org on 18 May 2022 Dependent territories in the Caribbean .Anguilla Leeward Islands (Caribbean) English-speaking countries and territories Island countries Former English colonies British Leeward Islands British West Indies Member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States States and territories established in 1980 Small Island Developing States 1650 establishments in the British Empire 1650 establishments in North America 1650s establishments in the Caribbean States and territories established in 1650

1227

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmore%20and%20Cartier%20Islands

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australian external territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), as well as the territorial sea generated by the islands. The territory is located in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of the continental shelf, about off the northwest coast of Australia and south of the Indonesian island of Rote. Ashmore Reef is called Pulau Pasir by Indonesians and Nusa Solokaek in the Rotenese language. Both names have the meaning "sand island". Geography The territory comprises Ashmore Reef, which includes West, Middle and East Islands, in addition to two lagoons, as well as Cartier Reef, which includes Cartier Island. Ashmore Reef covers approximately and Cartier Reef , both measurements extending to the limits of the reefs. West, Middle and East Islands have a combined land area variously reported as , and . Cartier Island has a reported land area of . History According to Australian literature, Cartier Island was visited by Captain Nash in 1800, and named after his ship Cartier. Ashmore Island was seen by Captain Samuel Ashmore in 1811 from his ship Hibernia and named after him. Ashmore Island was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1878, as was Cartier Island in 1909. After their annexation, the British Government occasionally granted licences on the islands for fishing or guano extraction. In the 1920s, the islands were used as a base for poachers targeting the Western Australian pearling industry. The lack of effective policing led to Australian lobbying for a transfer of control. A British order-in-council dated 23 July 1931 stated that Ashmore and Cartier Islands would be placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia when Australia passed legislation to accept them, and formal administration began two years later. The Commonwealth's resulting Ashmore and Cartier Islands Acceptance Act 1933 came into operation on 10 May 1934, when the islands formally became a territory. The act authorised the Governor of Western Australia to make ordinances for the territory. In July 1938 the territory was annexed to the Northern Territory, then also administered by the Commonwealth, whose laws, ordinances and regulations applied to the Northern Territory. When self-government was granted to the Northern Territory on 1 July 1978, administration of Ashmore and Cartier Islands was retained by the Commonwealth. In 1983, the territory was declared a nature reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, now replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Cartier Island, which was a former bombing range, became a marine reserve in 2000. After the islands became a first point of contact with the Australian migration zone, in September 2001, the Australian Government excised the Ashmore and Cartier Islands from the Australian migration zone. Indonesian heritage and memorandum Ashmore has been regularly visited and fished by Indonesian fishermen since the early eighteenth century. A 1974 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Australia and Indonesia sets out arrangements by which traditional fishers can access resources in Australia's territorial sea in the region. This allows traditional Indonesian fishermen to access parts of Ashmore for shelter, freshwater and to visit grave sites. The area, known as the MOU Box, contains the Ashmore and Cartier Islands Territory. Governance Today, the territory is administered from Canberra by the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, which is also responsible for the administration of the territories of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island. The Attorney-General's Department had been responsible for the administration of Australian territories until the 2010 federal election. In that year the responsibility for Australian territories was transferred to the then Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport, and from 18 September 2013 the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development has administered Australian territories. Defence of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is the responsibility of Australia, with periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and the Australia Border Force. Nearby Hibernia Reef, northeast of Ashmore Reef, is not part of the Territory, but belongs to Western Australia. It has no permanently dry land area, although large parts of the reef become exposed during low tide. Proposed Northern Territory annexation The Northern Territory government has claimed on multiple occasions (1989, 1996) that the Ashmore and Cartier Islands should be returned to their jurisdiction, instead of remaining a separate territory. The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended in a 1991 report that the Northern Territory annex the islands. In 1998, John Howard's Coalition debated the issue in the leadup to the 1998 Northern Territory statehood referendum, and stated in a campaign release that it would "pursue incorporation of the Ashmore & Cartier Islands into the Northern Territory before or at the time of Statehood". However, these efforts did not lead to any changes. Environment and protection The Ashmore Reef Marine Park and Cartier Island Marine Park are both classed as strict nature reserves (IUCN Ia) and protect biodiverse areas of significant and international importance, as well as cultural heritage. Cartier Island is an unvegetated sand island, with access prohibited because of the risk of unexploded ordnances. There are no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorage. Today, all the wells in the Territory are infected with cholera or contaminated and undrinkable. The Australian Border Force vessel is stationed off the reef for up to 300 days per year. The islands are also visited by seasonal caretakers and occasional scientific researchers. Economy The area around the Ashmore and Cartier Islands has been a traditional fishing ground of Indonesian fishermen for centuries, and continues. In the 1850s, American whalers operated in the region. Outside of fishing, the islands were historically used as sources of guano, beche-de-mer, trochus and tortoiseshell. Mining of phosphate deposits took place on Ashmore Island in the latter half of the 19th century. Petroleum extraction activities take place at the Jabiru and Challis oil fields, which are adjacent to the Territory, and which are administered by the Northern Territory's Department of Mines and Energy on behalf of the Commonwealth. Migration As Ashmore Reef is the closest point of Australian territory to Indonesia, it was a popular target for people smugglers transporting asylum seekers en route to Australia. Once they had landed on Ashmore Island, asylum seekers could claim to have entered Australian migration zone and request to be processed as refugees. The use of Ashmore Island for this purpose created great notoriety during late 2001, when refugee arrivals became a major political issue in Australia. The Australian Government argued that as Australia was not the country of first asylum for these "boat people", Australia did not have a responsibility to accept them. A number of things were done to discourage the use of the Territory for this purpose, such as attempting to have the people smugglers arrested in Indonesia; the so-called Pacific Solution of processing them in third countries; the boarding and forced turnaround of the boats by Australian military forces; and finally excising the Territory and many other small islands from the Australian migration zone. Two boatloads of asylum seekers were each detained for several days in the lagoon at Ashmore Island after failed attempts by the Royal Australian Navy to turn them back to Indonesia in October 2001. See also Immigration detention in Australia SIEV 36 References External links Ashmore and Cartier Islands. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Geoscience Australia—Ashmore and Cartier Islands Department of the Environment and Heritage—Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve Department of the Environment and Heritage—Cartier Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve First on list of Australian islands "Ashmore Reef Belongs to Indonesia," posted on East Timor Action Network. "Ashmore Islands are member of ARABOSAI" Ramsar sites in Australia Important Bird Areas of Australian External Territories Immigration to Australia Territorial disputes of Australia Territorial disputes of Indonesia Former British protectorates Ashmore Reef

1254

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%201

August 1

Events Pre-1600 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis. 527 – Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. 607 – Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607). 902 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily. 1203 – Isaac II Angelos, restored Byzantine Emperor, declares his son Alexios IV Angelos co-emperor after pressure from the forces of the Fourth Crusade. 1291 – The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter. 1469 – Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise. 1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela. 1571 – The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded, by the surrender of Famagusta. 1601–1900 1620 – Speedwell leaves Delfshaven to bring pilgrims to America by way of England. 1664 – Ottoman forces are defeated in the battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár. 1714 – George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain, marking the beginning of the Georgian era of British history. 1759 – Seven Years' War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments. 1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. 1798 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay): Battle begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action. 1800 – The Acts of Union 1800 are passed which merge the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1801 – First Barbary War: The American schooner captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya. 1834 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force, although it remains legal in the possessions of the East India Company until the passage of the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. 1834 – Construction begins on the Wilberforce Monument in Kingston Upon Hull. 1842 – The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. 1849 – Joven Daniel wrecks at the coast of Araucanía, Chile, leading to allegations that local Mapuche tribes murdered survivors and kidnapped Elisa Bravo. 1855 – The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps. 1863 – At the suggestion of Senator J. V. Snellman and the order of Emperor Alexander II, full rights were promised to the Finnish language by a language regulation in the Grand Duchy of Finland. 1876 – Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state. 1893 – Henry Perky patents shredded wheat. 1894 – The Empire of Japan and Qing China declare war on each other after a week of fighting over Korea, formally inaugurating the First Sino-Japanese War. 1901–present 1907 – The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement. 1911 – Harriet Quimby takes her pilot's test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate. 1915 – Patrick Pearse gives his famous speech "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in Dublin. 1914 – The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire at the opening of World War I. The Swiss Army mobilizes because of World War I. 1927 – The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. 1933 – Anti-Fascist activists Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff and August Lütgens are executed by the Nazi regime in Altona. 1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. 1937 – Josip Broz Tito reads the resolution "Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH" to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor. 1943 – World War II: Operation Tidal Wave also known as "Black Sunday", was a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields. 1944 – World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland. 1946 – Leaders of the Russian Liberation Army, a force of Russian prisoners of war that collaborated with Nazi Germany, are executed in Moscow, Soviet Union for treason. 1950 – Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act. 1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). 1960 – Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France. 1960 – Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan. 1961 – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization. 1964 – The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 1965 – Frank Herbert's novel, Dune was published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003. 1966 – Charles Whitman kills 16 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police. 1966 – Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. 1968 – The coronation of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, is held. 1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 1974 – Cyprus dispute: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UNFICYP to create the "Green Line", dividing Cyprus into two zones. 1976 – Niki Lauda has a severe accident that almost claims his life at the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring. 1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state. 1980 – A train crash kills 18 people in County Cork, Ireland. 1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. 1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England. 1988 – A British soldier was killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England. 1993 – The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 comes to a peak. 2004 – A supermarket fire kills 396 people and injures 500 others in Asunción, Paraguay. 2007 – The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145. 2008 – The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world. 2008 – Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering. 2017 – A suicide attack on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan kills 20 people. 2023 – Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023. Births Pre-1600 10 BC – Claudius, Roman emperor (d. 54) 126 – Pertinax, Roman emperor (d. 193) 845 – Sugawara no Michizane, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 903) 992 – Hyeonjong of Goryeo, Korean king (d. 1031) 1068 – Emperor Taizu of Jin, Chinese emperor (d. 1123) 1313 – Kōgon, Japanese emperor (d. 1364) 1377 – Go-Komatsu, Japanese emperor (d. 1433) 1385 – John FitzAlan, 13th Earl of Arundel (d. 1421) 1410 – John IV, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count (d. 1475) 1492 – Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, German prince (d. 1566) 1520 – Sigismund II, Polish king (d. 1572) 1545 – Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and scholar (d. 1622) 1555 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (d. 1597) 1579 – Luis Vélez de Guevara, Spanish author and playwright (d. 1644) 1601–1900 1626 – Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi and theorist (d. 1676) 1630 – Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (d. 1673) 1659 – Sebastiano Ricci, Italian painter (d. 1734) 1713 – Charles I, German duke and prince (d. 1780) 1714 – Richard Wilson, Welsh painter and academic (d. 1782) 1738 – Jacques François Dugommier, French general (d. 1794) 1744 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier, biologist, and academic (d. 1829) 1770 – William Clark, American soldier, explorer, and politician, 4th Governor of Missouri Territory (d. 1838) 1779 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1843) 1779 – Lorenz Oken, German-Swiss botanist, biologist, and ornithologist (d. 1851) 1809 – William B. Travis, American colonel and lawyer (d. 1836) 1815 – Richard Henry Dana Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1882) 1818 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1889) 1819 – Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1891) 1831 – Antonio Cotogni, Italian opera singer and educator (d. 1918) 1843 – Robert Todd Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 35th United States Secretary of War (d. 1926) 1856 – George Coulthard, Australian footballer and cricketer (d. 1883) 1858 – Gaston Doumergue, French lawyer and politician, 13th President of France (d. 1937) 1858 – Hans Rott, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1884) 1860 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (d. 1918) 1861 – Sammy Jones, Australian cricketer (d. 1951) 1865 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (d. 1917) 1871 – John Lester, American cricketer and soccer player (d. 1969) 1877 – George Hackenschmidt, Estonian-English wrestler and strongman (d. 1968) 1878 – Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, Greek physician and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1961) 1881 – Otto Toeplitz, German mathematician and academic (d. 1940) 1885 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966) 1889 – Walter Gerlach, German physicist and academic (d. 1979) 1891 – Karl Kobelt, Swiss lawyer and politician, 52nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1968) 1893 – Alexander of Greece (d. 1920) 1894 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (d. 1927) 1898 – Morris Stoloff, American composer and musical director (d. 1980) 1899 – Raymond Mays, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1980) 1900 – Otto Nothling, Australian cricketer and rugby player (d. 1965) 1901–present 1901 – Francisco Guilledo, Filipino boxer (d. 1925) 1903 – Paul Horgan, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1995) 1905 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, American-Canadian astronomer and academic (d. 1993) 1907 – Eric Shipton, Sri Lankan-English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977) 1910 – James Henry Govier, English painter and illustrator (d. 1974) 1910 – Walter Scharf, American pianist and composer (d. 2003) 1910 – Gerda Taro, German war photographer (d. 1937) 1911 – Jackie Ormes, American journalist and cartoonist (d. 1985) 1912 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1979) 1912 – Gego, German-Venezuelan sculptor and academic (d. 1994) 1912 – Henry Jones, American actor (d. 1999) 1914 – Jack Delano, American photographer and composer (d. 1997) 1914 – Alan Moore, Australian painter and educator (d. 2015) 1914 – J. Lee Thompson, English-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002) 1916 – Fiorenzo Angelini, Italian cardinal (d. 2014) 1916 – Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet (d. 2000) 1918 – T. J. Jemison, American minister and activist (d. 2013) 1919 – Stanley Middleton, English author (d. 2009) 1920 – Raul Renter, Estonian economist and chess player (d. 1992) 1920 – James Mourilyan Tanner, British paediatric endocrinologist (d. 2010) 1921 – Jack Kramer, American tennis player, sailor, and sportscaster (d. 2009) 1921 – Pat McDonald, Australian actress (d. 1990) 1922 – Arthur Hill, Canadian-American actor (d. 2006) 1924 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (d. 2015) 1924 – Frank Havens, American canoeist (d. 2018) 1924 – Marcia Mae Jones, American actress and singer (d. 2007) 1924 – Frank Worrell, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1967) 1925 – Ernst Jandl, Austrian poet and author (d. 2000) 1926 – George Hauptfuhrer, American basketball player and lawyer (d. 2013) 1926 – Hannah Hauxwell, English TV personality (d. 2018) 1926 – George Habash, Palestinian politician, founder of the PFLP (d. 2008) 1927 – María Teresa López Boegeholz, Chilean oceanographer (d. 2006) 1927 – Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (d. 2013) 1928 – Jack Shea, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1929 – Hafizullah Amin, Afghan educator and politician, Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1979) 1929 – Ann Calvello, American roller derby racer (d. 2006) 1929 – Leila Abashidze, Georgian actress (d. 2018) 1930 – Lionel Bart, English composer (d. 1999) 1930 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (d. 2002) 1930 – Julie Bovasso, American actress and writer (d. 1991) 1930 – Lawrence Eagleburger, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd United States Secretary of State (d. 2011) 1930 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1996) 1930 – Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2014) 1931 – Ramblin' Jack Elliott, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1931 – Trevor Goddard, South African cricketer (d. 2016) 1932 – Meir Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and activist, founded the Jewish Defense League (d. 1990) 1933 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2009) 1933 – Masaichi Kaneda, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2019) 1933 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (d. 1972) 1933 – Teri Shields, American actress, producer, and agent (d. 2012) 1933 – Dušan Třeštík, Czech historian and author (d. 2007) 1934 – John Beck, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2000) 1934 – Derek Birdsall, English graphic designer 1935 – Geoff Pullar, English cricketer (d. 2014) 1936 – W. D. Hamilton, Egyptian born British biologist, psychologist, and academic (d. 2000) 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, Algerian-French fashion designer, co-founded Yves Saint Laurent (d. 2008) 1936 – Laurie Taylor, English sociologist, radio host, and academic 1937 – Al D'Amato, American lawyer and politician 1939 – Bob Frankford, English-Canadian physician and politician (d. 2015) 1939 – Terry Kiser, American actor 1939 – Stephen Sykes, English bishop and theologian (d. 2014) 1939 – Robert James Waller, American author and photographer (d. 2017) 1940 – Mervyn Kitchen, English cricketer and umpire 1940 – Henry Silverman, American businessman, founded Cendant 1940 – Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Iranian writer and actor 1941 – Ron Brown, American captain and politician, 30th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1996) 1941 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (d. 2004) 1942 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995) 1942 – Giancarlo Giannini, Italian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1944 – Dmitry Nikolayevich Filippov, Russian banker and politician (d. 1998) 1945 – Douglas Osheroff, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1946 – Boz Burrell, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and guitarist (d. 2006) 1946 – Rick Coonce, American drummer (d. 2011) 1946 – Richard O. Covey, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut 1946 – Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist and academic 1947 – Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet and author 1947 – Chantal Montellier, French comics creator and artist 1948 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American screenwriter and producer, founded Marvel Studios 1948 – Cliff Branch, American football player (d. 2019) 1948 – David Gemmell, English journalist and author (d. 2006) 1949 – Bettina Arndt, Australian writer and commentator 1949 – Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstani politician, 2nd President of Kyrgyzstan 1949 – Jim Carroll, American poet, author, and musician (d. 2009) 1949 – Ray Nettles, American football player (d. 2009) 1950 – Roy Williams, American basketball player and coach 1951 – Tim Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2023) 1951 – Tommy Bolin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976) 1951 – Pete Mackanin, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1952 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2003) 1953 – Robert Cray, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist 1953 – Howard Kurtz, American journalist and author 1954 – Trevor Berbick, Jamaican-Canadian boxer (d. 2006) 1954 – James Gleick, American journalist and author 1954 – Benno Möhlmann, German footballer and manager 1957 – Anne-Marie Hutchinson, British lawyer (d. 2020) 1957 – Taylor Negron, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1958 – Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2000) 1958 – Michael Penn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Kiki Vandeweghe, American basketball player and coach 1959 – Joe Elliott, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1960 – Chuck D, American rapper and songwriter 1960 – Suzi Gardner, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Jacob Matlala, South African boxer (d. 2013) 1963 – Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor and producer 1963 – Coolio, American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2022) 1963 – John Carroll Lynch, American actor 1963 – Koichi Wakata, Japanese astronaut and engineer 1963 – Dean Wareham, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist 1964 – Adam Duritz, American singer-songwriter and producer 1964 – Fiona Hyslop, Scottish businesswoman and politician 1964 – Augusta Read Thomas, American composer, conductor and educator 1965 – Brandt Jobe, American golfer 1965 – Sam Mendes, English director and producer 1966 – James St. James, American club promoter and author 1967 – Gregg Jefferies, American baseball player and coach 1967 – José Padilha, Brazilian director, producer and screenwriter 1968 – Stacey Augmon, American basketball player and coach 1968 – Dan Donegan, American heavy metal guitarist and songwriter 1968 – Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster 1969 – Andrei Borissov, Estonian footballer and manager 1969 – Kevin Jarvis, American baseball player and scout 1969 – Graham Thorpe, English cricketer and journalist 1970 – Quentin Coryatt, American football player 1970 – David James, English footballer and manager 1970 – Eugenie van Leeuwen, Dutch cricketer 1972 – Nicke Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1972 – Christer Basma, Norwegian footballer and coach 1972 – Todd Bouman, American football player and coach 1972 – Thomas Woods, American historian, economist, and academic 1973 – Gregg Berhalter, American soccer player and coach 1973 – Veerle Dejaeghere, Belgian runner 1973 – Edurne Pasaban, Spanish mountaineer 1974 – Cher Calvin, American journalist 1974 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (d. 2014) 1974 – Tyron Henderson, South African cricketer 1974 – Dennis Lawrence, Trinidadian footballer and coach 1974 – Beckie Scott, Canadian skier 1975 – Vhrsti, Czech author and illustrator 1976 – Don Hertzfeldt, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor 1976 – Søren Jochumsen, Danish footballer 1976 – Nwankwo Kanu, Nigerian footballer 1976 – David Nemirovsky, Canadian ice hockey player 1976 – Hasan Şaş, Turkish footballer and manager 1976 – Cristian Stoica, Romanian-Italian rugby player 1977 – Marc Denis, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1977 – Haspop, French-Moroccan dancer, choreographer, and actor 1977 – Darnerien McCants, American-Canadian football player 1977 – Damien Saez, French singer-songwriter and guitarist 1977 – Yoshi Tatsu, Japanese wrestler and boxer 1978 – Andy Blignaut, Zimbabwean cricketer 1978 – Björn Ferry, Swedish biathlete 1978 – Dhani Harrison, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1978 – Chris Iwelumo, Scottish footballer 1978 – Edgerrin James, American football player 1979 – Junior Agogo, Ghanaian footballer (d. 2019) 1979 – Nathan Fien, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player 1979 – Jason Momoa, American actor, director, and producer 1979 – Grant Wooden, Australian rugby league player 1980 – Mancini, Brazilian footballer 1980 – Romain Barras, French decathlete 1980 – Esteban Paredes, Chilean footballer 1981 – Dean Cox, Australian footballer 1981 – Pia Haraldsen, Norwegian journalist and author 1981 – Christofer Heimeroth, German footballer 1981 – Stephen Hunt, Irish footballer 1981 – Jamie Jones-Buchanan, English rugby player 1982 – Basem Fathi, Jordanian footballer 1982 – Montserrat Lombard, English actress, director, and screenwriter 1983 – Bobby Carpenter, American football player 1983 – Craig Clarke, New Zealand rugby player 1983 – Julien Faubert, French footballer 1983 – David Gervasi, Swiss decathlete 1984 – Steve Feak, American game designer 1984 – Francesco Gavazzi, Italian cyclist 1984 – Brandon Kintzler, American baseball player 1984 – Bastian Schweinsteiger, German footballer 1985 – Stuart Holden, Scottish-American soccer player 1985 – Adam Jones, American baseball player 1985 – Cole Kimball, American baseball player 1985 – Tendai Mtawarira, South African rugby player 1985 – Kris Stadsgaard, Danish footballer 1985 – Dušan Švento, Slovak footballer 1986 – Damien Allen, English footballer 1986 – Anton Strålman, Swedish ice hockey player 1986 – Andrew Taylor, English footballer 1986 – Elena Vesnina, Russian tennis player 1986 – Mike Wallace, American football player 1987 – Iago Aspas, Spanish footballer 1987 – Karen Carney, English women's footballer 1987 – Sébastien Pocognoli, Belgian footballer 1987 – Lee Wallace, Scottish footballer 1987 – Taapsee Pannu, Indian actress 1988 – Mustafa Abdellaoue, Norwegian footballer 1988 – Nemanja Matić, Serbian footballer 1988 – Patryk Małecki, Polish footballer 1988 – Bodene Thompson, New Zealand rugby league player 1989 – Madison Bumgarner, American baseball player 1989 – Tiffany Hwang, Korean American singer, songwriter, and actress 1990 – Aledmys Díaz, Cuban baseball player 1990 – Elton Jantjies, South African rugby player 1991 – Piotr Malarczyk, Polish footballer 1991 – Marco Puntoriere, Italian footballer 1992 – Austin Rivers, American basketball player 1992 – Mrunal Thakur, Indian actress 1993 – Álex Abrines, Spanish basketball player 1993 – Leon Thomas III, American actor and singer 1994 – Sergeal Petersen, South African rugby player 1994 – Ayaka Wada, Japanese singer 1995 – Madison Cawthorn, American politician 1996 – Katie Boulter, British tennis player 2001 – Park Si-eun, South Korean actress 2001 – Ben Trbojevic, Australian rugby league player 2003 – Joseph Sua'ali'i, Australian-Samoan rugby league player Deaths Pre-1600 30 BC – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (b. 83 BC) 371 – Eusebius of Vercelli, Italian bishop and saint (b. 283) 527 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (b. 450) 690s – Jonatus, abbot and saint 873 – Thachulf, duke of Thuringia 946 – Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, Abbasid vizier (b. 859) 946 – Lady Xu Xinyue, Chinese queen (b. 902) 953 – Yingtian, Chinese Khitan empress (b. 879) 984 – Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester 1098 – Adhemar of Le Puy, French papal legate 1137 – Louis VI, king of France (b. 1081) 1146 – Vsevolod II of Kiev, Russian prince 1227 – Shimazu Tadahisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1179) 1252 – Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Italian archbishop and explorer (b. 1180) 1299 – Conrad de Lichtenberg, Bishop of Strasbourg (b. 1240) 1402 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1341) 1457 – Lorenzo Valla, Italian author and educator (b. 1406) 1464 – Cosimo de' Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1386) 1494 – Giovanni Santi, artist and father of Raphael (b. c. 1435) 1541 – Simon Grynaeus, German theologian and scholar (b. 1493) 1543 – Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1488) 1546 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1506) 1557 – Olaus Magnus, Swedish archbishop, historian, and cartographer (b. 1490) 1580 – Albrecht Giese, Polish-German politician and diplomat (b. 1524) 1589 – Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (b. 1567) 1601–1900 1603 – Matthew Browne, English politician (b. 1563) 1714 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (b. 1665) 1787 – Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1696) 1795 – Clas Bjerkander, Swedish meteorologist, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1735) 1796 – Sir Robert Pigot, 2nd Baronet, English colonel and politician (b. 1720) 1797 – Emanuel Granberg, Finnish church painter (b. 1754) 1798 – François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, French admiral (b. 1753) 1807 – John Boorman, English cricketer (b. c. 1754) 1807 – John Walker, English actor, philologist, and lexicographer (b. 1732) 1808 – Lady Diana Beauclerk, English painter and illustrator (b. 1734) 1812 – Yakov Kulnev, Russian general (b. 1763) 1851 – William Joseph Behr, German publicist and academic (b. 1775) 1863 – Jind Kaur Majarani (Regent) of the Sikh Empire (b. 1817) 1866 – John Ross, American tribal chief (b. 1790) 1869 – Richard Dry, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1815) 1869 – Peter Julian Eymard, French Priest and Founder Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (b. 1811) 1901–present 1903 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and scout (b. 1853) 1911 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (b. 1852) 1911 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician (b. 1843) 1918 – John Riley Banister, American cowboy and police officer (b. 1854) 1920 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian freedom fighter, lawyer and journalist (b. 1856) 1921 – T.J. Ryan, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Queensland (b. 1876) 1922 – Donát Bánki, Hungarian engineer (b. 1856) 1929 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer (b. 1870) 1938 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and academic (b. 1862) 1943 – Lydia Litvyak, Soviet lieutenant and pilot (b. 1921) 1944 – Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino soldier, lawyer, and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (b. 1878) 1957 – Rose Fyleman, English writer and poet (b. 1877) 1959 – Jean Behra, French race car driver (b. 1921) 1963 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (b. 1908) 1966 – Charles Whitman, American murderer (b. 1941) 1967 – Richard Kuhn, Austrian-German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1900) 1970 – Frances Farmer, American actress (b. 1913) 1970 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (b. 1901) 1970 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883) 1973 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (b. 1882) 1973 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (b. 1893) 1974 – Ildebrando Antoniutti, Italian cardinal (b. 1898) 1977 – Francis Gary Powers, American captain and pilot (b. 1929) 1980 – Patrick Depailler, French race car driver (b. 1944) 1980 – Strother Martin, American actor (b. 1919) 1981 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1923) 1981 – Kevin Lynch, Irish Republican, Hunger Striker 1982 – T. Thirunavukarasu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1933) 1989 – John Ogdon, English pianist and composer (b. 1937) 1990 – Norbert Elias, German-Dutch sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1897) 1996 – Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897) 1996 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian physician and surgeon (b. 1929) 1998 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-British actress (b. 1927) 2001 – Korey Stringer, American football player (b. 1974) 2003 – Guy Thys, Belgian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1922) 2003 – Marie Trintignant, French actress and screenwriter (b. 1962) 2004 – Philip Abelson, American physicist and author (b. 1913) 2005 – Al Aronowitz, American journalist (b. 1928) 2005 – Wim Boost, Dutch cartoonist and educator (b. 1918) 2005 – Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter and sculptor (b. 1920) 2005 – Fahd of Saudi Arabia (b. 1923) 2006 – Bob Thaves, American illustrator (b. 1924) 2006 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and activist (b. 1949) 2007 – Tommy Makem, Irish singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1932) 2008 – Gertan Klauber, Czech-English actor (b. 1932) 2008 – Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1916) 2009 – Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (b. 1933) 2010 – Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican-American activist (b. 1919) 2010 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player and cricketer (b. 1910) 2012 – Aldo Maldera, Italian footballer and agent (b. 1953) 2012 – Douglas Townsend, American composer and musicologist (b. 1921) 2012 – Barry Trapnell, English cricketer and academic (b. 1924) 2013 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (b. 1922) 2013 – Gail Kobe, American actress and producer (b. 1932) 2013 – Babe Martin, American baseball player (b. 1920) 2013 – Toby Saks, American cellist and educator (b. 1942) 2013 – Wilford White, American football player (b. 1928) 2014 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (b. 1973) 2014 – Jan Roar Leikvoll, Norwegian author (b. 1974) 2014 – Charles T. Payne, American soldier (b. 1925) 2014 – Mike Smith, English radio and television host (b. 1955) 2015 – Stephan Beckenbauer, German footballer and manager (b. 1968) 2015 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (b. 1943) 2015 – Bernard d'Espagnat, French physicist, philosopher, and author (b. 1921) 2015 – Bob Frankford, English-Canadian physician and politician (b. 1939) 2015 – Hong Yuanshuo, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1948) 2016 – Queen Anne of Romania (b. 1923) 2020 – Wilford Brimley, American actor and singer (b. 1934) 2020 – Rodney H. Pardey, American poker player (b. 1945) 2020 – Rickey Dixon, American professional football player (b. 1966) 2021 – Abdalqadir as-Sufi, Scottish Islamic scholar and writer (b. 1930) 2021 – Jerry Ziesmer, American assistant director, production manager and occasional actor (b. 1939) Holidays and observances Armed Forces Day (Lebanon) Armed Forces Day (China) or Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Liberation Army (People's Republic of China) Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day (Azerbaijan) Emancipation Day is commemorated in many parts of the former British Empire, which marks the day the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into effect which abolished chattel slavery in the British Empire: Emancipation Day is a public holiday in Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago Christian feast day: Abgar V of Edessa (Syrian Church) Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori Æthelwold of Winchester Bernard Võ Văn Duệ (one of Vietnamese Martyrs) Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder Eusebius of Vercelli Exuperius of Bayeux Felix of Girona Peter Apostle in Chains Procession of the Cross and the beginning of Dormition Fast (Eastern Orthodoxy) The Holy Maccabees August 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Minden Day (United Kingdom) National Day, celebrates the independence of Benin from France in 1960. National Day, commemorates Switzerland becoming a single unit in 1291. Official Birthday and Coronation Day of the King of Tonga (Tonga) Parents' Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Statehood Day (Colorado) Swiss National Day (Switzerland) The beginning of autumn observances in the Northern hemisphere and spring observances in the Southern hemisphere (Neopagan Wheel of the Year): Lughnasadh in the Northern hemisphere, Imbolc in the Southern hemisphere; traditionally begins on the eve of August 1. (Gaels, Ireland, Scotland, Neopagans) Lammas (England, Scotland, Neopagans) Pachamama Raymi (Quechuan in Ecuador and Peru) The first day of Carnaval del Pueblo (Burgess Park, London, England) Victory Day (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) World Scout Scarf Day Yorkshire Day (Yorkshire, England) References External links Days of the year August

1259

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%203

August 3

Events Pre-1600 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna. 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt. 881 – Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: Louis III of France defeats the Vikings, an event celebrated in the poem Ludwigslied. 908 – Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian force defeats an East Frankish army under Duke Burchard of Thuringia. 1031 – Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf by Grimketel, the English Bishop of Selsey. 1057 – Frederick of Lorraine elected as Pope Stephen IX. 1342 – The Siege of Algeciras commences during the Spanish Reconquista. 1492 – Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. 1527 – The first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland. 1601–1900 1601 – Long War: Austria captures Transylvania in the Battle of Goroszló. 1645 – Thirty Years' War: The Second Battle of Nördlingen sees French forces defeating those of the Holy Roman Empire. 1678 – Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes. 1778 – The theatre La Scala in Milan is inaugurated with the première of Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta. 1795 – Treaty of Greenville is signed, ending the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country. 1811 – First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps by brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer. 1829 – The Treaty of Lewistown is signed by the Shawnee and Seneca peoples, exchanging land in Ohio for land west of the Mississippi River. 1852 – Harvard University wins the first Boat Race between Yale University and Harvard. The race is also known as the first ever American intercollegiate athletic event. 1859 – The American Dental Association is founded in Niagara Falls, New York. 1900 – The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded. 1901–present 1903 – Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town. 1907 – Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fines Standard Oil of Indiana a record $29.4 million for illegal rebating to freight carriers; the conviction and fine are later reversed on appeal. 1914 – World War I: Germany declares war against France, while Romania declares its neutrality. 1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court. 1936 – Jesse Owens wins the 100 metre dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe, at the Berlin Olympics. 1936 – A fire wipes out Kursha-2 in the Meshchera Lowlands, Ryazan Oblast, Russia, killing 1,200 and leaving only 20 survivors. 1940 – World War II: Italian forces begin the invasion of British Somaliland. 1946 – Santa Claus Land, the world's first themed amusement park, opens in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. 1948 – Whittaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union. 1949 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalize the merger that would create the National Basketball Association. 1958 – The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, becomes the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole. 1959 – Portugal's state police force PIDE fires upon striking workers in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, killing over 50 people. 1960 – Niger gains independence from France. 1972 – The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. 1975 – A privately chartered Boeing 707 strikes a mountain peak and crashes near Agadir, Morocco, killing 188. 1977 – Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers. 1981 – Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front – Suxxali Reew Mi. 1997 – Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria: A total of 116 villagers killed, 40 in Oued El-Had and 76 in Mezouara. 1997 – The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction. 2004 – The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11 attacks. 2005 – President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia. 2007 – Former deputy director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga is captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping. 2010 – Widespread rioting erupts in Karachi, Pakistan, after the assassination of a local politician, leaving at least 85 dead and at least 17 billion Pakistani rupees (US$200 million) in damage. 2014 – A 6.1 magnitude earthquake kills at least 617 people and injures more than 2,400 in Yunnan, China. 2014 – The genocide of Yazidis by ISIL begins. 2018 – Two burka-clad men kill 29 people and injure more than 80 in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in eastern Afghanistan. 2019 – Six hundred protesters, including opposition leader Lyubov Sobol, are arrested in an election protest in Moscow, Russia. 2019 – Twenty-three people are killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. 2023 – Worst floods hit major parts of Slovenia. Births Pre-1600 1442 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (d. 1499) 1486 – Imperia Cognati, Italian courtesan (d. 1512) 1491 – Maria of Jülich-Berg, German noblewoman (d. 1543) 1509 – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and translator (d. 1546) 1601–1900 1622 – Wolfgang Julius, Count of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, German field marshal (d. 1698) 1692 – John Henley, English minister and poet (d. 1759) 1724 – Alvise Foscari, Venetian admiral (d. 1790) 1766 – Aaron Chorin, Hungarian rabbi and author (d. 1844) 1770 – Frederick William III of Prussia (d. 1840) 1803 – Joseph Paxton, English gardener and architect, designed The Crystal Palace (d. 1865) 1808 – Hamilton Fish, American lawyer and politician, 26th United States Secretary of State (d. 1893) 1811 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (d. 1861) 1817 – Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (d. 1895) 1823 – Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish-American revolutionary and military leader, territorial governor of Montana (d. 1867) 1832 – Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer, conductor, and director (d. 1914) 1840 – John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey, English jurist and politician (d. 1929) 1850 – Reginald Heber Roe, English-Australian swimmer, tennis player, and academic (d. 1926) 1856 – Alfred Deakin, Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919) 1860 – William Kennedy Dickson, French-Scottish actor, director, and producer (d. 1935) 1863 – Géza Gárdonyi, Hungarian author and journalist (d. 1922) 1867 – Stanley Baldwin, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1947) 1871 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (d. 1929) 1872 – Haakon VII of Norway (d. 1957) 1886 – Maithili Sharan Gupt, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1964) 1887 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (d. 1915) 1887 – August Wesley, Finnish journalist, trade unionist, and revolutionary (d. ?) 1890 – Konstantin Melnikov, Russian architect, designed the Rusakov Workers' Club (d. 1974) 1894 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1951) 1895 – Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley, English politician (d. 1942) 1896 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (d. 1997) 1899 – Louis Chiron, Monegasque race car driver (d. 1979) 1900 – Ernie Pyle, American soldier and journalist (d. 1945) 1900 – John T. Scopes, American educator (d. 1970) 1901–present 1901 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (d. 1995) 1901 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (d. 1981) 1902 – Regina Jonas, German rabbi (d. 1944) 1902 – David Buttolph, American film composer (d. 1983) 1903 – Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian journalist and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Tunisia (d. 2000) 1904 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (d. 1983) 1904 – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (d. 1988) 1905 – Franz König, Austrian cardinal (d. 2004) 1907 – Lawrence Brown, American trombonist and composer (d. 1988) 1907 – Ernesto Geisel, Brazilian general and politician, 29th President of Brazil (d. 1996) 1907 – Yang Shangkun, Chinese politician, and 4th President of China (d. 1998) 1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, American author and educator (d. 1971) 1911 – Alex McCrindle, Scottish actor and producer (d. 1990) 1912 – Fritz Hellwig, German politician (d. 2017) 1913 – Mel Tolkin, Ukrainian-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2007) 1916 – Shakeel Badayuni, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1970) 1916 – José Manuel Moreno, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1978) 1917 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1995) 1918 – James MacGregor Burns, American historian, political scientist, and author (d. 2014) 1918 – Sidney Gottlieb, American chemist and theorist (d. 1999) 1918 – Larry Haines, American actor (d. 2008) 1918 – Eddie Jefferson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1979) 1920 – Norman Dewis, English test driver and engineer (d. 2019) 1920 – Max Fatchen, Australian journalist and author (d. 2012) 1920 – P. D. James, English author (d. 2014) 1920 – Charlie Shavers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1971) 1920 – Elmar Tampõld, Estonian-Canadian architect (d. 2013) 1921 – Richard Adler, American composer and producer (d. 2012) 1921 – Hayden Carruth, American poet and critic (d. 2008) 1921 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (d. 1972) 1922 – John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (d. 2013) 1923 – Jean Hagen, American actress (d. 1977) 1923 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria (d. 2012) 1924 – Connie Converse, American musician and singer-songwriter 1924 – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (d. 2003) 1925 – Marv Levy, American-Canadian football player, coach, and manager 1925 – Lewis Rowland, American neurologist (d. 2017) 1926 – Rona Anderson, Scottish actress (d. 2013) 1926 – Tony Bennett, American singer and actor (d. 2023) 1926 – Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (d. 2004) 1926 – Gordon Scott, American actor (d. 2007) 1926 – Rushdy Abaza, Egyptian actor (d. 1980) 1928 – Cécile Aubry, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2010) 1928 – Henning Moritzen, Danish actor (d. 2012) 1930 – James Komack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997) 1933 – Pat Crawford, Australian cricketer (d. 2009) 1934 – Haystacks Calhoun, American wrestler and actor (d. 1989) 1934 – Michael Chapman, English bassoon player (d. 2005) 1934 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (d. 2002) 1935 – John Erman, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2021) 1935 – Georgy Shonin, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (d. 1997) 1935 – Vic Vogel, Canadian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2019) 1936 – Jerry G. Bishop, American radio and television host (d. 2013) 1936 – Edward Petherbridge, English actor 1937 – Steven Berkoff, English actor, director, and playwright 1937 – Roland Burris, American lawyer and politician, 39th Illinois Attorney General 1937 – Duncan Sharpe, Pakistani-Australian cricketer 1938 – Terry Wogan, Irish radio and television host (d. 2016) 1939 – Jimmie Nicol, English drummer 1939 – Apoorva Sengupta, Indian general and cricketer (d. 2013) 1940 – Lance Alworth, American football player 1940 – Martin Sheen, American actor and producer 1940 – James Tyler, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2010) 1941 – Beverly Lee, American singer 1941 – Martha Stewart, American businesswoman, publisher, and author, founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia 1943 – Béla Bollobás, Hungarian-English mathematician and academic 1943 – Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson of Sweden 1943 – Steven Millhauser, American novelist and short story writer 1944 – Morris Berman, American historian and social critic 1944 – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (d. 1973) 1945 – Eamon Dunphy, Irish footballer and journalist 1946 – Robert Ayling, English businessman 1946 – Jack Straw, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1946 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004) 1946 – John York, American bass player, songwriter, and producer 1947 – Ralph Wright, English footballer (d. 2020) 1948 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, French lawyer and politician, 166th Prime Minister of France 1949 – Philip Casnoff, American actor and director 1949 – B. B. Dickerson, American bass player and songwriter 1949 – Sue Slipman, English politician 1950 – Linda Howard, American author 1950 – John Landis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1950 – Jo Marie Payton, American actress and singer 1950 – Ernesto Samper, Colombian economist and politician, 29th President of Colombia 1951 – Marcel Dionne, Canadian ice hockey player 1951 – Jay North, American actor 1952 – Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentinian footballer and manager 1953 – Ian Bairnson, Scottish saxophonist and keyboard player 1953 – Marlene Dumas, South African painter 1954 – Michael Arthur, English physician and academic 1954 – Gary Peters, English footballer and manager 1956 – Kirk Brandon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1956 – Todd Christensen, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013) 1956 – Dave Cloud, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015) 1956 – Balwinder Sandhu, Indian cricketer and coach 1957 – Bodo Rudwaleit, German footballer and manager 1957 – Kate Wilkinson, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 11th New Zealand Minister of Conservation 1958 – Lindsey Hilsum, English journalist and author 1958 – Ana Kokkinos, Australian director and screenwriter 1959 – Martin Atkins, English drummer and producer 1959 – Mike Gminski, American basketball player and sportscaster 1959 – John C. McGinley, American actor and producer 1959 – Koichi Tanaka, Japanese chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate 1960 – Tim Mayotte, American tennis player and coach 1960 – Gopal Sharma, Indian cricketer 1961 – Molly Hagan, American actress 1961 – Nick Harvey, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces 1961 – Lee Rocker, American bassist 1963 – Tasmin Archer, English pop singer 1963 – Frano Botica, New Zealand rugby player and coach 1963 – James Hetfield, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1963 – David Knox, Australian rugby player 1963 – Ed Roland, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1963 – Lisa Ann Walter, American actress, producer, and screenwriter 1963 – Isaiah Washington, American actor and producer 1964 – Lucky Dube, South African singer and keyboard player (d. 2007) 1964 – Ralph Knibbs, British rugby union player 1964 – Nate McMillan, American basketball player and coach 1964 – Kevin Sumlin, American football player and coach 1964 – Abhisit Vejjajiva, English-Thai economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Thailand 1966 – Brent Butt, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter 1966 – Gizz Butt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1966 – Eric Esch, American wrestler, boxer, and mixed martial artist 1967 – Mathieu Kassovitz, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, founded MNP Entreprise 1967 – Creme Puff, tabby domestic cat, oldest recorded cat (d. 2005) 1967 – Skin, English singer and guitarist 1968 – Rod Beck, American baseball player (d. 2007) 1969 – Doug Overton, American basketball player and coach 1970 – Stephen Carpenter, American guitarist and songwriter 1970 – Gina G, Australian singer-songwriter 1970 – Masahiro Sakurai, Japanese video game designer 1971 – Forbes Johnston, Scottish footballer (d. 2007) 1971 – DJ Spinderella, American DJ, rapper, producer, and actress 1972 – Sandis Ozoliņš, Latvian ice hockey player and politician 1973 – Jay Cutler, American bodybuilder 1973 – Nikos Dabizas, Greek footballer 1973 – Michael Ealy, American actor 1973 – Chris Murphy, American politician 1975 – Wael Gomaa, Egyptian footballer 1975 – Argyro Strataki, Greek heptathlete 1976 – Troy Glaus, American baseball player 1977 – Tom Brady, American football player 1977 – Justin Lehr, American baseball player 1977 – Óscar Pereiro, Spanish cyclist and footballer 1978 – Joi Chua, Singaporean singer-songwriter and actress 1978 – Mariusz Jop, Polish footballer 1978 – Jenny Tinmouth, English motorcycle racer 1978 – Dimitrios Zografakis, Greek footballer 1979 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress 1980 – Nadia Ali, Libyan-American singer-songwriter 1980 – Dominic Moore, Canadian ice hockey player 1980 – Tony Pashos, American football player 1980 – Brandan Schieppati, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1980 – Hannah Simone, Canadian television host and actress 1981 – Fikirte Addis, Ethiopian fashion designer 1981 – Travis Bowyer, American baseball player 1981 – Pablo Ibáñez, Spanish footballer 1982 – Kaspar Kokk, Estonian skier 1982 – Jesse Lumsden, Canadian bobsledder and football player 1982 – Damien Sandow, American wrestler 1983 – Ryan Carter, American ice hockey player 1983 – Mark Reynolds, American baseball player 1984 – Yasin Avcı, Turkish footballer 1984 – Sunil Chhetri, Indian footballer 1984 – Matt Joyce, American baseball player 1984 – Ryan Lochte, American swimmer 1984 – Chris Maurer, American singer and bass player 1985 – Georgina Haig, Australian actress 1985 – Brent Kutzle, American bass player and producer 1985 – Ats Purje, Estonian footballer 1985 – Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand rugby player and boxer 1986 – Charlotte Casiraghi, Monégasque journalist, co-founded Ever Manifesto 1986 – Darya Domracheva, Belarusian biathlete 1987 – Kim Hyung-jun, South Korean singer and dancer 1987 – Chris McQueen, Australian-English rugby league player 1988 – Denny Cardin, Italian footballer 1988 – Leigh Tiffin, American football player 1988 – Sven Ulreich, German footballer 1989 – Jules Bianchi, French race car driver (d. 2015) 1989 – Sam Hutchinson, English footballer 1989 – Tyrod Taylor, American football player 1989 – Nick Viergever, Dutch footballer 1990 – Jourdan Dunn, English model 1990 – Kang Min-kyung, South Korean singer 1992 – Gamze Bulut, Turkish runner 1992 – Gesa Felicitas Krause, German runner 1992 – Diāna Marcinkēviča, Latvian tennis player 1992 – Aljon Mariano, Filipino basketball player 1992 – Lum Rexhepi, Finnish footballer 1992 – Karlie Kloss, American fashion model 1993 – Ola Abidogun, English sprinter 1993 – Yurina Kumai, Japanese singer 1994 – Kwon Alexander, American football player 1994 – Manaia Cherrington, New Zealand rugby league player 1994 – Esther Earl, American author, vlogger, and online personality. (d. 2010) Celebrated annually as Esther day 1994 – Todd Gurley, American football player 1995 – Zac Gallen, American baseball player 1995 – Victoria Kan, Russian tennis player 1996 – Derwin James, American football player 1997 – Luis Robert Jr., Cuban baseball player Deaths Pre-1600 908 – Burchard, duke of Thuringia 908 – Egino, duke of Thuringia 908 – Rudolf I, bishop of Würzburg 925 – Cao, Chinese empress dowager 979 – Thietmar, margrave of Meissen 1003 – At-Ta'i, Abbasid caliph (b. 929) 1355 – Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh, English nobleman 1460 – James II, king of Scotland (b. 1430) 1527 – Scaramuccia Trivulzio, Italian cardinal 1530 – Francesco Ferruccio, Italian captain (b. 1489) 1546 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace (b. 1484) 1546 – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and translator (b. 1509) 1601–1900 1604 – Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish commander and diplomat (b. 1540) 1621 – Guillaume du Vair, French lawyer and author (b. 1556) 1712 – Joshua Barnes, English historian and scholar (b. 1654) 1720 – Anthonie Heinsius, Dutch politician (b. 1641) 1721 – Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-English sculptor and woodcarver (b. 1648) 1761 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (b. 1691) 1773 – Stanisław Konarski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1700) 1780 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (b. 1715) 1792 – Richard Arkwright, English engineer and businessman (b. 1732) 1797 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1717) 1805 – Christopher Anstey, English author and poet (b. 1724) 1835 – Wenzel Müller, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1767) 1839 – Dorothea von Schlegel, German author and translator (b. 1763) 1857 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (b. 1804) 1866 – Gábor Klauzál, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1804) 1867 – Philipp August Böckh, German historian and scholar (b. 1785) 1877 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805) 1879 – Joseph Severn, English painter (b. 1793) 1894 – George Inness, American painter (b. 1825) 1901–present 1913 – William Lyne, Australian politician, 13th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1844) 1916 – Roger Casement, Irish poet and activist (b. 1864) 1917 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, German mathematician and academic (b. 1849) 1920 – Peeter Süda, Estonian organist and composer (b. 1883) 1922 – Ture Malmgren, Swedish journalist and politician (b. 1851) 1924 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British novelist (b. 1857) 1925 – William Bruce, Australian cricketer (b. 1864) 1929 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor and businessman, invented the phonograph (b. 1851) 1929 – Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist (b. 1857) 1936 – Konstantin Konik, Estonian surgeon and politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1873) 1942 – Richard Willstätter, German-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872) 1943 – Frumka Płotnicka, Polish resistance fighter during World War II (b. 1914) 1949 – Ignotus, Hungarian poet and author (b. 1869) 1954 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (b. 1873) 1958 – Peter Collins, English race car driver (b. 1931) 1959 – Herb Byrne, Australian footballer (b. 1887) 1961 – Hilda Rix Nicholas, Australian artist (b. 1884) 1964 – Flannery O'Connor, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1925) 1966 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1925) 1968 – Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (b. 1896) 1969 – Alexander Mair, Australian politician, 26th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1889) 1972 – Giannis Papaioannou, Turkish-Greek composer (b. 1913) 1973 – Richard Marshall, American general (b. 1895) 1974 – Edgar Johan Kuusik, Estonian architect and interior designer (b. 1888) 1975 – Andreas Embirikos, Greek poet and photographer (b. 1901) 1977 – Makarios III, Cypriot archbishop and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Cyprus (b. 1913) 1977 – Alfred Lunt, American actor and director (b. 1892) 1979 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899) 1979 – Angelos Terzakis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1907) 1983 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (b. 1930) 1992 – Wang Hongwen, Chinese labor activist and politician, member of the Gang of Four (b. 1935) 1995 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (b. 1918) 1995 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (b. 1933) 1996 – Jørgen Garde, Danish admiral (b. 1939) 1997 – Pietro Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1934) 1998 – Alfred Schnittke, Russian composer and journalist (b. 1934) 1999 – Rod Ansell, Australian hunter (b. 1953) 1999 – Byron Farwell, American historian and author (b. 1921) 2000 – Joann Lõssov, Estonian basketball player and coach (b. 1921) 2001 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and director (b. 1922) 2003 – Roger Voudouris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1954) 2004 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer and painter (b. 1908) 2005 – Françoise d'Eaubonne, French author and poet (b. 1920) 2006 – Arthur Lee, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1945) 2006 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-English soprano and actress (b. 1915) 2007 – John Gardner, English author (b. 1926) 2007 – Peter Thorup, Danish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1948) 2008 – Skip Caray, American sportscaster (b. 1939) 2008 – Erik Darling, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933) 2008 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, dramatist and historian, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918) 2009 – Nikolaos Makarezos, Greek soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919) 2010 – Bobby Hebb, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938) 2011 – William Sleator, American author (b. 1945) 2011 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (b. 1945) 2012 – Frank Evans, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1921) 2012 – Martin Fleischmann, Czech-English chemist and academic (b. 1927) 2012 – Paul McCracken, American economist and academic (b. 1915) 2012 – John Pritchard, American basketball player (b. 1927) 2013 – John Coombs, English-Monegasque race car driver and businessman (b. 1922) 2013 – Jack English Hightower, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926) 2013 – Jack Hynes, Scottish-American soccer player and manager (b. 1920) 2014 – Miangul Aurangzeb, Pakistani captain and politician, 19th Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (b. 1928) 2014 – Edward Clancy, Australian cardinal (b. 1923) 2014 – Dorothy Salisbury Davis, American author (b. 1916) 2014 – Kenny Drew, Jr., American pianist and composer (b. 1958) 2014 – Lydia Yu-Jose, Filipino political scientist and academic (b. 1944) 2015 – Robert Conquest, English-American historian, poet, and academic (b. 1917) 2015 – Mel Farr, American football player and businessman (b. 1944) 2015 – Coleen Gray, American actress (b. 1922) 2015 – Margot Loyola, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918) 2015 – Johanna Quandt, German businesswoman (b. 1926) 2015 – Jef Murray, American artist and author (b. 1960) 2020 – John Hume, Northern Irish politician (b. 1937) 2022 – Jackie Walorski, American politician (b. 1963) 2023 – Mark Margolis, American actor (b. 1939) 2023 – Bram Moolenaar, Dutch software engineer (b. 1961) Holidays and observances Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti (Guinea-Bissau) Armed Forces Day (Equatorial Guinea) Christian feast day: George Freeman Bragg, W. E. B. Du Bois (Episcopal Church) Lydia of Thyatira Myrrhbearers (Lutheran Church) Nicodemus Olaf II of Norway (Translation of the relic) Stephen (Discovery of the relic) Waltheof of Melrose August 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Flag Day (Venezuela) Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Niger from France in 1960. Arbor Day (Niger) National Guard Day (Venezuela) References External links Days of the year August

1261

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2026

April 26

Events Pre-1600 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux. 1478 – The Pazzi family attack on Lorenzo de' Medici in order to displace the ruiling Medici family kills his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral. 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown). 1601–1900 1607 – The Virginia Company colonists make landfall at Cape Henry. 1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz. 1777 – Sybil Ludington, aged 16, allegedly rode to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces 1794 – Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France. 1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist. 1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. 1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia. 1900 – Fires destroy Canadian cities Ottawa and Hull, reducing them to ashes in 12 hours. Twelve thousand people are left without a home. 1901–present 1903 – Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded 1915 – World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers. 1916 – Easter Rising: Battle of Mount Street Bridge 1920 – Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games with center Frank Fredrickson scoring seven goals in Canada's 12–1 drubbing of Sweden in the gold medal match. 1923 – The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey. 1925 – Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic. 1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established by Hermann Göring. 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe. 1942 – Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead. 1943 – The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden. 1944 – Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt. 1944 – Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete. 1945 – World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht. 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army liberate Baguio as they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita. 1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins. 1954 – The first clinical trials of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia. 1956 – , the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas. 1958 – Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives. 1960 – Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule. 1962 – NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon. 1962 – The British space programme launches its first satellite, the Ariel 1. 1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections. 1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form the United Republic of Tanzania. 1966 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed. 1966 – A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye. 1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force. 1981 – Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery. 1986 – The Chernobyl disaster occurs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. 1989 – The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless. 1989 – People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests. 1991 – Fifty-five tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado. 1993 – The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on mission STS-55 to conduct experiments aboard the Spacelab module. 1994 – China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board. 1994 – South Africa begins its first multiracial election, which is won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. 2002 – Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot. 2005 – Cedar Revolution: Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon). 2015 – Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote. Births Pre-1600 121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180) 757 – Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796) 764 – Al-Hadi, Iranian caliph (d. 786) 1284 – Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (d. 1324) 1319 – John II of France (d. 1364) 1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600) 1575 – Marie de' Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1642) 1601–1900 1647 – William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720) 1648 – Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706) 1697 – Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754) 1710 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796) 1718 – Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802) 1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853) 1782 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of France (d. 1866) 1785 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851) 1787 – Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862) 1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863) 1801 – Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889) 1804 – Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876) 1822 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903) 1834 – Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867) 1856 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930) 1862 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938) 1865 – Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Finnish artist (d. 1931) 1876 – Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959) 1877 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1950) 1878 – Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938) 1879 – Eric Campbell, British actor (d. 1917) 1879 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959) 1886 – Ma Rainey, American singer-songwriter (d. 1939) 1886 – Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913) 1889 – Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981) 1889 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951) 1894 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987) 1896 – Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967) 1896 – Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941) 1897 – Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967) 1897 – Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987) 1898 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984) 1898 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972) 1899 – Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1958) 1900 – Eva Aschoff, German bookbinder and calligrapher (d. 1969) 1900 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985) 1900 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948) 1901–present 1904 – Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991) 1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004) 1905 – Jean Vigo, French director and screenwriter (d. 1934) 1907 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968) 1909 – Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002) 1910 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997) 1911 – Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986) 1912 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000) 1914 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986) 1914 – James Rouse, American real estate developer (d. 1996) 1916 – Eyvind Earle, American artist, author, and illustrator (d. 2000) 1916 – Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013) 1916 – Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999) 1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992) 1917 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower (d. 2019) 1917 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013) 1918 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004) 1921 – Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008) 1922 – J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014) 1922 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, Governor General of Canada (d. 1993) 1922 – Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2019) 1924 – Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998) 1925 – Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author (d. 2019) 1925 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013) 1925 – Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015) 1925 – Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013) 1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003) 1927 – Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008) 1927 – Anne McLaren, British scientist (d. 2007) 1927 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015) 1927 – Granny Hamner, American baseball player (d. 1993) 1929 – Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002) 1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster 1931 – Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008) 1931 – John Cain Jr., Australian politician, 41st Premier of Victoria (d. 2019) 1932 – Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010) 1932 – Shirley Cawley, English long jumper 1932 – Frank D'Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013) 1932 – Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer (d. 2018) 1932 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000) 1933 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer 1933 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005) 1933 – Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1937 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015) 1938 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1938 – Maurice Williams, American doo-wop/R&B singer-songwriter 1940 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014) 1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer 1940 – Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (d. 2018) 1941 – Claudine Auger, French model and actress (d. 2019) 1942 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014) 1942 – Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Leader of the Government in the Senate 1942 – Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States 1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor (d. 2022) 1942 – Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic 1943 – Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2023) 1943 – Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals 1944 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007) 1945 – Howard Davies, English director and producer (d. 2016) 1945 – Dick Johnson, Australian racing driver 1945 – Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician 1946 – Ralph Coates, English international footballer (d. 2010) 1946 – Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author 1946 – Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer 1949 – Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager 1949 – Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995) 1951 – John Battle, English politician 1954 – Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player 1954 – Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer 1955 – Kurt Bodewig, German politician 1956 – Koo Stark, American actress and photographer 1958 – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish racing driver (d. 2021) 1958 – Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer 1958 – Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager 1959 – John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1959 – Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rican politician 1960 – H. G. Carrillo, American writer and academic (d. 2020) 1960 – Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach 1960 – Roger Taylor, English drummer 1961 – Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter 1961 – Chris Mars, American artist 1962 – Colin Anderson, English footballer 1962 – Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian 1963 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer 1963 – Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player 1963 – Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler 1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player 1965 – Susannah Harker, English actress 1965 – Kevin James, American actor and comedian 1967 – Glenn Thomas Jacobs, American professional wrestler, actor, businessman and politician 1967 – Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter 1967 – Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician 1970 – Dean Austin, English footballer and manager 1970 – Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 47th First Lady of the United States 1970 – Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic 1970 – Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress 1971 – Naoki Tanaka, Japanese comedian and actor 1971 – Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer 1972 – Jason Bargwanna, Australian racing driver 1972 – Kiko, Spanish footballer 1972 – Natrone Means, American football player and coach 1972 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager 1973 – Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster 1973 – Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer 1973 – Chris Perry, English footballer 1973 – Óscar, Spanish footballer and coach 1975 – Joey Jordison, American musician and songwriter (d. 2021) 1975 – Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist 1976 – Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer 1976 – Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player 1977 – Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut 1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player 1977 – Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author 1977 – Tom Welling, American actor 1978 – Stana Katic, Canadian actress 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish footballer 1980 – Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress 1980 – Marlon King, English footballer 1980 – Anna Mucha, Polish actress and journalist 1980 – Channing Tatum, American actor and producer 1981 – Caro Emerald, Dutch pop and jazz singer 1981 – Ms. Dynamite, English rapper and producer 1981 – Sandra Schmitt, German skier (d. 2000) 1982 – Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter 1983 – José María López, Argentinian racing driver 1983 – Jessica Lynch, American soldier 1985 – John Isner, American tennis player 1985 – Andrea Koch Benvenuto, Chilean tennis player 1986 – Lior Refaelov, Israeli footballer 1986 – Yuliya Zaripova, Russian runner 1987 – Jorge Andújar Moreno, Spanish footballer 1988 – Ben Spina, Australian rugby league player 1988 – Manuel Viniegra, Mexican footballer 1988 – Gareth Evans, English footballer 1989 – Melvin Ingram, American football player 1989 – Kang Daesung, South Korean singer 1990 – Mitch Rein, Australian rugby league player 1990 – Nevin Spence, Northern Irish rugby player (d. 2012) 1991 – Lazaros Fotias, Greek footballer 1991 – Peter Handscomb, Australian cricketer 1991 – Isaac Liu, New Zealand rugby league player 1991 – Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer 1991 – Srdjan Pejicic, Canadian/Bosnian basketball player 1991 – Wojciech Pszczolarski, Polish bicycle racer 1992 – Aaron Judge, American baseball player 1992 – Delon Wright, American basketball player 1994 – Daniil Kvyat, Russian racing driver 1996 – Jordan Pefok, American footballer 2001 – Thiago Almada, Argentine footballer 2002 – Meagan Best, Barbadian squash player Deaths Pre-1600 499 – Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (b. 467) 645 – Richarius, Frankish monk and saint (b. 560) 680 – Muawiyah I, Umayyad caliph (b. 602) 757 – Pope Stephen II (b. 715) 893 – Chen Jingxuan, general of the Tang Dynasty 962 – Adalbero I, bishop of Metz 1192 – Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127) 1366 – Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury 1392 – Jeong Mong-ju, Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (b. 1338) 1444 – Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378) 1478 – Giuliano de' Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1453) 1489 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shōgun (b. 1465) 1558 – Jean Fernel, French physician (b. 1497) 1601–1900 1686 – Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Swedish statesman and military man (b. 1622) 1716 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1651) 1784 – Nano Nagle, Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (b. 1718) 1789 – Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian general (b. 1721) 1809 – Bernhard Schott, German music publisher (b. 1748) 1865 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838) 1881 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815) 1895 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian-English author and poet (b. 1860) 1901–present 1910 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832) 1915 – John Bunny, American actor (b. 1863) 1915 – Ida Hunt Udall, American diarist (b. 1858) 1916 – Mário de Sá-Carneiro, Portuguese poet and writer (b. 1890) 1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (b. 1887) 1932 – William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868) 1934 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1876) 1940 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874) 1944 – Violette Morris, French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1893) 1945 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (b. 1909) 1945 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (b. 1871) 1946 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (b. 1882) 1950 – George Murray Hulbert, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1881) 1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (b. 1868) 1956 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890) 1957 – Gichin Funakoshi, Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (b. 1868) 1964 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and author (b. 1882) 1968 – John Heartfield, German illustrator and photographer (b. 1891) 1969 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (b. 1883) 1970 – Erik Bergman, Swedish minister and author (b. 1886) 1970 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, striptease dancer, and writer (b. 1911) 1973 – Irene Ryan, American actress and philanthropist (b. 1902) 1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903) 1976 – Sid James, South African-English actor (b. 1913) 1976 – Armstrong Sperry, American author and illustrator (b. 1897) 1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer (b. 1893) 1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909) 1984 – Count Basie, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1904) 1986 – Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911) 1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898) 1986 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899) 1987 – Shankar, Indian composer and conductor (b. 1922) 1987 – John Silkin, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (b. 1923) 1989 – Lucille Ball, American model, actress, comedian, and producer (b. 1911) 1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer and conductor (b. 1904) 1991 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910) 1991 – A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist and historian, (b. 1901) 1991 – Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1931) 1994 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (b. 1923) 1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918) 1999 – Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1957) 1999 – Jill Dando, English journalist and television personality (b. 1961) 2003 – Rosemary Brown, Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1930) 2003 – Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (b. 1984) 2003 – Edward Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1904) 2004 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (b. 1928) 2005 – Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919) 2005 – Elisabeth Domitien, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1925) 2005 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (b. 1926) 2005 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (b. 1917) 2007 – Jack Valenti, American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (b. 1921) 2008 – Árpád Orbán, Hungarian footballer (b. 1938) 2009 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (b. 1920) 2010 – Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian graphic designer and academic (b. 1930) 2010 – Urs Felber, Swiss engineer and businessman (b. 1942) 2011 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950) 2012 – Terence Spinks, English boxer and trainer (b. 1938) 2013 – Jacqueline Brookes, American actress and educator (b. 1930) 2013 – George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931) 2013 – Earl Silverman, Canadian men's rights advocate (b. 1948) 2014 – Gerald Guralnik, American physicist and academic (b. 1936) 2014 – Paul Robeson, Jr., American historian and author (b. 1927) 2014 – DJ Rashad, American electronic musician, producer and DJ (b. 1979) 2015 – Jayne Meadows, American actress (b. 1919) 2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1930) 2016 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (b. 1937) 2017 – Jonathan Demme, American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter (b. 1944) 2022 – Klaus Schulze, German composer and musician (b. 1947) 2023 – Jerry Apodaca, American politician, 24th Governor of New Mexico (b. 1934) Holidays and observances Chernobyl disaster related observances: Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus) Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia) Christian feast day: Aldobrandesca (or Alda) Franca Visalta Lucidius of Verona Our Lady of Good Counsel Pope Anacletus and Marcellinus Rafael Arnáiz Barón Riquier Paschasius Radbertus Peter of Rates (or of Braga) Robert Hunt (Episcopal Church (USA)) Stephen of Perm, see also Old Permic Alphabet Day Trudpert April 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States) Union Day (Tanzania) World Intellectual Property Day References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 26 Days of the year April

1291

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic%20Treaty%20System

Antarctic Treaty System

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, setting aside the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The main treaty was opened for signature on 1 December 1959, and officially entered into force on 23 June 1961. The original signatories were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–58: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries had established over 55 Antarctic research stations for the IGY, and the subsequent promulgation of the treaty was seen as a diplomatic expression of the operational and scientific cooperation that had been achieved. , the treaty has 56 parties. History 1940s After World War II, the U.S. considered establishing a claim in Antarctica. From 26 August 1946, and until the beginning of 1947, it carried out Operation Highjump, the largest military expeditionary force that the United States had ever sent to Antarctica, consisting of 13 ships, 4,700 men, and numerous aerial devices. Its goals were to train military personnel and to test material in conditions of extreme cold for a hypothetical war in the Antarctic. On 2 September 1947, the quadrant of Antarctica in which the United States was interested (between 24° W and 90° W) was included as part of the security zone of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, committing its members to defend it in case of external aggression. In August 1948, the United States proposed that Antarctica be under the guardianship of the United Nations, as a trust territory administered by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. This idea was rejected by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, and Norway. Before the rejection, on 28 August 1948, the United States proposed to the claimant countries some form of internationalization of Antarctica, and the United Kingdom supported this. Chile responded by presenting a plan to suspend all Antarctic claims for five to ten years while negotiating a final solution, but this did not find acceptance. In 1950, the interest of the United States to keep the Soviet Union away from Antarctica was frustrated, when the Soviets informed the claimant states that they would not accept any Antarctic agreement in which they were not represented. The fear that the USSR would react by making a territorial claim, bringing the Cold War to Antarctica, led the United States to make none. International conflicts Various international conflicts motivated the creation of an agreement for the Antarctic. Some incidents had occurred during the Second World War, and a new one occurred in Hope Bay on 1 February 1952, when the Argentine military fired warning shots at a group of Britons. The response of the United Kingdom was to send a warship that landed marines at the scene on 4 February. In 1949, Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom signed a Tripartite Naval Declaration committing not to send warships south of the 60th parallel south, which was renewed annually until 1961 when it was deemed unnecessary when the treaty entered into force. This tripartite declaration was signed after the tension generated when Argentina sent a fleet of eight warships to Antarctica in February 1948. On 17 January 1953, Argentina reopened the Lieutenant Lasala refuge on Deception Island, leaving a sergeant and a corporal in the Argentine Navy. On 15 February, in the incident on Deception Island, 32 royal marines landed from the British frigate HMS Snipe armed with Sten machine guns, rifles, and tear gas capturing the two Argentine sailors. The Argentine refuge and a nearby uninhabited Chilean shelter were destroyed, and the Argentine sailors were delivered to a ship from that country on 18 February near South Georgia. A British detachment remained three months on the island while the frigate patrolled its waters until April. On 4 May 1955, the United Kingdom filed two lawsuits, against Argentina and Chile respectively, before the International Court of Justice to declare the invalidity of the claims of the sovereignty of the two countries over Antarctic and sub-Antarctic areas. On 15 July 1955, the Chilean government rejected the jurisdiction of the court in that case, and on 1 August, the Argentine government also did so, so on 16 March 1956, the claims were closed. In 1956 and 1958, India tried unsuccessfully to bring the Antarctic issue to the United Nations General Assembly. International Geophysical Year In 1950, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) had discussed the possibility of holding a third International Polar Year. At the suggestion of the World Meteorological Organization, the idea of the International Polar Year was extended to the entire planet, thus creating the International Geophysical Year that took place between 1 July 1957, and 31 December 1958. In this event, 66 countries participated. At the ICSU meeting in Stockholm from 9 to 11 September 1957, the creation of a Special Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) was approved, inviting the twelve countries conducting Antarctic investigations to send delegates to integrate the committee, with the purpose of exchanging scientific information among its members regarding Antarctica. The SCAR was later renamed to the Scientific Committee for Research in Antarctica. Both Argentina and Chile stated that research carried out on the continent during the International Geophysical Year would not give any territorial rights to the participants, and that the facilities that were erected during that year should be dismantled at the end of it. However, in February 1958, the United States proposed that the Antarctic investigations should be extended for another year, and the Soviet Union reported that it would maintain its scientific bases until the studies being carried out had been completed. Negotiation of the treaty Scientific bases increased international tension concerning Antarctica. The danger of the Cold War spreading to that continent caused the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, to convene an Antarctic Conference of the twelve countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year, to sign a treaty. In the first phase, representatives of the twelve nations met in Washington, who met in sixty sessions between June 1958 and October 1959 to define a basic negotiating framework. However, no consensus was reached on a preliminary draft. In the second phase, a conference at the highest diplomatic level was held from 15 October to 1 December 1959, when the Treaty was signed. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 nations and came into effect in the mid-1960s. The central ideas with full acceptance were the freedom of scientific research in Antarctica and the peaceful use of the continent. There was also a consensus for demilitarization and the maintenance of the status quo. The treaty prohibits nuclear testing, military operations, economic exploitation, and territorial claims in Antarctica. It is monitored through on-site inspections. The only permanent structures allowed are scientific research stations. The original signatory countries hold voting rights on Antarctic governance, with seven of them claiming portions of the continent and the remaining five being non-claimants. Other nations have joined as consultative members by conducting significant research in Antarctica. Non-consultative parties can also adhere to the treaty. In 1991-1992, the treaty was renegotiated by 33 nations, with the main change being the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection, which prohibited mining and oil exploration for 50 years. The positions of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand coincided in the establishment of an international administration for Antarctica, proposing that it should be within the framework of the United Nations. Australia and the United Kingdom expressed the need for inspections by observers, and the British also proposed the use of military personnel for logistical functions. Argentina proposed that all atomic explosions be banned in Antarctica, which caused a crisis that lasted until the last day of the conference, since the United States, along with other countries, intended to ban only those that were made without prior notice and without prior consultation. The support of the USSR and Chile for the Argentine proposal finally caused the United States to retract its opposition. The signing of the treaty was the first arms control agreement that occurred in the framework of the Cold War, and the participating countries managed to avoid the internationalization of Antarctic sovereignty. As of the year 2048, any of the consultative parties to the treaty may request the revision of the treaty and its entire normative system, with the approval of a relative majority. Other agreements Other agreements – some 200 recommendations adopted at treaty consultative meetings and ratified by governments – include: Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora (1964) (entered into force in 1982) The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972) The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1982) The Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (1988) (signed in 1988, not in force) The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed 4 October 1991, and entered into force 14 January 1998; this agreement prevents development and provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment through five specific annexes on marine pollution, fauna and flora, environmental impact assessments, waste management, and protected areas. It prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific. A sixth annex on liability arising from environmental emergencies was adopted in 2005, but is yet to enter into force. Bilateral treaties Exchange of Notes constituting an Agreement between the Governments of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Government of the French Republic, regarding Aerial Navigation in the Antarctic (Paris, 25 October 1938) Treaty Between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic on Cooperation in the Maritime Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (TAAF), Heard Island and the McDonald Islands (Canberra, 24 November 2003) Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement of Fisheries Laws between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic in the Maritime Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Heard Island and the McDonald Islands (Paris, 8 January 2007) Meetings The Antarctic Treaty System's yearly Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) are the international forum for the administration and management of the region. Only 29 of the 56 parties to the agreements have the right to participate in decision-making at these meetings, though the other 27 are still allowed to attend. The decision-making participants are the Consultative Parties and, in addition to the 12 original signatories, including 17 countries that have demonstrated their interest in Antarctica by carrying out substantial scientific activity there. The Antarctic Treaty also has Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (SATCM), which are generally summoned to treat more important topics but are less frequents and Meetings of Experts. Parties As of 2023, there are 56 states party to the treaty, 29 of which, including all 12 original signatories to the treaty, have consultative (voting) status. The consultative members include the 7 countries that claim portions of Antarctica as their territory. The 49 non-claimant countries do not recognize the claims of others. 42 parties to the Antarctic Treaty have also ratified the "Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty". Overview of parties to the Antarctic Treaty System * Has an overlapping claim with another one or two claimants. † Reserved the right to make a claim. Antarctic Treaty Secretariat The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2004 by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). Jan Huber (the Netherlands) served as the first Executive Secretary for five years until 31 August 2009. He was succeeded on 1 September 2009, by Manfred Reinke (Germany). Reinke was succeeded by Albert Lluberas (Uruguay), who was elected in June 2017 at the 40th Antarctic Consultative Treaty Meeting in Beijing, China. The tasks of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat can be divided into the following areas: Supporting the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and the meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP). Facilitating the exchange of information between the Parties required in the Treaty and the Environment Protocol. Collecting, storing, arranging and publishing the documents of the ATCM. Providing and disseminating public information about the Antarctic Treaty system and Antarctic activities. Legal system Antarctica currently has no permanent population and therefore it has no citizenship nor government. Personnel present on Antarctica at any time are always citizens or nationals of some sovereignty outside Antarctica, as there is no Antarctic sovereignty. The majority of Antarctica is claimed by one or more countries, but most countries do not explicitly recognize those claims. The area on the mainland between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west is the only major land on Earth not claimed by any country. Until 2015 the interior of the Norwegian Sector, the extent of which had never been officially defined, was considered to be unclaimed. That year, Norway formally laid claim to the area between its Queen Maud Land and the South Pole. Governments that are party to the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection implement the articles of these agreements, and decisions taken under them, through national laws. These laws generally apply only to their own citizens, wherever they are in Antarctica, and serve to enforce the consensus decisions of the consultative parties: about which activities are acceptable, which areas require permits to enter, what processes of environmental impact assessment must precede activities, and so on. The Antarctic Treaty is often considered to represent an example of the common heritage of mankind principle. Australia Since the designation of the Australian Antarctic Territory pre-dated the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, Australian laws that relate to Antarctica date from more than two decades before the Antarctic Treaty era. In terms of criminal law, the laws that apply to the Jervis Bay Territory (which follows the laws of the Australian Capital Territory) apply to the Australian Antarctic Territory. Key Australian legislation applying Antarctic Treaty System decisions include the Antarctic Treaty Act 1960, the Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Act 1980 and the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Act 1981. United States The law of the United States, including certain criminal offences by or against U.S. nationals, such as murder, may apply to areas not under jurisdiction of other countries. To this end, the United States now stations special deputy U.S. Marshals in Antarctica to provide a law enforcement presence. Some U.S. laws directly apply to Antarctica. For example, the Antarctic Conservation Act, Public Law 95-541, et seq., provides civil and criminal penalties for the following activities, unless authorized by regulation or statute: the taking of native Antarctic mammals or birds the introduction into Antarctica of non-indigenous plants and animals entry into specially protected or scientific areas the discharge or disposal of pollutants into Antarctica or Antarctic waters the importation into the U.S. of certain items from Antarctica Violation of the Antarctic Conservation Act carries penalties of up to US$10,000 in fines and one year in prison. The Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, Transportation, and the Interior share enforcement responsibilities. The Act requires expeditions from the U.S. to Antarctica to notify, in advance, the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs of the State Department, which reports such plans to other nations as required by the Antarctic Treaty. Further information is provided by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation. New Zealand In 2006, the New Zealand police reported that jurisdictional issues prevented them issuing warrants for potential American witnesses who were reluctant to testify during the Christchurch Coroner's investigation into the death by poisoning of Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks at the South Pole base in May 2000. Dr. Marks died while wintering over at the United States' Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station located at the geographic South Pole. Prior to autopsy, the death was attributed to natural causes by the National Science Foundation and the contractor administering the base. However, an autopsy in New Zealand revealed that Dr. Marks died from methanol poisoning. The New Zealand Police launched an investigation. In 2006, frustrated by lack of progress, the Christchurch Coroner said that it was unlikely that Dr. Marks ingested the methanol knowingly, although there is no certainty that he died as the direct result of the act of another person. During media interviews, the police detective in charge of the investigation criticized the National Science Foundation and contractor Raytheon for failing to cooperate with the investigation. South Africa Under the South African Citizens in Antarctica Act, 1962, South African law applies to all South African citizens in Antarctica, and they are subject to the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court in Cape Town. The Antarctic Treaties Act, 1996 incorporates the Antarctic Treaty and related agreements into South African law. In regard to violations of these treaties, South Africa also asserts jurisdiction over South African residents and members of expeditions organised in South Africa. See also Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) Antarctic Protected Areas Antarctic Treaty issue Arctic Council Arctic sanctuary Crime in Antarctica Endurance – lost ship of Ernest Shackleton, found in 2022 and protected by the treaty International Seabed Authority Montreal Protocol Moon treaty Multilateral treaty National Antarctic Program Category: Outposts of Antarctica Research stations in Antarctica Solar radiation management Svalbard Treaty References External links Antarctic Treaty Secretariat Full Text of the Antarctic Treaty Original facsimile of Antarctic Treaty Australian Antarctic Territory Why 60 South? National Science Foundation – Office of Polar Programs List of all Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings An Antarctic Solution for the Koreas San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 August 2005 (Both South Korea and North Korea are members of the Antarctic Treaty) Emblem of the Antarctic Treaty Antarctica agreements 1959 in Antarctica 1959 in Washington, D.C. December 1959 events 1961 in Antarctica 1961 in the environment Arms control treaties Cold War treaties Territorial claims in Antarctica Treaties concluded in 1959 Treaties entered into force in 1961 Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Belgium Treaties of the military dictatorship in Brazil Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Treaties of Canada Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Denmark Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of West Germany Treaties of East Germany Treaties of Greece Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of Italy Treaties of India Treaties of Japan Treaties of Malaysia Treaties of Monaco Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of North Korea Treaties of Norway Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of Papua New Guinea Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Polish People's Republic Treaties of Portugal Treaties of the Socialist Republic of Romania Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Venezuela History of the Ross Dependency December 1959 events in the United States

1300

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone

Abalone

Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen aulón) is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or muttonshells in parts of Australia, ormer in the UK, perlemoen in South Africa, and paua in New Zealand. Abalones are marine snails. Their taxonomy puts them in the family Haliotidae, which contains only one genus, Haliotis, which once contained six subgenera. These subgenera have become alternative representations of Haliotis. The number of species recognized worldwide ranges between 30 and 130 with over 230 species-level taxa described. The most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 species valid, with 18 additional subspecies. The shells of abalones have a low, open spiral structure, and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shell's outer edge. The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre (mother-of-pearl), which in many species is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong, changeable colors which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, jewelry, and as a source of colorful mother-of-pearl. The flesh of abalones is widely considered to be a desirable food, and is consumed raw or cooked by a variety of cultures. Description Most abalone vary in size from (Haliotis pulcherrima) to . The largest species, Haliotis rufescens, reaches . The shell of abalones is convex, rounded to oval in shape, and may be highly arched or very flattened. The shell of the majority of species has a small, flat spire and two to three whorls. The last whorl, known as the body whorl, is auriform, meaning that the shell resembles an ear, giving rise to the common name "ear shell". Haliotis asinina has a somewhat different shape, as it is more elongated and distended. The shell of Haliotis cracherodii cracherodii is also unusual as it has an ovate form, is imperforate, shows an exserted spire, and has prickly ribs. A mantle cleft in the shell impresses a groove in the shell, in which are the row of holes characteristic of the genus. These holes are respiratory apertures for venting water from the gills and for releasing sperm and eggs into the water column. They make up what is known as the selenizone, which forms as the shell grows. This series of eight to 38 holes is near the anterior margin. Only a small number is generally open. The older holes are gradually sealed up as the shell grows and new holes form. Each species has a typical number of open holes, between four and 10, in the selenizone. An abalone has no operculum. The aperture of the shell is very wide and nacreous. The exterior of the shell is striated and dull. The color of the shell is very variable from species to species, which may reflect the animal's diet. The iridescent nacre that lines the inside of the shell varies in color from silvery white, to pink, red and green-red to deep blue, green to purple. The animal has fimbriated head lobes and side lobes that are fimbriated and cirrated. The radula has small median teeth, and the lateral teeth are single and beam-like. They have about 70 uncini, with denticulated hooks, the first four very large. The rounded foot is very large in comparison to most molluscs. The soft body is coiled around the columellar muscle, and its insertion, instead of being on the columella, is on the middle of the inner wall of the shell. The gills are symmetrical and both well developed. These snails cling solidly with their broad, muscular foot to rocky surfaces at sublittoral depths, although some species such as Haliotis cracherodii used to be common in the intertidal zone. Abalones reach maturity at a relatively small size. Their fecundity is high and increases with their size, laying from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time. The spermatozoa are filiform and pointed at one end, and the anterior end is a rounded head. Distribution The haliotid family has a worldwide distribution, along the coastal waters of every continent, except the Pacific coast of South America, the Atlantic coast of North America, the Arctic, and Antarctica. The majority of abalone species are found in cold waters, such as off the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Western North America, and Japan. Structure and properties of the shell The shell of the abalone is exceptionally strong and is made of microscopic calcium carbonate tiles stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a clingy protein substance. When the abalone shell is struck, the tiles slide instead of shattering and the protein stretches to absorb the energy of the blow. Material scientists around the world are studying this tiled structure for insight into stronger ceramic products such as body armor. The dust created by grinding and cutting abalone shell is dangerous; appropriate safeguards must be taken to protect people from inhaling these particles. Diseases and pests Abalones are subject to various diseases. The Victorian Department of Primary Industries said in 2007 that ganglioneuritis killed up to 90% of stock in affected regions. Abalone are also severe hemophiliacs, as their fluids will not clot in the case of a laceration or puncture wound. Members of the Spionidae of the polychaetes are known as pests of abalone. Human use Abalone has been harvested worldwide for centuries as a source of food and decorative items. Abalone shells and associated materials, like their claw-like pearls and nacre, have been used as jewelry and for buttons, buckles, and inlay. These shells have been found in archaeological sites around the world, ranging from 100,000-year-old deposits at Blombos Cave in South Africa to historic Chinese abalone middens on California's Northern Channel Islands. For at least 12,000 years, abalones were harvested to such an extent around the Channel Islands that shells in the area decreased in size four thousand years ago. Farming Farming of abalone began in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Japan and China. Since the mid-1990s, there have been many increasingly successful endeavors to commercially farm abalone for the purpose of consumption. Overfishing and poaching have reduced wild populations to such an extent that farmed abalone now supplies most of the abalone meat consumed. The principal abalone farming regions are China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Abalone is also farmed in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, and the United States. After trials in 2012, a commercial "sea ranch" was set up in Flinders Bay, Western Australia to raise abalone. The ranch is based on an artificial reef made up of 5,000 separate concrete abalone habitat units, which can host 400 abalone each. The reef is seeded with young abalone from an onshore hatchery. The abalone feed on seaweed that grows naturally on the habitats; the ecosystem enrichment of the bay also results in growing numbers of dhufish, pink snapper, wrasse, and Samson fish among other species. Consumption Abalones have long been a valuable food source for humans in every area of the world where a species is abundant. The meat of this mollusc is considered a delicacy in certain parts of Latin America (particularly Chile), France, New Zealand, East Asia and Southeast Asia. In the Greater China region and among Overseas Chinese communities, abalone is commonly known as bao yu, and sometimes forms part of a Chinese banquet. In the same way as shark fin soup or bird's nest soup, abalone is considered a luxury item, and is traditionally reserved for special occasions such as weddings and other celebrations. As abalone became more popular and less common, the prices adjusted accordingly. In the 1920s, a restaurant-served portion of abalone, about 4 ounces, would cost (in inflation adjusted dollars) about US$7; by 2004, the price had risen to US$75. In the United States, prior to this time, abalone was predominantly eaten, gathered, and prepared by Chinese immigrants. Before that, abalone were collected to be eaten, and used for other purposes by Native American tribes. By 1900, laws were passed in California to outlaw the taking of abalone above the intertidal zone. This forced the Chinese out of the market and the Japanese perfected diving, with or without gear, to enter the market. Abalone started to become popular in the US after the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915, which exhibited 365 varieties of fish with cooking demonstrations, and a 1,300-seat dining hall. In Japan, live and raw abalones are used in awabi sushi, or served steamed, salted, boiled, chopped, or simmered in soy sauce. Salted, fermented abalone entrails are the main component of tottsuru, a local dish from Honshū. Tottsuru is mainly enjoyed with sake. In South Korea, abalone is called Jeonbok (/juhn-bok/) and used in various recipes. Jeonbok porridge and pan-fried abalone steak with butter are popular but also commonly used in soups or ramyeon. In California, abalone meat can be found on pizza, sautéed with caramelized mango, or in steak form dusted with cracker meal and flour. Sport harvesting Australia Tasmania supplies about 25% of the yearly world abalone harvest. Around 12,500 Tasmanians recreationally fish for blacklip and greenlip abalone. For blacklip abalone, the size limit varies between for the southern end of the state and for the northern end of the state. Greenlip abalones have a minimum size of , except for an area around Perkins Bay in the north of the state where the minimum size is . With a recreational abalone licence, the bag limit is 10 per day, with a total possession limit of 20. Scuba diving for abalone is allowed, and has a rich history in Australia. (Scuba diving for abalone in the states of New South Wales and Western Australia is illegal; a free-diving catch limit of two is allowed). Victoria has had an active abalone fishery since the late 1950s. The state is sectioned into three fishing zones, Eastern, Central and Western, with each fisher required a zone-allocated licence. Harvesting is performed by divers using surface-supplied air "hookah" systems operating from runabout-style, outboard-powered boats. While the diver seeks out colonies of abalone amongst the reef beds, the deckhand operates the boat, known as working "live" and stays above where the diver is working. Bags of abalone pried from the rocks are brought to the surface by the diver or by way of "shot line", where the deckhand drops a weighted rope for the catch bag to be connected then retrieved. Divers measure each abalone before removing from the reef and the deckhand remeasures each abalone and removes excess weed growth from the shell. Since 2002, the Victorian industry has seen a significant decline in catches, with the total allowable catch reduced from 1440 to 787 tonnes for the 2011/12 fishing year, due to dwindling stocks and most notably the abalone virus ganglioneuritis, which is fast-spreading and lethal to abalone stocks. United States Sport harvesting of red abalone is permitted with a California fishing license and an abalone stamp card. In 2008, the abalone card also came with a set of 24 tags. This was reduced to 18 abalone per year in 2014, and as of 2017 the limit has been reduced to 12, only nine of which may be taken south of Mendocino County. Legal-size abalone must be tagged immediately. Abalone may only be taken using breath-hold techniques or shorepicking; scuba diving for abalone is strictly prohibited. Taking of abalone is not permitted south of the mouth of San Francisco Bay. A size minimum of measured across the shell is in place. A person may be in possession of only three abalone at any given time. As of 2017, abalone season is May to October, excluding July. Transportation of abalone may only legally occur while the abalone is still attached in the shell. Sale of sport-obtained abalone is illegal, including the shell. Only red abalone may be taken, as black, white, pink, flat, green, and pinto abalone are protected by law. In 2018, The California Fish and Game Commission closed recreational abalone season due to dramatically declining populations. That year, they extended the moratorium to last through April 2021. An abalone diver is normally equipped with a thick wetsuit, including a hood, bootees, and gloves, and usually also a mask, snorkel, weight belt, abalone iron, and abalone gauge. Alternatively, the rock picker can feel underneath rocks at low tides for abalone. Abalone are mostly taken in depths from a few inches up to ; less common are freedivers who can work deeper than . Abalone are normally found on rocks near food sources such as kelp. An abalone iron is used to pry the abalone from the rock before it has time to fully clamp down. Divers dive from boats, kayaks, tube floats, or directly off the shore. The largest abalone recorded in California is , caught by John Pepper somewhere off the coast of San Mateo County in September 1993. The mollusc Concholepas concholepas is often sold in the United States under the name "Chilean abalone", though it is not an abalone, but a muricid. New Zealand In New Zealand, abalone is called paua (, from the Māori language). Haliotis iris (or blackfoot paua) is the ubiquitous New Zealand paua, the highly polished nacre of which is extremely popular as souvenirs with its striking blue, green, and purple iridescence. Haliotis australis and Haliotis virginea are also found in New Zealand waters, but are less popular than H. iris. Like all New Zealand shellfish, recreational harvesting of paua does not require a permit provided catch limits, size restrictions, and seasonal and local restrictions set by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are followed. The legal recreational daily limit is 10 per diver, with a minimum shell length of for H. iris and for H. australis. In addition, no person may be in possession, even on land, of more than 20 paua or more than of paua meat at any one time. Paua can only be caught by free-diving; it is illegal to catch them using scuba gear. An extensive global black market exists in collecting and exporting abalone meat. This can be a particularly awkward problem where the right to harvest paua can be granted legally under Māori customary rights. When such permits to harvest are abused, it is frequently difficult to police. The limit is strictly enforced by roving Ministry for Primary Industries fishery officers with the backing of the New Zealand Police. Poaching is a major industry in New Zealand with many thousands being taken illegally, often undersized. Convictions have resulted in seizure of diving gear, boats, and motor vehicles and fines and in rare cases, imprisonment. South Africa There are five species endemic to South Africa, namely H. parva, H. spadicea, H. queketti and H. speciosa. The largest abalone in South Africa, Haliotis midae, occurs along roughly two-thirds of the country's coastline. Abalone-diving has been a recreational activity for many years, but stocks are currently being threatened by illegal commercial harvesting. In South Africa, all persons harvesting this shellfish need permits that are issued annually, and no abalone may be harvested using scuba gear. For the last few years, however, no permits have been issued for collecting abalone, but commercial harvesting still continues as does illegal collection by syndicates. In 2007, because of widespread poaching of abalone, the South African government listed abalone as an endangered species according to the CITES section III appendix, which requests member governments to monitor the trade in this species. This listing was removed from CITES in June 2010 by the South African government and South African abalone is no longer subject to CITES trade controls. Export permits are still required, however. The abalone meat from South Africa is prohibited for sale in the country to help reduce poaching; however, much of the illegally harvested meat is sold in Asian countries. As of early 2008, the wholesale price for abalone meat was approximately US$40.00 per kilogram. There is an active trade in the shells, which sell for more than US$1,400 per tonne. Channel Islands, Brittany and Normandy Ormers (Haliotis tuberculata) are considered a delicacy in the British Channel Islands as well as in adjacent areas of France, and are pursued with great alacrity by the locals. This, and a recent lethal bacterial disease, has led to a dramatic depletion in numbers since the latter half of the 19th century, and "ormering" is now strictly regulated to preserve stocks. The gathering of ormers is now restricted to a number of 'ormering tides', from 1 January to 30 April, which occur on the full or new moon and two days following. No ormers may be taken from the beach that are under in shell length. Gatherers are not allowed to wear wetsuits or even put their heads underwater. Any breach of these laws is a criminal offence and can lead to a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison. The demand for ormers is such that they led to the world's first underwater arrest, when Mr. Kempthorne-Leigh of Guernsey was arrested by a police officer in full diving gear when illegally diving for ormers. Decorative items The highly iridescent inner nacre layer of the shell of abalone has traditionally been used as a decorative item, in jewelry, buttons, and as inlay in furniture and musical instruments, such as on fret boards and binding of guitars. Indigenous use Abalone has been an important staple in a number of Indigenous cultures around the world, specifically in Africa and on the Northwest American coast. The meat is a traditional food, and the shell is used to make ornaments; historically, the shells were also used as currency in some communities. Threat of extinction Abalones are one of the many classes of organism threatened with extinction due to overfishing and the acidification of oceans from anthropogenic carbon dioxide, as reduced pH erodes their shells. In the 21st century, white, pink, and green abalone are on the United States federal endangered species list, and possible restoration sites have been proposed for the San Clemente Island and Santa Barbara Island areas. The possibility of farming abalone to be reintroduced into the wild has also been proposed, with these abalone having special tags to help track the population. Species The number of species that are recognized within the genus Haliotis has fluctuated over time, and depends on the source that is consulted. The number of recognized species range from 30 to 130. This list finds a compromise using the WoRMS database, plus some species that have been added, for a total of 57. The majority of abalone have not been rated for conservation status. Those that have been reviewed tend to show that the abalone in general is an animal that is declining in numbers, and will need protection throughout the globe. Synonyms See also List of delicacies Citations References Further reading External links Abalone: Species Diversity ABMAP: The Abalone Mapping Project Abalone biology Conchology Hardy's Internet Guide to Marine Gastropods : Shell Catalog book on crafting with Abalone Shell Fisheries Western Australia – Abalone Fact Sheet Imagemap of worldwide abalone distribution Oman’s Abalone Harvest Pro abalone diver, Mallacoota, Victoria (1967) Tathra NSW(1961), Abalone (1963) Fathom magazine "The Abalone Divers" Pages 43,44,45 (1972) Abalone Healing Properties Commercial molluscs Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances Organic gemstones Mollusc common names de:Seeohren ja:アワビ#人間との関わり zh:鮑魚

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%207

August 7

Events Pre-1600 461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the magister militum Ricimer. 626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople. 768 – Pope Stephen III is elected to office, and quickly seeks Frankish protection against the Lombard threat, since the Byzantine Empire is no longer able to help. 936 – Coronation of King Otto I of Germany. 1461 – The Ming dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor. 1479 – Battle of Guinegate: French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg. 1601–1900 1679 – The brigantine Le Griffon becomes the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America. 1714 – The Battle of Gangut: The first important victory of the Russian Navy. 1743 – The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War. 1782 – George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart. 1786 – The first federal Indian Reservation is created by the United States. 1789 – The United States Department of War is established. 1791 – American troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War. 1794 – U.S. President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. 1819 – Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá. 1858 – The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. 1890 – Anna Månsdotter, found guilty of the 1889 Yngsjö murder, became the last woman to be executed in Sweden. 1901–present 1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California. 1927 – The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. 1930 – The last confirmed lynching of black people in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana; two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are killed. 1933 – The Kingdom of Iraq slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. This date is recognized as Martyrs Day or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory of the Simele massacre. 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. 1944 – IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I). 1946 – The government of the Soviet Union presented a note to its Turkish counterparts which refuted the latter's sovereignty over the Turkish Straits, thus beginning the Turkish Straits crisis. 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America. 1947 – The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). 1959 – Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida. 1960 – Ivory Coast becomes independent from France. 1962 – Canadian-born American pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey is awarded the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for her refusal to authorize thalidomide. 1964 – Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces. 1969 – Richard Nixon appoints Luis R. Bruce, a Mohawk-Oglala Sioux and co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians, as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 1970 – California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during an effort to free George Jackson from police custody. 1974 – Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the air. 1976 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars. 1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently. 1981 – The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication. 1985 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts. 1987 – Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union. 1989 – U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia. 1990 – First American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of the Gulf War. 1993 – Ada Deer, a Menominee activist, is sworn in as the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 1995 – The Chilean government declares state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense, cold, wind, rain and snowfall known as the White Earthquake. 1997 – Space Shuttle Program: The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-85 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. 1997 – Fine Air Flight 101 crashes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing five people. 1998 – Bombings at United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people. 1999 – The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade invades neighboring Dagestan. 2007 – At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record. 2008 – The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia. 2020 – Air India Express Flight 1344 overshoots the runway at Calicut International Airport in the Malappuram district of Kerala, India, and crashes, killing 21 of the 190 people on board. Births Pre-1600 317 – Constantius II, Roman emperor (d. 361) 1282 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (d. 1316) 1533 – Alonso de Ercilla, Spanish soldier and poet (d. 1595) 1560 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian aristocrat and purported serial killer (d. 1614) 1571 – Thomas Lupo, English viol player and composer (d. 1627) 1574 – Robert Dudley, English explorer and cartographer (d. 1649) 1598 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet and linguist (d. 1672) 1601–1900 1613 – William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch stadtholder (d. 1664) 1702 – Muhammad Shah, Mughal emperor of India (d. 1748) 1726 – James Bowdoin, American banker and politician, 2nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1790) 1742 – Nathanael Greene, American general (d. 1786) 1751 – Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (d. 1820) 1779 – Carl Ritter, German geographer and academic (d. 1859) 1826 – August Ahlqvist, Finnish professor, poet, scholar of the Finno-Ugric languages, author, and literary critic (d. 1889) 1844 – Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist and author (d. 1911) 1860 – Alan Leo, English astrologer and author (d. 1917) 1862 – Henri Le Sidaner, French painter (d. 1939) 1862 – Victoria of Baden (d. 1931) 1867 – Emil Nolde, Danish-German painter and illustrator (d. 1956) 1868 – Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian-German economist and statistician (d. 1931) 1868 – Huntley Wright, English actor (d. 1941) 1869 – Mary Frances Winston, American mathematician (d. 1959) 1876 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (d. 1917) 1879 – Johannes Kotze, South African cricketer (d. 1931) 1884 – Billie Burke, American actress and singer (d. 1970) 1884 – Nikolai Triik, Estonian painter and illustrator (d. 1940) 1887 – Anna Elisabet Weirauch, German author and playwright (d. 1970) 1890 – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, American author and activist (d. 1964) 1901–present 1901 – Ann Harding, American actress and singer (d. 1981) 1903 – Louis Leakey, Kenyan-English palaeontologist and archaeologist (d. 1972) 1904 – Ralph Bunche, American political scientist, academic, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971) 1907 – Albert Kotin, Belarusian-American soldier and painter (d. 1980) 1910 – Freddie Slack, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1965) 1911 – István Bibó, Hungarian lawyer and politician (d. 1979) 1911 – Nicholas Ray, American director and screenwriter (d. 1979) 1913 – George Van Eps, American guitarist (d. 1998) 1916 – Kermit Love, American actor, puppeteer, and costume designer (d. 2008) 1918 – C. Buddingh', Dutch poet and translator (d. 1985) 1918 – Gordon Zahn, American sociologist and author (d. 2007) 1921 – Manitas de Plata, French guitarist (d. 2014) 1921 – Karel Husa, Czech-American composer and conductor (d. 2016) 1924 – Kenneth Kendall, Indian-English journalist and actor (d. 2012) 1925 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (d. 2003) 1926 – Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (d. 2015) 1927 – Rocky Bridges, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015) 1927 – Edwin Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 50th Governor of Louisiana (d. 2021) 1927 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2003) 1928 – Betsy Byars, American author and academic (d. 2020) 1928 – Owen Luder, English architect, designed Tricorn Centre and Trinity Square (d. 2021) 1928 – James Randi, Canadian-American stage magician and author (d. 2020) 1929 – Don Larsen, American baseball player (d. 2020) 1930 – Togrul Narimanbekov, Azerbaijani-French painter and academic (d. 2013) 1930 – Veljo Tormis, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2017) 1931 – Jack Good, British television producer (d. 2017) 1931 – Charles E. Rice, American scholar and author (d. 2015) 1932 – Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian runner (d. 1973) 1932 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (d. 2011) 1932 – Rien Poortvliet, Dutch painter and illustrator (d. 1995) 1932 – Maurice Rabb, Jr., American ophthalmologist and academic (d. 2005) 1933 – Eddie Firmani, South African footballer and manager 1933 – Elinor Ostrom, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012) 1933 – Jerry Pournelle, American journalist and author (d. 2017) 1933 – Alberto Romulo, Filipino politician and diplomat 1934 – Sándor Simó, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001) 1935 – Lee Corso, American college football coach and broadcaster 1935 – Rahsaan Roland Kirk, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1977) 1937 – Zoltán Berczik, Hungarian table tennis player and coach (d. 2011) 1937 – Don Wilson, English cricketer and coach (d. 2012) 1938 – Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italian automotive designer 1940 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian lawyer and politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014) 1940 – Uwe Nettelbeck, German record producer, journalist and film critic (d. 2007) 1941 – Matthew Evans, Baron Evans of Temple Guiting, English publisher and politician (d. 2016) 1942 – Garrison Keillor, American humorist, novelist, short story writer, and radio host 1942 – Carlos Monzon, Argentinian boxer and actor (d. 1995) 1942 – Caetano Veloso, Brazilian singer-songwriter, writer and producer 1942 – Richard Sykes, English biochemist and academic 1942 – B. J. Thomas, American singer (d. 2021) 1943 – Mohammed Badie, Egyptian religious leader 1943 – Lana Cantrell, Australian singer-songwriter and lawyer 1943 – Alain Corneau, French director and screenwriter (d. 2010) 1944 – John Glover, American actor 1944 – Robert Mueller, American soldier and lawyer, 6th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 1945 – Kenny Ireland, Scottish actor and director (d. 2014) 1945 – Alan Page, American football player and jurist 1947 – Franciscus Henri, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter 1947 – Sofia Rotaru, Ukrainian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress 1948 – Marty Appel, American businessman and author 1948 – Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer and coach 1949 – Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese journalist and politician 1949 – Matthew Parris, South African-English journalist and politician 1950 – Rodney Crowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1950 – Alan Keyes, American politician and diplomat, 16th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs 1950 – S. Thandayuthapani, Sri Lankan educator and politician 1952 – Caroline Aaron, American actress and producer 1952 – Eamonn Darcy, Irish golfer 1952 – Kees Kist, Dutch footballer 1952 – Alexei Sayle, English comedian, actor, and author 1953 – Anne Fadiman, American journalist and author 1954 – Valery Gazzaev, Russian footballer, manager and politician 1954 – Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy 1954 – Alan Reid, Scottish politician 1955 – Wayne Knight, American actor, comedian and voice actor 1955 – Greg Nickels, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Seattle 1955 – Vladimir Sorokin, Russian author and playwright 1957 – Daire Brehan, Irish journalist, lawyer, and actress (d. 2012) 1957 – Alexander Dityatin, Russian gymnast and colonel 1958 – Russell Baze, Canadian-American jockey 1958 – Bruce Dickinson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Alberto Salazar, Cuban-American runner and coach 1959 – Koenraad Elst, Belgian orientalist and author 1959 – Ali Shah, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach 1960 – David Duchovny, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1961 – Brian Conley, English actor and singer 1961 – Yelena Davydova, Russian gymnast 1961 – Walter Swinburn, English jockey and trainer (d. 2016) 1961 – Carlos Vives, Colombian singer, songwriter, and actor 1962 – Alison Brown, American banjo player, songwriter, and producer 1963 – Paul Dunn, Australian rugby league player 1963 – Nick Gillespie, American journalist and author 1963 – Marcus Roberts, American pianist and educator 1964 – John Birmingham, English-Australian journalist and author 1964 – Ian Dench, English guitarist and songwriter 1964 – Peter Niven, Scottish jockey 1965 – Raul Malo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1965 – Elizabeth Manley, Canadian figure skater 1966 – David Cairns, Scottish laicised priest and politician, Minister of State for Scotland (d. 2011) 1966 – Shobna Gulati, British actress 1966 – Kristin Hersh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1966 – Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia 1967 – Jason Grimsley, American baseball player 1968 – Francesca Gregorini, Italian-American director and screenwriter 1968 – Trevor Hendy, Australian surfer and coach 1968 – Sophie Lee, Australian actress and author 1969 – Paul Lambert, Scottish footballer and manager 1969 – Dana G. Peleg, Israeli writer and LGBT activist 1970 – Eric Namesnik, American swimmer (d. 2006) 1971 – Dominic Cork, England cricketer and sportscaster 1971 – Rachel York, American actress and singer 1972 – Gerry Peñalosa, Filipino boxer and promoter 1973 – Mikhail Gorsheniov, Russian singer-songwriter (d. 2013) 1973 – Danny Graves, Vietnamese-American baseball player 1973 – Kevin Muscat, English-Australian footballer, coach, and manager 1974 – Chico Benymon, American actor 1974 – Michael Shannon, American actor 1975 – Koray Candemir, Turkish singer-songwriter 1975 – Gerard Denton, Australian cricketer 1975 – Megan Gale, Australian model and actress 1975 – Ray Hill, American football player (d. 2015) 1975 – Rebecca Kleefisch, American journalist and politician, 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin 1975 – Édgar Rentería, Colombian baseball player 1975 – Charlize Theron, South African actress 1976 – Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Greek footballer and manager 1976 – Shane Lechler, American football player 1977 – Charlotte Ronson, English fashion designer 1977 – Samantha Ronson, English singer-songwriter and DJ 1977 – Justin Brooker, Rugby League Player 1978 – Alexandre Aja, French director, producer, and screenwriter 1978 – Jamey Jasta, American singer-songwriter 1978 – Mark McCammon, English-Barbadian footballer 1978 – Cirroc Lofton, American actor 1979 – Eric Johnson, American actor, director, and screenwriter 1979 – Miguel Llera, Spanish footballer 1979 – Birgit Zotz, Austrian anthropologist and author 1980 – Carsten Busch, German footballer 1980 – Aurélie Claudel, French model and actress 1980 – Tácio Caetano Cruz Queiroz, Brazilian footballer 1980 – Seiichiro Maki, Japanese footballer 1981 – David Testo, American soccer player 1981 – Randy Wayne, American actor and producer 1982 – Ángeles Balbiani, Argentine actress and singer 1982 – Abbie Cornish, Australian actress 1982 – Juan Martín Hernández, Argentine rugby player 1982 – Marquise Hill, American football player (d. 2007) 1982 – Vassilis Spanoulis, Greek basketball player 1982 – Martin Vučić, Macedonian singer and drummer 1983 – Christian Chávez, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor 1983 – Murat Dalkılıç, Turkish singer-songwriter 1983 – Danny, Portuguese footballer 1983 – Andriy Hrivko, Ukrainian cyclist 1983 – Mark Pettini, English cricketer and journalist 1984 – Stratos Perperoglou, Greek basketball player 1984 – Tooba Siddiqui, Pakistani model and actress 1984 – Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (d. 2003) 1986 – Paul Biedermann, German swimmer 1986 – Valter Birsa, Slovenian footballer 1986 – Altaír Jarabo, Mexican model and actress 1986 – Juan de la Rosa, Mexican boxer 1987 – Sidney Crosby, Canadian ice hockey player 1987 – Mustapha Dumbuya, Sierra Leonean footballer 1987 – Ryan Lavarnway, American baseball player 1987 – Rouven Sattelmaier, German footballer 1988 – Jonathan Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player 1988 – Mohamed Coulibaly, Senegalese footballer 1988 – Anisa Mohammed, West Indian cricketer 1988 – Melody Oliveria, American blogger 1988 – Erik Pieters, Dutch footballer 1988 – Beanie Wells, American football player 1989 – DeMar DeRozan, American basketball player 1990 – Josh Franceschi, English singer-songwriter 1991 – Luis Salom, Spanish motorcycle racer (d. 2016) 1991 – Mitchell te Vrede, Dutch footballer 1991 – Mike Trout, American baseball player 1992 – Adam Yates, English cyclist 1992 – Simon Yates, English cyclist 1992 – E. J. Tackett, American bowler 1992 – Wout Weghorst, Dutch footballer 1993 – Francesca Eastwood, American actress and television personality 1993 – Martti Nõmme, Estonian ski jumper 1993 – Karol Zalewski, Polish sprinter 1997 – Matty Cash, Polish footballer 1997 – Kyler Murray, American football player 1998 – Vladimir Barbu, Italian diver 1998 – María Bazo, Peruvian windsurfer 1998 – Jalen Hurts, American football player Deaths Pre-1600 461 – Majorian, Roman emperor (b. 420) 707 – Li Chongjun, Chinese prince 1028 – Alfonso V, king of León (b. 994) 1106 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1050) 1234 – Hugh Foliot, bishop of Hereford (b. c. 1155) 1272 – Richard Middleton, English Lord Chancellor 1296 – Heinrich II von Rotteneck, prince-bishop of Regensburg 1385 – Joan of Kent, mother of Richard II (b. 1328) 1485 – Alexander Stewart, duke of Albany (b. 1454) 1547 – Cajetan, Italian priest and saint (b. 1480) 1601–1900 1613 – Thomas Fleming, English judge and politician, Lord Chief Justice of England (b. 1544) 1616 – Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect, designed Teatro Olimpico (b. 1548) 1632 – Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford, English soldier (b. 1575) 1635 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and academic (b. 1591) 1639 – Martin van den Hove, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1605) 1661 – Jin Shengtan, Chinese journalist and critic (b. 1608) 1787 – Francis Blackburne, English Anglican churchman and activist (b. 1705) 1817 – Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French economist and politician (b. 1739) 1834 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor, invented the Jacquard loom (b. 1752) 1848 – Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist and academic (b. 1779) 1855 – Mariano Arista, Mexican general and politician, 19th President of Mexico (b. 1802) 1864 – Li Xiucheng, Chinese field marshal (b. 1823) 1893 – Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer and academic (b. 1854) 1899 – Jacob Maris, Dutch painter and educator (b. 1837) 1900 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German lawyer and politician (b. 1826) 1901–present 1912 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and academic (b. 1841) 1917 – Edwin Harris Dunning, South African-English commander and pilot (b. 1891) 1938 – Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director (b. 1863) 1941 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861) 1948 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (b. 1879) 1953 – Abner Powell, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860) 1957 – Oliver Hardy, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1892) 1958 – Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, American author and educator (b. 1892) 1960 – Luis Ángel Firpo, Argentine boxer (b. 1894) 1963 – Ramon Vila Capdevila, last of the Spanish Maquis, holding out after the end of the Spanish Civil War (b. 1908) 1968 – Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (b. 1908) 1969 – Jean Bastien, French professional footballer (b. 1915) 1969 – Joseph Kosma, Hungarian-French composer (b. 1905) 1970 – Harold Haley, American lawyer and judge (b. 1904) 1970 – Jonathan P. Jackson, American bodyguard and kidnapper (b. 1953) 1972 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress, and singer (b. 1929) 1973 – Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (b. 1895) 1974 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (b. 1925) 1974 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902) 1978 – Eddie Calvert, English trumpeter (b. 1922) 1981 – Gunnar Uusi, Estonian chess player (b. 1931) 1985 – Grayson Hall, American actress (b. 1922) 1987 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (b. 1900) 1989 – Mickey Leland, American lawyer and politician (b. 1944) 1994 – Larry Martyn, English actor (b. 1934) 1995 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (b. 1929) 2001 – Algirdas Lauritėnas, Lithuanian basketball player (b. 1932) 2003 – K. D. Arulpragasam, Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (b. 1931) 2003 – Mickey McDermott, American baseball player and coach (b. 1929) 2004 – Red Adair, American firefighter (b. 1915) 2004 – Colin Bibby, English ornithologist and academic (b. 1948) 2005 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (b. 1938) 2005 – Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková, Slovak painter (b. 1909) 2006 – Mary Anderson Bain, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911) 2007 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (b. 1917) 2007 – Angus Tait, New Zealand businessman, founded Tait Communications (b. 1919) 2008 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (b. 1931) 2008 – Andrea Pininfarina, Italian engineer and businessman (b. 1957) 2009 – Louis E. Saavedra, American educator and politician, 48th Mayor of Albuquerque (b. 1933) 2009 – Mike Seeger, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933) 2010 – John Nelder, English mathematician and statistician (b. 1924) 2011 – Mark Hatfield, American soldier, academic, and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (b. 1922) 2011 – Nancy Wake, New Zealand-English captain and spy (b. 1912) 2012 – Murtuz Alasgarov, Azerbaijani academic and politician, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan (b. 1928) 2012 – Judith Crist, American critic and academic (b. 1922) 2012 – Vladimir Kobzev, Russian footballer and coach (b. 1959) 2012 – Anna Piaggi, Italian journalist and author (b. 1931) 2012 – Mayer Zald, American sociologist and academic (b. 1931) 2012 – Dušan Zbavitel, Czech indologist and author (b. 1925) 2013 – Samuel G. Armistead, American linguist, historian, and academic (b. 1927) 2013 – Almir Kayumov, Russian footballer (b. 1964) 2013 – Anthony Pawson, English-Canadian biologist, chemist, and academic (b. 1952) 2013 – Margaret Pellegrini, American actress and dancer (b. 1923) 2013 – Meeli Truu, Estonian architect (b. 1946) 2013 – Alexander Yagubkin, Russian boxer (b. 1961) 2014 – Víctor Fayad, Argentine lawyer and politician (b. 1955) 2014 – Perry Moss, American football player and coach (b. 1926) 2014 – Henry Stone, American record producer (b. 1921) 2015 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (b. 1929) 2015 – Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian pharmacologist and physician (b. 1914) 2015 – Louise Suggs, American golfer, co-founded LPGA (b. 1923) 2016 – Bryan Clauson, American racing driver (b. 1989) 2017 – Don Baylor, American baseball player (b. 1949) 2017 – David Maslanka, American composer (b. 1943) 2018 – M. Karunanidhi, Indian politician, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and prominent leader of Tamils (b. 1924) 2018 – Stan Mikita, Slovak hockey player (b. 1940) 2019 – David Berman, American musician, singer, poet and cartoonist (b. 1967) 2020 – Lê Khả Phiêu, Vietnamese politician (b. 1931) 2021 – Markie Post, American actress (b. 1950) 2021 – Trevor Moore, American comedian (b. 1980) 2022 – David McCullough, American historian and author (b. 1933) 2023 – William Friedkin, American film director (b. 1935) Holidays and observances Assyrian Martyrs Day (Assyrian community) Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia) Christian feast day: Albert of Trapani Cajetan of Thienna Carpophorus and companions Dometius of Persia Donatus of Arezzo Donatus of Besançon Donatus of Muenstereifel John Mason Neale and Catherine Winkworth (Episcopal Church (USA)) Nantovinus Pope Sixtus II August 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Filseta (Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church) Emancipation Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis) Republic Day (Ivory Coast) Youth Day (Kiribati) National Purple Heart Day (United States) References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%208

August 8

Events Pre-1600 685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the new Duke of Qi — but is defeated at Qianshi by Jiu’s brother and rival claimant, the newly inaugurated Duke Huan of Qi. 870 – Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions. 1220 – Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. 1264 – Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces took the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the Castilian garrison. 1503 – King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1509 – Krishnadeva Raya is crowned Emperor of Vijayanagara at Chittoor. 1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven. 1585 – John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage. 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England. 1601–1900 1647 – The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan's Hill: English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces. 1648 – Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648) as Ottoman sultan. 1709 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal. 1786 – Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard. 1794 – Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska. 1831 – Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta. 1844 – The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). 1863 – American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt). 1863 – Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state. 1870 – The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania. 1876 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph. 1901–present 1903 – Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia. 1908 – Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers' first public flight. 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive). 1919 – The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government. 1929 – The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight. 1940 – The "Aufbau Ost" directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel. 1942 – Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence. 1945 – The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials. 1946 – First flight of the Convair B-36, the world's first mass-produced nuclear weapon delivery vehicle, the heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft, with the longest wingspan of any military aircraft, and the first bomber with intercontinental range. 1956 – Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, were killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history. 1963 – Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes. 1963 – The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union. 1967 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. 1969 – At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. 1973 – Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped. 1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day. 1988 – The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands. 1988 – The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning). 1989 – Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission. 1990 – Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward. 1991 – The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses. 1993 – The 7.8 Guam earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing around $250 million in damage and injuring up to 71 people. 1998 – Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan is raided by Taliban leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist. 2000 – Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence. 2001 – Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers. 2004 – A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers. 2007 – An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889. 2008 – A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others. 2008 – The 29th modern summer Olympic Games took place in Beijing, China until August 24. 2010 – China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people. 2013 – A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people. 2015 – Eight people are killed in a shooting in Harris County, Texas. 2016 – Terrorists attack a government hospital in Quetta, Pakistan with a suicide blast and shooting, killing between 70 and 94 people, and injuring around 130 others. 2019 – An explosion at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Nyonoksa, Russia, kills five people. 2022 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. 2023 – 2023 Hawaii wildfires: 17,000 acres of land are burned and at least 98 people are killed, with 31 others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Births Pre-1600 422 – Casper, ruler of the Maya city of Palenque 1079 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107) 1170 – Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (d. 1221) 1306 – Rudolf II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1353) 1492 – Matteo Tafuri, Italian alchemist (d. 1582) 1518 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-German scholar and author (d. 1561) 1558 – George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (d. 1605) 1601–1900 1605 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1675) 1640 – Amalia Catharina, German poet and composer (d. 1697) 1646 – Godfrey Kneller, German-English painter (d. 1723) 1673 – John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726) 1693 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762) 1694 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher and academic (d. 1746) 1709 – Hermann Anton Gelinek, German-Italian monk and violinist (d. 1779) 1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish general and politician (d. 1796) 1754 – Hipólito Ruiz López, Spanish botanist (d. 1816) 1758 – Friedrich Georg Weitsch, German painter (d. 1828) 1790 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (d. 1838) 1807 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (d. 1892) 1814 – Esther Hobart Morris, American suffragette and judge (d. 1902) 1822 – George Stoneman, Jr., United States Army cavalry officer (d. 1894) 1839 – Nelson A. Miles, American general (d. 1925) 1851 – George Turner, Australian politician, 18th Premier of Victoria (d. 1916) 1856 – Thomas Anstey Guthrie, English journalist and author (d. 1934) 1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944) 1863 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (d. 1930) 1866 – Matthew Henson, American explorer (d. 1955) 1874 – Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, English businessman and politician, President of the Board of Trade (d. 1948) 1875 – Arthur Bernardes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (d. 1955) 1876 – Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly, Indian-Syrian priest, founded the Sisters of the Destitute (d. 1929) 1879 – Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950) 1879 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician (d. 1919) 1880 – Earle Page, Australian lawyer, academic, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961) 1881 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954) 1882 – Ladislas Starevich, Russian-French animator, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 1965) 1884 – Sara Teasdale, American poet and educator (d. 1933) 1889 – Hans Egede Budtz, Danish actor (d. 1968) 1889 – Jack Ryder, Australian cricketer (d. 1977) 1891 – Adolf Busch, German violinist and composer (d. 1952) 1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author and academic (d. 1953) 1898 – Marguerite Bise, French chef (d. 1965) 1901–present 1901 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958) 1902 – Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984) 1904 – Achille Varzi, Italian racing driver (d. 1948) 1905 – André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974) 1907 – Benny Carter, American saxophonist, trumpet player, and composer (d. 2003) 1908 – Arthur Goldberg, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1990) 1909 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English cricketer and politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1977) 1909 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1987) 1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer and coach (d. 1984) 1910 – Jimmy Murphy, Welsh-English footballer and manager (d. 1989) 1910 – Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999) 1911 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002) 1915 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (d. 1981) 1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian actor and producer (d. 2010) 1919 – John David Wilson, English animator and producer (d. 2013) 1920 – Leo Chiosso, Italian songwriter and producer (d. 2006) 1920 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American jump blues singer (d. 1997) 1921 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1921 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991) 1921 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (d. 2013) 1922 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999) 1922 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the Monokini (d. 1985) 1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian, author, and academic (d. 2019) 1922 – Károly Reich, Hungarian illustrator (d. 1988) 1925 – Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (d. 2003) 1925 – Aziz Sattar, Malaysian actor, comedian, singer and director (d. 2014) 1926 – Richard Anderson, American actor and producer (d. 2017) 1927 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and coach (d. 1994) 1927 – Maia Wojciechowska, Polish-American author (d. 2002) 1928 – Don Burrows, Australian saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player (d. 2020) 1929 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (d. 2004) 1929 – Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian general and politician, 68th President of Bolivia (d. 2018) 1929 – Ronnie Biggs, English criminal (d. 2013) 1930 – Terry Nation, Welsh-American author and screenwriter (d. 1997) 1930 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015) 1931 – Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate 1932 – Mel Tillis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017) 1933 – Joe Tex, American soul singer-songwriter (d. 1982) 1934 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1935 – Donald P. Bellisario, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1935 – John Laws, Papua New Guinean-Australian singer and radio host 1936 – Frank Howard, American baseball player and manager (d. 2023) 1936 – Jan Pieńkowski, Polish-English author and illustrator (d. 2022) 1937 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director 1937 – Sheila Varian, American horse breeder (d. 2016) 1937 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1987) 1938 – Jack Baldwin, English chemist and academic (d. 2020) 1938 – Jacques Hétu, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2010) 1938 – Connie Stevens, American actress and businesswoman 1939 – Jana Andrsová, Czech actress and ballerina 1939 – Viorica Viscopoleanu, Romanian long jumper 1939 – Alexander Watson, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to Peru 1940 – Dilip Sardesai, Indian cricketer (d. 2007) 1940 – Dennis Tito, American engineer and businessman, founded Wilshire Associates 1942 – James Blanchard, American diplomat and politician, 45th Governor of Michigan 1942 – Dennis Canavan, Scottish educator and politician 1942 – John Gustafson, English singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2014) 1942 – Vardo Rumessen, Estonian pianist and musicologist (d. 2015) 1944 – John C. Holmes, American film actor (d. 1988) 1944 – Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017) 1944 – John Renbourn, English-Scottish guitarist and songwriter (d. 2015) 1944 – Simon Taylor, English journalist and author 1946 – Joe Bethancourt, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014) 1947 – Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player, lawyer, and politician 1947 – Larry Wilcox, American actor, director, and producer 1948 – Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian engineer and astronaut 1948 – Margaret Urban Walker, American philosopher 1949 – Terry Burnham, American actress 1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor 1949 – Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver (d. 2009) 1950 – Willie Hall, American drummer and producer 1950 – Ken Kutaragi, Japanese businessman, created PlayStation 1951 – Martin Brest, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Phil Carlson, Australian cricketer (d. 2022) 1951 – Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt (d. 2019) 1951 – Mamoru Oshii, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994) 1951 – Louis van Gaal, Dutch footballer and manager 1952 – Anton Fig, South African-American drummer 1952 – Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author 1952 – Doug Melvin, Canadian baseball player and manager 1952 – Robin Quivers, American nurse, radio host/personality, and author 1952 – Sudhakar Rao, Indian cricketer 1953 – Nigel Mansell, English racing driver 1953 – Don Most, American actor and singer 1954 – Nick Holtam, English bishop 1955 – Diddú, Icelandic singer-songwriter 1955 – Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer and manager 1955 – Michael Roe, Irish racing driver 1956 – Chris Foreman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1956 – David Grant, English singer 1956 – Cecilia Roth, Argentinian actress 1957 – Dennis Drew, American keyboard player 1958 – Deborah Norville, American journalist 1959 – Caroline Ansink, Dutch flute player, composer, and educator 1960 – Mustafa Balbay, Turkish journalist and politician 1960 – Ulrich Maly, German politician, 16th Mayor of Nuremberg 1961 – The Edge, British-Irish musician, singer and songwriter 1961 – Daniel House, American bass player and producer 1961 – Ron Klain, American lawyer and politician, White House Chief of Staff 1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player and coach 1961 – Rikki Rockett, American glam rock drummer 1962 – Kool Moe Dee, American musician, singer and actor 1963 – Hur Jin-ho, South Korean director and screenwriter 1963 – Ron Karkovice, American baseball player and manager 1963 – Emi Shinohara, Japanese voice actress and singer 1963 – Jon Turteltaub, American director and producer 1963 – Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager 1964 – Anastasia M. Ashman, American blogger and author 1964 – Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy 1964 – Scott Sandelin, American ice hockey player and coach 1964 – Paul Taylor, English cricketer 1965 – Angus Fraser, English cricketer, manager, and journalist 1965 – Kate Langbroek, Australian talk show host 1966 – Chris Eubank, English boxer 1966 – John Hudek, American baseball player and coach 1967 – Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster 1968 – Yvie Burnett, Scottish soprano 1968 – Aldo Calderón van Dyke, Honduran journalist (d. 2013) 1968 – Abey Kuruvilla, Indian cricketer and coach 1968 – Huey Morgan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1969 – Monika Tsõganova, Estonian chess player 1969 – Faye Wong, Chinese singer-songwriter and actress 1970 – Trev Alberts, American football player and journalist 1970 – Ben G. Davis, English chemist and academic 1970 – José Francisco Molina, Spanish footballer and manager 1970 – Chester Williams, South African rugby player and coach (d. 2019) 1971 – Johnny Balentina, Dutch baseball player 1972 – Joely Collins, Canadian actress and producer 1972 – Andrea de Rossi, Italian rugby player and coach 1972 – Axel Merckx, Belgian cyclist 1972 – Steven Tweed, Scottish footballer and manager 1973 – Shane Lee, Australian cricketer and guitarist 1973 – Gert Olesk, Estonian footballer and manager 1973 – Scott Stapp, American singer-songwriter and producer 1973 – Mark Wills, American singer-songwriter 1973 – Ilka Agricola, German mathematician 1974 – Manjul Bhargava, Canadian-American mathematician and academic 1974 – Scott D'Amore, Canadian wrestler and manager 1974 – Brian Harvey, English singer-songwriter 1974 – Andy Priaulx, Guernseyan racing driver 1975 – Mick Moss, English singer-songwriter 1976 – JC Chasez, American singer and dancer 1976 – Drew Lachey, American singer and actor 1977 – Lindsay Sloane, American actress 1977 – Darren Manzella, American sergeant (d. 2013) 1977 – Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1977 – Nicolas Vogondy, French cyclist 1977 – Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer 1978 – Alan Maybury, Irish footballer and coach 1978 – Louis Saha, French footballer 1978 – Miho Shiraishi, Japanese actress 1979 – Richard Harwood, English cellist 1979 – Rashard Lewis, American basketball player 1979 – Richard Lyons, Northern Irish racing driver 1980 – Shayna Baszler, American mixed martial artist and wrestler 1980 – Craig Breslow, American baseball pitcher and executive 1980 – Jack Cassel, American baseball player 1980 – Denisse Guerrero, Mexican singer-songwriter 1980 – Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player 1980 – Diego Markwell, Dutch baseball player 1980 – Pat Noonan, American soccer player 1980 – Michael Urie, American actor, director, and producer 1981 – Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer-songwriter 1981 – Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player 1981 – Meagan Good, American actress and producer 1981 – Harel Skaat, Israeli singer-songwriter 1982 – David Florence, English canoe racer 1982 – Ross Ohlendorf, American baseball player 1983 – Guy Burnet, English actor and producer 1983 – Willie Tonga, Australian rugby league player 1984 – Kirk Broadfoot, Scottish footballer 1984 – Norbert Michelisz, Hungarian racing driver 1984 – Martrez Milner, American football player 1985 – Toby Flood, English rugby player 1985 – Ryan Koolwijk, Dutch footballer 1985 – James Morgan, Welsh actor and producer 1985 – Brett Ratliff, American football player 1985 – Anita Włodarczyk, Polish track and field athlete 1986 – Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player 1986 – Jackie Cruz, Dominican-American actress and singer 1986 – Pierre Garçon, American football player 1986 – Chris Pressley, American football player 1987 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor 1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress 1987 – Tatjana Maria, German tennis player 1988 – Princess Beatrice, British royal 1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player 1988 – Rinku Singh, Indian baseball player and wrestler 1988 – Laura Slade Wiggins, American actress and singer 1989 – Ken Baumann, American actor and author 1989 – Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player 1989 – Hannah Miley, English-Scottish swimmer 1989 – Prajakta Mali, Indian actress 1990 – Vladimír Darida, Czech footballer 1990 – Parker Kligerman, American race car driver 1990 – Aleksandra Szwed, Polish actress and singer 1990 – Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket captain 1991 – Yandy Díaz, Cuban baseball player 1991 – Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer 1991 – Tyrone Peachey, Australian rugby league player 1991 – Joël Matip, Cameroonian footballer 1992 – Josip Drmić, Swiss footballer 1992 – Casey Cott, American actor 1998 – Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1998 – Ryan Garcia, American boxer 2000 – Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 117 – Trajan, Roman emperor (b. 53) 753 – Hildegar, bishop of Cologne 869 – Lothair II, Frankish king (b. 835) 998 – Seo Hui, Korean politician and diplomat (b. 942) 1002 – Almanzor, chief minister and de facto ruler of Córdoba 1171 – Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester (b. 1111) 1303 – Henry of Castile the Senator, Spanish nobleman (b. 1230) 1533 – Lucas van Leyden, Dutch artist (b. 1494) 1555 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (b. 1494) 1588 – Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter (b. 1532) 1601–1900 1604 – Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyō (b. 1578) 1616 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (b. 1548) 1631 – Konstantinas Sirvydas, Lithuanian priest, lexicographer, and academic (b. 1579) 1684 – George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, English politician (b. 1622) 1724 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (b. 1665) 1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian raid leader (b. 1678) 1746 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (b. 1694) 1759 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (b. 1704) 1827 – George Canning, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770) 1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish botanist and psychologist (b. 1743) 1858 – Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, Haitian Empress (b. 1758) 1863 – Angus MacAskill, Scottish-Canadian giant (b. 1825) 1879 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (b. 1797) 1887 – Alexander William Doniphan, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1808) 1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (b. 1818) 1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (b. 1824) 1901–present 1902 – James Tissot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1836) 1902 – John Henry Twachtman, American painter and academic (b. 1853) 1909 – Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (b. 1842) 1911 – William P. Frye, American lawyer and politician (b. 1830) 1920 – Eduard Birnbaum, Polish-born German cantor (b. 1855) 1921 – Juhani Aho, Finnish journalist and author (b. 1861) 1928 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian politician (b. 1871) 1930 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish wrestler and weightlifter (b. 1874) 1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1863) 1937 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (b. 1897) 1940 – Johnny Dodds, American clarinet player and saxophonist (b. 1892) 1944 – Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (b. 1881) 1944 – Michael Wittmann, German commander (b. 1914) 1950 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman, founded Qantas (b. 1879) 1959 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (b. 1902) 1965 – Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1916) 1969 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (b. 1896) 1971 – Freddie Spencer Chapman, English lieutenant (b. 1907) 1973 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish historian and author (b. 1898) 1974 – Elisabeth Abegg, German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (b. 1882) 1975 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist (b. 1928) 1979 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English lieutenant and author (b. 1910) 1980 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1910) 1981 – Thomas McElwee, Irish republican, PIRA volunteer and Hunger Striker (b. 1957) 1982 – Eric Brandon, English racing driver and businessman (b. 1920) 1984 – Richard Deacon, American actor (b. 1921) 1984 – Ellen Raskin, American author and illustrator (b. 1928) 1985 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906) 1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician and physicist (b. 1903) 1988 – Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914) 1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903) 1991 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930) 1992 – Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious leader and scholar (b. 1899) 1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905) 1996 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (b. 1927) 1998 – Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist (b. 1968) 2003 – Dirk Hoogendam, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922) 2003 – Falaba Issa Traoré, Malian director and playwright (b. 1930) 2004 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (b. 1922) 2004 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (b. 1907) 2005 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (b. 1922) 2005 – Ahmed Deedat, South African missionary and author (b. 1918) 2005 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (b. 1918) 2005 – Gene Mauch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1925) 2005 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (b. 1912) 2005 – Monica Sjöö, Swedish-English painter (b. 1938) 2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese journalist and politician (b. 1952) 2007 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917) 2008 – Orville Moody, American golfer (b. 1933) 2009 – Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer (b. 1983) 2010 – Patricia Neal, American actress (b. 1926) 2012 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, German-American physicist and academic (b. 1926) 2012 – Ruth Etchells, English poet and academic (b. 1931) 2012 – Surya Lesmana, Indonesian footballer and manager (b. 1944) 2012 – Kurt Maetzig, German director and screenwriter (b. 1911) 2013 – Karen Black, American actress (b. 1939) 2013 – Johannes Bluyssen, Dutch bishop (b. 1926) 2013 – Fernando Castro Pacheco, Mexican painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1918) 2013 – Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (b. 1985) 2013 – Regina Resnik, American soprano and actress (b. 1922) 2014 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (b. 1929) 2014 – Charles Keating, English-American actor (b. 1941) 2014 – Leonardo Legaspi, Filipino archbishop (b. 1935) 2014 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (b. 1929) 2014 – Red Wilson, American football and baseball player (b. 1929) 2015 – Sean Price, American rapper (b. 1972) 2015 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1925) 2017 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1936) 2018 – Nicholas Bett, Kenyan track and field athlete (b. 1990) 2020 – Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, Colombian football player and manager (b. 1929) 2020 – Alfredo Lim, former Philippine senator and Mayor of Manila (b. 1929) 2021 – Bill Davis, Canadian politician, 18th premier of Ontario (b. 1929) 2022 – Olivia Newton-John, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1948) 2023 – Rodriguez, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942) Holidays and observances Ceasefire Day (end of Iran–Iraq War) (Iraqi Kurdistan) Christian Feast Day: Altmann of Passau Cyriacus Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order. Four Crowned Martyrs Largus Mary MacKillop Saint Smaragdus (and companions) Severus of Vienne August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Father's Day or Bā bā Day (爸爸節), Bā Bā is Mandarin for "father" and "8-8", or August 8. (Mongolia, Taiwan) Happiness Happens Day International Cat Day Namesday of the Queen (Sweden) Nane Nane Day (Tanzania) Signal Troops Day (Ukraine) References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2016

April 16

Events Pre-1600 1457 BC – Battle of Megido - the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. 69 – Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide. 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War. 1346 – Stefan Dušan, "the Mighty", is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans. 1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V. 1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina. 1601–1900 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants. 1780 – Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster. 1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre. 1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. 1838 – The French Army captures Veracruz in the Pastry War. 1847 – Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars. 1853 – The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane. 1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved. 1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia. 1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law. 1863 – American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg. 1878 – The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issued a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish. 1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle. 1901–present 1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah. 1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time. 1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. 1917 – Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland. 1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier. 1919 – Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. 1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed. 1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded. 1941 – World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships. 1941 – World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected. 1942 – King George VI awarded the George Cross to the people of Malta in appreciation of their heroism. 1943 – Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19. 1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter. 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights. 1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz). 1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine. 1947 – An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600. 1947 – Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. 1948 – The Organization of European Economic Co-operation is formed. 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. 1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation. 1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border. 2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union. 2007 – Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide. 2008 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. 2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway. 2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize. 2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others. 2013 – The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga. 2014 – The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities. 2016 – Ecuador's worst earthquake in nearly 40 years kills 676 and injures 6,274. 2018 – The New York Times and the New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. Births Pre-1600 1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544) 1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557) 1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550) 1569 – John Davies, English poet and lawyer (d. 1626) 1601–1900 1635 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (d. 1681) 1646 – Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (probable; d. 1708) 1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (d. 1753) 1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, First Lord of the Treasury (d. 1715) 1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744) 1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778) 1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799) 1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795) 1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842) 1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, fourth Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (d. 1847) 1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal and politician (d. 1888) 1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, sixth United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864) 1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English soldier and painter (d. 1893) 1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852) 1826 – Sir James Corry, 1st Baronet, British politician (d. 1891) 1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet and bookseller (d. 1879) 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908) 1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English merchant (d. 1862) 1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924) 1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906) 1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919) 1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, third Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930) 1864 – Rose Talbot Bullard, American medical doctor and professor (d. 1915) 1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945) 1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918) 1867 – Wilbur Wright, American inventor (d. 1912) 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909) 1874 – Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (d. 1936) 1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914) 1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972) 1884 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, journalist, and politician (d. 1963) 1885 – Leó Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960) 1886 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek-American football player and javelin thrower (d. 1957) 1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944) 1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (d. 1940) 1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977) 1890 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1954) 1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author and educator (d. 1979) 1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American author and illustrator (d. 1980) 1892 – Dora Richter, German transgender woman and the first known person to undergo complete male-to-female gender-affirming surgery (d. unknown) 1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American author, critic, and academic (d. 1980) 1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1968) 1893 – John Norton, American hurdler (d. 1979) 1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988) 1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952) 1896 – Árpád Weisz, Hungarian footballer (d. 1944) 1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and academic (d. 1988) 1900 – Polly Adler, Russian-American madam and author (d. 1962) 1901–present 1903 – Paul Waner, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965) 1904 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American vaudevillian, actress, and singer (d. 1983) 1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005) 1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (d. 1964) 1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947) 1908 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr., American businessman and activist (d. 2004) 1908 – Ray Ventura, French jazz bandleader (d. 1979) 1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994) 1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963) 1914 – John Hodiak, American actor (d. 1955) 1915 – Robert Speck, Canadian politician, first Mayor of Mississauga (d. 1972) 1916 – Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet, and translator (d. 1979) 1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013) 1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007) 1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese-American monk and author (d. 1995) 1918 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014) 1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, comedian, and writer (d. 2002) 1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009) 1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011) 1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and National Museum of Anthropology (d. 2013) 1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer and academic (d. 2005) 1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012) 1920 – Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (d. 1986) 1921 – Arlin Adams, American lawyer and judge (d. 2015) 1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and author (d. 2014) 1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004) 1922 – Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, and critic (d. 1995) 1922 – Lawrence N. Guarino, American colonel (d. 2014) 1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014) 1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006) 1923 – Arch A. Moore Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015) 1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English academic and businessman (d. 2008) 1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994) 1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013) 1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013) 1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008) 1927 – Pope Benedict XVI (d. 2022) 1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013) 1928 – Night Train Lane, American football player (d. 2002) 1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969) 1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist and ecologist (d. 2012) 1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003) 1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013) 1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player and composer (d. 2003) 1932 – Maury Meyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014) 1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012) 1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist and author 1933 – Perry Botkin Jr., American composer, arranger and musician (d. 2021) 1933 – Vera Krepkina, Russian long jumper (d. 2023) 1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist and actor (d. 2008) 1934 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter (d. 2023) 1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian producer and manager (d. 2016) 1934 – Barrie Unsworth, Australian politician, 36th Premier of New South Wales 1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012) 1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter 1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (d. 2013) 1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013) 1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013) 1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer 1936 – Vadim Kuzmin, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2015) 1937 – Gert Potgieter, South African hurdler and coach 1937 – George Steele, American wrestler and actor (d. 2017) 1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player 1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2017) 1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012) 1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and record producer (d. 1999) 1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian academic and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Transport 1940 – David Holford, Barbadian cricketer 1940 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark 1940 – Joan Snyder, American painter 1940 – Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, English banker and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom 1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012) 1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball pitcher 1942 – Sir Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team (d. 2021) 1943 – Petro Tyschtschenko, Austrian-German businessman 1943 – John Watkins, Australian cricketer 1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician 1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (d. 2014) 1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014) 1946 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (d. 2015) 1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player 1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach 1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011) 1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Canadian President of the Treasury Board (d. 2011) 1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001) 1950 – Colleen Hewett, Australian singer and actress 1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer 1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach 1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director 1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler 1952 – Billy West, American voice actor, singer-songwriter, and comedian 1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician 1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor 1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress 1954 – John Bowe, Australian racing driver 1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player 1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003) 1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (d. 2010) 1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier 1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Belgian philosopher, author, and academic (d. 2009) 1958 – Tim Flach, English photographer and director 1958 – Ulf Wakenius, Swedish guitarist 1959 – Alison Ramsay, English-Scottish field hockey player and lawyer 1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007) 1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager 1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager 1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian lawyer and politician, seventh Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014) 1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian journalist 1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer 1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer 1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer 1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer, songwriter and producer 1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (d. 2008) 1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician 1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1966 – Jarle Vespestad, Norwegian drummer 1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager 1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner 1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier 1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster 1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter and drummer 1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player 1971 – Cameron Blades, Australian rugby player 1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (d. 1995) 1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese racing driver 1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis player 1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player 1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet and educator 1973 – Akon, Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter 1973 – Charlotta Sörenstam, Swedish golfer 1973 – Teddy Cobeña, Spanish-Ecuadorian expressionist and representational sculptor 1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor and musician 1976 – Kelli O'Hara, American actress and singer 1977 – Freddie Ljungberg, Swedish footballer 1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch racing driver 1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter 1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player 1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer 1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist 1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player 1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist and actress 1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player 1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player 1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress 1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball player 1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer 1984 – Claire Foy, English actress 1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater 1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer 1984 – Kerron Stewart, Jamaican sprinter 1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player 1985 – Nate Diaz, American mixed martial artist 1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player 1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer 1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer 1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player 1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast 1987 – Cenk Akyol, Turkish basketball player 1987 – Aaron Lennon, English international footballer 1988 – Kyle Okposo, American ice hockey player 1990 – Reggie Jackson, American basketball player 1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player 1990 – Tony McQuay, American sprinter 1991 – Nolan Arenado, American baseball player 1991 – Kim Kyung-jung, South Korean footballer 1993 – Chance the Rapper, American rapper 1993 – Mirai Nagasu, Japanese-American figure skater 1996 – Anya Taylor-Joy, Argentine-British actress 1996 – Taylor Townsend, American tennis player 2002 – Sadie Sink, American actress Deaths Pre-1600 AD 69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. AD 32) 665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint 1090 – Sikelgaita, duchess of Apulia (b. c. 1040) 1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050) 1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, regent of Sicily, mother of Roger II of Sicily, queen of Baldwin I of Jerusalem 1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175) 1234 – Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (b. 1191) 1375 – John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1347) 1496 – Charles II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1489) 1587 – Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (b. 1497) 1601–1900 1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579) 1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569) 1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire (b. 1628) 1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640) 1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (b. 1672) 1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677) 1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719) 1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707) 1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1746) 1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763) 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761) 1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1805) 1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844) 1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845) 1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875) 1901–present 1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (b. 1888) 1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish-English author (b. 1812) 1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838) 1915 – Nelson W. 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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allosaurus

Allosaurus

Allosaurus () is an extinct genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard", alluding to its unique (at the time of its discovery) concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek words () ("different", "strange", or "other") and () ("lizard" or "reptile"). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles. Allosaurus was a large bipedal predator for its time. Its skull was light, robust, and equipped with dozens of sharp, serrated teeth. It averaged in length for A. fragilis, with the largest specimens estimated as being long. Relative to the large and powerful legs, its three-fingered hands were small and the body was balanced by a long, muscular tail. It is classified as an allosaurid, a type of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur. The genus has a very complicated taxonomy and includes at least three valid species, the best known of which is A. fragilis. The bulk of Allosaurus remains have come from North America's Morrison Formation, with material also known from the Lourinhã Formation in Portugal. It was known for over half of the 20th century as Antrodemus, but a study of the abundant remains from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry returned the name "Allosaurus" to prominence and established it as one of the best-known dinosaurs. As the most abundant large predator of the Morrison Formation, Allosaurus was at the top of the food chain and probably preyed on contemporaneous large herbivorous dinosaurs, with the possibility of hunting other predators. Potential prey included ornithopods, stegosaurids, and sauropods. Some paleontologists interpret Allosaurus as having had cooperative social behavior and hunting in packs, while others believe individuals may have been aggressive toward each other and that congregations of this genus are the result of lone individuals feeding on the same carcasses. Discovery and history Early discoveries and research The discovery and early study of Allosaurus is complicated by the multiplicity of names coined during the Bone Wars of the late 19th century. The first described fossil in this history was a bone obtained secondhand by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden in 1869. It came from Middle Park, near Granby, Colorado, probably from Morrison Formation rocks. The locals had identified such bones as "petrified horse hoofs". Hayden sent his specimen to Joseph Leidy, who identified it as half of a tail vertebra and tentatively assigned it to the European dinosaur genus Poekilopleuron as Poicilopleuron valens. He later decided it deserved its own genus, Antrodemus. Allosaurus itself is based on YPM 1930, a small collection of fragmentary bones including parts of three vertebrae, a rib fragment, a tooth, a toe bone, and (most useful for later discussions) the shaft of the right humerus (upper arm). Othniel Charles Marsh gave these remains the formal name Allosaurus fragilis in 1877. Allosaurus comes from the Greek words /, meaning "strange" or "different", and /, meaning "lizard" or "reptile". It was named 'different lizard' because its vertebrae were different from those of other dinosaurs known at the time of its discovery. The species epithet fragilis is Latin for "fragile", referring to lightening features in the vertebrae. The bones were collected from the Morrison Formation of Garden Park, north of Cañon City. O. C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, who were in scientific competition with each other, went on to coin several other genera based on similarly sparse material that would later figure in the taxonomy of Allosaurus. These include Marsh's Creosaurus and Labrosaurus, as well as Cope's Epanterias. In their haste, Cope and Marsh did not always follow up on their discoveries (or, more commonly, those made by their subordinates). For example, after the discovery by Benjamin Mudge of the type specimen of Allosaurus in Colorado, Marsh elected to concentrate work in Wyoming. When work resumed at Garden Park in 1883, M. P. Felch found an almost complete Allosaurus and several partial skeletons. In addition, one of Cope's collectors, H. F. Hubbell, found a specimen in the Como Bluff area of Wyoming in 1879, but apparently did not mention its completeness and Cope never unpacked it. Upon unpacking it in 1903 (several years after Cope had died), it was found to be one of the most complete theropod specimens then known and the skeleton, now cataloged as AMNH 5753, was put on public view in 1908. This is the well-known mount poised over a partial Apatosaurus skeleton as if scavenging it, illustrated as such in a painting by Charles R. Knight. Although notable as the first free-standing mount of a theropod dinosaur and often illustrated and photographed, it has never been scientifically described. The multiplicity of early names complicated later research, with the situation compounded by the terse descriptions provided by Marsh and Cope. Even at the time, authors such as Samuel Wendell Williston suggested that too many names had been coined. For example, Williston pointed out in 1901 that Marsh had never been able to adequately distinguish Allosaurus from Creosaurus. The most influential early attempt to sort out the convoluted situation was produced by Charles W. Gilmore in 1920. He came to the conclusion that the tail vertebra named Antrodemus by Leidy was indistinguishable from those of Allosaurus and that Antrodemus should be the preferred name because, as the older name, it had priority. Antrodemus became the accepted name for this familiar genus for over 50 years, until James Henry Madsen published on the Cleveland-Lloyd specimens and concluded that Allosaurus should be used because Antrodemus was based on material with poor, if any, diagnostic features and locality information. For example, the geological formation that the single bone of Antrodemus came from is unknown. "Antrodemus" has been used informally for convenience when distinguishing between the skull Gilmore restored and the composite skull restored by Madsen. Cleveland-Lloyd discoveries Although sporadic work at what became known as the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Emery County, Utah, had taken place as early as 1927 and the fossil site itself described by William L. Stokes in 1945, major operations did not begin there until 1960. Under a cooperative effort involving nearly 40 institutions, thousands of bones were recovered between 1960 and 1965, led by James Henry Madsen. The quarry is notable for the predominance of Allosaurus remains, the condition of the specimens, and the lack of scientific resolution on how it came to be. The majority of bones belong to the large theropod Allosaurus fragilis (it is estimated that the remains of at least 46 A. fragilis have been found there, out of at a minimum 73 dinosaurs) and the fossils found there are disarticulated and well-mixed. Nearly a dozen scientific papers have been written on the taphonomy of the site, suggesting numerous mutually exclusive explanations for how it may have formed. Suggestions have ranged from animals getting stuck in a bog, becoming trapped in deep mud, falling victim to drought-induced mortality around a waterhole, and getting trapped in a spring-fed pond or seep. Regardless of the actual cause, the great quantity of well-preserved Allosaurus remains has allowed this genus to be known in great detail, making it among the best-known of all theropods. Skeletal remains from the quarry pertain to individuals of almost all ages and sizes, from less than to long, and the disarticulation is an advantage for describing bones usually found fused. Due to being one of Utah's two fossil quarries where numerous Allosaurus specimens have been discovered, Allosaurus was designated as the state fossil of Utah in 1988. Recent work: 1980s–present The period since Madsen's monograph has been marked by a great expansion in studies dealing with topics concerning Allosaurus in life (paleobiological and paleoecological topics). Such studies have covered topics including skeletal variation, growth, skull construction, hunting methods, the brain, and the possibility of gregarious living and parental care. Reanalysis of old material (particularly of large 'allosaur' specimens), new discoveries in Portugal, and several very complete new specimens have also contributed to the growing knowledge base. "Big Al" and "Big Al II" In 1991, "Big Al" (MOR 693), a 95% complete, partially articulated specimen of Allosaurus was discovered, measuring about 8 meters (about 26 ft) long. MOR 693 was excavated near Shell, Wyoming, by a joint Museum of the Rockies and University of Wyoming Geological Museum team. This skeleton was discovered by a Swiss team, led by Kirby Siber. Chure and Loewen in 2020 identified the individual as a representative of the species Allosaurus jimmadseni. In 1996, the same team discovered a second Allosaurus, "Big Al II". This specimen, the best preserved skeleton of its kind to date, is also referred to Allosaurus jimmadseni. The completeness, preservation, and scientific importance of this skeleton gave "Big Al" its name. The individual itself was below the average size for Allosaurus fragilis, as it was a subadult estimated at only 87% grown. The specimen was described by Breithaupt in 1996. Nineteen of its bones were broken or showed signs of serious infection, which may have contributed to "Big Al's" death. Pathologic bones included five ribs, five vertebrae, and four bones of the feet. Several of its damaged bones showed signs of osteomyelitis, a severe bone infection. A particular problem for the living animal was infection and trauma to the right foot that probably affected movement and may have also predisposed the other foot to injury because of a change in gait. "Big Al" had an infection on the first phalanx on the third toe that was afflicted by an involucrum. The infection was long-lived, perhaps up to six months. “Big Al II” is also known to have multiple injuries. Species Six species of Allosaurus have been named: A. amplus, A. atrox, A. europaeus, the type species A. fragilis, A. jimmadseni and A. lucasi. Among these, Daniel Chure and Mark Loewen in 2020 only recognized the species A. fragilis, A. europaeus, and the newly-named A. jimmadseni as being valid species. However, A. europaeus does not show any unique characters compared to the North American species, so a reevaluation of its validity is required. A. fragilis is the type species and was named by Marsh in 1877. It is known from the remains of at least 60 individuals, all found in the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian Upper Jurassic-age Morrison Formation of the United States, spread across Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Details of the humerus (upper arm) of A. fragilis have been used as diagnostic among Morrison theropods, but A. jimmadseni indicates that this is no longer the case at the species level. A. jimmadseni has been scientifically described based on two nearly complete skeletons. The first specimen to wear the identification was unearthed in Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah, with the original "Big Al" individual subsequently recognized as belonging to the same species. This species differs from A. fragilis in several anatomical details, including a jugal (cheekbone) with a straight lower margin. Fossils are confined to the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation, with A. fragilis only found in the higher Brushy Basin Member. A. fragilis, A. jimmadseni, A. amplus, and A. lucasi are all known from remains discovered in the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian Upper Jurassic-age Morrison Formation of the United States, spread across Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. A. fragilis is regarded as the most common, known from the remains of at least 60 individuals. For a while in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was common to recognize A. fragilis as the short-snouted species, with the long-snouted taxon being A. atrox. However, subsequent analysis of specimens from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Como Bluff, and Dry Mesa Quarry showed that the differences seen in the Morrison Formation material could be attributed to individual variation. A study of skull elements from the Cleveland-Lloyd site found wide variation between individuals, calling into question previous species-level distinctions based on such features as the shape of the lacrimal horns and the proposed differentiation of A. jimmadseni based on the shape of the jugal. A. europaeus was found in the Kimmeridgian-age Porto Novo Member of the Lourinhã Formation, but it may be the same as A. fragilis. Allosaurus material from Portugal was first reported in 1999 on the basis of MHNUL/AND.001, a partial skeleton including a quadrate, vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, chevrons, part of the hips, and legs. This specimen was assigned to A. fragilis, but the subsequent discovery of a partial skull and neck (ML 415) near Lourinhã, in the Kimmeridgian-age Porto Novo Member of the Lourinhã Formation, spurred the naming of the new species as A. europaeus by Octávio Mateus and colleagues. The species appeared earlier in the Jurassic than A. fragilis and differs from other species of Allosaurus in cranial details. However, more material may show it to be A. fragilis, as originally described. The issue of species and potential synonyms is complicated by the type specimen of Allosaurus fragilis (YPM 1930) being extremely fragmentary, consisting of a few incomplete vertebrae, limb fragments, rib fragments, and a single tooth. Because of this, several scientists have interpreted the type specimen as potentially dubious, meaning the genus Allosaurus itself or at least the species A. fragilis would be a nomen dubium ("dubious name", based on a specimen too incomplete to compare to other specimens or to classify). To address this situation, Gregory S. Paul and Kenneth Carpenter (2010) submitted a petition to the ICZN to have the name "A. fragilis" officially transferred to the more complete specimen USNM4734 (as a neotype). Synonyms Creosaurus, Epanterias, and Labrosaurus are regarded as junior synonyms of Allosaurus. Most of the species that are regarded as synonyms of A. fragilis, or that were misassigned to the genus, are obscure and based on very scrappy remains. One exception is Labrosaurus ferox, named in 1884 by Marsh for an oddly formed partial lower jaw, with a prominent gap in the tooth row at the tip of the jaw, and a rear section greatly expanded and turned down. Later researchers suggested that the bone was pathologic, showing an injury to the living animal, and that part of the unusual form of the rear of the bone was due to plaster reconstruction. It is now regarded as an example of A. fragilis. In his 1988 book, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, the freelance artist & author Gregory S. Paul proposed that A. fragilis had tall pointed horns and a slender build compared to a postulated second species A. atrox, as well as not being a different sex due to rarity. Allosaurus atrox was originally named by Marsh in 1878 as the type species of its own genus, Creosaurus, and is based on YPM 1890, an assortment of bones that includes a couple of pieces of the skull, portions of nine tail vertebrae, two hip vertebrae, an ilium, and ankle and foot bones. Although the idea of two common Morrison allosaur species was followed in some semi-technical and popular works, the 2000 thesis on Allosauridae noted that Charles Gilmore mistakenly reconstructed USNM 4734 as having a shorter skull than the specimens referred by Paul to atrox, refuting supposed differences between USNM 4734 and putative A. atrox specimens like DINO 2560, AMNH 600, and AMNH 666. "Allosaurus agilis", seen in Zittel, 1887, and Osborn, 1912, is a typographical error for A. fragilis. "Allosaurus ferox" is a typographical error by Marsh for A. fragilis in a figure caption for the partial skull YPM 1893 and YPM 1893 has been treated as a specimen of A fragilis. Likewise, "Labrosaurus fragilis" is a typographical error by Marsh (1896) for Labrosaurus ferox. "A. whitei" is a nomen nudum coined by Pickering in 1996 for the complete Allosaurus specimens that Paul referred to A. atrox. "Madsenius" was coined by David Lambert in 1990, being based on remains from Dinosaur National Monument assigned to Allosaurus or Creosaurus (a synonym of Allosaurus), and was to be described by paleontologist Robert Bakker as "Madsenius trux". However, "Madsenius" is now seen as yet another synonym of Allosaurus because Bakker's action was predicated upon the false assumption of USNM 4734 being distinct from long-snouted Allosaurus due to errors in Gilmore's 1920 reconstruction of USNM 4734. "Wyomingraptor" was informally coined by Bakker for allosaurid remains from the Morrison Formation of the Late Jurassic. The remains unearthed are labeled as Allosaurus and are housed in the Tate Geological Museum. However, there has been no official description of the remains and "Wyomingraptor" has been dismissed as a nomen nudum, with the remains referable to Allosaurus. Formerly assigned species and fossils Several species initially classified within or referred to Allosaurus do not belong within the genus. A. medius was named by Marsh in 1888 for various specimens from the Early Cretaceous Arundel Formation of Maryland, although most of the remains were removed by Richard Swann Lull to the new ornithopod species Dryosaurus grandis, except for a tooth. It was transferred to Antrodemus by Oliver Hay in 1902, but Hay later clarified that this was an inexplicable error on his part. Gilmore considered the tooth nondiagnostic but transferred it to Dryptosaurus, as D. medius. The referral was not accepted in the most recent review of basal tetanurans, and Allosaurus medius was simply listed as a dubious species of theropod. It may be closely related to Acrocanthosaurus. Allosaurus valens is a new combination for Antrodemus valens used by Friedrich von Huene in 1932; Antrodemus valens itself may also pertain to Allosaurus fragilis, as Gilmore suggested in 1920. A. lucaris, another Marsh name, was given to a partial skeleton in 1878. He later decided it warranted its own genus, Labrosaurus, but this has not been accepted, and A. lucaris is also regarded as another specimen of A. fragilis. Allosaurus lucaris, is known mostly from vertebrae, sharing characters with Allosaurus. Paul and Carpenter stated that the type specimen of this species, YPM 1931, was from a younger age than Allosaurus, and might represent a different genus. However, they found that the specimen was undiagnostic, and thus A. lucaris was a nomen dubium. Allosaurus sibiricus was described in 1914 by A. N. Riabinin on the basis of a bone, later identified as a partial fourth metatarsal, from the Early Cretaceous of Buryatia, Russia. It was transferred to Chilantaisaurus in 1990, but is now considered a nomen dubium indeterminate beyond Theropoda. Allosaurus meriani was a new combination by George Olshevsky for Megalosaurus meriani Greppin, 1870, based on a tooth from the Late Jurassic of Switzerland. However, a recent overview of Ceratosaurus included it in Ceratosaurus sp. Apatodon mirus, based on a scrap of vertebra Marsh first thought to be a mammalian jaw, has been listed as a synonym of Allosaurus fragilis. However, it was considered indeterminate beyond Dinosauria by Chure, and Mickey Mortimer believes that the synonymy of Apatodon with Allosaurus was due to correspondence to Ralph Molnar by John McIntosh, whereby the latter reportedly found a paper saying that Othniel Charles Marsh admitted that the Apatodon holotype was actually an allosaurid dorsal vertebra. A. amplexus was named by Gregory S. Paul for giant Morrison allosaur remains, and included in his conception Saurophagus maximus (later Saurophaganax). A. amplexus was originally coined by Cope in 1878 as the type species of his new genus Epanterias, and is based on what is now AMNH 5767, parts of three vertebrae, a coracoid, and a metatarsal. Following Paul's work, this species has been accepted as a synonym of A. fragilis. A 2010 study by Paul and Kenneth Carpenter, however, indicates that Epanterias is temporally younger than the A. fragilis type specimen, so it is a separate species at minimum. A. maximus was a new combination by David K. Smith for Chure's Saurophaganax maximus, a taxon created by Chure in 1995 for giant allosaurid remains from the Morrison of Oklahoma. These remains had been known as Saurophagus, but that name was already in use, leading Chure to propose a substitute. Smith, in his 1998 analysis of variation, concluded that S. maximus was not different enough from Allosaurus to be a separate genus, but did warrant its own species, A. maximus. This reassignment was rejected in a review of basal tetanurans. There are also several species left over from the synonymizations of Creosaurus and Labrosaurus with Allosaurus. Creosaurus potens was named by Lull in 1911 for a vertebra from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland. It is now regarded as a dubious theropod. Labrosaurus stechowi, described in 1920 by Janensch based on isolated Ceratosaurus-like teeth from the Tendaguru beds of Tanzania, was listed by Donald F. Glut as a species of Allosaurus, is now considered a dubious ceratosaurian related to Ceratosaurus. L. sulcatus, named by Marsh in 1896 for a Morrison theropod tooth, which like L. stechowi is now regarded as a dubious Ceratosaurus-like ceratosaur. A. tendagurensis was named in 1925 by Werner Janensch for a partial shin (MB.R.3620) found in the Kimmeridgian-age Tendaguru Formation in Mtwara, Tanzania. Although tabulated as a tentatively valid species of Allosaurus in the second edition of the Dinosauria, subsequent studies place it as indeterminate beyond Tetanurae, either a carcharodontosaurian or megalosaurid. Although obscure, it was a large theropod, possibly around 10 meters long (33 ft) and 2.5 metric tons (2.8 short tons) in weight. Kurzanov and colleagues in 2003 designated six teeth from Siberia as Allosaurus sp. (meaning the authors found the specimens to be most like those of Allosaurus, but did not or could not assign a species to them). They were reclassified as an indeterminate theropod. Also, reports of Allosaurus in Shanxi, China go back to at least 1982. These were interpreted as Torvosaurus remains in 2012. An astragalus (ankle bone) thought to belong to a species of Allosaurus was found at Cape Paterson, Victoria in Early Cretaceous beds in southeastern Australia. It was thought to provide evidence that Australia was a refugium for animals that had gone extinct elsewhere. This identification was challenged by Samuel Welles, who thought it more resembled that of an ornithomimid, but the original authors defended their identification. With fifteen years of new specimens and research to look at, Daniel Chure reexamined the bone and found that it was not Allosaurus, but could represent an allosauroid. Similarly, Yoichi Azuma and Phil Currie, in their description of Fukuiraptor, noted that the bone closely resembled that of their new genus. This specimen is sometimes referred to as "Allosaurus robustus", an informal museum name. It likely belonged to something similar to Australovenator, although one study considered it to belong to an abelisaur. Description Allosaurus was a typical large theropod, having a massive skull on a short neck, a long, slightly sloping tail, and reduced forelimbs. Allosaurus fragilis, the best-known species, had an average length of and mass of , with the largest definitive Allosaurus specimen (AMNH 680) estimated at long, with an estimated weight of . In his 1976 monograph on Allosaurus, James H. Madsen mentioned a range of bone sizes which he interpreted to show a maximum length of . As with dinosaurs in general, weight estimates are debatable, and since 1980 have ranged between , , and approximately for modal adult weight (not maximum). John Foster, a specialist on the Morrison Formation, suggests that is reasonable for large adults of A. fragilis, but that is a closer estimate for individuals represented by the average-sized thigh bones he has measured. Using the subadult specimen nicknamed "Big Al", since assigned to the species Allosaurus jimmadseni, researchers using computer modelling arrived at a best estimate of for the individual, but by varying parameters they found a range from approximately to approximately . A. europaeus has been measured up to in length and in body mass. Several gigantic specimens have been attributed to Allosaurus, but may in fact belong to other genera. The closely related genus Saurophaganax (OMNH 1708) reached perhaps in length, and its single species has sometimes been included in the genus Allosaurus as Allosaurus maximus, though recent studies support it as a separate genus. Another potential specimen of Allosaurus, once assigned to the genus Epanterias (AMNH 5767), may have measured in length. A more recent discovery is a partial skeleton from the Peterson Quarry in Morrison rocks of New Mexico; this large allosaurid may be another individual of Saurophaganax. David K. Smith, examining Allosaurus fossils by quarry, found that the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (Utah) specimens are generally smaller than those from Como Bluff (Wyoming) or Brigham Young University's Dry Mesa Quarry (Colorado), but the shapes of the bones themselves did not vary between the sites. A later study by Smith incorporating Garden Park (Colorado) and Dinosaur National Monument (Utah) specimens found no justification for multiple species based on skeletal variation; skull variation was most common and was gradational, suggesting individual variation was responsible. Further work on size-related variation again found no consistent differences, although the Dry Mesa material tended to clump together on the basis of the astragalus, an ankle bone. Kenneth Carpenter, using skull elements from the Cleveland-Lloyd site, found wide variation between individuals, calling into question previous species-level distinctions based on such features as the shape of the horns, and the proposed differentiation of A. jimmadseni based on the shape of the jugal. A study published by Motani et al., in 2020 suggests that Allosaurus was also sexually dimorphic in the width of the femur's head against its length. Skull The skull and teeth of Allosaurus were modestly proportioned for a theropod of its size. Paleontologist Gregory S. Paul gives a length of for a skull belonging to an individual he estimates at long. Each premaxilla (the bones that formed the tip of the snout) held five teeth with D-shaped cross-sections, and each maxilla (the main tooth-bearing bones in the upper jaw) had between 14 and 17 teeth; the number of teeth does not exactly correspond to the size of the bone. Each dentary (the tooth-bearing bone of the lower jaw) had between 14 and 17 teeth, with an average count of 16. The teeth became shorter, narrower, and more curved toward the back of the skull. All of the teeth had saw-like edges. They were shed easily, and were replaced continually, making them common fossils. Its skull was light, robust and equipped with dozens of sharp, serrated teeth. The skull had a pair of horns above and in front of the eyes. These horns were composed of extensions of the lacrimal bones, and varied in shape and size. There were also lower paired ridges running along the top edges of the nasal bones that led into the horns. The horns were probably covered in a keratin sheath and may have had a variety of functions, including acting as sunshades for the eyes, being used for display, and being used in combat against other members of the same species (although they were fragile). There was a ridge along the back of the skull roof for muscle attachment, as is also seen in tyrannosaurids. Inside the lacrimal bones were depressions that may have held glands, such as salt glands. Within the maxillae were sinuses that were better developed than those of more basal theropods such as Ceratosaurus and Marshosaurus; they may have been related to the sense of smell, perhaps holding something like Jacobson's organs. The roof of the braincase was thin, perhaps to improve thermoregulation for the brain. The skull and lower jaws had joints that permitted motion within these units. In the lower jaws, the bones of the front and back halves loosely articulated, permitting the jaws to bow outward and increasing the animal's gape. The braincase and frontals may also have had a joint. Postcranial skeleton Allosaurus had nine vertebrae in the neck, 14 in the back, and five in the sacrum supporting the hips. The number of tail vertebrae is unknown and varied with individual size; James Madsen estimated about 50, while Gregory S. Paul considered that to be too many and suggested 45 or less. There were hollow spaces in the neck and anterior back vertebrae. Such spaces, which are also found in modern theropods (that is, the birds), are interpreted as having held air sacs used in respiration. The rib cage was broad, giving it a barrel chest, especially in comparison to less derived theropods like Ceratosaurus. Allosaurus had gastralia (belly ribs), but these are not common findings, and they may have ossified poorly. In one published case, the gastralia show evidence of injury during life. A furcula (wishbone) was also present, but has only been recognized since 1996; in some cases furculae were confused with gastralia. The ilium, the main hip bone, was massive, and the pubic bone had a prominent foot that may have been used for both muscle attachment and as a prop for resting the body on the ground. Madsen noted that in about half of the individuals from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, independent of size, the pubes had not fused to each other at their foot ends. He suggested that this was a sexual characteristic, with females lacking fused bones to make egg-laying easier. This proposal has not attracted further attention, however. The forelimbs of Allosaurus were short in comparison to the hindlimbs (only about 35% the length of the hindlimbs in adults) and had three fingers per hand, tipped with large, strongly curved and pointed claws. The arms were powerful, and the forearm was somewhat shorter than the upper arm (1:1.2 ulna/humerus ratio). The wrist had a version of the semilunate carpal also found in more derived theropods like maniraptorans. Of the three fingers, the innermost (or thumb) was the largest, and diverged from the others. The phalangeal formula is 2-3-4-0-0, meaning that the innermost finger (phalange) has two bones, the next has three, and the third finger has four. The legs were not as long or suited for speed as those of tyrannosaurids, and the claws of the toes were less developed and more hoof-like than those of earlier theropods. Each foot had three weight-bearing toes and an inner dewclaw, which Madsen suggested could have been used for grasping in juveniles. There was also what is interpreted as the splint-like remnant of a fifth (outermost) metatarsal, perhaps used as a lever between the Achilles tendon and foot. Skin Skin impressions from Allosaurus have been described. One impression, from a juvenile specimen, measures 30 cm² and is associated with the anterior dorsal ribs/pectoral region. The impression shows small scales measuring 1–3 mm in diameter. A large skin impression from the "Big Al Two" specimen, associated with the base of the tail, measures 20 cm x 20 cm, and shows large scales measuring up to 2 cm in diameter. However it has been noted that these scales are more similar to those of sauropods, and due to the presence of non-theropod remains associated with the tail of "Big Al Two" there is a possibility that this skin impression is not from Allosaurus. Another Allosaurus fossil feature a skin impression from the mandible, showing scales measuring 1–2 mm in diameter. The same fossil also preserves skin impressions from the ventral side of the neck, showing broad scutes. A small skin impression from an Allosaurus skull has been reported, but never described. Classification Allosaurus was an allosaurid, a member of a family of large theropods within the larger group Carnosauria. The family name Allosauridae was created for this genus in 1878 by Othniel Charles Marsh, but the term was largely unused until the 1970s in favor of Megalosauridae, another family of large theropods that eventually became a wastebasket taxon. This, along with the use of Antrodemus for Allosaurus during the same period, is a point that needs to be remembered when searching for information on Allosaurus in publications that predate James Madsen's 1976 monograph. Major publications using the name "Megalosauridae" instead of "Allosauridae" include Gilmore, 1920, von Huene, 1926, Romer, 1956 and 1966, Steel, 1970, and Walker, 1964. Following the publication of Madsen's influential monograph, Allosauridae became the preferred family assignment, but it too was not strongly defined. Semi-technical works used Allosauridae for a variety of large theropods, usually those that were larger and better-known than megalosaurids. Typical theropods that were thought to be related to Allosaurus included Indosaurus, Piatnitzkysaurus, Piveteausaurus, Yangchuanosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Chilantaisaurus, Compsosuchus, Stokesosaurus, and Szechuanosaurus. Given modern knowledge of theropod diversity and the advent of cladistic study of evolutionary relationships, none of these theropods is now recognized as an allosaurid, although several, like Acrocanthosaurus and Yangchuanosaurus, are members of closely related families. Below is a cladogram based on the analysis of Benson et al. in 2010. Allosauridae is one of four families in Allosauroidea; the other three are Neovenatoridae, Carcharodontosauridae and Sinraptoridae. Allosauridae has at times been proposed as ancestral to the Tyrannosauridae (which would make it paraphyletic), one example being Gregory S. Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, but this has been rejected, with tyrannosaurids identified as members of a separate branch of theropods, the Coelurosauria. Allosauridae is the smallest of the carnosaur families, with only Saurophaganax and a currently unnamed French allosauroid accepted as possible valid genera besides Allosaurus in the most recent review. Another genus, Epanterias, is a potential valid member, but it and Saurophaganax may turn out to be large examples of Allosaurus. Recent reviews have kept the genus Saurophaganax and included Epanterias with Allosaurus. Paleobiology Life history The wealth of Allosaurus fossils, from nearly all ages of individuals, allows scientists to study how the animal grew and how long its lifespan may have been. Remains may reach as far back in the lifespan as eggs—crushed eggs from Colorado have been suggested as those of Allosaurus. Based on histological analysis of limb bones, bone deposition appears to stop at around 22 to 28 years, which is comparable to that of other large theropods like Tyrannosaurus. From the same analysis, its maximum growth appears to have been at age 15, with an estimated growth rate of about 150 kilograms (330 lb) per year. Medullary bone tissue (endosteally derived, ephemeral, mineralization located inside the medulla of the long bones in gravid female birds) has been reported in at least one Allosaurus specimen, a shin bone from the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry. Today, this bone tissue is only formed in female birds that are laying eggs, as it is used to supply calcium to shells. Its presence in the Allosaurus individual has been used to establish sex and show it had reached reproductive age. However, other studies have called into question some cases of medullary bone in dinosaurs, including this Allosaurus individual. Data from extant birds suggested that the medullary bone in this Allosaurus individual may have been the result of a bone pathology instead. However, with the confirmation of medullary tissue indicating sex in a specimen of Tyrannosaurus, it may be possible to ascertain whether or not the Allosaurus in question was indeed female. The discovery of a juvenile specimen with a nearly complete hindlimb shows that the legs were relatively longer in juveniles, and the lower segments of the leg (shin and foot) were relatively longer than the thigh. These differences suggest that younger Allosaurus were faster and had different hunting strategies than adults, perhaps chasing small prey as juveniles, then becoming ambush hunters of large prey upon adulthood. The thigh bone became thicker and wider during growth, and the cross-section less circular, as muscle attachments shifted, muscles became shorter, and the growth of the leg slowed. These changes imply that juvenile legs has less predictable stresses compared with adults, which would have moved with more regular forward progression. Conversely, the skull bones appear to have generally grown isometrically, increasing in size without changing in proportion. Feeding Many paleontologists accept Allosaurus as an active predator of large animals. There is dramatic evidence for allosaur attacks on Stegosaurus, including an Allosaurus tail vertebra with a partially healed puncture wound that fits a Stegosaurus tail spike, and a Stegosaurus neck plate with a U-shaped wound that correlates well with an Allosaurus snout. Sauropods seem to be likely candidates as both live prey and as objects of scavenging, based on the presence of scrapings on sauropod bones fitting allosaur teeth well and the presence of shed allosaur teeth with sauropod bones. However, as Gregory Paul noted in 1988, Allosaurus was probably not a predator of fully grown sauropods, unless it hunted in packs, as it had a modestly sized skull and relatively small teeth, and was greatly outweighed by contemporaneous sauropods. Another possibility is that it preferred to hunt juveniles instead of fully grown adults. Research in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century may have found other solutions to this question. Robert T. Bakker, comparing Allosaurus to Cenozoic saber-toothed carnivorous mammals, found similar adaptations, such as a reduction of jaw muscles and increase in neck muscles, and the ability to open the jaws extremely wide. Although Allosaurus did not have saber teeth, Bakker suggested another mode of attack that would have used such neck and jaw adaptations: the short teeth in effect became small serrations on a saw-like cutting edge running the length of the upper jaw, which would have been driven into prey. This type of jaw would permit slashing attacks against much larger prey, with the goal of weakening the victim. Similar conclusions were drawn by another study using finite element analysis on an Allosaurus skull. According to their biomechanical analysis, the skull was very strong but had a relatively small bite force. By using jaw muscles only, it could produce a bite force of 805 to 8,724 N, but the skull could withstand nearly 55,500 N of vertical force against the tooth row. The authors suggested that Allosaurus used its skull like a machete against prey, attacking open-mouthed, slashing flesh with its teeth, and tearing it away without splintering bones, unlike Tyrannosaurus, which is thought to have been capable of damaging bones. They also suggested that the architecture of the skull could have permitted the use of different strategies against different prey; the skull was light enough to allow attacks on smaller and more agile ornithopods, but strong enough for high-impact ambush attacks against larger prey like stegosaurids and sauropods. Their interpretations were challenged by other researchers, who found no modern analogues to a hatchet attack and considered it more likely that the skull was strong to compensate for its open construction when absorbing the stresses from struggling prey. The original authors noted that Allosaurus itself has no modern equivalent, that the tooth row is well-suited to such an attack, and that articulations in the skull cited by their detractors as problematic actually helped protect the palate and lessen stress. Another possibility for handling large prey is that theropods like Allosaurus were "flesh grazers" which could take bites of flesh out of living sauropods that were sufficient to sustain the predator so it would not have needed to expend the effort to kill the prey outright. This strategy would also potentially have allowed the prey to recover and be fed upon in a similar way later. An additional suggestion notes that ornithopods were the most common available dinosaurian prey, and that allosaurs may have subdued them by using an attack similar to that of modern big cats: grasping the prey with their forelimbs, and then making multiple bites on the throat to crush the trachea. This is compatible with other evidence that the forelimbs were strong and capable of restraining prey. Studies done by Stephen Lautenschager et al. from the University of Bristol also indicate Allosaurus could open its jaws quite wide and sustain considerable muscle force. When compared with Tyrannosaurus and the therizinosaurid Erlikosaurus in the same study, it was found that Allosaurus had a wider gape than either; the animal was capable of opening its jaws to a 92-degree angle at maximum. The findings also indicate that large carnivorous dinosaurs, like modern carnivores, had wider jaw gapes than herbivores. A biomechanical study published in 2013 by Eric Snively and colleagues found that Allosaurus had an unusually low attachment point on the skull for the longissimus capitis superficialis neck muscle compared to other theropods such as Tyrannosaurus. This would have allowed the animal to make rapid and forceful vertical movements with the skull. The authors found that vertical strikes as proposed by Bakker and Rayfield are consistent with the animal's capabilities. They also found that the animal probably processed carcasses by vertical movements in a similar manner to falcons, such as kestrels: the animal could have gripped prey with the skull and feet, then pulled back and up to remove flesh. This differs from the prey-handling envisioned for tyrannosaurids, which probably tore flesh with lateral shakes of the skull, similar to crocodilians. In addition, Allosaurus was able to "move its head and neck around relatively rapidly and with considerable control", at the cost of power. Other aspects of feeding include the eyes, arms, and legs. The shape of the skull of Allosaurus limited potential binocular vision to 20° of width, slightly less than that of modern crocodilians. As with crocodilians, this may have been enough to judge prey distance and time attacks. The arms, compared with those of other theropods, were suited for both grasping prey at a distance or clutching it close, and the articulation of the claws suggests that they could have been used to hook things. Finally, the top speed of Allosaurus has been estimated at 30 to 55 kilometers per hour (19 to 34 miles per hour). A paper on the cranio-dental morphology of Allosaurus and how it worked has deemed the hatchet jaw attack unlikely, reinterpreting the unusually wide gape as an adaptation to allow Allosaurus to deliver a muscle-driven bite to large prey, with the weaker jaw muscles being a trade-off to allow for the widened gape. Social behavior It has been speculated since the 1970s that Allosaurus preyed on sauropods and other large dinosaurs by hunting in groups. Such a depiction is common in semitechnical and popular dinosaur literature. Robert T. Bakker has extended social behavior to parental care, and has interpreted shed allosaur teeth and chewed bones of large prey animals as evidence that adult allosaurs brought food to lairs for their young to eat until they were grown, and prevented other carnivores from scavenging on the food. However, there is actually little evidence of gregarious behavior in theropods, and social interactions with members of the same species would have included antagonistic encounters, as shown by injuries to gastralia and bite wounds to skulls (the pathologic lower jaw named Labrosaurus ferox is one such possible example). Such head-biting may have been a way to establish dominance in a pack or to settle territorial disputes. Although Allosaurus may have hunted in packs, it has been argued that Allosaurus and other theropods had largely aggressive interactions instead of cooperative interactions with other members of their own species. The study in question noted that cooperative hunting of prey much larger than an individual predator, as is commonly inferred for theropod dinosaurs, is rare among vertebrates in general, and modern diapsid carnivores (including lizards, crocodiles, and birds) rarely cooperate to hunt in such a way. Instead, they are typically territorial and will kill and cannibalize intruders of the same species, and will also do the same to smaller individuals that attempt to eat before they do when aggregated at feeding sites. According to this interpretation, the accumulation of remains of multiple Allosaurus individuals at the same site; e.g., in the Cleveland–Lloyd Quarry, are not due to pack hunting, but to the fact that Allosaurus individuals were drawn together to feed on other disabled or dead allosaurs, and were sometimes killed in the process. This could explain the high proportion of juvenile and subadult allosaurs present, as juveniles and subadults are disproportionally killed at modern group feeding sites of animals like crocodiles and Komodo dragons. The same interpretation applies to Bakker's lair sites. There is some evidence for cannibalism in Allosaurus, including Allosaurus shed teeth found among rib fragments, possible tooth marks on a shoulder blade, and cannibalized allosaur skeletons among the bones at Bakker's lair sites. Brain and senses The brain of Allosaurus, as interpreted from spiral CT scanning of an endocast, was more consistent with crocodilian brains than those of the other living archosaurs, birds. The structure of the vestibular apparatus indicates that the skull was held nearly horizontal, as opposed to strongly tipped up or down. The structure of the inner ear was like that of a crocodilian, and so Allosaurus probably could have heard lower frequencies best, and would have had trouble with subtle sounds. The olfactory bulbs were large and seem to have been well suited for detecting odors, although the area for evaluating smells was relatively small. Paleopathology In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures and tendon avulsions in theropod dinosaurs and the implications for their behavior. Since stress fractures are caused by repeated trauma rather than singular events they are more likely to be caused by the behavior of the animal than other kinds of injury. Stress fractures and tendon avulsions occurring in the forelimb have special behavioral significance since while injuries to the feet could be caused by running or migration, resistant prey items are the most probable source of injuries to the hand. Allosaurus was one of only two theropods examined in the study to exhibit a tendon avulsion, and in both cases the avulsion occurred on the forelimb. When the researchers looked for stress fractures, they found that Allosaurus had a significantly greater number of stress fractures than Albertosaurus, Ornithomimus or Archaeornithomimus. Of the 47 hand bones the researchers studied, three were found to contain stress fractures. Of the feet, 281 bones were studied and 17 were found to have stress fractures. The stress fractures in the foot bones "were distributed to the proximal phalanges" and occurred across all three weight-bearing toes in "statistically indistinguishable" numbers. Since the lower end of the third metatarsal would have contacted the ground first while an allosaur was running, it would have borne the most stress. If the allosaurs' stress fractures were caused by damage accumulating while walking or running this bone should have experience more stress fractures than the others. The lack of such a bias in the examined Allosaurus fossils indicates an origin for the stress fractures from a source other than running. The authors conclude that these fractures occurred during interaction with prey, like an allosaur trying to hold struggling prey with its feet. The abundance of stress fractures and avulsion injuries in Allosaurus provide evidence for "very active" predation-based rather than scavenging diets. The left scapula and fibula of an Allosaurus fragilis specimen catalogued as USNM 4734 are both pathological, both probably due to healed fractures. The specimen USNM 8367 preserved several pathological gastralia which preserve evidence of healed fractures near their middle. Some of the fractures were poorly healed and "formed pseudoarthroses". A specimen with a fractured rib was recovered from the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry. Another specimen had fractured ribs and fused vertebrae near the end of the tail. An apparent subadult male Allosaurus fragilis was reported to have extensive pathologies, with a total of fourteen separate injuries. The specimen MOR 693 had pathologies on five ribs, the sixth neck vertebra, the third, eighth, and thirteenth back vertebrae, the second tail vertebra and its chevron, the gastralia right scapula, manual phalanx I left ilium metatarsals III and V, the first phalanx of the third toe and the third phalanx of the second. The ilium had "a large hole...caused by a blow from above". The near end of the first phalanx of the third toe was afflicted by an involucrum. Other pathologies reported in Allosaurus include: Willow breaks in two ribs Healed fractures in the humerus and radius Distortion of joint surfaces in the foot, possibly due to osteoarthritis or developmental issues Osteopetrosis along the endosteal surface of a tibia. Distortions of the joint surfaces of the tail vertebrae, possibly due to osetoarthritis or developmental issues "[E]xtensive 'neoplastic' ankylosis of caudals", possibly due to physical trauma, as well as the fusion of chevrons to centra Coossification of vertebral centra near the end of the tail Amputation of a chevron and foot bone, both possibly a result of bites "[E]xtensive exostoses" in the first phalanx of the third toe Lesions similar to those caused by osteomyelitis in two scapulae Bone spurs in a premaxilla, ungual, and two metacarpals Exostosis in a pedal phalanx possibly attributable to an infectious disease A metacarpal with a round depressed fracture Paleoecology Allosaurus was the most common large theropod in the vast tract of Western American fossil-bearing rock known as the Morrison Formation, accounting for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens, and as such was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food chain. The Morrison Formation is interpreted as a semiarid environment with distinct wet and dry seasons, and flat floodplains. Vegetation varied from river-lining forests of conifers, tree ferns, and ferns (gallery forests), to fern savannas with occasional trees such as the Araucaria-like conifer Brachyphyllum. The Morrison Formation has been a rich fossil hunting ground. The flora of the period has been revealed by fossils of green algae, fungi, mosses, horsetails, ferns, cycads, ginkgoes, and several families of conifers. Animal fossils discovered include bivalves, snails, ray-finned fishes, frogs, salamanders, turtles, sphenodonts, lizards, terrestrial and aquatic crocodylomorphs, several species of pterosaur, numerous dinosaur species, and early mammals such as docodonts, multituberculates, symmetrodonts, and triconodonts. Dinosaurs known from the Morrison include the theropods Ceratosaurus, Ornitholestes, Tanycolagreus, and Torvosaurus, the sauropods Haplocanthosaurus, Camarasaurus, Cathetosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Suuwassea, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Barosaurus, Diplodocus, Supersaurus, Amphicoelias, and Maraapunisaurus, and the ornithischians Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, and Stegosaurus. Allosaurus is commonly found at the same sites as Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. The Late Jurassic formations of Portugal where Allosaurus is present are interpreted as having been similar to the Morrison, but with a stronger marine influence. Many of the dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation are the same genera as those seen in Portuguese rocks (mainly Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Torvosaurus, and Stegosaurus), or have a close counterpart (Brachiosaurus and Lusotitan, Camptosaurus and Draconyx). Allosaurus coexisted with fellow large theropods Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus in both the United States and Portugal. The three appear to have had different ecological niches, based on anatomy and the location of fossils. Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus may have preferred to be active around waterways, and had lower, thinner bodies that would have given them an advantage in forest and underbrush terrains, whereas Allosaurus was more compact, with longer legs, faster but less maneuverable, and seems to have preferred dry floodplains. Ceratosaurus, better known than Torvosaurus, differed noticeably from Allosaurus in functional anatomy by having a taller, narrower skull with large, broad teeth. Allosaurus was itself a potential food item to other carnivores, as illustrated by an Allosaurus pubic foot marked by the teeth of another theropod, probably Ceratosaurus or Torvosaurus. The location of the bone in the body (along the bottom margin of the torso and partially shielded by the legs), and the fact that it was among the most massive in the skeleton, indicates that the Allosaurus was being scavenged. A bone assemblage in the Upper Jurassic Mygatt-Moore Quarry preserves an unusually high occurrence of theropod bite marks, most of which can be attributed to Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, while others could have been made by Saurophaganax or Torvosaurus given the size of the striations. While the position of the bite marks on the herbivorous dinosaurs is consistent with predation or early access to remains, bite marks found on Allosaurus material suggest scavenging, either from the other theropods or from another Allosaurus. The unusually high concentration of theropod bite marks compared to other assemblages could be explained either by a more complete utilization of resources during a dry season by theropods, or by a collecting bias in other localities. References External links Specimens, discussion, and references pertaining to Allosaurus fragilis at The Theropod Database Utah State Fossil, Allosaurus , from Pioneer: Utah's Online Library Restoration of MOR 693 ("Big Al") and muscle and organ restoration at Scott Hartman's Skeletal Drawing website List of the many possible Allosaurus species... Late Jurassic genus first appearances Late Jurassic genus extinctions Late Jurassic dinosaurs of Europe Jurassic Portugal Fossils of Portugal Lourinhã Formation Late Jurassic dinosaurs of North America Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation Paleontology in Colorado Paleontology in Wyoming Paleontology in Utah Fossil taxa described in 1877 Taxa named by Othniel Charles Marsh Apex predators

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor

Anchor

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin , which itself comes from the Greek (). Anchors can either be temporary or permanent. Permanent anchors are used in the creation of a mooring, and are rarely moved; a specialist service is normally needed to move or maintain them. Vessels carry one or more temporary anchors, which may be of different designs and weights. A sea anchor is a drag device, not in contact with the seabed, used to minimise drift of a vessel relative to the water. A drogue is a drag device used to slow or help steer a vessel running before a storm in a following or overtaking sea, or when crossing a bar in a breaking sea. Overview Anchors achieve holding power either by "hooking" into the seabed, or weight, or a combination of the two. Permanent moorings use large masses (commonly a block or slab of concrete) resting on the seabed. Semi-permanent mooring anchors (such as mushroom anchors) and large ship's anchors derive a significant portion of their holding power from their weight, while also hooking or embedding in the bottom. Modern anchors for smaller vessels have metal flukes that hook on to rocks on the bottom or bury themselves in soft seabed. The vessel is attached to the anchor by the rode (also called a cable or a warp). It can be made of rope, chain or a combination of rope and chain. The ratio of the length of rode to the water depth is known as the scope (see below). Holding ground Holding ground is the area of sea floor that holds an anchor, and thus the attached ship or boat. Different types of anchor are designed to hold in different types of holding ground. Some bottom materials hold better than others; for instance, hard sand holds well, shell holds poorly. Holding ground may be fouled with obstacles. An anchorage location may be chosen for its holding ground. In poor holding ground, only the weight of an anchor matters; in good holding ground, it is able to dig in, and the holding power can be significantly higher. History Evolution of the anchor The earliest anchors were probably rocks, and many rock anchors have been found dating from at least the Bronze Age. Pre-European Maori waka (canoes) used one or more hollowed stones, tied with flax ropes, as anchors. Many modern moorings still rely on a large rock as the primary element of their design. However, using pure weight to resist the forces of a storm works well only as a permanent mooring; a large enough rock would be nearly impossible to move to a new location. The ancient Greeks used baskets of stones, large sacks filled with sand, and wooden logs filled with lead. According to Apollonius Rhodius and Stephen of Byzantium, anchors were formed of stone, and Athenaeus states that they were also sometimes made of wood. Such anchors held the vessel merely by their weight and by their friction along the bottom. Fluked anchors Iron was afterwards introduced for the construction of anchors, and an improvement was made by forming them with teeth, or "flukes", to fasten themselves into the bottom. This is the iconic anchor shape most familiar to non-sailors. This form has been used since antiquity. The Roman Nemi ships of the 1st century AD used this form. The Viking Ladby ship (probably 10th century) used a fluked anchor of this type, made of iron, which would have had a wooden stock mounted perpendicular to the shank and flukes to make the flukes contact the bottom at a suitable angle to hook or penetrate. Admiralty anchor The Admiralty Pattern anchor, or simply "Admiralty", also known as a "Fisherman", consists of a central shank with a ring or shackle for attaching the rode (the rope, chain, or cable connecting the ship and the anchor). At the other end of the shank there are two arms, carrying the flukes, while the stock is mounted to the shackle end, at ninety degrees to the arms. When the anchor lands on the bottom, it generally falls over with the arms parallel to the seabed. As a strain comes onto the rope, the stock digs into the bottom, canting the anchor until one of the flukes catches and digs into the bottom. The Admiralty Anchor is an entirely independent reinvention of a classical design, as seen in one of the Nemi ship anchors. This basic design remained unchanged for centuries, with the most significant changes being to the overall proportions, and a move from stocks made of wood to iron stocks in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Since one fluke always protrudes up from the set anchor, there is a great tendency of the rode to foul the anchor as the vessel swings due to wind or current shifts. When this happens, the anchor may be pulled out of the bottom, and in some cases may need to be hauled up to be re-set. In the mid-19th century, numerous modifications were attempted to alleviate these problems, as well as improve holding power, including one-armed mooring anchors. The most successful of these patent anchors, the Trotman Anchor, introduced a pivot at the centre of the crown where the arms join the shank, allowing the "idle" upper arm to fold against the shank. When deployed the lower arm may fold against the shank tilting the tip of the fluke upwards, so each fluke has a tripping palm at its base, to hook on the bottom as the folded arm drags along the seabed, which unfolds the downward oriented arm until the tip of the fluke can engage the bottom. Handling and storage of these anchors requires special equipment and procedures. Once the anchor is hauled up to the hawsepipe, the ring end is hoisted up to the end of a timber projecting from the bow known as the cathead. The crown of the anchor is then hauled up with a heavy tackle until one fluke can be hooked over the rail. This is known as "catting and fishing" the anchor. Before dropping the anchor, the fishing process is reversed, and the anchor is dropped from the end of the cathead. Stockless anchor The stockless anchor, patented in England in 1821, represented the first significant departure in anchor design in centuries. Although their holding-power-to-weight ratio is significantly lower than admiralty pattern anchors, their ease of handling and stowage aboard large ships led to almost universal adoption. In contrast to the elaborate stowage procedures for earlier anchors, stockless anchors are simply hauled up until they rest with the shank inside the hawsepipes, and the flukes against the hull (or inside a recess in the hull). While there are numerous variations, stockless anchors consist of a set of heavy flukes connected by a pivot or ball and socket joint to a shank. Cast into the crown of the anchor is a set of tripping palms, projections that drag on the bottom, forcing the main flukes to dig in. Small boat anchors Until the mid-20th century, anchors for smaller vessels were either scaled-down versions of admiralty anchors, or simple grapnels. As new designs with greater holding-power-to-weight ratios were sought, a great variety of anchor designs has emerged. Many of these designs are still under patent, and other types are best known by their original trademarked names. Grapnel anchor / drag A traditional design, the grapnel is merely a shank (no stock) with four or more tines, also known as a drag. It has a benefit in that, no matter how it reaches the bottom, one or more tines are aimed to set. In coral, or rock, it is often able to set quickly by hooking into the structure, but may be more difficult to retrieve. A grapnel is often quite light, and may have additional uses as a tool to recover gear lost overboard. Its weight also makes it relatively easy to move and carry, however its shape is generally not compact and it may be awkward to stow unless a collapsing model is used. Grapnels rarely have enough fluke area to develop much hold in sand, clay, or mud. It is not unknown for the anchor to foul on its own rode, or to foul the tines with refuse from the bottom, preventing it from digging in. On the other hand, it is quite possible for this anchor to find such a good hook that, without a trip line from the crown, it is impossible to retrieve. Herreshoff anchor Designed by yacht designer L. Francis Herreshoff, this is essentially the same pattern as an admiralty anchor, albeit with small diamond-shaped flukes or palms. The novelty of the design lay in the means by which it could be broken down into three pieces for stowage. In use, it still presents all the issues of the admiralty pattern anchor. Northill anchor Originally designed as a lightweight anchor for seaplanes, this design consists of two plough-like blades mounted to a shank, with a folding stock crossing through the crown of the anchor. CQR plough anchor Many manufacturers produce a plough-type anchor, so-named after its resemblance to an agricultural plough. All such anchors are copied from the original CQR (Coastal Quick Release, or Clyde Quick Release, later rebranded as 'secure' by Lewmar), a 1933 design patented in the UK by mathematician Geoffrey Ingram Taylor. Plough anchors stow conveniently in a roller at the bow, and have been popular with cruising sailors and private boaters. Ploughs can be moderately good in all types of seafloor, though not exceptional in any. Contrary to popular belief, the CQR's hinged shank is not to allow the anchor to turn with direction changes rather than breaking out, but actually to prevent the shank's weight from disrupting the fluke's orientation while setting. The hinge can wear out and may trap a sailor's fingers. Some later plough anchors have a rigid shank, such as the Lewmar's "Delta". A plough anchor has a fundamental flaw: like its namesake, the agricultural plough, it digs in but then tends to break out back to the surface. Plough anchors sometimes have difficulty setting at all, and instead skip across the seafloor. By contrast, modern efficient anchors tend to be "scoop" types that dig ever deeper. Delta anchor The Delta anchor was derived from the CQR. It was patented by Philip McCarron, James Stewart, and Gordon Lyall of British marine manufacturer Simpson-Lawrence Ltd in 1992. It was designed as an advance over the anchors used for floating systems such as oil rigs. It retains the weighted tip of the CQR but has a much higher fluke area to weight ratio than its predecessor. The designers also eliminated the sometimes troublesome hinge. It is a plough anchor with a rigid, arched shank. It is described as self-launching because it can be dropped from a bow roller simply by paying out the rode, without manual assistance. This is an oft copied design with the European Brake and Australian Sarca Excel being two of the more notable ones. Although it is a plough type anchor, it sets and holds reasonably well in hard bottoms. Danforth anchor American Richard Danforth invented the Danforth Anchor in the 1940s for use aboard landing craft. It uses a stock at the crown to which two large flat triangular flukes are attached. The stock is hinged so the flukes can orient toward the bottom (and on some designs may be adjusted for an optimal angle depending on the bottom type). Tripping palms at the crown act to tip the flukes into the seabed. The design is a burying variety, and once well set can develop high resistance. Its lightweight and compact flat design make it easy to retrieve and relatively easy to store; some anchor rollers and hawsepipes can accommodate a fluke-style anchor. A Danforth does not usually penetrate or hold in gravel or weeds. In boulders and coral it may hold by acting as a hook. If there is much current, or if the vessel is moving while dropping the anchor, it may "kite" or "skate" over the bottom due to the large fluke area acting as a sail or wing. The FOB HP anchor designed in Brittany in the 1970s is a Danforth variant designed to give increased holding through its use of rounded flukes setting at a 30° angle. The Fortress is an American aluminum alloy Danforth variant that can be disassembled for storage and it features an adjustable 32° and 45° shank/fluke angle to improve holding capability in common sea bottoms such as hard sand and soft mud. This anchor performed well in a 1989 US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) test and in an August 2014 holding power test that was conducted in the soft mud bottoms of the Chesapeake Bay. Bruce or claw anchor This claw-shaped anchor was designed by Peter Bruce from Scotland in the 1970s. Bruce gained his early reputation from the production of large-scale commercial anchors for ships and fixed installations such as oil rigs. It was later scaled down for small boats, and copies of this popular design abound. The Bruce and its copies, known generically as "claw type anchors", have been adopted on smaller boats (partly because they stow easily on a bow roller) but they are most effective in larger sizes. Claw anchors are quite popular on charter fleets as they have a high chance to set on the first try in many bottoms. They have the reputation of not breaking out with tide or wind changes, instead slowly turning in the bottom to align with the force. Bruce anchors can have difficulty penetrating weedy bottoms and grass. They offer a fairly low holding-power-to-weight ratio and generally have to be oversized to compete with newer types. Scoop type anchors Three time circumnavigator German Rolf Kaczirek invented the Bügel Anker in the 1980s. Kaczirek wanted an anchor that was self-righting without necessitating a ballasted tip. Instead, he added a roll bar and switched out the plough share for a flat blade design. As none of the innovations of this anchor were patented, copies of it abound. Alain Poiraud of France introduced the scoop type anchor in 1996. Similar in design to the Bügel anchor, Poiraud's design features a concave fluke shaped like the blade of a shovel, with a shank attached parallel to the fluke, and the load applied toward the digging end. It is designed to dig into the bottom like a shovel, and dig deeper as more pressure is applied. The common challenge with all the scoop type anchors is that they set so well, they can be difficult to weigh. Bügelanker, or Wasi: This German-designed bow anchor has a sharp tip for penetrating weed, and features a roll-bar that allows the correct setting attitude to be achieved without the need for extra weight to be inserted into the tip. Spade: This is a French design that has proven successful since 1996. It features a demountable shank (hollow in some instances) and the choice of galvanized steel, stainless steel, or aluminium construction, which means a lighter and more easily stowable anchor. The geometry also makes this anchor self stowing on a single roller. Rocna: This New Zealand spade design, available in galvanised or stainless steel, has been produced since 2004. It has a roll-bar (similar to that of the Bügel), a large spade-like fluke area, and a sharp toe for penetrating weed and grass. The Rocna sets quickly and holds well. Mantus: This is claimed to be a fast setting anchor with high holding power. It is designed as an all round anchor capable of setting even in challenging bottoms such as hard sand/clay bottoms and grass. The shank is made out of a high tensile steel capable of withstanding high loads. It is similar in design to the Rocna but has a larger and wider roll-bar that reduces the risk of fouling and increases the angle of the fluke that results in improved penetration in some bottoms. Ultra: This is an innovative spade design that dispenses with a roll-bar. Made primarily of stainless steel, its main arm is hollow, while the fluke tip has lead within it. It is similar in appearance to the Spade anchor. Vulcan: A recent sibling to the Rocna, this anchor performs similarly but does not have a roll-bar. Instead the Vulcan has patented design features such as the "V-bulb" and the "Roll Palm" that allow it to dig in deeply. The Vulcan was designed primarily for sailors who had difficulties accommodating the roll-bar Rocna on their bow. Peter Smith (originator of the Rocna) designed it specifically for larger powerboats. Both Vulcans and Rocnas are available in galvanised steel, or in stainless steel. The Vulcan is similar in appearance to the Spade anchor. Knox Anchor: This is produced in Scotland and was invented by Professor John Knox. It has a divided concave large area fluke arrangement and a shank in high tensile steel. A roll bar similar to the Rocna gives fast setting and a holding power of about 40 times anchor weight. Other temporary anchors Mud weight: Consists of a blunt heavy weight, usually cast iron or cast lead, that sinks into the mud and resist lateral movement. It is suitable only for soft silt bottoms and in mild conditions. Sizes range between 5 and 20 kg for small craft. Various designs exist and many are home produced from lead or improvised with heavy objects. This is a commonly used method on the Norfolk Broads in England. Bulwagga: This is a unique design featuring three flukes instead of the usual two. It has performed well in tests by independent sources such as American boating magazine Practical Sailor. Permanent anchors These are used where the vessel is permanently or semi-permanently sited, for example in the case of lightvessels or channel marker buoys. The anchor needs to hold the vessel in all weathers, including the most severe storm, but needs to be lifted only occasionally, at most – for example, only if the vessel is to be towed into port for maintenance. An alternative to using an anchor under these circumstances, especially if the anchor need never be lifted at all, may be to use a pile that is driven into the seabed. Permanent anchors come in a wide range of types and have no standard form. A slab of rock with an iron staple in it to attach a chain to would serve the purpose, as would any dense object of appropriate weight (for instance, an engine block). Modern moorings may be anchored by augers, which look and act like oversized screws drilled into the seabed, or by barbed metal beams pounded in (or even driven in with explosives) like pilings, or by a variety of other non-mass means of getting a grip on the bottom. One method of building a mooring is to use three or more conventional anchors laid out with short lengths of chain attached to a swivel, so no matter which direction the vessel moves, one or more anchors are aligned to resist the force. Mushroom The mushroom anchor is suitable where the seabed is composed of silt or fine sand. It was invented by Robert Stevenson, for use by an 82-ton converted fishing boat, Pharos, which was used as a lightvessel between 1807 and 1810 near to Bell Rock whilst the lighthouse was being constructed. It was equipped with a 1.5-ton example. It is shaped like an inverted mushroom, the head becoming buried in the silt. A counterweight is often provided at the other end of the shank to lay it down before it becomes buried. A mushroom anchor normally sinks in the silt to the point where it has displaced its own weight in bottom material, thus greatly increasing its holding power. These anchors are suitable only for a silt or mud bottom, since they rely upon suction and cohesion of the bottom material, which rocky or coarse sand bottoms lack. The holding power of this anchor is at best about twice its weight until it becomes buried, when it can be as much as ten times its weight. They are available in sizes from about 5 kg up to several tons. Deadweight A deadweight is an anchor that relies solely on being a heavy weight. It is usually just a large block of concrete or stone at the end of the chain. Its holding power is defined by its weight underwater (i.e., taking its buoyancy into account) regardless of the type of seabed, although suction can increase this if it becomes buried. Consequently, deadweight anchors are used where mushroom anchors are unsuitable, for example in rock, gravel or coarse sand. An advantage of a deadweight anchor over a mushroom is that if it does drag, it continues to provide its original holding force. The disadvantage of using deadweight anchors in conditions where a mushroom anchor could be used is that it needs to be around ten times the weight of the equivalent mushroom anchor. Auger Auger anchors can be used to anchor permanent moorings, floating docks, fish farms, etc. These anchors, which have one or more slightly pitched self-drilling threads, must be screwed into the seabed with the use of a tool, so require access to the bottom, either at low tide or by use of a diver. Hence they can be difficult to install in deep water without special equipment. Weight for weight, augers have a higher holding than other permanent designs, and so can be cheap and relatively easily installed, although difficult to set in extremely soft mud. High-holding-types There is a need in the oil-and-gas industry to resist large anchoring forces when laying pipelines and for drilling vessels. These anchors are installed and removed using a support tug and pennant/pendant wire. Some examples are the Stevin range supplied by Vrijhof Ankers. Large plate anchors such as the Stevmanta are used for permanent moorings. Anchoring gear The elements of anchoring gear include the anchor, the cable (also called a rode), the method of attaching the two together, the method of attaching the cable to the ship, charts, and a method of learning the depth of the water. Vessels may carry a number of anchors: bower anchors are the main anchors used by a vessel and normally carried at the bow of the vessel. A kedge anchor is a light anchor used for warping an anchor, also known as kedging, or more commonly on yachts for mooring quickly or in benign conditions. A stream anchor, which is usually heavier than a kedge anchor, can be used for kedging or warping in addition to temporary mooring and restraining stern movement in tidal conditions or in waters where vessel movement needs to be restricted, such as rivers and channels. Charts are vital to good anchoring. Knowing the location of potential dangers, as well as being useful in estimating the effects of weather and tide in the anchorage, is essential in choosing a good place to drop the hook. One can get by without referring to charts, but they are an important tool and a part of good anchoring gear, and a skilled mariner would not choose to anchor without them. Anchor rode The anchor rode (or "cable" or "warp") that connects the anchor to the vessel is usually made up of chain, rope, or a combination of those. Large ships use only chain rode. Smaller craft might use a rope/chain combination or an all chain rode. All rodes should have some chain; chain is heavy but it resists abrasion from coral, sharp rocks, or shellfish beds, whereas a rope warp is susceptible to abrasion and can fail in a short time when stretched against an abrasive surface. The weight of the chain also helps keep the direction of pull on the anchor closer to horizontal, which improves holding, and absorbs part of snubbing loads. Where weight is not an issue, a heavier chain provides better holding by forming a catenary curve through the water and resting as much of its length on the bottom as would not be lifted by tension of the mooring load. Any changes to the tension are accommodated by additional chain being lifted or settling on the bottom, and this absorbs shock loads until the chain is straight, at which point the full load is taken by the anchor. Additional dissipation of shock loads can be achieved by fitting a snubber between the chain and a bollard or cleat on deck. This also reduces shock loads on the deck fittings, and the vessel usually lies more comfortably and quietly. Being strong and elastic, nylon rope is the most suitable as an anchor rode. Polyester (terylene) is stronger but less elastic than nylon. Both materials sink, so they avoid fouling other craft in crowded anchorages and do not absorb much water. Neither breaks down quickly in sunlight. Elasticity helps absorb shock loading, but causes faster abrasive wear when the rope stretches over an abrasive surface, like a coral bottom or a poorly designed chock. Polypropylene ("polyprop") is not suited to rodes because it floats and is much weaker than nylon, being barely stronger than natural fibres. Some grades of polypropylene break down in sunlight and become hard, weak, and unpleasant to handle. Natural fibres such as manila or hemp are still used in developing nations but absorb a lot of water, are relatively weak, and rot, although they do give good handling grip and are often relatively cheap. Ropes that have little or no elasticity are not suitable as anchor rodes. Elasticity is partly a function of the fibre material and partly of the rope structure. All anchors should have chain at least equal to the boat's length. Some skippers prefer an all chain warp for greater security on coral or sharp edged rock bottoms. The chain should be shackled to the warp through a steel eye or spliced to the chain using a chain splice. The shackle pin should be securely wired or moused. Either galvanized or stainless steel is suitable for eyes and shackles, galvanised steel being the stronger of the two. Some skippers prefer to add a swivel to the rode. There is a school of thought that says these should not be connected to the anchor itself, but should be somewhere in the chain. However, most skippers connect the swivel directly to the anchor. Scope Scope is the ratio of length of the rode to the depth of the water measured from the highest point (usually the anchor roller or bow chock) to the seabed, making allowance for the highest expected tide. The function of this ratio is to ensure that the pull on the anchor is unlikely to break it out of the bottom if it is embedded, or lift it off a hard bottom, either of which is likely to result in the anchor dragging. A large scope induces a load that is nearly horizontal. In moderate conditions the ratio of rode to water depth should be 4:1 – where there is sufficient swing-room, a greater scope is always better. In rougher conditions it should be up to twice this with the extra length giving more stretch and a smaller angle to the bottom to resist the anchor breaking out. For example, if the water is deep, and the anchor roller is above the water, then the 'depth' is 9 meters (~30 feet). The amount of rode to let our in moderate conditions is thus 36 meters (120 feet). (For this reason it is important to have a reliable and accurate method of measuring the depth of water.) When using a rope rode, there is a simple way to estimate the scope: The ratio of bow height of the rode to length of rode above the water while lying back hard on the anchor is the same or less than the scope ratio. The basis for this is simple geometry (Intercept Theorem): The ratio between two sides of a triangle stays the same regardless of the size of the triangle as long as the angles do not change. Generally, the rode should be between 5 and 10 times the depth to the seabed, giving a scope of 5:1 or 10:1; the larger the number, the shallower the angle is between the cable and the seafloor, and the less upwards force is acting on the anchor. A 10:1 scope gives the greatest holding power, but also allows for much more drifting due to the longer amount of cable paid out. Anchoring with sufficient scope and/or heavy chain rode brings the direction of strain close to parallel with the seabed. This is particularly important for light, modern anchors designed to bury in the bottom, where scopes of 5:1 to 7:1 are common, whereas heavy anchors and moorings can use a scope of 3:1, or less. Some modern anchors, such as the Ultra holds with a scope of 3:1; but, unless the anchorage is crowded, a longer scope always reduces shock stresses. Anchoring techniques The basic anchoring consists of determining the location, dropping the anchor, laying out the scope, setting the hook, and assessing where the vessel ends up. The ship seeks a location that is sufficiently protected; has suitable holding ground, enough depth at low tide and enough room for the boat to swing. The location to drop the anchor should be approached from down wind or down current, whichever is stronger. As the chosen spot is approached, the vessel should be stopped or even beginning to drift back. The anchor should initially be lowered quickly but under control until it is on the bottom (see anchor windlass). The vessel should continue to drift back, and the cable should be veered out under control (slowly) so it is relatively straight. Once the desired scope is laid out, the vessel should be gently forced astern, usually using the auxiliary motor but possibly by backing a sail. A hand on the anchor line may telegraph a series of jerks and jolts, indicating the anchor is dragging, or a smooth tension indicative of digging in. As the anchor begins to dig in and resist backward force, the engine may be throttled up to get a thorough set. If the anchor continues to drag, or sets after having dragged too far, it should be retrieved and moved back to the desired position (or another location chosen.) There are techniques of anchoring to limit the swing of a vessel if the anchorage has limited room: Using an anchor weight, kellet or sentinel Lowering a concentrated, heavy weight down the anchor line – rope or chain – directly in front of the bow to the seabed behaves like a heavy chain rode and lowers the angle of pull on the anchor. If the weight is suspended off the seabed it acts as a spring or shock absorber to dampen the sudden actions that are normally transmitted to the anchor and can cause it to dislodge and drag. In light conditions, a kellet reduces the swing of the vessel considerably. In heavier conditions these effects disappear as the rode becomes straightened and the weight ineffective. Known as an "anchor chum weight" or "angel" in the UK. Forked moor Using two anchors set approximately 45° apart, or wider angles up to 90°, from the bow is a strong mooring for facing into strong winds. To set anchors in this way, first one anchor is set in the normal fashion. Then, taking in on the first cable as the boat is motored into the wind and letting slack while drifting back, a second anchor is set approximately a half-scope away from the first on a line perpendicular to the wind. After this second anchor is set, the scope on the first is taken up until the vessel is lying between the two anchors and the load is taken equally on each cable. This moor also to some degree limits the range of a vessel's swing to a narrower oval. Care should be taken that other vessels do not swing down on the boat due to the limited swing range. Bow and stern (Not to be mistaken with the Bahamian moor, below.) In the bow and stern technique, an anchor is set off each the bow and the stern, which can severely limit a vessel's swing range and also align it to steady wind, current or wave conditions. One method of accomplishing this moor is to set a bow anchor normally, then drop back to the limit of the bow cable (or to double the desired scope, e.g. 8:1 if the eventual scope should be 4:1, 10:1 if the eventual scope should be 5:1, etc.) to lower a stern anchor. By taking up on the bow cable the stern anchor can be set. After both anchors are set, tension is taken up on both cables to limit the swing or to align the vessel. Bahamian moor Similar to the above, a Bahamian moor is used to sharply limit the swing range of a vessel, but allows it to swing to a current. One of the primary characteristics of this technique is the use of a swivel as follows: the first anchor is set normally, and the vessel drops back to the limit of anchor cable. A second anchor is attached to the end of the anchor cable, and is dropped and set. A swivel is attached to the middle of the anchor cable, and the vessel connected to that. The vessel now swings in the middle of two anchors, which is acceptable in strong reversing currents, but a wind perpendicular to the current may break out the anchors, as they are not aligned for this load. Backing an anchor Also known as tandem anchoring, in this technique two anchors are deployed in line with each other, on the same rode. With the foremost anchor reducing the load on the aft-most, this technique can develop great holding power and may be appropriate in "ultimate storm" circumstances. It does not limit swinging range, and might not be suitable in some circumstances. There are complications, and the technique requires careful preparation and a level of skill and experience above that required for a single anchor. Kedging Kedging or warping is a technique for moving or turning a ship by using a relatively light anchor. In yachts, a kedge anchor is an anchor carried in addition to the main, or bower anchors, and usually stowed aft. Every yacht should carry at least two anchors – the main or bower anchor and a second lighter kedge anchor. It is used occasionally when it is necessary to limit the turning circle as the yacht swings when it is anchored, such as in a narrow river or a deep pool in an otherwise shallow area. Kedge anchors are sometimes used to recover vessels that have run aground. For ships, a kedge may be dropped while a ship is underway, or carried out in a suitable direction by a tender or ship's boat to enable the ship to be winched off if aground or swung into a particular heading, or even to be held steady against a tidal or other stream. Historically, it was of particular relevance to sailing warships that used them to outmaneuver opponents when the wind had dropped but might be used by any vessel in confined, shoal water to place it in a more desirable position, provided she had enough manpower . Club hauling Club hauling is an archaic technique. When a vessel is in a narrow channel or on a lee shore so that there is no room to tack the vessel in a conventional manner, an anchor attached to the lee quarter may be dropped from the lee bow. This is deployed when the vessel is head to wind and has lost headway. As the vessel gathers sternway the strain on the cable pivots the vessel around what is now the weather quarter turning the vessel onto the other tack. The anchor is then normally cut away (the ship's momentum prevents recovery without aborting the maneuver). Weighing anchor Since all anchors that embed themselves in the bottom require the strain to be along the seabed, anchors can be broken out of the bottom by shortening the rope until the vessel is directly above the anchor; at this point the anchor chain is "up and down", in naval parlance. If necessary, motoring slowly around the location of the anchor also helps dislodge it. Anchors are sometimes fitted with a trip line attached to the crown, by which they can be unhooked from rocks, coral, chain, or other underwater hazards. The term aweigh describes an anchor when it is hanging on the rope and is not resting on the bottom. This is linked to the term to weigh anchor, meaning to lift the anchor from the sea bed, allowing the ship or boat to move. An anchor is described as aweigh when it has been broken out of the bottom and is being hauled up to be stowed. Aweigh should not be confused with under way, which describes a vessel that is not moored to a dock or anchored, whether or not the vessel is moving through the water. Aweigh is also often confused with away, which is incorrect. Anchor as symbol An anchor frequently appears on the flags and coats of arms of institutions involved with the sea, both naval and commercial, as well as of port cities and seacoast regions and provinces in various countries. There also exists in heraldry the "Anchored Cross", or Mariner's Cross, a stylized cross in the shape of an anchor. The symbol can be used to signify 'fresh start' or 'hope'. The New Testament refers to the Christian's hope as "an anchor of the soul". The Mariner's Cross is also referred to as St. Clement's Cross, in reference to the way this saint was killed (being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea in 102). Anchored crosses are occasionally a feature of coats of arms in which context they are referred to by the heraldic terms anchry or ancre. In 1887, the Delta Gamma Fraternity adopted the anchor as its badge to signify hope. The Unicode anchor (Miscellaneous Symbols) is represented by: ⚓. See also "Anchors Aweigh", United States Navy marching song References Bibliography Blackwell, Alex & Daria; Happy Hooking – the Art of Anchoring, 2008, 2011, 2019 White Seahorse; Edwards, Fred; Sailing as a Second Language: An illustrated dictionary, 1988 Highmark Publishing; Hinz, Earl R.; The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring, Rev. 2d ed., 1986, 1994, 2001 Cornell Maritime Press; Hiscock, Eric C.; Cruising Under Sail, second edition, 1965 Oxford University Press; Pardey, Lin and Larry; The Capable Cruiser; 1995 Pardey Books/Paradise Cay Publications; Rousmaniere, John; The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, 1983, 1989 Simon and Schuster; Smith, Everrett; Cruising World's Guide to Seamanship: Hold me tight, 1992 New York Times Sports/Leisure Magazines Further reading William N. Brady (1864). The Kedge-anchor; Or, Young Sailors' Assistant. First published as The Naval Apprentice's Kedge Anchor. New York, Taylor and Clement, 1841.--The Kedge-anchor; 3rd ed. New York, 1848.--6th ed. New York, 1852.--9th ed. New York, 1857. External links Anchor Tests: Soft Sand Over Hard Sand—Practical-Sailor The Big Anchor Project Anchor comparison Heraldic charges Nautical terminology Sailboat components Sailing ship components Ship anchors Watercraft components Weights

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagram

Anagram

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word anagram itself can be rearranged into nag a ram; which is an Easter egg in Google when searching for the word "anagram"; the word binary-into brainy and the word adobe-into abode. The original word or phrase is known as the subject of the anagram. Any word or phrase that exactly reproduces the letters in another order is an anagram. Someone who creates anagrams may be called an "anagrammatist", and the goal of a serious or skilled anagrammatist is to produce anagrams that reflect or comment on their subject. Examples Anagrams may be created as a commentary on the subject. They may be a parody, a criticism or satire. For example: "New York Times" = "monkeys write" "Church of Scientology" = "rich-chosen goofy cult" "McDonald's restaurants" = "Uncle Sam's standard rot" "coronavirus" = "carnivorous" "She Sells Sanctuary" = "Santa; shy, less cruel" or "Satan; cruel, less shy" An anagram may also be a synonym of the original word. For example: "evil" = "vile" "a gentleman" = "elegant man" "eleven plus two" = "twelve plus one" An anagram that has a meaning opposed to that of the original word or phrase is called an "antigram". For example: "restful" = "fluster" "cheater" = "teacher" "funeral" = "real fun" "adultery" = "true lady" "forty five" = "over fifty" "Santa" = "Satan" They can sometimes change from a proper noun or personal name into an appropriate sentence: "William Shakespeare" = "I am a weakish speller" "Madam Curie" = "Radium came" "George Bush" = "He bugs Gore" "Tom Marvolo Riddle" = "I am Lord Voldemort" They can change part of speech, such as the adjective "silent" to the verb "listen". "Anagrams" itself can be anagrammatized as "Ars magna" (Latin, 'the great art'). History Anagrams can be traced back to the time of the ancient Greeks, and were used to find the hidden and mystical meaning in names. They were popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, for example with the poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut. They are said to date back at least to the Greek poet Lycophron, in the third century BCE; but this relies on an account of Lycophron given by John Tzetzes in the 12th century. In the Talmudic and Midrashic literature, anagrams were used to interpret the Hebrew Bible, notably by Eleazar of Modi'im. Later, Kabbalists took this up with enthusiasm, calling anagrams temurah. Anagrams in Latin were considered witty over many centuries. Est vir qui adest, explained below, was cited as the example in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language. They became hugely popular in the early modern period, especially in Germany. Any historical material on anagrams must always be interpreted in terms of the assumptions and spellings that were current for the language in question. In particular, spelling in English only slowly became fixed. There were attempts to regulate anagram formation, an important one in English being that of George Puttenham's Of the Anagram or Posy Transposed in The Art of English Poesie (1589). Influence of Latin As a literary game when Latin was the common property of the literate, Latin anagrams were prominent. Two examples are the change of Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Latin: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord [is] with you) into Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata (Latin: Serene virgin, pious, clean and spotless), and the anagrammatic answer to Pilate's question, Quid est veritas? (Latin: What is truth?), namely, Est vir qui adest (Latin: It is the man who is here). The origins of these are not documented. Latin continued to influence letter values (such as I = J, U = V and W = VV). There was an ongoing tradition of allowing anagrams to be "perfect" if the letters were all used once, but allowing for these interchanges. This can be seen in a popular Latin anagram against the Jesuits: Societas Jesu turned into Vitiosa seces (Latin: Cut off the wicked things). Puttenham, in the time of Elizabeth I, wished to start from Elissabet Anglorum Regina (Latin: Elizabeth Queen of the English), to obtain Multa regnabis ense gloria (Latin: By thy sword shalt thou reign in great renown); he explains carefully that H is "a note of aspiration only and no letter", and that Z in Greek or Hebrew is a mere SS. The rules were not completely fixed in the 17th century. William Camden in his Remains commented, singling out some letters—Æ, K, W, and Z—not found in the classical Roman alphabet: Early modern period When it comes to the 17th century and anagrams in English or other languages, there is a great deal of documented evidence of learned interest. The lawyer Thomas Egerton was praised through the anagram gestat honorem ('he carries honor'); the physician George Ent took the anagrammatic motto genio surget ('he rises through spirit/genius'), which requires his first name as Georgius. James I's courtiers discovered in "James Stuart" "a just master", and converted "Charles James Stuart" into "Claims Arthur's seat" (even at that point in time, the letters I and J were more-or-less interchangeable). Walter Quin, tutor to the future Charles I, worked hard on multilingual anagrams on the name of father James. A notorious murder scandal, the Overbury case, threw up two imperfect anagrams that were aided by typically loose spelling and were recorded by Simonds D'Ewes: "Francis Howard" (for Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset, her maiden name spelled in a variant) became "Car findes a whore", with the letters E hardly counted, and the victim Thomas Overbury, as "Thomas Overburie", was written as "O! O! a busie murther" (an old form of "murder"), with a V counted as U. William Drummond of Hawthornden, in an essay On the Character of a Perfect Anagram, tried to lay down rules for permissible substitutions (such as S standing for Z) and letter omissions. William Camden provided a definition of "Anagrammatisme" as "a dissolution of a name truly written into his letters, as his elements, and a new connection of it by artificial transposition, without addition, subtraction or change of any letter, into different words, making some perfect sense appliable (i.e., applicable) to the person named." Dryden in MacFlecknoe disdainfully called the pastime the "torturing of one poor word ten thousand ways". "Eleanor Audeley", wife of Sir John Davies, is said to have been brought before the High Commission in 1634 for extravagances, stimulated by the discovery that her name could be transposed to "Reveale, O Daniel", and to have been laughed out of court by another anagram submitted by Sir John Lambe, the dean of the Arches, "Dame Eleanor Davies", "Never soe mad a ladie". An example from France was a flattering anagram for Cardinal Richelieu, comparing him to Hercules or at least one of his hands (Hercules being a kingly symbol), where Armand de Richelieu became Ardue main d'Hercule ("difficult hand of Hercules"). Modern period Examples from the 19th century are the transposition of "Horatio Nelson" into Honor est a Nilo (Latin: Honor is from the Nile); and of "Florence Nightingale" into "Flit on, cheering angel". The Victorian love of anagramming as recreation is alluded to by the mathematician Augustus De Morgan using his own name as an example; "Great Gun, do us a sum!" is attributed to his son William De Morgan, but a family friend John Thomas Graves was prolific, and a manuscript with over 2,800 has been preserved. With the advent of surrealism as a poetic movement, anagrams regained the artistic respect they had had in the Baroque period. The German poet Unica Zürn, who made extensive use of anagram techniques, came to regard obsession with anagrams as a "dangerous fever", because it created isolation of the author. The surrealist leader André Breton coined the anagram Avida Dollars for Salvador Dalí, to tarnish his reputation by the implication of commercialism. Applications While anagramming is certainly a recreation first, there are ways in which anagrams are put to use, and these can be more serious, or at least not quite frivolous and formless. For example, psychologists use anagram-oriented tests, often called "anagram solution tasks", to assess the implicit memory of young adults and adults alike. Establishment of priority Natural philosophers (astronomers and others) of the 17th century transposed their discoveries into Latin anagrams, to establish their priority. In this way they laid claim to new discoveries before their results were ready for publication. Galileo used for (Latin: I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form) for discovering the rings of Saturn in 1610. Galileo announced his discovery that Venus had phases like the Moon in the form (Latin: These immature ones have already been read in vain by me -oy), that is, when rearranged, (Latin: The Mother of Loves [= Venus] imitates the figures of Cynthia [= the moon]). In both cases, Johannes Kepler had solved the anagrams incorrectly, assuming they were talking about the Moons of Mars () and a red spot on Jupiter (), respectively. By coincidence, he turned out to be right about the actual objects existing. In 1656, Christiaan Huygens, using a better telescope than those available to Galileo, figured that Galileo's earlier observations of Saturn actually meant it had a ring (Galileo's tools were only sufficient to see it as bumps) and, like Galileo, had published an anagram, . Upon confirming his observations, three years later he revealed it to mean (Latin: It [Saturn] is surrounded by a thin, flat, ring, nowhere touching, inclined to the ecliptic). When Robert Hooke discovered Hooke's law in 1660, he first published it in anagram form, , for (Latin: as the extension, so the force). Pseudonyms Anagrams are connected to pseudonyms, by the fact that they may conceal or reveal, or operate somewhere in between like a mask that can establish identity. For example, Jim Morrison used an anagram of his name in the Doors song "L.A. Woman", calling himself "Mr. Mojo Risin'". The use of anagrams and fabricated personal names may be to circumvent restrictions on the use of real names, as happened in the 18th century when Edward Cave wanted to get around restrictions imposed on the reporting of the House of Commons. In a genre such as farce or parody, anagrams as names may be used for pointed and satiric effect. Pseudonyms adopted by authors are sometimes transposed forms of their names; thus "Calvinus" becomes "Alcuinus" (here V = U) or "François Rabelais" = "Alcofribas Nasier". The name "Voltaire" of François Marie Arouet fits this pattern, and is allowed to be an anagram of "Arouet, l[e] j[eune]" (U = V, J = I) that is, "Arouet the younger". Other examples include: "Damon Albarn" = "Dan Abnormal" "Dave Barry" = "Ray Adverb" "Arrigo Boito" = "Tobia Gorrio" "Buckethead" = "Death Cube K" "Daniel Clowes" = "Enid Coleslaw" "Siobhán Donaghy" = "Shanghai Nobody" "Glen Duncan" = "Declan Gunn" "(Theodor) Geisel" = "(Theo) Le Sieg" "Edward Gorey" = "Ogdred Weary", = "Regera Dowdy" or = "E. G. Deadworry" (and others) "Anna Madrigal" = "A man and a girl" "Ted Morgan" = "(Sanche) de Gramont" "Lorin Morgan-Richards" = "Marcil d'Hirson Garron" "Vladimir Nabokov" = "Vivian Darkbloom", = "Vivian Bloodmark", = "Blavdak Vinomori", or = "Dorian Vivalkomb" Several of these are "imperfect anagrams", letters having been left out in some cases for the sake of easy pronunciation. Titles Anagrams used for titles afford scope for some types of wit. Examples: Homer Hickam's book Rocket Boys was adapted into the 1999 film October Sky. The tapes for the revival of the BBC show Doctor Who were labeled with the anagram Torchwood, which later went on to be used as the name for a spin-off show. In multi-episode shows, the program occasionally substitutes the anagram of an actor's name for the actual name to prevent revealing the true identity of the role (for instance, The Master) being played by the actor. The New Wave band Missing Persons' best-selling album was called Spring Session M. Hip-hop artist MF Doom recorded a 2004 album called Mm..Food. Brian Eno's album Before and After Science includes a song entitled "King's Lead Hat", an anagram of "Talking Heads", a band Eno has worked with. Juan Maria Solare's piano ballad "Jura ser anomalía" (literally "he/she swears to be an anomaly") is an anagram of the composer's full name. His composition for English horn titled "A Dot in Time" is an anagram of "Meditation", which describes the piece. The title of his piano piece that is a homage to Claude Debussy is "Seduce Us Badly". Bill Evans's overdubbed piano elegy for fellow jazz pianist Sonny Clark is titled "N.Y.C.'s No Lark", and another composition, "Re: Person I Knew" is a tribute to his producer, Orrin Keepnews. The title of Imogen Heap's album iMegaphone is an anagram of her name. Progressive rock group Rush published a song on their 1989 album Presto titled "Anagram (for Mongo)" that makes use of anagrams in every line of the song. The title of the fifth album by American rock band Interpol, El Pintor, is an anagram of the band's name and also Spanish for "the painter". Many of the song titles on Aphex Twin's ...I Care Because You Do are anagrams of either "Aphex Twin", "The Aphex Twin", or "Richard D. James". In Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke played Mr. Dawes Sr. as the anagram of his name, Navckid Keyd. In the credits, the words unscrambled themselves to reveal his name. The title of King Crimson's 1982 song Thela Hun Ginjeet is an anagram of "heat in the jungle". Two albums released in 2022 by Australian rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard titled "Made in Timeland" and "Laminated Denim". Coincidences In Hebrew, the name "Gernot Zippe" (גרנוט ציפה), the inventor of the Zippe-type centrifuge, is an anagram of the word "centrifuge" (צנטריפוגה). The sentence "Name is Anu Garg", referring to anagrammer and founder of wordsmith.org Anu Garg, can be rearranged to spell "Anagram genius". Games and puzzles Anagrams are in themselves a recreational activity, but they also make up part of many other games, puzzles and game shows. The Jumble is a puzzle found in many newspapers in the United States requiring the unscrambling of letters to find the solution. Cryptic crossword puzzles frequently use anagrammatic clues, usually indicating that they are anagrams by the inclusion of a descriptive term like "confused" or "in disarray". An example would be Businessman burst into tears (9 letters). The solution, stationer, is an anagram of into tears, the letters of which have burst out of their original arrangement to form the name of a type of businessman. Numerous other games and contests involve some element of anagram formation as a basic skill. Some examples: In Anagrams, players flip tiles over one at a time and race to take words. They can "steal" each other's words by rearranging the letters and extending the words. In a version of Scrabble called Clabbers, the name itself is an anagram of Scrabble. Tiles may be placed in any order on the board as long as they anagram to a valid word. On the British game show Countdown, contestants are given 30 seconds to make the longest word from nine random letters. In Boggle, players make constrained words from a grid of sixteen random letters, by joining adjacent cubes. On the British game show BrainTeaser, contestants are shown a word broken into randomly arranged segments and must announce the whole word. At the end of the game there is a "Pyramid" which starts with a three-letter word. A letter appears in the line below to which the player must add the existing letters to find a solution. The pattern continues until the player reaches the final eight-letter anagram. The player wins the game by solving all the anagrams within the allotted time. In Bananagrams, players place tiles from a pool into crossword-style word arrangements in a race to see who can finish the pool of tiles first. Ciphers Multiple anagramming is a technique used to solve some kinds of cryptograms, such as a permutation cipher, a transposition cipher, and the Jefferson disk. Solutions may be computationally found using a Jumble algorithm. Methods of construction Sometimes, it is possible to "see" anagrams in words, unaided by tools, though the more letters involved the more difficult this becomes. The difficulty is that for a word of different letters, there are (factorial of ) different permutations and so different anagrams of the word. Anagram dictionaries can also be used. Computer programs, known as "anagram search", "anagram servers", "anagram solvers", offer a much faster route to creating anagrams, and a large number of these programs are available on the Internet. Some programs use the Anatree algorithm to compute anagrams efficiently. The program or server carries out an exhaustive search of a database of words, to produce a list containing every possible combination of words or phrases from the input word or phrase using a jumble algorithm. Some programs (such as Lexpert) restrict to one-word answers. Many anagram servers (for example, The Words Oracle) can control the search results, by excluding or including certain words, limiting the number or length of words in each anagram, or limiting the number of results. Anagram solvers are often banned from online anagram games. The disadvantage of computer anagram solvers, especially when applied to multi-word anagrams, is their poor understanding of the meaning of the words they are manipulating. They usually cannot filter out meaningful or appropriate anagrams from large numbers of nonsensical word combinations. Some servers attempt to improve on this using statistical techniques that try to combine only words that appear together often. This approach provides only limited success since it fails to recognize ironic and humorous combinations. Some anagrammatists indicate the method they used. Anagrams constructed without the aid of a computer are noted as having been done "manually" or "by hand"; those made by utilizing a computer may be noted "by machine" or "by computer", or may indicate the name of the computer program (using Anagram Genius). There are also a few "natural" instances: English words unconsciously created by switching letters around. The French chaise longue ("long chair") became the American "chaise lounge" by metathesis (transposition of letters and/or sounds). It has also been speculated that the English "curd" comes from the Latin crudus ("raw"). Similarly, the ancient English word for bird was "brid". Notable anagrammatists The French king Louis XIII had a man named Thomas Billon appointed as his Royal Anagrammatist with an annual salary of 1200 pounds. Among contemporary anagrammers, Anu Garg, created an Internet Anagram Server in 1994 together with the satirical anagram-based newspaper The Anagram Times. Mike Keith has anagrammed the complete text of Moby Dick. He, along with Richard Brodie, has published The Anagrammed Bible that includes anagrammed version of many books of the Bible. Popular television personality Dick Cavett is known for his anagrams of famous celebrities such as Alec Guinness and Spiro Agnew. Anagram animation An animated anagram displays the letters of a word or phrase moving into their new positions. See also Acronym Ambigram Anagrammatic poem Anagrams, a board game Ananym Blanagram Constrained writing Isogram Letter bank Lipogram List of geographic anagrams and ananyms List of taxa named by anagrams London Underground anagram map Palindrome Pangram Rebus Sator Square Spoonerism Tautonym Word play References Further reading Henry Benjamin Wheatley. Of Anagrams: A Monograph Treating of Their History from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time. Williams & Norgate, 1862. Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics. Greenwood Periodicals et al., 1968–. . Howard W. Bergerson. Palindromes and Anagrams. Dover Publications, 1973. . External links AnagramThis - An ad-free online anagram creator

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous waste, and it contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to fertilisers. Around 70% of ammonia produced industrially is used to make fertilisers in various forms and composition, such as urea and diammonium phosphate. Ammonia in pure form is also applied directly into the soil. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building block for the synthesis of many pharmaceutical products and is used in many commercial cleaning products. It is mainly collected by downward displacement of both air and water. Although common in nature—both terrestrially and in the outer planets of the Solar System—and in wide use, ammonia is both caustic and hazardous in its concentrated form. In many countries it is classified as an extremely hazardous substance, and is subject to strict reporting requirements by facilities that produce, store, or use it in significant quantities. The global industrial production of ammonia in 2021 was 235 million tonnes. Industrial ammonia is sold either as ammonia liquor (usually 28% ammonia in water) or as pressurised or refrigerated anhydrous liquid ammonia transported in tank cars or cylinders. For fundamental reasons, the production of ammonia from the elements hydrogen and nitrogen is difficult, requiring high pressures and high temperatures. The Haber process that enabled industrial production was invented at the beginning of the 20th century, revolutionizing agriculture. boils at at a pressure of one atmosphere, so the liquid must be stored under pressure or at low temperature. Household ammonia or ammonium hydroxide is a solution of in water. The concentration of such solutions is measured in units of the Baumé scale (density), with 26 degrees Baumé (about 30% of ammonia by weight at ) being the typical high-concentration commercial product. Etymology Pliny, in Book XXXI of his Natural History, refers to a salt named hammoniacum, so called because of its proximity to the nearby Temple of Jupiter Amun (Greek Ἄμμων Ammon) in the Roman province of Cyrenaica. However, the description Pliny gives of the salt does not conform to the properties of ammonium chloride. According to Herbert Hoover's commentary in his English translation of Georgius Agricola's De re metallica, it is likely to have been common sea salt. In any case, that salt ultimately gave ammonia and ammonium compounds their name. Natural occurrence Ammonia is a chemical found in trace quantities on Earth, being produced from nitrogenous animal and vegetable matter. Ammonia and ammonium salts are also found in small quantities in rainwater, whereas ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac), and ammonium sulfate are found in volcanic districts. Crystals of ammonium bicarbonate have been found in Patagonia guano. Ammonia is also found throughout the Solar System on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, among other places: on smaller, icy bodies such as Pluto, ammonia can act as a geologically important antifreeze, as a mixture of water and ammonia can have a melting point as low as if the ammonia concentration is high enough and thus allow such bodies to retain internal oceans and active geology at a far lower temperature than would be possible with water alone. Substances containing ammonia, or those that are similar to it, are called ammoniacal. Properties Ammonia is a colourless gas with a characteristically pungent smell. It is lighter than air, its density being 0.589 times that of air. It is easily liquefied due to the strong hydrogen bonding between molecules. Gaseous ammonia turns to a colourless liquid, which boils at , and freezes to colourless crystals at . Little data is available at very high temperatures and pressures, such as supercritical conditions. Solid The crystal symmetry is cubic, Pearson symbol cP16, space group P213 No.198, lattice constant 0.5125 nm. Liquid Liquid ammonia possesses strong ionising powers reflecting its high ε of 22. Liquid ammonia has a very high standard enthalpy change of vapourization (23.35 kJ/mol; for comparison, water's is 40.65 kJ/mol, methane 8.19 kJ/mol and phosphine 14.6 kJ/mol) and can therefore be used in laboratories in uninsulated vessels without additional refrigeration. See liquid ammonia as a solvent. Solvent properties Ammonia readily dissolves in water. In an aqueous solution, it can be expelled by boiling. The aqueous solution of ammonia is basic. The maximum concentration of ammonia in water (a saturated solution) has a density of 0.880 g/cm3 and is often known as '.880 ammonia'. Table of thermal and physical properties of saturated liquid ammonia: Table of thermal and physical properties of ammonia () at atmospheric pressure: Decomposition At high temperature and in the presence of a suitable catalyst or in a pressurised vessel with constant volume and high temperature (e.g. ), ammonia is decomposed into its constituent elements. Decomposition of ammonia is a slightly endothermic process requiring 23 kJ/mol (5.5 kcal/mol) of ammonia, and yields hydrogen and nitrogen gas. Ammonia can also be used as a source of hydrogen for acid fuel cells if the unreacted ammonia can be removed. Ruthenium and platinum catalysts were found to be the most active, whereas supported Ni catalysts were less active. Structure The ammonia molecule has a trigonal pyramidal shape as predicted by the valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR theory) with an experimentally determined bond angle of 106.7°. The central nitrogen atom has five outer electrons with an additional electron from each hydrogen atom. This gives a total of eight electrons, or four electron pairs that are arranged tetrahedrally. Three of these electron pairs are used as bond pairs, which leaves one lone pair of electrons. The lone pair repels more strongly than bond pairs; therefore, the bond angle is not 109.5°, as expected for a regular tetrahedral arrangement, but 106.8°. This shape gives the molecule a dipole moment and makes it polar. The molecule's polarity, and especially its ability to form hydrogen bonds, makes ammonia highly miscible with water. The lone pair makes ammonia a base, a proton acceptor. Ammonia is moderately basic; a 1.0 M aqueous solution has a pH of 11.6, and if a strong acid is added to such a solution until the solution is neutral (), 99.4% of the ammonia molecules are protonated. Temperature and salinity also affect the proportion of ammonium . The latter has the shape of a regular tetrahedron and is isoelectronic with methane. The ammonia molecule readily undergoes nitrogen inversion at room temperature; a useful analogy is an umbrella turning itself inside out in a strong wind. The energy barrier to this inversion is 24.7 kJ/mol, and the resonance frequency is 23.79 GHz, corresponding to microwave radiation of a wavelength of 1.260 cm. The absorption at this frequency was the first microwave spectrum to be observed and was used in the first maser. Amphotericity One of the most characteristic properties of ammonia is its basicity. Ammonia is considered to be a weak base. It combines with acids to form ammonium salts; thus, with hydrochloric acid it forms ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac); with nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, etc. Perfectly dry ammonia gas will not combine with perfectly dry hydrogen chloride gas; moisture is necessary to bring about the reaction. As a demonstration experiment under air with ambient moisture, opened bottles of concentrated ammonia and hydrochloric acid solutions produce a cloud of ammonium chloride, which seems to appear 'out of nothing' as the salt aerosol forms where the two diffusing clouds of reagents meet between the two bottles. The salts produced by the action of ammonia on acids are known as the ammonium salts and all contain the ammonium ion (). Although ammonia is well known as a weak base, it can also act as an extremely weak acid. It is a protic substance and is capable of formation of amides (which contain the ion). For example, lithium dissolves in liquid ammonia to give a blue solution (solvated electron) of lithium amide: Self-dissociation Like water, liquid ammonia undergoes molecular autoionisation to form its acid and base conjugates: Ammonia often functions as a weak base, so it has some buffering ability. Shifts in pH will cause more or fewer ammonium cations () and amide anions () to be present in solution. At standard pressure and temperature, K = = 10−30. Combustion Ammonia does not burn readily or sustain combustion, except under narrow fuel-to-air mixtures of 15–25% air by volume. When mixed with oxygen, it burns with a pale yellowish-green flame. Ignition occurs when chlorine is passed into ammonia, forming nitrogen and hydrogen chloride; if chlorine is present in excess, then the highly explosive nitrogen trichloride () is also formed. The combustion of ammonia to form nitrogen and water is exothermic: , ΔH°r = −1267.20 kJ (or −316.8 kJ/mol if expressed per mol of ) The standard enthalpy change of combustion, ΔH°c, expressed per mole of ammonia and with condensation of the water formed, is −382.81 kJ/mol. Dinitrogen is the thermodynamic product of combustion: all nitrogen oxides are unstable with respect to and , which is the principle behind the catalytic converter. Nitrogen oxides can be formed as kinetic products in the presence of appropriate catalysts, a reaction of great industrial importance in the production of nitric acid: A subsequent reaction leads to : The combustion of ammonia in air is very difficult in the absence of a catalyst (such as platinum gauze or warm chromium(III) oxide), due to the relatively low heat of combustion, a lower laminar burning velocity, high auto-ignition temperature, high heat of vapourization, and a narrow flammability range. However, recent studies have shown that efficient and stable combustion of ammonia can be achieved using swirl combustors, thereby rekindling research interest in ammonia as a fuel for thermal power production. The flammable range of ammonia in dry air is 15.15–27.35% and in 100% relative humidity air is 15.95–26.55%. For studying the kinetics of ammonia combustion, knowledge of a detailed reliable reaction mechanism is required, but this has been challenging to obtain. Formation of other compounds Ammonia is a direct or indirect precursor to most manufactured nitrogen-containing compounds. In organic chemistry, ammonia can act as a nucleophile in substitution reactions. Amines can be formed by the reaction of ammonia with alkyl halides or with alcohols. The resulting − group is also nucleophilic so secondary and tertiary amines are often formed. When such multiple substitution is not desired, an excess of ammonia helps minimise it. For example, methylamine is prepared by the reaction of ammonia with chloromethane or with methanol. In both cases, dimethylamine and trimethylamine are co-produced. Ethanolamine is prepared by a ring-opening reaction with ethylene oxide, and when the reaction is allowed to go further it produces diethanolamine and triethanolamine. The reaction of ammonia with 2-bromopropanoic acid has been used to prepare racemic alanine in 70% yield. Amides can be prepared by the reaction of ammonia with carboxylic acid derivatives. For example, ammonia reacts with formic acid (HCOOH) to yield formamide () when heated. Acyl chlorides are the most reactive, but the ammonia must be present in at least a twofold excess to neutralise the hydrogen chloride formed. Esters and anhydrides also react with ammonia to form amides. Ammonium salts of carboxylic acids can be dehydrated to amides by heating to 150–200 °C as long as no thermally sensitive groups are present. The hydrogen in ammonia is susceptible to replacement by a myriad of substituents. When dry ammonia gas is heated with metallic sodium it converts to sodamide, . With chlorine, monochloramine is formed. Pentavalent ammonia is known as λ5-amine, nitrogen pentahydride, or more commonly, ammonium hydride . This crystalline solid is only stable under high pressure and decomposes back into trivalent ammonia (λ3-amine) and hydrogen gas at normal conditions. This substance was once investigated as a possible solid rocket fuel in 1966. Ammonia as a ligand Ammonia can act as a ligand in transition metal complexes. It is a pure σ-donor, in the middle of the spectrochemical series, and shows intermediate hard–soft behaviour (see also ECW model). Its relative donor strength toward a series of acids, versus other Lewis bases, can be illustrated by C-B plots. For historical reasons, ammonia is named ammine in the nomenclature of coordination compounds. Some notable ammine complexes include tetraamminediaquacopper(II) (), a dark blue complex formed by adding ammonia to a solution of copper(II) salts. Tetraamminediaquacopper(II) hydroxide is known as Schweizer's reagent, and has the remarkable ability to dissolve cellulose. Diamminesilver(I) () is the active species in Tollens' reagent. Formation of this complex can also help to distinguish between precipitates of the different silver halides: silver chloride (AgCl) is soluble in dilute (2 M) ammonia solution, silver bromide (AgBr) is only soluble in concentrated ammonia solution, whereas silver iodide (AgI) is insoluble in aqueous ammonia. Ammine complexes of chromium(III) were known in the late 19th century, and formed the basis of Alfred Werner's revolutionary theory on the structure of coordination compounds. Werner noted only two isomers (fac- and mer-) of the complex could be formed, and concluded the ligands must be arranged around the metal ion at the vertices of an octahedron. This proposal has since been confirmed by X-ray crystallography. An ammine ligand bound to a metal ion is markedly more acidic than a free ammonia molecule, although deprotonation in aqueous solution is still rare. One example is the reaction of mercury(II) chloride with ammonia (Calomel reaction) where the resulting mercuric amidochloride is highly insoluble. Ammonia forms 1:1 adducts with a variety of Lewis acids such as , phenol, and . Ammonia is a hard base (HSAB theory) and its E & C parameters are EB = 2.31 and CB = 2.04. Its relative donor strength toward a series of acids, versus other Lewis bases, can be illustrated by C-B plots. Detection and determination Ammonia in solution Ammonia and ammonium salts can be readily detected, in very minute traces, by the addition of Nessler's solution, which gives a distinct yellow colouration in the presence of the slightest trace of ammonia or ammonium salts. The amount of ammonia in ammonium salts can be estimated quantitatively by distillation of the salts with sodium (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH), the ammonia evolved being absorbed in a known volume of standard sulfuric acid and the excess of acid then determined volumetrically; or the ammonia may be absorbed in hydrochloric acid and the ammonium chloride so formed precipitated as ammonium hexachloroplatinate, . Gaseous ammonia Sulfur sticks are burnt to detect small leaks in industrial ammonia refrigeration systems. Larger quantities can be detected by warming the salts with a caustic alkali or with quicklime, when the characteristic smell of ammonia will be at once apparent. Ammonia is an irritant and irritation increases with concentration; the permissible exposure limit is 25 ppm, and lethal above 500 ppm. Higher concentrations are hardly detected by conventional detectors, the type of detector is chosen according to the sensitivity required (e.g. semiconductor, catalytic, electrochemical). Holographic sensors have been proposed for detecting concentrations up to 12.5% in volume. Ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3–N) Ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3–N) is a measure commonly used for testing the quantity of ammonium ions, derived naturally from ammonia, and returned to ammonia via organic processes, in water or waste liquids. It is a measure used mainly for quantifying values in waste treatment and water purification systems, as well as a measure of the health of natural and man-made water reserves. It is measured in units of mg/L (milligram per litre). History The ancient Greek historian Herodotus mentioned that there were outcrops of salt in an area of Libya that was inhabited by a people called the 'Ammonians' (now the Siwa oasis in northwestern Egypt, where salt lakes still exist). The Greek geographer Strabo also mentioned the salt from this region. However, the ancient authors Dioscorides, Apicius, Arrian, Synesius, and Aëtius of Amida described this salt as forming clear crystals that could be used for cooking and that were essentially rock salt. Hammoniacus sal appears in the writings of Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride). The fermentation of urine by bacteria produces a solution of ammonia; hence fermented urine was used in Classical Antiquity to wash cloth and clothing, to remove hair from hides in preparation for tanning, to serve as a mordant in dying cloth, and to remove rust from iron. It was also used by ancient dentists to wash teeth. In the form of sal ammoniac (نشادر, nushadir), ammonia was important to the Muslim alchemists. It was mentioned in the Book of Stones, likely written in the 9th century and attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān. It was also important to the European alchemists of the 13th century, being mentioned by Albertus Magnus. It was also used by dyers in the Middle Ages in the form of fermented urine to alter the colour of vegetable dyes. In the 15th century, Basilius Valentinus showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalis on sal ammoniac. At a later period, when sal ammoniac was obtained by distilling the hooves and horns of oxen and neutralizing the resulting carbonate with hydrochloric acid, the name 'spirit of hartshorn' was applied to ammonia. Gaseous ammonia was first isolated by Joseph Black in 1756 by reacting sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) with calcined magnesia (magnesium oxide). It was isolated again by Peter Woulfe in 1767, by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1770 and by Joseph Priestley in 1773 and was termed by him 'alkaline air'. Eleven years later in 1785, Claude Louis Berthollet ascertained its composition. The Haber–Bosch process to produce ammonia from the nitrogen in the air was developed by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in 1909 and patented in 1910. It was first used on an industrial scale in Germany during World War I, following the allied blockade that cut off the supply of nitrates from Chile. The ammonia was used to produce explosives to sustain war efforts. Before the availability of natural gas, hydrogen as a precursor to ammonia production was produced via the electrolysis of water or using the chloralkali process. With the advent of the steel industry in the 20th century, ammonia became a byproduct of the production of coking coal. Applications Solvent Liquid ammonia is the best-known and most widely studied nonaqueous ionising solvent. Its most conspicuous property is its ability to dissolve alkali metals to form highly coloured, electrically conductive solutions containing solvated electrons. Apart from these remarkable solutions, much of the chemistry in liquid ammonia can be classified by analogy with related reactions in aqueous solutions. Comparison of the physical properties of with those of water shows has the lower melting point, boiling point, density, viscosity, dielectric constant and electrical conductivity; this is due at least in part to the weaker hydrogen bonding in and because such bonding cannot form cross-linked networks, since each molecule has only one lone pair of electrons compared with two for each molecule. The ionic self-dissociation constant of liquid at −50 °C is about 10−33. Solubility of salts Liquid ammonia is an ionising solvent, although less so than water, and dissolves a range of ionic compounds, including many nitrates, nitrites, cyanides, thiocyanates, metal cyclopentadienyl complexes and metal bis(trimethylsilyl)amides. Most ammonium salts are soluble and act as acids in liquid ammonia solutions. The solubility of halide salts increases from fluoride to iodide. A saturated solution of ammonium nitrate (Divers' solution, named after Edward Divers) contains 0.83 mol solute per mole of ammonia and has a vapour pressure of less than 1 bar even at . Solutions of metals Liquid ammonia will dissolve all of the alkali metals and other electropositive metals such as Ca, Sr, Ba, Eu and Yb (also Mg using an electrolytic process). At low concentrations (<0.06 mol/L), deep blue solutions are formed: these contain metal cations and solvated electrons, free electrons that are surrounded by a cage of ammonia molecules. These solutions are very useful as strong reducing agents. At higher concentrations, the solutions are metallic in appearance and in electrical conductivity. At low temperatures, the two types of solution can coexist as immiscible phases. Redox properties of liquid ammonia The range of thermodynamic stability of liquid ammonia solutions is very narrow, as the potential for oxidation to dinitrogen, E° (), is only +0.04 V. In practice, both oxidation to dinitrogen and reduction to dihydrogen are slow. This is particularly true of reducing solutions: the solutions of the alkali metals mentioned above are stable for several days, slowly decomposing to the metal amide and dihydrogen. Most studies involving liquid ammonia solutions are done in reducing conditions; although oxidation of liquid ammonia is usually slow, there is still a risk of explosion, particularly if transition metal ions are present as possible catalysts. Fertiliser In the US , approximately 88% of ammonia was used as fertilisers either as its salts, solutions or anhydrously. When applied to soil, it helps provide increased yields of crops such as maize and wheat. 30% of agricultural nitrogen applied in the US is in the form of anhydrous ammonia, and worldwide, 110 million tonnes are applied each year. Precursor to nitrogenous compounds Ammonia is directly or indirectly the precursor to most nitrogen-containing compounds. Virtually all synthetic nitrogen compounds are derived from ammonia. An important derivative is nitric acid. This key material is generated via the Ostwald process by oxidation of ammonia with air over a platinum catalyst at , ≈9 atm. Nitric oxide is an intermediate in this conversion: Nitric acid is used for the production of fertilisers, explosives and many organonitrogen compounds. Ammonia is also used to make the following compounds: Hydrazine, in the Olin Raschig process and the peroxide process Hydrogen cyanide, in the BMA process and the Andrussow process Hydroxylamine and ammonium carbonate, in the Raschig process Phenol, in the Raschig–Hooker process Urea, in the Bosch–Meiser urea process and in Wöhler synthesis Amino acids, using Strecker amino-acid synthesis Acrylonitrile, in the Sohio process Ammonia can also be used to make compounds in reactions that are not specifically named. Examples of such compounds include ammonium perchlorate, ammonium nitrate, formamide, dinitrogen tetroxide, alprazolam, ethanolamine, ethyl carbamate, hexamethylenetetramine and ammonium bicarbonate. Cleansing agent Household 'ammonia' is a solution of in water, and is used as a general purpose cleaner for many surfaces. Because ammonia results in a relatively streak-free shine, one of its most common uses is to clean glass, porcelain, and stainless steel. It is also frequently used for cleaning ovens and for soaking items to loosen baked-on grime. Household ammonia ranges in concentration by weight from 5% to 10% ammonia. US manufacturers of cleaning products are required to provide the product's material safety data sheet that lists the concentration used. Solutions of ammonia (5–10% by weight) are used as household cleaners, particularly for glass. These solutions are irritating to the eyes and mucous membranes (respiratory and digestive tracts), and to a lesser extent the skin. Experts advise that caution be used to ensure the chemical is not mixed into any liquid containing bleach, due to the danger of forming toxic chloramine gas. Mixing with chlorine-containing products or strong oxidants, such as household bleach, can generate toxic chloramine fumes. Experts also warn not to use ammonia-based cleaners (such as glass or window cleaners) on car touchscreens, due to the risk of damage to the screen's anti-glare and anti-fingerprint coatings. Fermentation Solutions of ammonia ranging from 16% to 25% are used in the fermentation industry as a source of nitrogen for microorganisms and to adjust pH during fermentation. Antimicrobial agent for food products As early as in 1895, it was known that ammonia was 'strongly antiseptic ... it requires 1.4 grams per litre to preserve beef tea (broth).' In one study, anhydrous ammonia destroyed 99.999% of zoonotic bacteria in three types of animal feed, but not silage. Anhydrous ammonia is currently used commercially to reduce or eliminate microbial contamination of beef. Lean finely textured beef (popularly known as 'pink slime') in the beef industry is made from fatty beef trimmings (c. 50–70% fat) by removing the fat using heat and centrifugation, then treating it with ammonia to kill E. coli. The process was deemed effective and safe by the US Department of Agriculture based on a study that found that the treatment reduces E. coli to undetectable levels. There have been safety concerns about the process as well as consumer complaints about the taste and smell of ammonia-treated beef. Fuel Ammonia has been used as fuel, and is a proposed alternative to fossil fuels and hydrogen in the future. Compared to hydrogen, ammonia is easier to store. Compared to hydrogen as a fuel, ammonia is much more energy efficient, and could be produced, stored and delivered at a much lower cost than hydrogen, which must be kept compressed or as a cryogenic liquid. The raw energy density of liquid ammonia is 11.5 MJ/L, which is about a third that of diesel. Ammonia can be converted back to hydrogen to be used to power hydrogen fuel cells, or it may be used directly within high-temperature solid oxide direct ammonia fuel cells to provide efficient power sources that do not emit greenhouse gases. Ammonia to hydrogen conversion can be achieved through the sodium amide process or the catalytic decomposition of ammonia using solid catalysts. Ammonia engines or ammonia motors, using ammonia as a working fluid, have been proposed and occasionally used. The principle is similar to that used in a fireless locomotive, but with ammonia as the working fluid, instead of steam or compressed air. Ammonia engines were used experimentally in the 19th century by Goldsworthy Gurney in the UK and the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line in New Orleans in the 1870s and 1880s, and during World War II ammonia was used to power buses in Belgium. Ammonia is sometimes proposed as a practical alternative to fossil fuel for internal combustion engines. However, ammonia cannot be easily used in existing Otto cycle engines because of its very narrow flammability range. Despite this, several tests have been run. Its high octane rating of 120 and low flame temperature allows the use of high compression ratios without a penalty of high production. Since ammonia contains no carbon, its combustion cannot produce carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, or soot. Ammonia production currently creates 1.8% of global emissions. 'Green ammonia' is ammonia produced by using green hydrogen (hydrogen produced by electrolysis), whereas 'blue ammonia' is ammonia produced using blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming where the carbon dioxide has been captured and stored). Rocket engines have also been fueled by ammonia. The Reaction Motors XLR99 rocket engine that powered the hypersonic research aircraft used liquid ammonia. Although not as powerful as other fuels, it left no soot in the reusable rocket engine, and its density approximately matches the density of the oxidiser, liquid oxygen, which simplified the aircraft's design. In early August 2018, scientists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced the success of developing a process to release hydrogen from ammonia and harvest that at ultra-high purity as a fuel for cars. This uses a special membrane. Two demonstration fuel cell vehicles have the technology, a Hyundai Nexo and Toyota Mirai. In 2020, Saudi Arabia shipped 40 metric tons of liquid 'blue ammonia' to Japan for use as a fuel. It was produced as a by-product by petrochemical industries, and can be burned without giving off greenhouse gases. Its energy density by volume is nearly double that of liquid hydrogen. If the process of creating it can be scaled up via purely renewable resources, producing green ammonia, it could make a major difference in avoiding climate change. The company ACWA Power and the city of Neom have announced the construction of a green hydrogen and ammonia plant in 2020. Green ammonia is considered as a potential fuel for future container ships. In 2020, the companies DSME and MAN Energy Solutions announced the construction of an ammonia-based ship, DSME plans to commercialize it by 2025. The use of ammonia as a potential alternative fuel for aircraft jet engines is also being explored. Japan intends to implement a plan to develop ammonia co-firing technology that can increase the use of ammonia in power generation, as part of efforts to assist domestic and other Asian utilities to accelerate their transition to carbon neutrality. In October 2021, the first International Conference on Fuel Ammonia (ICFA2021) was held. In June 2022, IHI Corporation succeeded in reducing greenhouse gases by over 99% during combustion of liquid ammonia in a 2,000-kilowatt-class gas turbine achieving truly -free power generation. In July 2022, Quad nations of Japan, the U.S., Australia and India agreed to promote technological development for clean-burning hydrogen and ammonia as fuels at the security grouping's first energy meeting. , however, significant amounts of are produced. Nitrous oxide may also be a problem. Other Remediation of gaseous emissions Ammonia is used to scrub from the burning of fossil fuels, and the resulting product is converted to ammonium sulfate for use as fertiliser. Ammonia neutralises the nitrogen oxide () pollutants emitted by diesel engines. This technology, called SCR (selective catalytic reduction), relies on a vanadia-based catalyst. Ammonia may be used to mitigate gaseous spills of phosgene. As a hydrogen carrier Due to its attributes, being liquid at ambient temperature under its own vapour pressure and having high volumetric and gravimetric energy density, ammonia is considered a suitable carrier for hydrogen, and may be cheaper than direct transport of liquid hydrogen. Refrigeration – R717 Because of ammonia's vapourization properties, it is a useful refrigerant. It was commonly used before the popularisation of chlorofluorocarbons (Freons). Anhydrous ammonia is widely used in industrial refrigeration applications and hockey rinks because of its high energy efficiency and low cost. It suffers from the disadvantage of toxicity, and requiring corrosion resistant components, which restricts its domestic and small-scale use. Along with its use in modern vapour-compression refrigeration it is used in a mixture along with hydrogen and water in absorption refrigerators. The Kalina cycle, which is of growing importance to geothermal power plants, depends on the wide boiling range of the ammonia–water mixture. Ammonia coolant is also used in the S1 radiator aboard the International Space Station in two loops that are used to regulate the internal temperature and enable temperature-dependent experiments. The potential importance of ammonia as a refrigerant has increased with the discovery that vented CFCs and HFCs are extremely potent and stable greenhouse gases. Stimulant Ammonia, as the vapour released by smelling salts, has found significant use as a respiratory stimulant. Ammonia is commonly used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine through a Birch reduction. The Birch method of making methamphetamine is dangerous because the alkali metal and liquid ammonia are both extremely reactive, and the temperature of liquid ammonia makes it susceptible to explosive boiling when reactants are added. Textile Liquid ammonia is used for treatment of cotton materials, giving properties like mercerisation, using alkalis. In particular, it is used for prewashing of wool. Lifting gas At standard temperature and pressure, ammonia is less dense than atmosphere and has approximately 45–48% of the lifting power of hydrogen or helium. Ammonia has sometimes been used to fill balloons as a lifting gas. Because of its relatively high boiling point (compared to helium and hydrogen), ammonia could potentially be refrigerated and liquefied aboard an airship to reduce lift and add ballast (and returned to a gas to add lift and reduce ballast). Fuming Ammonia has been used to darken quartersawn white oak in Arts & Crafts and Mission-style furniture. Ammonia fumes react with the natural tannins in the wood and cause it to change colour. Safety The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a 15-minute exposure limit for gaseous ammonia of 35 ppm by volume in the environmental air and an 8-hour exposure limit of 25 ppm by volume. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently reduced the IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health, the level to which a healthy worker can be exposed for 30 minutes without suffering irreversible health effects) from 500 to 300 based on recent more conservative interpretations of original research in 1943. Other organisations have varying exposure levels. US Navy Standards [U.S. Bureau of Ships 1962] maximum allowable concentrations (MACs): for continuous exposure (60 days) is 25 ppm; for exposure of 1 hour is 400 ppm. Ammonia vapour has a sharp, irritating, pungent odor that acts as a warning of potentially dangerous exposure. The average odor threshold is 5 ppm, well below any danger or damage. Exposure to very high concentrations of gaseous ammonia can result in lung damage and death. Ammonia is regulated in the US as a non-flammable gas, but it meets the definition of a material that is toxic by inhalation and requires a hazardous safety permit when transported in quantities greater than . Liquid ammonia is dangerous because it is hygroscopic and because it can cause caustic burns. See for more information. Toxicity The toxicity of ammonia solutions does not usually cause problems for humans and other mammals, as a specific mechanism exists to prevent its build-up in the bloodstream. Ammonia is converted to carbamoyl phosphate by the enzyme carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, and then enters the urea cycle to be either incorporated into amino acids or excreted in the urine. Fish and amphibians lack this mechanism, as they can usually eliminate ammonia from their bodies by direct excretion. Ammonia even at dilute concentrations is highly toxic to aquatic animals, and for this reason it is classified as dangerous for the environment. Atmospheric ammonia plays a key role in the formation of fine particulate matter. Ammonia is a constituent of tobacco smoke. Coking wastewater Ammonia is present in coking wastewater streams, as a liquid by-product of the production of coke from coal. In some cases, the ammonia is discharged to the marine environment where it acts as a pollutant. The Whyalla steelworks in South Australia is one example of a coke-producing facility that discharges ammonia into marine waters. Aquaculture Ammonia toxicity is believed to be a cause of otherwise unexplained losses in fish hatcheries. Excess ammonia may accumulate and cause alteration of metabolism or increases in the body pH of the exposed organism. Tolerance varies among fish species. At lower concentrations, around 0.05 mg/L, un-ionised ammonia is harmful to fish species and can result in poor growth and feed conversion rates, reduced fecundity and fertility and increase stress and susceptibility to bacterial infections and diseases. Exposed to excess ammonia, fish may suffer loss of equilibrium, hyper-excitability, increased respiratory activity and oxygen uptake and increased heart rate. At concentrations exceeding 2.0 mg/L, ammonia causes gill and tissue damage, extreme lethargy, convulsions, coma, and death. Experiments have shown that the lethal concentration for a variety of fish species ranges from 0.2 to 2.0 mg/L. During winter, when reduced feeds are administered to aquaculture stock, ammonia levels can be higher. Lower ambient temperatures reduce the rate of algal photosynthesis so less ammonia is removed by any algae present. Within an aquaculture environment, especially at large scale, there is no fast-acting remedy to elevated ammonia levels. Prevention rather than correction is recommended to reduce harm to farmed fish and in open water systems, the surrounding environment. Storage information Similar to propane, anhydrous ammonia boils below room temperature when at atmospheric pressure. A storage vessel capable of is suitable to contain the liquid. Ammonia is used in numerous different industrial applications requiring carbon or stainless steel storage vessels. Ammonia with at least 0.2% by weight water content is not corrosive to carbon steel. carbon steel construction storage tanks with 0.2% by weight or more of water could last more than 50 years in service. Experts warn that ammonium compounds not be allowed to come in contact with bases (unless in an intended and contained reaction), as dangerous quantities of ammonia gas could be released. Laboratory The hazards of ammonia solutions depend on the concentration: 'dilute' ammonia solutions are usually 5–10% by weight (< 5.62 mol/L); 'concentrated' solutions are usually prepared at >25% by weight. A 25% (by weight) solution has a density of 0.907 g/cm3, and a solution that has a lower density will be more concentrated. The European Union classification of ammonia solutions is given in the table. The ammonia vapour from concentrated ammonia solutions is severely irritating to the eyes and the respiratory tract, and experts warn that these solutions only be handled in a fume hood. Saturated ('0.880' – see ) solutions can develop a significant pressure inside a closed bottle in warm weather, and experts also warn that the bottle be opened with care. This is not usually a problem for 25% ('0.900') solutions. Experts warn that ammonia solutions not be mixed with halogens, as toxic and/or explosive products are formed. Experts also warn that prolonged contact of ammonia solutions with silver, mercury or iodide salts can also lead to explosive products: such mixtures are often formed in qualitative inorganic analysis, and that it needs to be lightly acidified but not concentrated (<6% w/v) before disposal once the test is completed. Laboratory use of anhydrous ammonia (gas or liquid) Anhydrous ammonia is classified as toxic (T) and dangerous for the environment (N). The gas is flammable (autoignition temperature: 651 °C) and can form explosive mixtures with air (16–25%). The permissible exposure limit (PEL) in the United States is 50 ppm (35 mg/m3), while the IDLH concentration is estimated at 300 ppm. Repeated exposure to ammonia lowers the sensitivity to the smell of the gas: normally the odour is detectable at concentrations of less than 50 ppm, but desensitised individuals may not detect it even at concentrations of 100 ppm. Anhydrous ammonia corrodes copper- and zinc-containing alloys, which makes brass fittings not appropriate for handling the gas. Liquid ammonia can also attack rubber and certain plastics. Ammonia reacts violently with the halogens. Nitrogen triiodide, a primary high explosive, is formed when ammonia comes in contact with iodine. Ammonia causes the explosive polymerisation of ethylene oxide. It also forms explosive fulminating compounds with compounds of gold, silver, mercury, germanium or tellurium, and with stibine. Violent reactions have also been reported with acetaldehyde, hypochlorite solutions, potassium ferricyanide and peroxides. Production Ammonia has one of the highest rates of production of any inorganic chemical. Production is sometimes expressed in terms of 'fixed nitrogen'. Global production was estimated as being 160 million tonnes in 2020 (147 tons of fixed nitrogen). China accounted for 26.5% of that, followed by Russia at 11.0%, the United States at 9.5%, and India at 8.3%. Before the start of World War I, most ammonia was obtained by the dry distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal waste products, including camel dung, where it was distilled by the reduction of nitrous acid and nitrites with hydrogen; in addition, it was produced by the distillation of coal, and also by the decomposition of ammonium salts by alkaline hydroxides such as quicklime: For small scale laboratory synthesis, one can heat urea and calcium hydroxide: Haber–Bosch Electrochemical Ammonia can be synthesized electrochemically. The only required inputs are sources of nitrogen (potentially atmospheric) and hydrogen (water), allowing generation at the point of use. The availability of renewable energy creates the possibility of zero emission production. 'Green Ammonia' is a name for ammonia produced from hydrogen that is in turn produced from carbon-free sources such as electrolysis of water. Ammonia from this source can be used as a liquid fuel with zero contribution to global climate change. Another electrochemical synthesis mode involves the reductive formation of lithium nitride, which can be protonated to ammonia, given a proton source. Ethanol has been used as such a source, although it may degrade. The first use of this chemistry was reported in 1930, where lithium solutions in ethanol were used to produce ammonia at pressures of up to 1000 bar. In 1994, Tsuneto et al. used lithium electrodeposition in tetrahydrofuran to synthesize ammonia at more moderate pressures with reasonable Faradaic efficiency. Other studies have since used the ethanol–tetrahydrofuran system for electrochemical ammonia synthesis. In 2019, Lazouski et al. proposed a mechanism to explain observed ammonia formation kinetics. In 2020, Lazouski et al. developed a solvent-agnostic gas diffusion electrode to improve nitrogen transport to the reactive lithium. The study observed production rates of up to 30 ± 5 nmol/s/cm2 and Faradaic efficiencies of up to 47.5 ± 4% at ambient temperature and 1 bar pressure. In 2021, Suryanto et al. replaced ethanol with a tetraalkyl phosphonium salt. This cation can stably undergo deprotonation–reprotonation cycles, while it enhances the medium's ionic conductivity. The study observed production rates of 53 ± 1 nmol/s/cm2 at 69 ± 1% faradaic efficiency experiments under 0.5-bar hydrogen and 19.5-bar nitrogen partial pressure at ambient temperature. Role in biological systems and human disease Ammonia is both a metabolic waste and a metabolic input throughout the biosphere. It is an important source of nitrogen for living systems. Although atmospheric nitrogen abounds (more than 75%), few living creatures are capable of using atmospheric nitrogen in its diatomic form, gas. Therefore, nitrogen fixation is required for the synthesis of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. Some plants rely on ammonia and other nitrogenous wastes incorporated into the soil by decaying matter. Others, such as nitrogen-fixing legumes, benefit from symbiotic relationships with rhizobia bacteria that create ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen. In humans, inhaling ammonia in high concentrations can be fatal. Exposure to ammonia can cause headaches, edema, impaired memory, seizures and coma as it is neurotoxic in nature. Biosynthesis In certain organisms, ammonia is produced from atmospheric nitrogen by enzymes called nitrogenases. The overall process is called nitrogen fixation. Intense effort has been directed toward understanding the mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation. The scientific interest in this problem is motivated by the unusual structure of the active site of the enzyme, which consists of an ensemble. Ammonia is also a metabolic product of amino acid deamination catalyzed by enzymes such as glutamate dehydrogenase 1. Ammonia excretion is common in aquatic animals. In humans, it is quickly converted to urea (by liver), which is much less toxic, particularly less basic. This urea is a major component of the dry weight of urine. Most reptiles, birds, insects, and snails excrete uric acid solely as nitrogenous waste. Physiology Ammonia plays a role in both normal and abnormal animal physiology. It is biosynthesised through normal amino acid metabolism and is toxic in high concentrations. The liver converts ammonia to urea through a series of reactions known as the urea cycle. Liver dysfunction, such as that seen in cirrhosis, may lead to elevated amounts of ammonia in the blood (hyperammonemia). Likewise, defects in the enzymes responsible for the urea cycle, such as ornithine transcarbamylase, lead to hyperammonemia. Hyperammonemia contributes to the confusion and coma of hepatic encephalopathy, as well as the neurologic disease common in people with urea cycle defects and organic acidurias. Ammonia is important for normal animal acid/base balance. After formation of ammonium from glutamine, α-ketoglutarate may be degraded to produce two bicarbonate ions, which are then available as buffers for dietary acids. Ammonium is excreted in the urine, resulting in net acid loss. Ammonia may itself diffuse across the renal tubules, combine with a hydrogen ion, and thus allow for further acid excretion. Excretion Ammonium ions are a toxic waste product of metabolism in animals. In fish and aquatic invertebrates, it is excreted directly into the water. In mammals, sharks, and amphibians, it is converted in the urea cycle to urea, which is less toxic and can be stored more efficiently. In birds, reptiles, and terrestrial snails, metabolic ammonium is converted into uric acid, which is solid and can therefore be excreted with minimal water loss. Beyond Earth Ammonia has been detected in the atmospheres of the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, along with other gases such as methane, hydrogen, and helium. The interior of Saturn may include frozen ammonia crystals. It is found on Deimos and Phobos – the two moons of Mars. Interstellar space Ammonia was first detected in interstellar space in 1968, based on microwave emissions from the direction of the galactic core. This was the first polyatomic molecule to be so detected. The sensitivity of the molecule to a broad range of excitations and the ease with which it can be observed in a number of regions has made ammonia one of the most important molecules for studies of molecular clouds. The relative intensity of the ammonia lines can be used to measure the temperature of the emitting medium. The following isotopic species of ammonia have been detected: , , , , and . The detection of triply deuterated ammonia was considered a surprise as deuterium is relatively scarce. It is thought that the low-temperature conditions allow this molecule to survive and accumulate. Since its interstellar discovery, has proved to be an invaluable spectroscopic tool in the study of the interstellar medium. With a large number of transitions sensitive to a wide range of excitation conditions, has been widely astronomically detected – its detection has been reported in hundreds of journal articles. Listed below is a sample of journal articles that highlights the range of detectors that have been used to identify ammonia. The study of interstellar ammonia has been important to a number of areas of research in the last few decades. Some of these are delineated below and primarily involve using ammonia as an interstellar thermometer. Interstellar formation mechanisms The interstellar abundance for ammonia has been measured for a variety of environments. The []/[] ratio has been estimated to range from 10−7 in small dark clouds up to 10−5 in the dense core of the Orion molecular cloud complex. Although a total of 18 total production routes have been proposed, the principal formation mechanism for interstellar is the reaction: The rate constant, k, of this reaction depends on the temperature of the environment, with a value of at 10 K. The rate constant was calculated from the formula . For the primary formation reaction, and . Assuming an abundance of and an electron abundance of 10−7 typical of molecular clouds, the formation will proceed at a rate of in a molecular cloud of total density . All other proposed formation reactions have rate constants of between two and 13 orders of magnitude smaller, making their contribution to the abundance of ammonia relatively insignificant. As an example of the minor contribution other formation reactions play, the reaction: has a rate constant of 2.2. Assuming densities of 105 and []/[] ratio of 10−7, this reaction proceeds at a rate of 2.2, more than three orders of magnitude slower than the primary reaction above. Some of the other possible formation reactions are: Interstellar destruction mechanisms There are 113 total proposed reactions leading to the destruction of . Of these, 39 were tabulated in extensive tables of the chemistry among C, N and O compounds. A review of interstellar ammonia cites the following reactions as the principal dissociation mechanisms: with rate constants of 4.39×10−9 and 2.2×10−9, respectively. The above equations (, ) run at a rate of 8.8×10−9 and 4.4×10−13, respectively. These calculations assumed the given rate constants and abundances of []/[] = 10−5, []/[] = 2×10−5, []/[] = 2×10−9, and total densities of n = 105, typical of cold, dense, molecular clouds. Clearly, between these two primary reactions, equation () is the dominant destruction reaction, with a rate ≈10,000 times faster than equation (). This is due to the relatively high abundance of . Single antenna detections Radio observations of from the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope reveal that the ammonia line is separated into two components – a background ridge and an unresolved core. The background corresponds well with the locations previously detected CO. The 25 m Chilbolton telescope in England detected radio signatures of ammonia in H II regions, HNH2O masers, H–H objects, and other objects associated with star formation. A comparison of emission line widths indicates that turbulent or systematic velocities do not increase in the central cores of molecular clouds. Microwave radiation from ammonia was observed in several galactic objects including W3(OH), Orion A, W43, W51, and five sources in the galactic centre. The high detection rate indicates that this is a common molecule in the interstellar medium and that high-density regions are common in the galaxy. Interferometric studies VLA observations of in seven regions with high-velocity gaseous outflows revealed condensations of less than 0.1 pc in L1551, S140, and Cepheus A. Three individual condensations were detected in Cepheus A, one of them with a highly elongated shape. They may play an important role in creating the bipolar outflow in the region. Extragalactic ammonia was imaged using the VLA in IC 342. The hot gas has temperatures above 70 K, which was inferred from ammonia line ratios and appears to be closely associated with the innermost portions of the nuclear bar seen in CO. was also monitored by VLA toward a sample of four galactic ultracompact HII regions: G9.62+0.19, G10.47+0.03, G29.96-0.02, and G31.41+0.31. Based upon temperature and density diagnostics, it is concluded that in general such clumps are probably the sites of massive star formation in an early evolutionary phase prior to the development of an ultracompact HII region. Infrared detections Absorption at 2.97 micrometres due to solid ammonia was recorded from interstellar grains in the Becklin–Neugebauer Object and probably in NGC 2264-IR as well. This detection helped explain the physical shape of previously poorly understood and related ice absorption lines. A spectrum of the disk of Jupiter was obtained from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, covering the 100 to 300 cm−1 spectral range. Analysis of the spectrum provides information on global mean properties of ammonia gas and an ammonia ice haze. A total of 149 dark cloud positions were surveyed for evidence of 'dense cores' by using the (J,K) = (1,1) rotating inversion line of NH3. In general, the cores are not spherically shaped, with aspect ratios ranging from 1.1 to 4.4. It is also found that cores with stars have broader lines than cores without stars. Ammonia has been detected in the Draco Nebula and in one or possibly two molecular clouds, which are associated with the high-latitude galactic infrared cirrus. The finding is significant because they may represent the birthplaces for the Population I metallicity B-type stars in the galactic halo that could have been borne in the galactic disk. Observations of nearby dark clouds By balancing and stimulated emission with spontaneous emission, it is possible to construct a relation between excitation temperature and density. Moreover, since the transitional levels of ammonia can be approximated by a 2-level system at low temperatures, this calculation is fairly simple. This premise can be applied to dark clouds, regions suspected of having extremely low temperatures and possible sites for future star formation. Detections of ammonia in dark clouds show very narrow linesindicative not only of low temperatures, but also of a low level of inner-cloud turbulence. Line ratio calculations provide a measurement of cloud temperature that is independent of previous CO observations. The ammonia observations were consistent with CO measurements of rotation temperatures of ≈10 K. With this, densities can be determined, and have been calculated to range between 104 and 105 cm−3 in dark clouds. Mapping of gives typical clouds sizes of 0.1 pc and masses near 1 solar mass. These cold, dense cores are the sites of future star formation. UC HII regions Ultra-compact HII regions are among the best tracers of high-mass star formation. The dense material surrounding UCHII regions is likely primarily molecular. Since a complete study of massive star formation necessarily involves the cloud from which the star formed, ammonia is an invaluable tool in understanding this surrounding molecular material. Since this molecular material can be spatially resolved, it is possible to constrain the heating/ionising sources, temperatures, masses, and sizes of the regions. Doppler-shifted velocity components allow for the separation of distinct regions of molecular gas that can trace outflows and hot cores originating from forming stars. Extragalactic detection Ammonia has been detected in external galaxies, and by simultaneously measuring several lines, it is possible to directly measure the gas temperature in these galaxies. Line ratios imply that gas temperatures are warm (≈50 K), originating from dense clouds with sizes of tens of parsecs. This picture is consistent with the picture within our Milky Way galaxyhot dense molecular cores form around newly forming stars embedded in larger clouds of molecular material on the scale of several hundred parsecs (giant molecular clouds; GMCs). See also Notes References Works cited Further reading External links International Chemical Safety Card 0414 (anhydrous ammonia), ilo.org. International Chemical Safety Card 0215 (aqueous solutions), ilo.org. Emergency Response to Ammonia Fertiliser Releases (Spills) for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.ammoniaspills.org National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Ammonia Page, cdc.gov NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards – Ammonia, cdc.gov Ammonia, video Bases (chemistry) Foul-smelling chemicals Gaseous signaling molecules Household chemicals Industrial gases Inorganic solvents Nitrogen cycle Nitrogen hydrides Nitrogen(−III) compounds Refrigerants Toxicology

1374

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphorn

Alphorn

The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a labrophone, consisting of a straight several-meter-long wooden natural horn of conical bore, with a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the Alphorn was made of one single piece, or two parts at most, of the wood of a red pine tree. Sometimes the trees would bend from the weight of snow in winter, and this caused them to have the larger and bent mouthpiece at their ends. Modern Alphorns are sometimes made from three distinct parts that can be attached together: this is to make them easier to transport by car, or even to carry them by hand, and today they are more frequently made from the wood of a spruce tree or fir tree. The alphorn is used by mountain dwellers in the Swiss Alps. Similar wooden horns were used for communication in most mountainous regions of Europe, from the Alps to the Carpathians. Alphorns are today used as musical instruments. History For a long time, scholars believed that the alphorn had been derived from the Roman-Etruscan lituus, because of their resemblance in shape, and because of the word liti, meaning Alphorn in the dialect of Obwalden. There is no documented evidence for this theory however, and also the word liti was probably borrowed from 16th–18th century writings in Latin, where the word lituus could describe various wind instruments, such as the horn, the crumhorn, or the cornett. Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner used the words lituum alpinum for the first known detailed description of the alphorn in his De raris et admirandis herbis in 1555. The oldest known document using the German word Alphorn is a page from a 1527 account book from the former Cistercian abbey of St. Urban near Pfaffnau, mentioning the payment of two Batzen to an itinerant alphorn player from the Valais. 17th–19th century collections of alpine myths and legends suggest that alphorn-like instruments had frequently been used as signal instruments in village communities in ancient times, sometimes instead of church bells. Surviving artifacts, dating back to as far as around 1400, include wooden labrophones in their stretched form, like the alphorn, or coiled versions, such as the Büchel and the Allgäuisches Waldhorn or Ackerhorn. The alphorn's exact origins remain indeterminate, and the ubiquity of horn-like signal instruments in valleys throughout Europe may indicate a long history of cross influences regarding their construction and usage. Construction and qualities The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, generally spruce but sometimes pine. In former times, the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern makers piece the wood together at the base. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of hard wood is added and the instrument is complete. An alphorn made at Rigi-Kulm, Schwyz, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, measures in length and has a straight tube. The Swiss alphorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland. Michael Praetorius mentions an alphorn-like instrument under the name of Hölzern Trummet (wooden trumpet) in Syntagma Musicum (Wittenberg, 1615–1619; Pl. VIII). The alphorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural harmonic series of the open pipe. The notes of the natural harmonic series overlap with, but do not exactly correspond to, the notes of the familiar chromatic scale in standard Western equal temperament. Most prominently within the alphorn's range, the 7th and 11th harmonics are particularly noticeable, because they fall between adjacent notes in the chromatic scale. Accomplished alphornists often command a range of nearly three octaves, consisting of the 2nd through the 16th notes of the harmonic series. The availability of the higher tones is due in part to the relatively small diameter of the bore of the mouthpiece and tubing in relation to the overall length of the horn. The well-known "Ranz des Vaches" (score; audio) is a traditional Swiss melody often heard on the alphorn. The song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at milk making time. Rossini introduced the "Ranz des Vaches" into his masterpiece William Tell, along with many other melodies scattered throughout the opera in vocal and instrumental parts that are well-suited to the alphorn. Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann that the inspiration for the dramatic entry of the horn in the introduction to the last movement of his First Symphony was an alphorn melody he heard while vacationing in the Rigi area of Switzerland. For Clara's birthday in 1868 Brahms sent her a greeting that was to be sung with the melody. Music for alphorn Among music composed for the alphorn: Concerto Grosso No. 1 (2013) for four alphorns and orchestra by Georg Friedrich Haas Sinfonia pastorale for corno pastoriccio in G (alphorn) and string orchestra (1755) by Leopold Mozart Concerto for alphorn and orchestra (1970) by Jean Daetwyler Concerto No. 2 for alphorn (with flute, string orchestra and percussion) (1983) by Daetwyler Dialogue with Nature for alphorn, flute, and orchestra by Daetwyler Super Alpen King for three alphorns and orchestra by Ghislain Muller (2001) VSP orkestra / Arkady Shilkloper, Renaud Leipp Concertino rustico (1977) by Ferenc Farkas Begegnung for three alphorns and concert band, by Kurt Gable. Säumerweg-Blues (audio played by Kurt Ott) among many compositions by Hans-Jürg Sommer, Alphorn Musik Messe for alphorn and choir by Franz Schüssele Alphorn-Center Erbauliche Studie für 12 Alphörner in Abwesenheit von Bergen by Mathias Rüegg (1998) Wolf Music: Tapio for alphorn and echoing instruments (2003) by R. Murray Schafer Le Berger fantaisiste for three alphorns and orchestra by Ghislain Muller, Arkady Shilkloper, Renaud Leipp, Serge Haessler, VSP orkestra (2001) Bob Downes & The Alphorn Brothers (2015) by Bob Downes Open Music (CD rec. 2004) Concerto for alphorn in F and orchestra by Daniel Schnyder (2004) Matterhorn (a prelude for alphorn and wind orchestra) by Robert Litton (2013) Alpine Trail for alphorn and orchestra by Arkady Shilkloper Lai nair for alphorn and contrabass by John Wolf Brennan (2015) Der Bergschuh for alphorn and marching band by Daniel Schnyder Crested Butte Mountain for alphorn and wind band (or brass sextet, strings, or horn septet) by Arkady Shilkloper Robin for alphorn and wind band (big band) by Arkady Shilkloper Fanfare for four alphorns by Arkady Shilkloper In popular culture The alphorn is prominently featured in advertisements for Ricola cough drops, which are manufactured in Laufen, Switzerland Brief scene in Rammstein's "Dicke Titten". See also Bucium, a type of alphorn used by mountain dwellers in Romania Didgeridoo, an instrument of Aboriginal Australian origins, traditionally made from a hollowed out eucalyptus tree trunk Erke, a similar instrument of Argentine Northwest Kuhreihen, a type of melody played on an alphorn Tiba, wind instrument made of wood or metal that originates in the Grisons canton; it was used by shepherds on alpine meadows in the Alps Tibetan horn, long trumpet or horn used in Tibetan Buddhist and Mongolian buddhist ceremonies Trembita, a Ukrainian alpine horn made of wood Trutruca, wind instrument played mainly amongst the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina; produces a sound that is loud and severe, with few tonal variations References Further reading Bachmann-Geiser, Brigitte, Das Alphorn: Vom Lock- zum Rockinstrument. Paul Haupt, Berne, 1999. Franz Schüssele, Alphorn und Hirtenhorn in Europa, book and CD with 63 sound samples available at Alphorn-Center, External links Third Annual North American Alphorn Retreat Alphorn in concert Concert and composition contest taking place annually in Oensingen, Canton Solothurn, Switzerland International Alphorn Festival at Nendaz, Canton Valais, Switzerland VSP orkestra & Arkady Shilkloper alphorn jazz & improvisations, composer / arranger : Ghislain Muller, Arkady Shilkloper, Pascal Beck National symbols of Switzerland Swiss musical instruments Natural horns and trumpets

1391

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASIC%20%28disambiguation%29

ASIC (disambiguation)

In the realm of electronic technology, ASIC stands for application-specific integrated circuit, an integrated circuit customized for a specific task. ASIC may also refer to: Accreditation Service for International Colleges, an educational accreditation agency in the UK Acid-sensing ion channels, a protein family Air and Space Interoperability Council , former name of the Air Force Interoperability Council Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime, the antagonist group in the video game Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 ASIC programming language, a dialect of BASIC Associated Signature Containers (ASiC), specifies the use of container structures to bind together one or more signed objects with either advanced electronic signatures or time-stamp tokens into one single digital container Association Scientifique Internationale pour le Café, a scientific organization based in France Australian Securities & Investments Commission, Australia's corporate regulator Aviation Security Identification Card, an Australian identification card See also Asics, an athletic equipment company

1395

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing%20Grace

Amazing Grace

"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. Newton wrote the words from personal experience; he grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed into service with the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy. While this moment marked his spiritual conversion, he continued slave trading until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether. Newton began studying Christian theology and later became an abolitionist. Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became the curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses; it may have been chanted by the congregation. It debuted in print in 1779 in Newton's and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States, "Amazing Grace" became a popular song used by Baptist and Methodist preachers as part of their evangelizing, especially in the American South, during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies. In 1835, American composer William Walker set it to the tune known as "New Britain" in a shape note format; this is the version most frequently sung today. With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognisable songs in the English-speaking world. American historian Gilbert Chase writes that it is "without a doubt the most famous of all the folk hymns" and Jonathan Aitken, a Newton biographer, estimates that the song is performed about 10 million times annually. It has had particular influence in folk music, and has become an emblematic black spiritual. Its universal message has been a significant factor in its crossover into secular music. "Amazing Grace" became newly popular during the 1960s revival of American folk music, and it has been recorded thousands of times during and since the 20th century. John Newton's conversion According to the Dictionary of American Hymnology, "Amazing Grace" is John Newton's spiritual autobiography in verse. In 1725, Newton was born in Wapping, a district in London near the Thames. His father was a shipping merchant who was brought up as a Catholic but had Protestant sympathies, and his mother was a devout Independent, unaffiliated with the Anglican Church. She had intended Newton to become a clergyman, but she died of tuberculosis when he was six years old. For the next few years, while his father was at sea Newton was raised by his emotionally distant stepmother. He was also sent to boarding school, where he was mistreated. At the age of eleven, he joined his father on a ship as an apprentice; his seagoing career would be marked by headstrong disobedience. As a youth, Newton began a pattern of coming very close to death, examining his relationship with God, then relapsing into bad habits. As a sailor, he denounced his faith after being influenced by a shipmate who discussed with him Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, a book by the Third Earl of Shaftesbury. In a series of letters Newton later wrote, "Like an unwary sailor who quits his port just before a rising storm, I renounced the hopes and comforts of the Gospel at the very time when every other comfort was about to fail me." His disobedience caused him to be pressed into the Royal Navy, and he took advantage of opportunities to overstay his leave. He deserted the navy to visit Mary "Polly" Catlett, a family friend with whom he had fallen in love. After enduring humiliation for deserting, he was traded as crew to a slave ship. He began a career in slave trading. Newton often openly mocked the captain by creating obscene poems and songs about him, which became so popular that the crew began to join in. His disagreements with several colleagues resulted in his being starved almost to death, imprisoned while at sea, and chained like the slaves they carried. He was himself enslaved by the Sherbro and forced to work on a plantation in Sierra Leone near the Sherbro River. After several months he came to think of Sierra Leone as his home, but his father intervened after Newton sent him a letter describing his circumstances, and crew from another ship happened to find him. Newton claimed the only reason he left Sierra Leone was because of Polly. While aboard the ship Greyhound, Newton gained notoriety as being one of the most profane men the captain had ever met. In a culture where sailors habitually swore, Newton was admonished several times for not only using the worst words the captain had ever heard, but creating new ones to exceed the limits of verbal debauchery. In March 1748, while the Greyhound was in the North Atlantic, a violent storm came upon the ship that was so rough it swept overboard a crew member who was standing where Newton had been moments before. After hours of the crew emptying water from the ship and expecting to be capsized, Newton and another mate tied themselves to the ship's pump to keep from being washed overboard, working for several hours. After proposing the measure to the captain, Newton had turned and said, "If this will not do, then Lord have mercy upon us!" Newton rested briefly before returning to the deck to steer for the next eleven hours. During his time at the wheel, he pondered his divine challenge. About two weeks later, the battered ship and starving crew landed in Lough Swilly, Ireland. For several weeks before the storm, Newton had been reading The Christian's Pattern, a summary of the 15th-century The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. The memory of his own "Lord have mercy upon us!" uttered during a moment of desperation in the storm did not leave him; he began to ask if he was worthy of God's mercy or in any way redeemable. Not only had he neglected his faith but directly opposed it, mocking others who showed theirs, deriding and denouncing God as a myth. He came to believe that God had sent him a profound message and had begun to work through him. Newton's conversion was not immediate, but he contacted Polly's family and announced his intention to marry her. Her parents were hesitant as he was known to be unreliable and impetuous. They knew he was profane too but allowed him to write to Polly, and he set to begin to submit to authority for her sake. He sought a place on a slave ship bound for Africa, and Newton and his crewmates participated in most of the same activities he had written about before; the only immorality from which he was able to free himself was profanity. After a severe illness his resolve was renewed, yet he retained the same attitude towards slavery as was held by his contemporaries. Newton continued in the slave trade through several voyages where he sailed the coasts of Africa, now as a captain, and procured slaves being offered for sale in larger ports, transporting them to North America. In between voyages, he married Polly in 1750, and he found it more difficult to leave her at the beginning of each trip. After three shipping voyages in the slave trade, Newton was promised a position as ship's captain with cargo unrelated to slavery. But at the age of thirty, he collapsed and never sailed again. Olney curate Working as a customs agent in Liverpool starting in 1756, Newton began to teach himself Latin, Greek, and theology. He and Polly immersed themselves in the church community, and Newton's passion was so impressive that his friends suggested he become a priest in the Church of England. He was turned down by John Gilbert, Archbishop of York, in 1758, ostensibly for having no university degree, although the more likely reasons were his leanings toward evangelism and tendency to socialise with Methodists. Newton continued his devotions, and after being encouraged by a friend, he wrote about his experiences in the slave trade and his conversion. William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, impressed with his story, sponsored Newton for ordination by John Green, Bishop of Lincoln, and offered him the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire, in 1764. Olney Hymns Olney was a village of about 2,500 residents whose main industry was making lace by hand. The people were mostly illiterate and many of them were poor. Newton's preaching was unique in that he shared many of his own experiences from the pulpit; many clergy preached from a distance, not admitting any intimacy with temptation or sin. He was involved in his parishioners' lives and was much loved, although his writing and delivery were sometimes unpolished. But his devotion and conviction were apparent and forceful, and he often said his mission was to "break a hard heart and to heal a broken heart". He struck a friendship with William Cowper, a gifted writer who had failed at a career in law and suffered bouts of insanity, attempting suicide several times. Cowper enjoyed Olney and Newton's company; he was also new to Olney and had gone through a spiritual conversion similar to Newton's. Together, their effect on the local congregation was impressive. In 1768, they found it necessary to start a weekly prayer meeting to meet the needs of an increasing number of parishioners. They also began writing lessons for children. Partly from Cowper's literary influence, and partly because learned vicars were expected to write verses, Newton began to try his hand at hymns, which had become popular through the language, made plain for common people to understand. Several prolific hymn writers were at their most productive in the 18th century, including Isaac Watts whose hymns Newton had grown up hearing and Charles Wesley, with whom Newton was familiar. Wesley's brother John, the eventual founder of the Methodist Church, had encouraged Newton to go into the clergy. Watts was a pioneer in English hymn writing, basing his work after the Psalms. The most prevalent hymns by Watts and others were written in the common meter in 8.6.8.6: the first line is eight syllables and the second is six. Newton and Cowper attempted to present a poem or hymn for each prayer meeting. The lyrics to "Amazing Grace" were written in late 1772 and probably used in a prayer meeting for the first time on 1 January 1773. A collection of the poems Newton and Cowper had written for use in services at Olney was bound and published anonymously in 1779 under the title Olney Hymns. Newton contributed 280 of the 348 texts in Olney Hymns; "1 Chronicles 17:16–17, Faith's Review and Expectation" was the title of the poem with the first line "Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)". Critical analysis The general impact of Olney Hymns was immediate and it became a widely popular tool for evangelicals in Britain for many years. Scholars appreciated Cowper's poetry somewhat more than Newton's plaintive and plain language, expressing his forceful personality. The most prevalent themes in the verses written by Newton in Olney Hymns are faith in salvation, wonder at God's grace, his love for Jesus, and his cheerful exclamations of the joy he found in his faith. As a reflection of Newton's connection to his parishioners, he wrote many of the hymns in first person, admitting his own experience with sin. Bruce Hindmarsh in Sing Them Over Again To Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America considers "Amazing Grace" an excellent example of Newton's testimonial style afforded by the use of this perspective. Several of Newton's hymns were recognised as great work ("Amazing Grace" was not among them), while others seem to have been included to fill in when Cowper was unable to write. Jonathan Aitken calls Newton, specifically referring to "Amazing Grace", an "unashamedly middlebrow lyricist writing for a lowbrow congregation", noting that only twenty-one of the nearly 150 words used in all six verses have more than one syllable. William Phipps in the Anglican Theological Review and author James Basker have interpreted the first stanza of "Amazing Grace" as evidence of Newton's realisation that his participation in the slave trade was his wretchedness, perhaps representing a wider common understanding of Newton's motivations. Newton joined forces with William Wilberforce, the British Member of Parliament who led the Parliamentarian campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, culminating in the Slave Trade Act 1807. But Newton did not become an ardent and outspoken abolitionist until after he left Olney in the 1780s; he is not known to have connected writing the hymn known as "Amazing Grace" to anti-slavery sentiments. The lyrics in Olney Hymns were arranged by their association to the Biblical verses that would be used by Newton and Cowper in their prayer meetings, and did not address any political objective. For Newton, the beginning of the year was a time to reflect on one's spiritual progress. At the same time he completed a diary which has since been lost that he had begun 17 years before, two years after he quit sailing. The last entry of 1772 was a recounting of how much he had changed since then. The title ascribed to the hymn, "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", refers to David's reaction to the prophet Nathan telling him that God intends to maintain his family line forever. Some Christians interpret this as a prediction that Jesus Christ, as a descendant of David, was promised by God as the salvation for all people. Newton's sermon on that January day in 1773 focused on the necessity to express one's gratitude for God's guidance, that God is involved in the daily lives of Christians though they may not be aware of it, and that patience for deliverance from the daily trials of life is warranted when the glories of eternity await. Newton saw himself a sinner like David who had been chosen, perhaps undeservedly, and was humbled by it. According to Newton, unconverted sinners were "blinded by the god of this world" until "mercy came to us not only undeserved but undesired ... our hearts endeavored to shut him out till he overcame us by the power of his grace." The New Testament served as the basis for many of the lyrics of "Amazing Grace". The first verse, for example, can be traced to the story of the Prodigal Son. In the Gospel of Luke the father says, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found". The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John. Newton used the words "I was blind but now I see" and declared "Oh to grace how great a debtor!" in his letters and diary entries as early as 1752. The effect of the lyrical arrangement, according to Bruce Hindmarsh, allows an instant release of energy in the exclamation "Amazing grace!", to be followed by a qualifying reply in "how sweet the sound". In An Annotated Anthology of Hymns, Newton's use of an exclamation at the beginning of his verse is called "crude but effective" in an overall composition that "suggest(s) a forceful, if simple, statement of faith". Grace is recalled three times in the following verse, culminating in Newton's most personal story of his conversion, underscoring the use of his personal testimony with his parishioners. The sermon preached by Newton was his last of those that William Cowper heard in Olney, since Cowper's mental instability returned shortly thereafter. One author suggests Newton may have had his friend in mind, employing the themes of assurance and deliverance from despair for Cowper's benefit. Dissemination More than 60 of Newton and Cowper's hymns were republished in other British hymnals and magazines, but "Amazing Grace" was not, appearing only once in a 1780 hymnal sponsored by the Countess of Huntingdon. Scholar John Julian commented in his 1892 A Dictionary of Hymnology that outside of the United States, the song was unknown and it was "far from being a good example of Newton's finest work". Between 1789 and 1799, four variations of Newton's hymn were published in the US in Baptist, Dutch Reformed, and Congregationalist hymnodies; by 1830 Presbyterians and Methodists also included Newton's verses in their hymnals. Although it had its roots in England, "Amazing Grace" became an integral part of the Christian tapestry in the United States. The greatest influences in the 19th century that propelled "Amazing Grace" to spread across the US and become a staple of religious services in many denominations and regions were the Second Great Awakening and the development of shape note singing communities. A tremendous religious movement swept the US in the early 19th century, marked by the growth and popularity of churches and religious revivals that got their start on the frontier in Kentucky and Tennessee. Unprecedented gatherings of thousands of people attended camp meetings where they came to experience salvation; preaching was fiery and focused on saving the sinner from temptation and backsliding. Religion was stripped of ornament and ceremony, and made as plain and simple as possible; sermons and songs often used repetition to get across to a rural population of poor and mostly uneducated people the necessity of turning away from sin. Witnessing and testifying became an integral component to these meetings, where a congregation member or stranger would rise and recount his turn from a sinful life to one of piety and peace. "Amazing Grace" was one of many hymns that punctuated fervent sermons, although the contemporary style used a refrain, borrowed from other hymns, that employed simplicity and repetition such as: Simultaneously, an unrelated movement of communal singing was established throughout the South and Western states. A format of teaching music to illiterate people appeared in 1800. It used four sounds to symbolise the basic scale: fa-sol-la-fa-sol-la-mi-fa. Each sound was accompanied by a specifically shaped note and thus became known as shape note singing. The method was simple to learn and teach, so schools were established throughout the South and West. Communities would come together for an entire day of singing in a large building where they sat in four distinct areas surrounding an open space, one member directing the group as a whole. Other groups would sing outside, on benches set up in a square. Preachers used shape note hymns to teach people on the frontier and to raise the emotion of camp meetings. Most of the music was Christian, but the purpose of communal singing was not primarily spiritual. Communities either could not afford music accompaniment or rejected it out of a Calvinistic sense of simplicity, so the songs were sung a cappella. "New Britain" tune When originally used in Olney, it is unknown what music, if any, accompanied the verses written by John Newton. Contemporary hymnbooks did not contain music and were simply small books of religious poetry. The first known instance of Newton's lines joined to music was in A Companion to the Countess of Huntingdon's Hymns (London, 1808), where it is set to the tune "Hephzibah" by English composer John Jenkins Husband. Common meter hymns were interchangeable with a variety of tunes; more than twenty musical settings of "Amazing Grace" circulated with varying popularity until 1835, when American composer William Walker assigned Newton's words to a traditional song named "New Britain". This was an amalgamation of two melodies ("Gallaher" and "St. Mary"), first published in the Columbian Harmony by Charles H. Spilman and Benjamin Shaw (Cincinnati, 1829). Spilman and Shaw, both students at Kentucky's Centre College, compiled their tunebook both for public worship and revivals, to satisfy "the wants of the Church in her triumphal march". Most of the tunes had been previously published, but "Gallaher" and "St. Mary" had not. As neither tune is attributed and both show elements of oral transmission, scholars can only speculate that they are possibly of British origin. A manuscript from 1828 by Lucius Chapin, a famous hymn writer of that time, contains a tune very close to "St. Mary", but that does not mean that he wrote it. "Amazing Grace", with the words written by Newton and joined with "New Britain", the melody most currently associated with it, appeared for the first time in Walker's shape note tunebook Southern Harmony in 1847. It was, according to author Steve Turner, a "marriage made in heaven ... The music behind 'amazing' had a sense of awe to it. The music behind 'grace' sounded graceful. There was a rise at the point of confession, as though the author was stepping out into the open and making a bold declaration, but a corresponding fall when admitting his blindness." Walker's collection was enormously popular, selling about 600,000 copies all over the US when the total population was just over 20 million. Another shape note tunebook named The Sacred Harp (1844) by Georgia residents Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King became widely influential and continues to be used. Another verse was first recorded in Harriet Beecher Stowe's immensely influential 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Three verses were emblematically sung by Tom in his hour of deepest crisis. He sings the sixth and fifth verses in that order, and Stowe included another verse, not written by Newton, that had been passed down orally in African-American communities for at least 50 years. It was one of between 50 and 70 verses of a song titled "Jerusalem, My Happy Home", which was first published in a 1790 book called A Collection of Sacred Ballads: "Amazing Grace" came to be an emblem of a Christian movement and a symbol of the US itself as the country was involved in a great political experiment, attempting to employ democracy as a means of government. Shape-note singing communities, with all the members sitting around an open center, each song employing a different song leader, illustrated this in practice. Simultaneously, the US began to expand westward into previously unexplored territory that was often wilderness. The "dangers, toils, and snares" of Newton's lyrics had both literal and figurative meanings for Americans. This became poignantly true during the most serious test of American cohesion in the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). "Amazing Grace", set to "New Britain", was included in two hymnals distributed to soldiers. With death so real and imminent, religious services in the military became commonplace. The hymn was translated into other languages as well: while on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee sang Christian hymns as a way of coping with the ongoing tragedy, and a version of the song by Samuel Worcester that had been translated into the Cherokee language became very popular. Urban revival Although "Amazing Grace" set to "New Britain" was popular, other versions existed regionally. Primitive Baptists in the Appalachian region often used "New Britain" with other hymns, and sometimes sing the words of "Amazing Grace" to other folk songs, including titles such as "In the Pines", "Pisgah", "Primrose", and "Evan", as all are able to be sung in common meter, of which the majority of their repertoire consists. In the late 19th century, Newton's verses were sung to a tune named "Arlington" as frequently as to "New Britain" for a time. Two musical arrangers named Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey heralded another religious revival in the cities of the US and Europe, giving the song international exposure. Moody's preaching and Sankey's musical gifts were significant; their arrangements were the forerunners of gospel music, and churches all over the US were eager to acquire them. Moody and Sankey began publishing their compositions in 1875, and "Amazing Grace" appeared three times with three different melodies, but they were the first to give it its title; hymns were typically published using the incipits (first line of the lyrics), or the name of the tune such as "New Britain". Publisher Edwin Othello Excell gave the version of "Amazing Grace" set to "New Britain" immense popularity by publishing it in a series of hymnals that were used in urban churches. Excell altered some of Walker's music, making it more contemporary and European, giving "New Britain" some distance from its rural folk-music origins. Excell's version was more palatable for a growing urban middle class and arranged for larger church choirs. Several editions featuring Newton's first three stanzas and the verse previously included by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin were published by Excell between 1900 and 1910. His version of "Amazing Grace" became the standard form of the song in American churches. Recorded versions With the advent of recorded music and radio, "Amazing Grace" began to cross over from primarily a gospel standard to secular audiences. The ability to record combined with the marketing of records to specific audiences allowed "Amazing Grace" to take on thousands of different forms in the 20th century. Where Edwin Othello Excell sought to make the singing of "Amazing Grace" uniform throughout thousands of churches, records allowed artists to improvise with the words and music specific to each audience. AllMusic lists over 1,000 recordings – including re-releases and compilations – as of 2019. Its first recording is an a cappella version from 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir. It was included from 1926 to 1930 in Okeh Records' catalogue, which typically concentrated strongly on blues and jazz. Demand was high for black gospel recordings of the song by H. R. Tomlin and J. M. Gates. A poignant sense of nostalgia accompanied the recordings of several gospel and blues singers in the 1940s and 1950s who used the song to remember their grandparents, traditions, and family roots. It was recorded with musical accompaniment for the first time in 1930 by Fiddlin' John Carson, although to another folk hymn named "At the Cross", not to "New Britain". "Amazing Grace" is emblematic of several kinds of folk music styles, often used as the standard example to illustrate such musical techniques as lining out and call and response, that have been practised in both black and white folk music. Mahalia Jackson's 1947 version received significant radio airplay, and as her popularity grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she often sang it at public events such as concerts at Carnegie Hall. Author James Basker states that the song has been employed by African Americans as the "paradigmatic Negro spiritual" because it expresses the joy felt at being delivered from slavery and worldly miseries. Anthony Heilbut, author of The Gospel Sound, states that the "dangers, toils, and snares" of Newton's words are a "universal testimony" of the African American experience. During the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War, the song took on a political tone. Mahalia Jackson employed "Amazing Grace" for Civil Rights marchers, writing that she used it "to give magical protection a charm to ward off danger, an incantation to the angels of heaven to descend ... I was not sure the magic worked outside the church walls ... in the open air of Mississippi. But I wasn't taking any chances." Folk singer Judy Collins, who knew the song before she could remember learning it, witnessed Fannie Lou Hamer leading marchers in Mississippi in 1964, singing "Amazing Grace". Collins also considered it a talisman of sorts, and saw its equal emotional impact on the marchers, witnesses, and law enforcement who opposed the civil rights demonstrators. According to fellow folk singer Joan Baez, it was one of the most requested songs from her audiences, but she never realised its origin as a hymn; by the time she was singing it in the 1960s she said it had "developed a life of its own". It even made an appearance at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969 during Arlo Guthrie's performance. Collins decided to record it in the late 1960s amid an atmosphere of counterculture introspection; she was part of an encounter group that ended a contentious meeting by singing "Amazing Grace" as it was the only song to which all the members knew the words. Her producer was present and suggested she include a version of it on her 1970 album Whales & Nightingales. Collins, who had a history of alcohol abuse, claimed that the song was able to "pull her through" to recovery. It was recorded in St. Paul's, the chapel at Columbia University, chosen for the acoustics. She chose an a cappella arrangement that was close to Edwin Othello Excell's, accompanied by a chorus of amateur singers who were friends of hers. Collins connected it to the Vietnam War, to which she objected: "I didn't know what else to do about the war in Vietnam. I had marched, I had voted, I had gone to jail on political actions and worked for the candidates I believed in. The war was still raging. There was nothing left to do, I thought ... but sing 'Amazing Grace'." Gradually and unexpectedly, the song began to be played on the radio, and then be requested. It rose to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining on the charts for 15 weeks, as if, she wrote, her fans had been "waiting to embrace it". In the UK, it charted 8 times between 1970 and 1972, peaking at number 5 and spending a total of 75 weeks on popular music charts. Her rendition also reached number 5 in New Zealand and number 12 in Ireland in 1971. In 1972, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the senior Scottish regiment of the British Army, recorded an instrumental version featuring a bagpipe soloist accompanied by a pipe band. The tempo of their arrangement was slowed to allow for the bagpipes, but it was based on Collins's: it began with a bagpipe solo introduction similar to her lone voice, then it was accompanied by the band of bagpipes and horns, whereas in her version she is backed up by a chorus. It became an international hit, spending five weeks at number-one in the UK Singles Chart, topping the RPM national singles chart in Canada for three weeks, and also peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It is also a controversial instrumental, as it combined pipes with a military band. The Pipe Major of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was summoned to Edinburgh Castle and chastised for demeaning the bagpipes. Aretha Franklin and Rod Stewart also recorded "Amazing Grace" around the same time, and both of their renditions were popular. All four versions were marketed to distinct types of audiences, thereby assuring its place as a pop song. Johnny Cash recorded it on his 1975 album Sings Precious Memories, dedicating it to his older brother Jack, who had been killed in a mill accident when they were boys in Dyess, Arkansas. Cash and his family sang it to themselves while they worked in the cotton fields following Jack's death. Cash often included the song when he toured prisons, saying "For the three minutes that song is going on, everybody is free. It just frees the spirit and frees the person." The U.S. Library of Congress has a collection of 3,000 versions of and songs inspired by "Amazing Grace", some of which were first-time recordings by folklorists Alan and John Lomax, a father and son team who in 1932 travelled thousands of miles across the southern states of the US to capture the different regional styles of the song. More contemporary renditions include samples from such popular artists as Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers (1963), the Byrds (1970), Elvis Presley (1971), Skeeter Davis (1972), Mighty Clouds of Joy (1972), Amazing Rhythm Aces (1975), Willie Nelson (1976) and the Lemonheads (1992). In American popular culture "Amazing Grace" is an icon in American culture that has been used for a variety of secular purposes and marketing campaigns. It is referenced in the 2006 film Amazing Grace, which highlights Newton's influence on the leading British abolitionist William Wilberforce, in the film biography of Newton, Newton's Grace, and the 2014 film Freedom which tells the story of Newton's composition of the hymn. Since 1954, when an organ instrumental of "New Britain" became a best-seller, "Amazing Grace" has been associated with funerals and memorial services. The hymn has become a song that inspires hope in the wake of tragedy, becoming a sort of "spiritual national anthem" according to authors Mary Rourke and Emily Gwathmey. For example, President Barack Obama recited and later sang the hymn at the memorial service for Clementa Pinckney, who was one of the nine victims of the Charleston church shooting in 2015. Modern interpretations In recent years, the words of the hymn have been changed in some religious publications to downplay a sense of imposed self-loathing by its singers. The second line, "That saved a wretch like me!" has been rewritten as "That saved and strengthened me", "save a soul like me", or "that saved and set me free". Kathleen Norris in her book Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith characterises this transformation of the original words as "wretched English" making the line that replaces the original "laughably bland". Part of the reason for this change has been the altered interpretations of what wretchedness and grace means. Newton's Calvinistic view of redemption and divine grace formed his perspective that he considered himself a sinner so vile that he was unable to change his life or be redeemed without God's help. Yet his lyrical subtlety, in Steve Turner's opinion, leaves the hymn's meaning open to a variety of Christian and non-Christian interpretations. "Wretch" also represents a period in Newton's life when he saw himself outcast and miserable, as he was when he was enslaved in Sierra Leone; his own arrogance was matched by how far he had fallen in his life. Due to its immense popularity and iconic nature, the meaning behind the words of "Amazing Grace" has become as individual as the singer or listener. Bruce Hindmarsh suggests that the secular popularity of "Amazing Grace" is due to the absence of any mention of God in the lyrics until the fourth verse (by Excell's version, the fourth verse begins "When we've been there ten thousand years"), and that the song represents the ability of humanity to transform itself instead of a transformation taking place at the hands of God. "Grace", however, had a clearer meaning to John Newton, as he used the word to represent God or the power of God. The transformative power of the song was investigated by journalist Bill Moyers in a documentary released in 1990. Moyers was inspired to focus on the song's power after watching a performance at Lincoln Center, where the audience consisted of Christians and non-Christians, and he noticed that it had an equal impact on everybody in attendance, unifying them. James Basker also acknowledged this force when he explained why he chose "Amazing Grace" to represent a collection of anti-slavery poetry: "there is a transformative power that is applicable ... : the transformation of sin and sorrow into grace, of suffering into beauty, of alienation into empathy and connection, of the unspeakable into imaginative literature." Moyers interviewed Collins, Cash, opera singer Jessye Norman, Appalachian folk musician Jean Ritchie and her family, white Sacred Harp singers in Georgia, black Sacred Harp singers in Alabama, and a prison choir at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Collins, Cash, and Norman were unable to discern if the power of the song came from the music or the lyrics. Norman, who once notably sang it at the end of a large outdoor rock concert for Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday, stated, "I don't know whether it's the text I don't know whether we're talking about the lyrics when we say that it touches so many people or whether it's that tune that everybody knows." A prisoner interviewed by Moyers explained his literal interpretation of the second verse: "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved" by saying that the fear became immediately real to him when he realised he may never get his life in order, compounded by the loneliness and restriction in prison. Gospel singer Marion Williams summed up its effect: "That's a song that gets to everybody". The Dictionary of American Hymnology claims it is included in more than a thousand published hymnals, and recommends its use for "occasions of worship when we need to confess with joy that we are saved by God's grace alone; as a hymn of response to forgiveness of sin or as an assurance of pardon; as a confession of faith or after the sermon". Notes References Citations Sources Aitken, Jonathan (2007). John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, Crossway Books. Basker, James (2002). Amazing Grace: An Anthology of Poems About Slavery, 1660–1810, Yale University Press. Benson, Louis (1915). The English Hymn: Its Development and Use in Worship, The Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia. Bradley, Ian (ed.)(1989). The Book of Hymns, The Overlook Press. Brown, Tony; Kutner, Jon; Warwick, Neil (2000). Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles & Albums, Omnibus. Bruner, Kurt; Ware, Jim (2007). Finding God in the Story of Amazing Grace, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Chase, Gilbert (1987). America's Music, From the Pilgrims to the Present, McGraw-Hill. Collins, Judy (1998). Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing , Pocket Books. Duvall, Deborah (2000). Tahlequah and the Cherokee Nation, Arcadia Publishing. Julian, John (ed.)(1892). A Dictionary of Hymnology, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Martin, Bernard (1950). John Newton: A Biography, William Heineman, Ltd., London. Martin, Bernard and Spurrell, Mark, (eds.)(1962). The Journal of a Slave Trader (John Newton), The Epworth Press, London. Newton, John (1811). Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade, Samuel Whiting and Co., London. Newton, John (1824). The Works of the Rev. John Newton Late Rector of the United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Mary Woolchurch Haw, London: Volume 1, Nathan Whiting, London. Noll, Mark A.; Blumhofer, Edith L. (eds.) (2006). Sing Them Over Again to Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America, University of Alabama Press. Norris, Kathleen (1999). Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, Riverhead. Patterson, Beverly Bush (1995). The Sound of the Dove: Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches, University of Illinois Press. Porter, Jennifer; McLaren, Darcee (eds.)(1999). Star Trek and Sacred Ground: Explorations of Star Trek, Religion, and American Culture, State University of New York Press, Rourke, Mary; Gwathmey, Emily (1996). Amazing Grace in America: Our Spiritual National Anthem, Angel City Press. Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1899). Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, R. F. Fenno & Company, New York City. Swiderski, Richard (1996). The Metamorphosis of English: Versions of Other Languages, Greenwood Publishing Group. Turner, Steve (2002). Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song, HarperCollins. Watson, J. R. (ed.)(2002). An Annotated Anthology of Hymns, Oxford University Press. Whitburn, Joel (2003). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–2002, Record Research, Inc. External links Amazing Grace at Hymnary.org The Amazing Grace U.S. Library of Congress Amazing Grace collection Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney, England Amazing Grace: Some Early Tunes Anthology of the American Hymn-Tune Repertory Amazing Grace: The story behind the song and its connection to Lough Swilly 1772 songs 18th-century hymns 1970 singles 1971 singles 1972 singles 2007 singles Elvis Presley songs English Christian hymns English patriotic songs Funerary and memorial compositions Gospel songs Hymns by John Newton Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Joan Baez songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in South Africa Okeh Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles United States National Recording Registry recordings

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV

AV

AV, Av or A.V. may refer to: Arts and entertainment The abbreviation of audiovisual, possessing both a sound and a visual component A.V. (film), a 2005 Hong Kong film directed by Pang Ho-Cheung Adult video, an alternative name/synonym of a pornographic film AV The Hunt, a 2020 Turkish thriller film directed by Emre Akay Businesses and organizations America Votes, an American 501(c)4 organization that promotes progressive causes Ambulance Victoria, an ambulance service operated in the Australian state of Victoria Anonymous for the Voiceless, a grassroots animal rights organization specializing in street activism Aston Villa F.C., an English professional football club AV Akademikerverlag GmbH & Co. KG an imprint of the German group VDM Publishing (now OmniScriptum) Avaya, a technology company formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange with symbol "AV" Avianca (IATA airline code AV) Aviva, British insurance company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange as "AV" AeroVironment, manufacturer of unmanned military aircraft and systems Amusement Vision, the former name of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio People Av or Avrum Gross (1936–2018), American lawyer and Attorney General of Alaska Av or Avrom Isaacs (1926–2016), Canadian art dealer Av Westin (1929–2022), American television producer Places Anguilla (FIPS country code and obsolete NATO diagram AV) Antelope Valley, a valley in Southern California Province of Avellino, a province of Italy Science and technology Anatomy and medicine Aerobic vaginitis, vaginal infection associated with overgrowth of aerobic bacteria Arteriovenous (disambiguation) Atrioventricular (disambiguation) Electronics and computing Access violation, a computer software error Age verification, system for checking a user's age Antivirus software, used to prevent, detect and remove malicious software Audio and video connector, a cable between two devices Analog video AV Linux, a Linux-based operating system Fluid dynamics Annular velocity, speed of the drilling fluid's movement in a column called an annulus in oil wells Apparent viscosity, shear stress divided by shear rate Vehicles AV (cyclecar), a British cyclecar manufactured between 1919 and 1924 Bavarian A V, an 1853 steam locomotive model AV, the designation for seaplane tender in the United States Navy's ship classification system Autonomous vehicles Other uses in science and technology A-type main-sequence star, in astronomy, abbreviated A V Aperture value mode, setting on photo cameras that allows to choose a specific aperture value Other uses Alternative vote, an electoral system used to elect a single winner from a field of more than two candidates Approval voting, a non-ranking vote system Authorised Version of the Bible (also known as King James Version) Av, a month in the Hebrew calendar av, the Avar language's ISO 639-1 code Av. or Ave, an abbreviation for Avenue (landscape) Ꜹ or AV from Latin aurum (avrvm), a numismatic abbreviation for "gold" A.V., the putative mark of ébéniste Adam Weisweiler Aviation, abbreviated Av in military use Andhra Vidyalaya College, aka A. V. College, a school in Hyderabad, India See also 2023 AV, an asteroid that passed closed to the Earth in 2023 A5 (disambiguation) α5 (disambiguation) AV idol, a type of Japanese porn star Masculine given names Hypocorisms

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%2029

April 29

Events Pre-1600 801 – An earthquake in the Central Apennines hits Rome and Spoleto, damaging the basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura. 1091 – Battle of Levounion: The Pechenegs are defeated by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. 1483 – Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile. 1521 – Swedish War of Liberation: Swedish troops defeat a Danish force in the Battle of Västerås. 1601–1900 1760 – French forces commence the siege of Quebec which is held by the British. 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique. 1826 – The galaxy Centaurus A or NGC 5128 is discovered by James Dunlop. 1861 – Maryland in the American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. 1862 – American Civil War: The Capture of New Orleans by Union forces under David Farragut. 1864 – Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the only fraternity to be founded during the American Civil War. 1901–present 1903 – A landslide kills 70 people in Frank, in the District of Alberta, Canada. 1910 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. 1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded. 1916 – World War I: The UK's 6th Indian Division surrenders to Ottoman Forces at the Siege of Kut in one of the largest surrenders of British forces up to that point. 1916 – Easter Rising: After six days of fighting, Irish rebel leaders surrender to British forces in Dublin, bringing the Easter Rising to an end. 1945 – World War II: The Surrender of Caserta is signed by the commander of German forces in Italy. 1945 – World War II: Airdrops of food begin over German-occupied regions of the Netherlands. 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. 1945 – Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops. 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convenes and indicts former Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo and 28 former Japanese leaders for war crimes. 1952 – Pan Am Flight 202 crashes into the Amazon basin near Carolina, Maranhão, Brazil, killing 50 people. 1953 – The first U.S. experimental 3D television broadcast shows an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV. 1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the previous day, Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title. 1970 – Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong. 1974 – Watergate scandal: United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal. 1975 – Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The U.S. begins to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon before an expected North Vietnamese takeover. U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end. 1975 – Vietnam War: The North Vietnamese army completes its capture of all parts of South Vietnam-held Trường Sa Islands. 1986 – A fire at the Central library of the Los Angeles Public Library damages or destroys 400,000 books and other items. 1986 – The United States Navy aircraft carrier becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, navigating from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve the . 1991 – A cyclone strikes the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around , killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as ten million homeless. 1991 – The 7.0 Racha earthquake affects Georgia with a maximum MSK intensity of IX (Destructive), killing 270 people. 1992 – Riots in Los Angeles begin, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 63 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed. 1997 – The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons by its signatories. 2004 – The final Oldsmobile is built in Lansing, Michigan, ending 107 years of vehicle production. 2011 – The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton takes place at Westminster Abbey in London. 2013 – A powerful explosion occurs in an office building in Prague, believed to have been caused by natural gas, and injures 43 people. 2013 – National Airlines Flight 102, a Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft, crashes during takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, killing seven people. 2015 – A baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox sets the all-time low attendance mark for Major League Baseball. Zero fans were in attendance for the game, as the stadium was officially closed to the public due to the 2015 Baltimore protests. Births Pre-1600 1469 – William II, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1509) 1587 – Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania (d. 1635) 1601–1900 1636 – Esaias Reusner, German lute player and composer (d. 1679) 1665 – James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1745) 1667 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish-English physician and polymath (d. 1735) 1727 – Jean-Georges Noverre, French actor and dancer (d. 1810) 1745 – Oliver Ellsworth, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1807) 1758 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (d. 1820) 1762 – Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French general and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1833) 1780 – Charles Nodier, French librarian and author (d. 1844) 1783 – David Cox, English landscape painter (d. 1859) 1784 – Samuel Turell Armstrong, American publisher and politician, 14th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1850) 1810 – Thomas Adolphus Trollope, English journalist and author (d. 1892) 1818 – Alexander II of Russia (d. 1881) 1837 – Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1891) 1842 – Carl Millöcker, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1899) 1847 – Joachim Andersen, Danish flautist, composer and conductor (d. 1907) 1848 – Raja Ravi Varma, Indian painter and academic (d. 1906) 1854 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist and engineer (d. 1912) 1863 – Constantine P. Cavafy, Egyptian-Greek journalist and poet (d. 1933) 1863 – William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (d. 1951) 1863 – Maria Teresia Ledóchowska, Austrian nun and missionary (d. 1922) 1872 – Harry Payne Whitney, American businessman and lawyer (d. 1930) 1872 – Forest Ray Moulton, American astronomer and academic (d. 1952) 1875 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-English novelist and short story writer (d. 1950) 1879 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor (d. 1961) 1880 – Adolf Chybiński, Polish historian, musicologist and academic (d. 1952) 1882 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (d. 1960) 1882 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer, typographer, and Nazi resister (d. 1945) 1885 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Czech journalist and author (d. 1948) 1887 – Robert Cushman Murphy, American ornithologist (d. 1973) 1888 – Michael Heidelberger, American immunologist (d. 1991) 1891 – Edward Wilfred Taylor, British businessman (d. 1980) 1893 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981) 1894 – Marietta Blau, Austrian physicist and academic (d. 1970) 1895 – Vladimir Propp, Russian scholar and critic (d. 1970) 1895 – Malcolm Sargent, English organist, composer and conductor (d. 1967) 1898 – E. J. Bowen, British physical chemist (d. 1980) 1899 – Duke Ellington, American pianist, composer and bandleader (d. 1974) 1899 – Mary Petty, American illustrator (d. 1976) 1900 – Amelia Best, Australian politician (d. 1979) 1901–present 1901 – Hirohito, Japanese emperor (d. 1989) 1907 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director and producer (d. 1997) 1908 – Jack Williamson, American author and academic (d. 2006) 1909 – Tom Ewell, American actor (d. 1994) 1912 – Richard Carlson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1977) 1915 – Henry H. Barschall, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1997) 1917 – Maya Deren, Ukrainian-American director, poet, and photographer (d. 1961) 1917 – Celeste Holm, American actress and singer (d. 2012) 1918 – George Allen, American football player and coach (d. 1990) 1919 – Gérard Oury, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2006) 1920 – Edward Blishen, English author and radio host (d. 1996) 1920 – Harold Shapero, American composer (d. 2013) 1922 – Parren Mitchell, American politician (d. 2007) 1922 – Toots Thielemans, Belgian guitarist and harmonica player (d. 2016) 1923 – Irvin Kershner, American actor, director and producer (d. 2010) 1924 – Zizi Jeanmaire, French ballerina and actress (d. 2020) 1925 – John Compton, Saint Lucian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (d. 2007) 1925 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (d. 2007) 1926 – Elmer Kelton, American journalist and author (d. 2009) 1927 – Dorothy Manley, English sprinter (d. 2021) 1927 – Bill Slater, English footballer (d. 2018) 1928 – Carl Gardner, American singer (d. 2011) 1928 – Heinz Wolff, German-English physiologist, engineer, and academic (d. 2017) 1929 – Walter Kempowski, German author and academic (d. 2007) 1929 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (d. 2014) 1929 – April Stevens, American singer (d. 2023) 1929 – Maurice Strong, Canadian businessman and diplomat (d. 2015) 1929 – Jeremy Thorpe, English lawyer and politician (d. 2014) 1930 – Jean Rochefort, French actor and director (d. 2017) 1931 – Frank Auerbach, British-German painter 1931 – Lonnie Donegan, Scottish-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002) 1931 – Chris Pearson, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (d. 2014) 1932 – David Tindle, English painter and educator 1932 – Dmitry Zaikin, Soviet pilot and cosmonaut instructor (d. 2013) 1933 – Ed Charles, American baseball player and coach (d. 2018) 1933 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (d. 2015) 1933 – Willie Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor 1934 – Luis Aparicio, Venezuelan-American baseball player 1934 – Pedro Pires, Cape Verdean politician, 3rd President of Cape Verde 1935 – Otis Rush, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018) 1936 – Adolfo Nicolás, Spanish priest, 13th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 2020) 1936 – Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, English banker and philanthropist 1937 – Jill Paton Walsh, English author (d. 2020) 1938 – Steven Bach, American writer, businessman and educator (d. 2009) 1938 – Bernie Madoff, American businessman, financier and convicted felon (d. 2021) 1939 – Klaus Rinke, German contemporary artist 1940 – George Adams, American musician (d. 1992) 1940 – Peter Diamond, American economist 1941 – Hanne Darboven, German painter (d. 2009) 1942 – Dick Chrysler, American politician 1942 – Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie, English civil servant and academic 1943 – Duane Allen, American country singer 1943 – Brenda Dean, Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, English union leader and politician (d. 2018) 1943 – Ruth Deech, Baroness Deech, English lawyer and academic 1944 – Francis Lee, English footballer and businessman (d. 2023) 1945 – Hugh Hopper, English bass guitarist (d. 2009) 1945 – Catherine Lara, French singer-songwriter and violinist 1945 – Tammi Terrell, American soul singer-songwriter (d. 1970) 1946 – Rodney Frelinghuysen, American politician and lobbyist 1947 – Tommy James, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer 1947 – Johnny Miller, American golfer and sportscaster 1947 – Jim Ryun, American runner and politician 1948 – Edith Brown Clement, American judge 1950 – Paul Holmes, New Zealand journalist (d. 2013) 1950 – Phillip Noyce, Australian director and producer 1950 – Debbie Stabenow, American social worker and politician 1951 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (d. 2001) 1951 – Jon Stanhope, Australian politician 1952 – Geraldine Doogue, Australian journalist and television host 1952 – Nora Dunn, American actress and comedian 1952 – Bob McClure, American baseball player and coach 1952 – Dave Valentin, American flautist (d. 2017) 1953 – Bill Drummond, Brittish musician 1954 – Mo Brooks, American attorney and politician 1954 – Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian, actor and producer 1955 – Leslie Jordan, American actor, comedian, writer and singer (d. 2022) 1955 – Kate Mulgrew, American actress 1957 – Daniel Day-Lewis, British-Irish actor 1957 – Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, Samoan politician, 7th Prime Minister of Samoa 1957 – Joseph Morelle, American politician 1958 – Kevin Moore, English footballer (d. 2013) 1958 – Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress 1958 – Eve Plumb, American actress 1960 – Robert J. Sawyer, Canadian author and academic 1962 – Polly Samson, English novelist, lyricist and journalist 1963 – Mike Babcock, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1964 – Federico Castelluccio, Italian-American actor, director, producer and screenwriter 1965 – Michel Bussi, French geographer, author, and academic 1965 – Amy Krouse Rosenthal, American author (d. 2017) 1966 – Christian Tetzlaff, German violinist 1968 – Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatian politician and diplomat, 4th President of Croatia 1969 – Paul Adelstein, American actor and writer 1970 – Andre Agassi, American tennis player 1970 – Uma Thurman, American actress 1975 – Garrison Starr, American singer-songwriter and producer 1975 – April Telek, Canadian actress 1976 – Micol Ostow, American author, editor and educator 1976 – God Shammgod, American basketball player and coach 1977 – Zuzana Hejdová, Czech tennis player 1977 – Claus Jensen, Danish international footballer and manager 1977 – David Sullivan, American film and television actor 1978 – Bob Bryan, American tennis player 1978 – Mike Bryan, American tennis player 1978 – Javier Colon, American singer-songwriter and musician 1978 – Tyler Labine, Canadian actor and comedian 1979 – Lee Dong-gook, South Korean footballer 1979 – Jo O'Meara, English pop singer 1980 – Bre Blair, Canadian actress 1981 – George McCartney, Northern Irish footballer 1983 – Megan Boone, American actress 1983 – Jay Cutler, American football player 1983 – Sam Jones III, American actor 1984 – Kirby Cote, Canadian swimmer 1984 – Lina Krasnoroutskaya, Russian tennis player 1986 – Byun Yo-han, South Korean actor 1986 – Lee Chae-young, South Korean actress 1987 – Rob Atkinson, English footballer 1987 – Sara Errani, Italian tennis player 1987 – Andre Russell, Jamaican cricketer 1988 – Alfred Hui, Hong Kong singer 1988 – Taoufik Makhloufi, Algerian athlete 1988 – Jonathan Toews, Canadian ice hockey player 1988 – Younha, South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer 1989 – Candace Owens, American political commentator and activist 1990 – James Faulkner, Australian cricketer 1990 – Chris Johnson, American basketball player 1991 – Adam Smith, English footballer 1991 – Jung Hye-sung, South Korean actress 1991 – Misaki Doi, Japanese tennis player 1992 – Alina Rosenberg, German paralympic equestrian 1994 – Christina Shakovets, German tennis player 1996 – Katherine Langford, Australian actress 1998 – Kimberly Birrell, Australian tennis player 1998 – Mallory Pugh, American soccer player 2002 – Sinja Kraus, Austrian tennis player 2007 – Infanta Sofía of Spain, Spanish princess Deaths Pre-1600 1109 – Hugh of Cluny, French abbot (b. 1024) 1380 – Catherine of Siena, Italian mystic, philosopher and saint (b. 1347) 1594 – Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and theologian (b. 1517) 1601–1900 1630 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French soldier and poet (b. 1552) 1658 – John Cleveland, English poet and author (b. 1613) 1676 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (b. 1607) 1707 – George Farquhar, Irish-English actor and playwright (b. 1678) 1768 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1694) 1776 – Edward Wortley Montagu, English explorer and author (b. 1713) 1833 – William Babington, Anglo-Irish physician and mineralogist (b. 1756) 1848 – Chester Ashley, American politician (b. 1790) 1854 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1768) 1901–present 1903 – Godfrey Carter, Australian businessman and politician, 39th Mayor of Melbourne (b. 1830) 1903 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and zoologist (b. 1835) 1905 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (b. 1847) 1916 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1850) 1917 – Florence Farr, British actress, composer and director (b. 1860) 1922 – Richard Croker, Irish American political boss (b. 1843) 1924 – Ernest Fox Nichols, American educator and physicist (b. 1869) 1925 – Ralph Delahaye Paine, American journalist and author (b. 1871) 1933 – Clay Stone Briggs, American politician (b. 1876) 1933 – Constantine P. Cavafy, Greek poet and journalist (b. 1863) 1935 – Leroy Carr, American singer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1905) 1937 – William Gillette, American actor and playwright (b. 1853) 1943 – Joseph Achron, Russian composer and violinist (b. 1886) 1943 – Ricardo Viñes, Spanish pianist (b. 1875) 1944 – Billy Bitzer, American cinematographer (b. 1872) 1944 – Pyotr Stolyarsky, Soviet violinist (b. 1871) 1947 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (b. 1867) 1951 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (b. 1889) 1956 – Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal (b. 1876) 1959 – Kenneth Anderson, English soldier and Governor of Gibraltar (b. 1891) 1966 – William Eccles, English physicist and engineer (b. 1875) 1966 – Paula Strasberg, American actress and acting coach (b. 1909) 1967 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1929) 1968 – Lin Zhao, Chinese dissident (b. 1932) 1978 – Theo Helfrich, German race car driver (b. 1913) 1979 – Muhsin Ertuğrul, Turkish actor and director (b. 1892) 1979 – Hardie Gramatky, American author and illustrator (b. 1907) 1980 – Alfred Hitchcock, English-American director and producer (b. 1899) 1982 – Raymond Bussières, French actor, producer and screenwriter (b. 1907) 1992 – Mae Clarke, American actress (b. 1910) 1993 – Michael Gordon, American actor and director (b. 1909) 1993 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter and producer (b. 1946) 1997 – Mike Royko, American journalist and author (b. 1932) 2000 – Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1906) 2001 – Arthur B. C. Walker Jr., American physicist and academic (b. 1936) 2002 – Bob Akin, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1936) 2003 – Janko Bobetko, Croatian Army general and Chief of the General Staff (b. 1919) 2004 – John Henniker-Major, British diplomat and civil servant (b. 1916) 2005 – William J. Bell, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1927) 2005 – Louis Leithold, American mathematician and academic (b. 1924) 2006 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to India (b. 1908) 2007 – Josh Hancock, American baseball player (b. 1978) 2007 – Dick Motz, New Zealand cricketer and rugby player (b. 1940) 2007 – Ivica Račan, Croatian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Croatia (b. 1944) 2008 – Gordon Bradley, English-American footballer (b. 1933) 2008 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic (b. 1906) 2010 – Avigdor Arikha, French-Israeli artist, printmaker and art historian (b. 1929) 2011 – Siamak Pourzand, Iranian journalist and critic (b. 1931) 2011 – Joanna Russ, American writer, academic and radical feminist (b. 1937) 2012 – Shukri Ghanem, Libyan politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1942) 2012 – Joel Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (b. 1957) 2012 – Roland Moreno. French engineer, invented the smart card (b. 1945) 2012 – Kenny Roberts, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926) 2013 – Alex Elisala, New Zealand-Australian rugby player (b. 1992) 2013 – Pesah Grupper, Israeli politician, 13th Israel Minister of Agriculture (b. 1924) 2013 – John La Montaine, American pianist and composer (b. 1920) 2013 – Kevin Moore, English footballer (b. 1958) 2013 – Marianna Zachariadi, Greek pole vaulter (b. 1990) 2014 – Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (b. 1966) 2014 – Al Feldstein, American author and illustrator (b. 1925) 2014 – Bob Hoskins, English actor (b. 1942) 2015 – François Michelin, French businessman (b. 1926) 2015 – Jean Nidetch, American businesswoman, co-founded Weight Watchers (b. 1923) 2015 – Calvin Peete, American golfer (b. 1943) 2015 – Dan Walker, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Illinois (b. 1922) 2016 – Renato Corona, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (b. 1948) 2017 – R. Vidyasagar Rao, Indian bureaucrat and activist (b. 1939) 2018 – Luis García Meza, Bolivian general, 57th President of Bolivia (b. 1929) 2018 – Michael Martin, British politician (b. 1945) 2019 – Josef Šural, Czech footballer (b. 1990) 2020 – Irrfan Khan, Indian actor (b. 1967) 2020 – Guido Münch, Mexican astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1921) 2021 – Cate Haste, English author (b. 1945) 2022 – Joanna Barnes, American actress and writer (b. 1934) 2023 – Padma Desai, Indian-American development economist (b. 1931) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Catherine of Siena (Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Church) Hugh of Cluny Robert of Molesme Wilfrid II April 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare (United Nations) International Dance Day (UNESCO) Shōwa Day, traditionally the start of the Golden Week holiday period, which is April 29 and May 3–5. (Japan) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on April 29 Days of the year April

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%2014

August 14

Events Pre-1600 74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan. 29 BC – Octavian holds the second of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes. 1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland. 1183 – Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan. 1264 – After tricking the Venetian galley fleet into sailing east to the Levant, the Genoese capture an entire Venetian trade convoy at the Battle of Saseno. 1352 – War of the Breton Succession: Anglo-Bretons defeat the French in the Battle of Mauron. 1370 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, grants city privileges to Karlovy Vary. 1385 – Portuguese Crisis of 1383–85: Battle of Aljubarrota: Portuguese forces commanded by John I of Portugal defeat the Castilian army of John I of Castile. 1592 – The first sighting of the Falkland Islands by John Davis. 1598 – Nine Years' War: Battle of the Yellow Ford: Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeat an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal. 1601–1900 1720 – The Spanish military Villasur expedition is defeated by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska. 1784 – Russian colonization of North America: Awa’uq Massacre: The Russian fur trader Grigory Shelikhov storms a Kodiak Island Alutiit refuge rock on Sitkalidak Island, killing 500+ Alutiit. 1790 – The Treaty of Wereloe ended the 1788–1790 Russo-Swedish War. 1791 – Slaves from plantations in Saint-Domingue hold a Vodou ceremony led by houngan Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, marking the start of the Haitian Revolution. 1814 – A cease fire agreement, called the Convention of Moss, ended the Swedish–Norwegian War. 1816 – The United Kingdom formally annexes the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, administering the islands from the Cape Colony in South Africa. 1842 – American Indian Wars: Second Seminole War ends, with the Seminoles forced from Florida. 1848 – Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress. 1880 – Construction of Cologne Cathedral, the most famous landmark in Cologne, Germany, is completed. 1885 – Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint. 1893 – France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration. 1900 – Battle of Peking: The Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing, China, in a campaign to end the bloody Boxer Rebellion in China. 1901–present 1901 – The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21. 1914 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Lorraine, an unsuccessful French offensive. 1917 – World War I: The Republic of China, which had heretofore been shipping labourers to Europe to assist in the war effort, officially declares war on the Central Powers, although it will continue to send to Europe labourers instead of combatants for the remaining duration of the war. 1920 – The 1920 Summer Olympics, having started four months earlier, officially open in Antwerp, Belgium, with the newly-adopted Olympic flag and the Olympic oath being raised and taken at the Opening Ceremony for the first time in Olympic history. 1921 – Tannu Uriankhai, later Tuvan People's Republic is established as a completely independent country (which is supported by Soviet Russia). 1933 – Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn; destroying of land. 1935 – Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, creating a government pension system for the retired. 1936 – Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last known public execution in the United States. 1941 – World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims. 1947 – Pakistan gains independence from the British Empire. 1959 – Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League. 1967 – UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal. 1969 – The Troubles: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland as political and sectarian violence breaks out, marking the start of the 37-year Operation Banner. 1971 – Bahrain declares independence from Britain. 1972 – An Ilyushin Il-62 airliner crashes near Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany killing 156 people. 1980 – Lech Wałęsa leads strikes at the Gdańsk, Poland shipyards. 1994 – Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured. 1996 – Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is shot and killed by a Turkish security officer while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus. 2003 – A widescale power blackout affects the northeast United States and Canada. 2005 – Helios Airways Flight 522, en route from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic via Athens, crashes in the hills near Grammatiko, Greece, killing 121 passengers and crew. 2006 – Lebanon War: A ceasefire takes effect three days after the United Nations Security Council’s approval of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, formally ending hostilities between Lebanon and Israel. 2006 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sixty-one schoolgirls killed in Chencholai bombing by Sri Lankan Air Force air strike. 2007 – The Kahtaniya bombings kills at least 500 people. 2013 – Egypt declares a state of emergency as security forces kill hundreds of demonstrators supporting former president Mohamed Morsi. 2013 – UPS Airlines Flight 1354 crashes short of the runway at Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport, killing both crew members on board. 2015 – The U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when Cuba–United States relations were broken off. 2021 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes southwestern Haiti, killing at least 2,248 people and causing a humanitarian crisis. 2022 – An explosion destroys a market in Armenia, killing six people and injuring dozens. 2023 – Former U.S. President Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, his fourth indictment of 2023. Births Pre-1600 1479 – Catherine of York (d. 1527) 1499 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English politician (d. 1526) 1502 – Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (d. 1550) 1530 – Giambattista Benedetti, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1590) 1552 – Paolo Sarpi, Italian writer (d. 1623) 1599 – Méric Casaubon, Swiss-English scholar and author (d. 1671) 1601–1900 1642 – Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1723) 1653 – Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, English colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica (d. 1688) 1688 – Frederick William I of Prussia (d. 1740) 1714 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (d. 1789) 1738 – Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1793) 1742 – Pope Pius VII (d. 1823) 1758 – Carle Vernet, French painter and lithographer (d. 1836) 1777 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d. 1851) 1802 – Letitia Elizabeth Landon, English poet and novelist (d. 1838) 1814 – Charlotte Fowler Wells, American phrenologist and publisher (d. 1901) 1817 – Alexander H. Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1874) 1840 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German-Austrian psychologist and author (d. 1902) 1847 – Robert Comtesse, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 1922) 1848 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer and author (d. 1915) 1851 – Doc Holliday, American dentist and gambler (d. 1887) 1860 – Ernest Thompson Seton, American author, artist, and naturalist (d. 1946) 1863 – Ernest Thayer, American poet and author (d. 1940) 1865 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1952) 1866 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (d. 1962) 1867 – Cupid Childs, American baseball player (d. 1912) 1867 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1933) 1871 – Guangxu Emperor of China (d. 1908) 1875 – Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian painter and illustrator (d. 1957) 1876 – Alexander I of Serbia (d. 1903) 1881 – Francis Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1953) 1883 – Ernest Everett Just, American biologist and academic (d. 1941) 1886 – Arthur Jeffrey Dempster, Canadian-American physicist and academic (d. 1950) 1889 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1976) 1890 – Bruno Tesch, German chemist and businessman (d. 1946) 1892 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist, composer, and critic (d. 1988) 1894 – Frank Burge, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1958) 1895 – Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (d. 1973) 1895 – Amaza Lee Meredith, American architect (d. 1984) 1896 – Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (d. 1917) 1896 – Theodor Luts, Estonian director and cinematographer (d. 1980) 1900 – Margret Boveri, German journalist (d. 1975) 1901–present 1910 – Nüzhet Gökdoğan, Turkish astronomer and mathematician (d. 2003) 1910 – Willy Ronis, French photographer (d. 2009) 1910 – Pierre Schaeffer, French composer and producer (d. 1995) 1912 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1985) 1913 – Hector Crawford, Australian director and producer (d. 1991) 1913 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (d. 1981) 1914 – Herman Branson, American physicist, chemist, and academic (d. 1995) 1915 – B. A. 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Priestley, English novelist and playwright (b. 1894) 1985 – Gale Sondergaard, American actress (b. 1899) 1988 – Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939) 1988 – Robert Calvert, South African-English singer-songwriter and playwright (b. 1945) 1988 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (b. 1898) 1991 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1920) 1992 – John Sirica, American lawyer and judge (b. 1904) 1994 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905) 1994 – Alice Childress, American actress, playwright, and author (b. 1912) 1996 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (b. 1912) 1999 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1918) 2002 – Larry Rivers, American painter and sculptor (b. 1923) 2003 – Helmut Rahn, German footballer (b. 1929) 2004 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish-born American novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911) 2004 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (b. 1918) 2006 – Bruno Kirby, American actor (b. 1949) 2007 – Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1913) 2010 – Herman Leonard, American photographer (b. 1923) 2012 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1945) 2012 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian chess player (b. 1923) 2012 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (b. 1919) 2013 – Jack Germond, American journalist and author (b. 1928) 2014 – Leonard Fein, American journalist and academic, co-founded Moment Magazine (b. 1934) 2014 – George V. Hansen, American politician (b. 1930) 2015 – Bob Johnston, American songwriter and producer (b. 1932) 2016 – Fyvush Finkel, American actor (b. 1922) 2018 – Jill Janus, American singer (b. 1975) 2019 – Polly Farmer, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1935) 2020 – Julian Bream, English classical guitarist and lutenist (b. 1933) 2020 – Angela Buxton, British tennis player (b. 1934) 2020 – James R. Thompson, American politician, Governor of Illinois (b. 1936) 2021 – Michael Aung-Thwin, American historian and scholar of Burmese and Southeast Asian history (b. 1946) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Arnold of Soissons Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia Eusebius of Rome Jonathan Myrick Daniels (Episcopal Church) Maximilian Kolbe Falklands Day is the celebration of the first sighting of the Falkland Islands by John Davis in 1592. Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Pakistan from the United Kingdom in 1947. Partition Horrors Remembrance Day commemorates the victims and sufferings of people during the Partition of India in 1947. References External links Days of the year August

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism

Animism

Animism (from Latin: meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as animated and alive. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism focuses on the metaphysical universe; specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul. Although each culture has its own mythologies and rituals, animism is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples' "spiritual" or "supernatural" perspectives. The animistic perspective is so widely held and inherent to most indigenous peoples that they often do not even have a word in their languages that corresponds to "animism" (or even "religion"). The term "animism" is an anthropological construct. Largely due to such ethnolinguistic and cultural discrepancies, opinions differ on whether animism refers to an ancestral mode of experience common to indigenous peoples around the world or to a full-fledged religion in its own right. The currently accepted definition of animism was only developed in the late 19th century (1871) by Edward Tylor. It is "one of anthropology's earliest concepts, if not the first." Animism encompasses beliefs that all material phenomena have agency, that there exists no categorical distinction between the spiritual and physical world, and that soul, spirit, or sentience exists not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features (such as mountains and rivers), and other entities of the natural environment. Examples include water sprites, vegetation deities, and tree spirits, among others. Animism may further attribute a life force to abstract concepts such as words, true names, or metaphors in mythology. Some members of the non-tribal world also consider themselves animists, such as author Daniel Quinn, sculptor Lawson Oyekan, and many contemporary Pagans. Etymology English anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor initially wanted to describe the phenomenon as spiritualism, but he realized that it would cause confusion with the modern religion of spiritualism, which was then prevalent across Western nations. He adopted the term animism from the writings of German scientist Georg Ernst Stahl, who had developed the term in 1708 as a biological theory that souls formed the vital principle, and that the normal phenomena of life and the abnormal phenomena of disease could be traced to spiritual causes. The origin of the word comes from the Latin word anima, which means life or soul. The first known usage in English appeared in 1819. "Old animism" definitions Earlier anthropological perspectives, which have since been termed the old animism, were concerned with knowledge on what is alive and what factors make something alive. The old animism assumed that animists were individuals who were unable to understand the difference between persons and things. Critics of the old animism have accused it of preserving "colonialist and dualistic worldviews and rhetoric." Edward Tylor's definition The idea of animism was developed by anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor through his 1871 book Primitive Culture, in which he defined it as "the general doctrine of souls and other spiritual beings in general." According to Tylor, animism often includes "an idea of pervading life and will in nature;" a belief that natural objects other than humans have souls. This formulation was little different from that proposed by Auguste Comte as "fetishism", but the terms now have distinct meanings. For Tylor, animism represented the earliest form of religion, being situated within an evolutionary framework of religion that has developed in stages and which will ultimately lead to humanity rejecting religion altogether in favor of scientific rationality. Thus, for Tylor, animism was fundamentally seen as a mistake, a basic error from which all religions grew. He did not believe that animism was inherently illogical, but he suggested that it arose from early humans' dreams and visions and thus was a rational system. However, it was based on erroneous, unscientific observations about the nature of reality. Stringer notes that his reading of Primitive Culture led him to believe that Tylor was far more sympathetic in regard to "primitive" populations than many of his contemporaries and that Tylor expressed no belief that there was any difference between the intellectual capabilities of "savage" people and Westerners. The idea that there had once been "one universal form of primitive religion" (whether labelled animism, totemism, or shamanism) has been dismissed as "unsophisticated" and "erroneous" by archaeologist Timothy Insoll, who stated that "it removes complexity, a precondition of religion now, in all its variants." Social evolutionist conceptions Tylor's definition of animism was part of a growing international debate on the nature of "primitive society" by lawyers, theologians, and philologists. The debate defined the field of research of a new science: anthropology. By the end of the 19th century, an orthodoxy on "primitive society" had emerged, but few anthropologists still would accept that definition. The "19th-century armchair anthropologists" argued that "primitive society" (an evolutionary category) was ordered by kinship and divided into exogamous descent groups related by a series of marriage exchanges. Their religion was animism, the belief that natural species and objects had souls. With the development of private property, the descent groups were displaced by the emergence of the territorial state. These rituals and beliefs eventually evolved over time into the vast array of "developed" religions. According to Tylor, as society became more scientifically advanced, fewer members of that society would believe in animism. However, any remnant ideologies of souls or spirits, to Tylor, represented "survivals" of the original animism of early humanity. Confounding animism with totemism In 1869 (three years after Tylor proposed his definition of animism), Edinburgh lawyer John Ferguson McLennan, argued that the animistic thinking evident in fetishism gave rise to a religion he named totemism. Primitive people believed, he argued, that they were descended from the same species as their totemic animal. Subsequent debate by the "armchair anthropologists" (including J. J. Bachofen, Émile Durkheim, and Sigmund Freud) remained focused on totemism rather than animism, with few directly challenging Tylor's definition. Anthropologists "have commonly avoided the issue of animism and even the term itself, rather than revisit this prevalent notion in light of their new and rich ethnographies." According to anthropologist Tim Ingold, animism shares similarities with totemism but differs in its focus on individual spirit beings which help to perpetuate life, whereas totemism more typically holds that there is a primary source, such as the land itself or the ancestors, who provide the basis to life. Certain indigenous religious groups such as the Australian Aboriginals are more typically totemic in their worldview, whereas others like the Inuit are more typically animistic. From his studies into child development, Jean Piaget suggested that children were born with an innate animist worldview in which they anthropomorphized inanimate objects and that it was only later that they grew out of this belief. Conversely, from her ethnographic research, Margaret Mead argued the opposite, believing that children were not born with an animist worldview but that they became acculturated to such beliefs as they were educated by their society. Stewart Guthrie saw animism—or "attribution" as he preferred it—as an evolutionary strategy to aid survival. He argued that both humans and other animal species view inanimate objects as potentially alive as a means of being constantly on guard against potential threats. His suggested explanation, however, did not deal with the question of why such a belief became central to the religion. In 2000, Guthrie suggested that the "most widespread" concept of animism was that it was the "attribution of spirits to natural phenomena such as stones and trees." "New animism" non-archaic definitions Many anthropologists ceased using the term animism, deeming it to be too close to early anthropological theory and religious polemic. However, the term had also been claimed by religious groups—namely, Indigenous communities and nature worshippers—who felt that it aptly described their own beliefs, and who in some cases actively identified as "animists." It was thus readopted by various scholars, who began using the term in a different way, placing the focus on knowing how to behave toward other beings, some of whom are not human. As religious studies scholar Graham Harvey stated, while the "old animist" definition had been problematic, the term animism was nevertheless "of considerable value as a critical, academic term for a style of religious and cultural relating to the world." Hallowell and the Ojibwe The new animism emerged largely from the publications of anthropologist Irving Hallowell, produced on the basis of his ethnographic research among the Ojibwe communities of Canada in the mid-20th century. For the Ojibwe encountered by Hallowell, personhood did not require human-likeness, but rather humans were perceived as being like other persons, who for instance included rock persons and bear persons. For the Ojibwe, these persons were each willful beings, who gained meaning and power through their interactions with others; through respectfully interacting with other persons, they themselves learned to "act as a person". Hallowell's approach to the understanding of Ojibwe personhood differed strongly from prior anthropological concepts of animism. He emphasized the need to challenge the modernist, Western perspectives of what a person is, by entering into a dialogue with different worldwide views. Hallowell's approach influenced the work of anthropologist Nurit Bird-David, who produced a scholarly article reassessing the idea of animism in 1999. Seven comments from other academics were provided in the journal, debating Bird-David's ideas. Postmodern anthropology More recently, postmodern anthropologists are increasingly engaging with the concept of animism. Modernism is characterized by a Cartesian subject-object dualism that divides the subjective from the objective, and culture from nature. In the modernist view, animism is the inverse of scientism, and hence, is deemed inherently invalid by some anthropologists. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour, some anthropologists question modernist assumptions and theorize that all societies continue to "animate" the world around them. In contrast to Tylor's reasoning, however, this "animism" is considered to be more than just a remnant of primitive thought. More specifically, the "animism" of modernity is characterized by humanity's "professional subcultures", as in the ability to treat the world as a detached entity within a delimited sphere of activity. Human beings continue to create personal relationships with elements of the aforementioned objective world, such as pets, cars, or teddy bears, which are recognized as subjects. As such, these entities are "approached as communicative subjects rather than the inert objects perceived by modernists." These approaches aim to avoid the modernist assumption that the environment consists of a physical world distinct from the world of humans, as well as the modernist conception of the person being composed dualistically of a body and a soul. Nurit Bird-David argues that: She explains that animism is a "relational epistemology" rather than a failure of primitive reasoning. That is, self-identity among animists is based on their relationships with others, rather than any distinctive features of the "self". Instead of focusing on the essentialized, modernist self (the "individual"), persons are viewed as bundles of social relationships ("dividuals"), some of which include "superpersons" (i.e. non-humans). Stewart Guthrie expressed criticism of Bird-David's attitude towards animism, believing that it promulgated the view that "the world is in large measure whatever our local imagination makes it." This, he felt, would result in anthropology abandoning "the scientific project." Like Bird-David, Tim Ingold argues that animists do not see themselves as separate from their environment: Rane Willerslev extends the argument by noting that animists reject this Cartesian dualism and that the animist self identifies with the world, "feeling at once within and apart from it so that the two glide ceaselessly in and out of each other in a sealed circuit". The animist hunter is thus aware of himself as a human hunter, but, through mimicry, is able to assume the viewpoint, senses, and sensibilities of his prey, to be one with it. Shamanism, in this view, is an everyday attempt to influence spirits of ancestors and animals, by mirroring their behaviors, as the hunter does its prey. Ethical and ecological understanding Cultural ecologist and philosopher David Abram proposed an ethical and ecological understanding of animism, grounded in the phenomenology of sensory experience. In his books The Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal, Abram suggests that material things are never entirely passive in our direct perceptual experience, holding rather that perceived things actively "solicit our attention" or "call our focus," coaxing the perceiving body into an ongoing participation with those things. In the absence of intervening technologies, he suggests that sensory experience is inherently animistic in that it discloses a material field that is animate and self-organizing from the beginning. David Abram used contemporary cognitive and natural science, as well as the perspectival worldviews of diverse indigenous oral cultures, Abram proposed a richly pluralist and story-based cosmology in which matter is alive. He suggested that such a relational ontology is in close accord with humanity's spontaneous perceptual experience by drawing attention to the senses, and to the primacy of sensuous terrain, enjoining a more respectful and ethical relation to the more-than-human community of animals, plants, soils, mountains, waters, and weather-patterns that materially sustains humanity. In contrast to a long-standing tendency in the Western social sciences, which commonly provide rational explanations of animistic experience, Abram develops an animistic account of reason itself. He holds that civilised reason is sustained only by intensely animistic participation between human beings and their own written signs. For instance, as soon as someone reads letters on a page or screen, they can "see what it says"—the letters speak as much as nature spoke to pre-literate peoples. Reading can usefully be understood as an intensely concentrated form of animism, one that effectively eclipses all of the other, older, more spontaneous forms of animistic participation in which humans were once engaged. Relation to the concept of 'I-thou' Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey defined animism as the belief "that the world is full of persons, only some of whom are human, and that life is always lived in relationship with others." He added that it is therefore "concerned with learning how to be a good person in respectful relationships with other persons." In his Handbook of Contemporary Animism (2013), Harvey identifies the animist perspective in line with Martin Buber's "I-thou" as opposed to "I-it". In such, Harvey says, the animist takes an I-thou approach to relating to the world, whereby objects and animals are treated as a "thou", rather than as an "it". Religion There is ongoing disagreement (and no general consensus) as to whether animism is merely a singular, broadly encompassing religious belief or a worldview in and of itself, comprising many diverse mythologies found worldwide in many diverse cultures. This also raises a controversy regarding the ethical claims animism may or may not make: whether animism ignores questions of ethics altogether; or, by endowing various non-human elements of nature with spirituality or personhood, it in fact promotes a complex ecological ethics. Concepts Distinction from pantheism Animism is not the same as pantheism, although the two are sometimes confused. Moreover, some religions are both pantheistic and animistic. One of the main differences is that while animists believe everything to be spiritual in nature, they do not necessarily see the spiritual nature of everything in existence as being united (monism) the way pantheists do. As a result, animism puts more emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual soul. In pantheism, everything shares the same spiritual essence, rather than having distinct spirits or souls. For example, Giordano Bruno equated the world soul with God and espoused a pantheistic animism. Fetishism / totemism In many animistic world views, the human being is often regarded as on a roughly equal footing with other animals, plants, and natural forces. African indigenous religions Traditional African religions: most religious traditions of Sub-Saharan Africa are basically a complex form of animism with polytheistic and shamanistic elements and ancestor worship. In East Africa the Kerma culture display Animistic elements similar to other Traditional African religions. In contrast, the later polytheistic Napatan and Meroitic periods, with displays of animals in Amulets and the esteemed antiques of Lions, appear to be an Animistic culture rather than a polytheistic culture. The Kermans likely treated Jebel Barkal as a special sacred site, and passed it on to the Kushites and Egyptians who venerated the mesa. In North Africa, the traditional Berber religion includes the traditional polytheistic, animist, and in some rare cases, shamanistic, religions of the Berber people. Asian origin religions Indian-origin religions In the Indian-origin religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, the animistic aspects of nature worship and ecological conservation are part of the core belief system. Matsya Purana, a Hindu text, has a Sanskrit language shloka (hymn), which explains the importance of reverence of ecology. It states, "A pond equals ten wells, a reservoir equals ten ponds, while a son equals ten reservoirs, and a tree equals ten sons." Indian religions worship trees such as the Bodhi Tree and numerous superlative banyan trees, conserve the sacred groves of India, revere the rivers as sacred, and worship the mountains and their ecology. Panchavati are the sacred trees in Indic religions, which are sacred groves containing five type of trees, usually chosen from among the Vata (Ficus benghalensis, Banyan), Ashvattha (Ficus religiosa, Peepal), Bilva (Aegle marmelos, Bengal Quince), Amalaki (Phyllanthus emblica, Indian Gooseberry, Amla), Ashoka (Saraca asoca, Ashok), Udumbara (Ficus racemosa, Cluster Fig, Gular), Nimba (Azadirachta indica, Neem) and Shami (Prosopis spicigera, Indian Mesquite). The banyan is considered holy in several religious traditions of India. The Ficus benghalensis is the national tree of India. Vat Purnima is a Hindu festival related to the banyan tree, and is observed by married women in North India and in the Western Indian states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat. For three days of the month of Jyeshtha in the Hindu calendar (which falls in May–June in the Gregorian calendar) married women observe a fast, tie threads around a banyan tree, and pray for the well-being of their husbands. Thimmamma Marrimanu, sacred to Indian religions, has branches spread over five acres and was listed as the world's largest banyan tree in the Guinness World Records in 1989. In Hinduism, the leaf of the banyan tree is said to be the resting place for the god Krishna. In the Bhagavat Gita, Krishna said, "There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas." (Bg 15.1) In Buddhism's Pali canon, the banyan (Pali: nigrodha) is referenced numerous times. Typical metaphors allude to the banyan's epiphytic nature, likening the banyan's supplanting of a host tree as comparable to the way sensual desire (kāma) overcomes humans. Mun (also known as Munism or Bongthingism) is the traditional polytheistic, animist, shamanistic, and syncretic religion of the Lepcha people. Chinese religions Shendao () is a term originated by Chinese folk religions influenced by, Mohist, Confucian and Taoist philosophy, referring to the divine order of nature or the Wuxing. Japan and Shinto Shinto is the traditional Japanese folk religion and has many animist aspects. The , a class of supernatural beings, are central to Shinto. All things, including natural forces and well-known geographical locations, are thought to be home to the kami. The kami are worshipped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines. The Ryukyuan religion of the Ryukyu islands is distinct from Shinto, but shares similar characteristics. Kalash people Kalash people of Northern Pakistan follow an ancient animistic religion identified with an ancient form of Hinduism. Korea Muism, the native Korean belief, has many animist aspects. The various deities, called kwisin, are capable of interacting with humans and causing problems if they are not honoured appropriately. Philippines indigenous religions In the indigenous Philippine folk religions, pre-colonial religions of Philippines and Philippine mythology, animism is part of their core beliefs as demonstrated by the belief in Anito and Bathala as well as their conservation and veneration of sacred Indigenous Philippine shrines, forests, mountains and sacred grounds. Anito (lit. '[ancestor] spirit') refers to the various indigenous shamanistic folk religions of the Philippines, led by female or feminized male shamans known as babaylan. It includes belief in a spirit world existing alongside and interacting with the material world, as well as the belief that everything has a spirit, from rocks and trees to animals and humans to natural phenomena. In indigenous Filipino belief, the Bathala is the omnipotent deity which was derived from Sanskrit word for the Hindu supreme deity bhattara, as one of the ten avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. The omnipotent Bathala also presides over the spirits of ancestors called Anito. Anitos serve as intermediaries between mortals and the divine, such as Agni (Hindu) who holds the access to divine realms; for this reason they are invoked first and are the first to receive offerings, regardless of the deity the worshipper wants to pray to. Abrahamic religions Animism also has influences in Abrahamic religions. The Old Testament and the Wisdom literature preach the omnipresence of God (Jeremiah 23:24; Proverbs 15:3; 1 Kings 8:27), and God is bodily present in the incarnation of his Son, Jesus Christ. (Gospel of John 1:14, Colossians 2:9). Animism is not peripheral to Christian identity but is its nurturing home ground, its axis mundi. In addition to the conceptual work the term animism performs, it provides insight into the relational character and common personhood of material existence. With rising awareness of ecological preservation, recently theologians like Mark I. Wallace argue for animistic Christianity with a biocentric approach that understands God being present in all earthly objects, such as animals, trees, and rocks. Pre-Islamic Arab religion Pre-Islamic Arab religion can refer to the traditional polytheistic, animist, and in some rare cases, shamanistic, religions of the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. The belief in jinn, invisible entities akin to spirits in the Western sense dominant in the Arab religious systems, hardly fit the description of Animism in a strict sense. The jinn are considered to be analogous to the human soul by living lives like that of humans, but they are not exactly like human souls neither are they spirits of the dead. It is unclear if belief in jinn derived from nomadic or sedentary populations. Neopagan and New Age movements Some Neopagan groups, including Eco-pagans, describe themselves as animists, meaning that they respect the diverse community of living beings and spirits with whom humans share the world and cosmos. The New Age movement commonly demonstrates animistic traits in asserting the existence of nature spirits. Shamanism A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. According to Mircea Eliade, shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments and illnesses by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul or spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds or dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment. Abram, however, articulates a less supernatural and much more ecological understanding of the shaman's role than that propounded by Eliade. Drawing upon his own field research in Indonesia, Nepal, and the Americas, Abram suggests that in animistic cultures, the shaman functions primarily as an intermediary between the human community and the more-than-human community of active agencies—the local animals, plants, and landforms (mountains, rivers, forests, winds, and weather patterns, all of which are felt to have their own specific sentience). Hence, the shaman's ability to heal individual instances of dis-ease (or imbalance) within the human community is a byproduct of their more continual practice of balancing the reciprocity between the human community and the wider collective of animate beings in which that community is embedded. Animist life Non-human animals Animism entails the belief that "all living things have a soul", and thus, a central concern of animist thought surrounds how animals can be eaten, or otherwise used for humans' subsistence needs. The actions of non-human animals are viewed as "intentional, planned and purposive", and they are understood to be persons, as they are both alive, and communicate with others. In animist worldviews, non-human animals are understood to participate in kinship systems and ceremonies with humans, as well as having their own kinship systems and ceremonies. Harvey cited an example of an animist understanding of animal behavior that occurred at a powwow held by the Conne River Mi'kmaq in 1996; an eagle flew over the proceedings, circling over the central drum group. The assembled participants called out ('eagle'), conveying welcome to the bird and expressing pleasure at its beauty, and they later articulated the view that the eagle's actions reflected its approval of the event, and the Mi'kmaq's return to traditional spiritual practices. In animism, rituals are performed to maintain relationships between humans and spirits. Indigenous peoples often perform these rituals to appease the spirits and request their assistance during activities such as hunting and healing. In the Arctic region, certain rituals are common before the hunt as a means to show respect for the spirits of animals. Flora Some animists also view plant and fungi life as persons and interact with them accordingly. The most common encounter between humans and these plant and fungi persons is with the former's collection of the latter for food, and for animists, this interaction typically has to be carried out respectfully. Harvey cited the example of Māori communities in New Zealand, who often offer karakia invocations to sweet potatoes as they dig up the latter. While doing so, there is an awareness of a kinship relationship between the Māori and the sweet potatoes, with both understood as having arrived in Aotearoa together in the same canoes. In other instances, animists believe that interaction with plant and fungi persons can result in the communication of things unknown or even otherwise unknowable. Among some modern Pagans, for instance, relationships are cultivated with specific trees, who are understood to bestow knowledge or physical gifts, such as flowers, sap, or wood that can be used as firewood or to fashion into a wand; in return, these Pagans give offerings to the tree itself, which can come in the form of libations of mead or ale, a drop of blood from a finger, or a strand of wool. The elements Various animistic cultures also comprehend stones as persons. Discussing ethnographic work conducted among the Ojibwe, Harvey noted that their society generally conceived of stones as being inanimate, but with two notable exceptions: the stones of the Bell Rocks and those stones which are situated beneath trees struck by lightning, which were understood to have become Thunderers themselves. The Ojibwe conceived of weather as being capable of having personhood, with storms being conceived of as persons known as 'Thunderers' whose sounds conveyed communications and who engaged in seasonal conflict over the lakes and forests, throwing lightning at lake monsters. Wind, similarly, can be conceived as a person in animistic thought. The importance of place is also a recurring element of animism, with some places being understood to be persons in their own right. Spirits Animism can also entail relationships being established with non-corporeal spirit entities. Other usage Science In the early 20th century, William McDougall defended a form of animism in his book Body and Mind: A History and Defence of Animism (1911). Physicist Nick Herbert has argued for "quantum animism" in which the mind permeates the world at every level: Werner Krieglstein wrote regarding his quantum Animism: In Error and Loss: A Licence to Enchantment, Ashley Curtis (2018) has argued that the Cartesian idea of an experiencing subject facing off with an inert physical world is incoherent at its very foundation and that this incoherence is consistent with rather than belied by Darwinism. Human reason (and its rigorous extension in the natural sciences) fits an evolutionary niche just as echolocation does for bats and infrared vision does for pit vipers, and is epistemologically on a par with, rather than superior to, such capabilities. The meaning or aliveness of the "objects" we encounter, rocks, trees, rivers, and other animals, thus depends for its validity not on a detached cognitive judgment, but purely on the quality of our experience. The animist experience, or the wolf's or raven's experience, thus become licensed as equally valid worldviews to the modern western scientific one; they are indeed more valid, since they are not plagued with the incoherence that inevitably arises when "objective existence" is separated from "subjective experience." Socio-political impact Harvey opined that animism's views on personhood represented a radical challenge to the dominant perspectives of modernity, because it accords "intelligence, rationality, consciousness, volition, agency, intentionality, language, and desire" to non-humans. Similarly, it challenges the view of human uniqueness that is prevalent in both Abrahamic religions and Western rationalism. Art and literature Animist beliefs can also be expressed through artwork. For instance, among the Māori communities of New Zealand, there is an acknowledgement that creating art through carving wood or stone entails violence against the wood or stone person and that the persons who are damaged therefore have to be placated and respected during the process; any excess or waste from the creation of the artwork is returned to the land, while the artwork itself is treated with particular respect. Harvey, therefore, argued that the creation of art among the Māori was not about creating an inanimate object for display, but rather a transformation of different persons within a relationship. Harvey expressed the view that animist worldviews were present in various works of literature, citing such examples as the writings of Alan Garner, Leslie Silko, Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Walker, Daniel Quinn, Linda Hogan, David Abram, Patricia Grace, Chinua Achebe, Ursula Le Guin, Louise Erdrich, and Marge Piercy. Animist worldviews have also been identified in the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki. See also Anecdotal cognitivism Animatism Anima mundi Dayawism Ecotheology Hylozoism Mana Mauri (life force) Kaitiaki Panpsychism Religion and environmentalism Sacred trees Shamanism Wildlife totemization References Sources Further reading Abram, David. 2010. Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology (New York: Pantheon Books) Badenberg, Robert. 2007. "How about 'Animism'? An Inquiry beyond Label and Legacy." In Mission als Kommunikation: Festschrift für Ursula Wiesemann zu ihrem 75, Geburtstag, edited by K. W. Müller. Nürnberg: VTR () and Bonn: VKW (). Hallowell, Alfred Irving. 1960. "Ojibwa ontology, behavior, and world view." In Culture in History, edited by S. Diamond. (New York: Columbia University Press). Reprint: 2002. Pp. 17–49 in Readings in Indigenous Religions, edited by G. Harvey. London: Continuum. Harvey, Graham. 2005. Animism: Respecting the Living World. London: Hurst & Co. Ingold, Tim. 2006. "Rethinking the animate, re-animating thought." Ethnos 71(1):9–20. Käser, Lothar. 2004. Animismus. Eine Einführung in die begrifflichen Grundlagen des Welt- und Menschenbildes traditionaler (ethnischer) Gesellschaften für Entwicklungshelfer und kirchliche Mitarbeiter in Übersee. Bad Liebenzell: Liebenzeller Mission. . mit dem verkürzten Untertitel Einführung in seine begrifflichen Grundlagen auch bei: Erlanger Verlag für Mission und Okumene, Neuendettelsau 2004, Quinn, Daniel. [1996] 1997. The Story of B: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. New York: Bantam Books, and the essay "Our Religions: Are They the Religions of Humanity Itself?", usually available at Ishmael.org Wundt, Wilhelm. 1906. Mythus und Religion, Teil II. Leipzig 1906 (Völkerpsychologie II) External links Animism, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Animism, Rinri, Modernization; the Base of Japanese Robotics Urban Legends Reference Pages: Weight of the Soul Animist Network Anthropology of religion Metaphysical theories Panentheism Philosophy of religion Polytheism Schools of thought Spiritism Spiritualism Spirituality Transtheism

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio%20Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, Vivaldi ranks amongst the greatest Baroque composers and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and programmatic music. He consolidated the emerging concerto form into a widely accepted and followed idiom. Vivaldi composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than fifty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi began studying for the priesthood at the age of 15 and was ordained at 25, but was given dispensation to no longer say public Masses due to a health problem. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for royal support. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died in poverty less than a year later. After almost two centuries of decline, Vivaldi's musical reputation underwent a revival in the early 20th century, with much scholarly research devoted to his work. Many of Vivaldi's compositions, once thought lost, have been rediscovered – some as recently as 2015. His music remains widely popular in the present day and is regularly played all over the world. Early life Birth and background Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Republic of Venice. He was son of Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the register of San Giovanni in Bragora. He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, the reason for which has led to speculation. Most likely it was done due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that supposedly struck the city that day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi's mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood. However, there was no earthquake on the day Vivaldi was born, and this rumor may originate from an earthquake that struck Venice on April 17, 1688. The ceremonies which had been omitted were supplied two months later. Vivaldi had five known siblings: Bonaventura Tomaso, Margarita Gabriela, Cecilia Maria, Francesco Gaetano, and Zanetta Anna. Vivaldi's health was problematic. One of his symptoms, strettezza di petto ("tightness of the chest"), has been interpreted as a form of asthma. This did not prevent him from learning to play the violin, composing, or taking part in musical activities, although it did stop him from playing wind instruments. Youth His father, Giovanni Battista, was a barber before becoming a professional violinist and was one of the founders of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, an association of musicians. He taught Antonio to play the violin and then toured Venice, playing the violin with his young son. Antonio was probably taught at an early age, judging by the extensive musical knowledge he had acquired by the age of 24, when he started working at the Ospedale della Pietà. The president of the Sovvegno was Giovanni Legrenzi, an early Baroque composer and the maestro di cappella at St Mark's Basilica. It is possible that Legrenzi gave the young Antonio his first lessons in composition. Vivaldi's father may have been a composer himself: in 1689, an opera titled La Fedeltà sfortunata was composed by a Giovanni Battista Rossi—the name under which Vivaldi's father had joined the Sovvegno di Santa Cecilia. Vivaldi's early liturgical work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31) was written in 1691 at the age of thirteen. In 1693, at the age of fifteen, he began studying to become a priest. He was ordained in 1703, aged 25, and was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest" (Rosso is Italian for "red" and would have referred to the color of his hair, a family trait.). Career Ospedale della Pietà While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well. The German architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach referred to Vivaldi as "the famous composer and violinist" and said that "Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion he added a free fantasy [an improvised cadenza] which absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion." In September 1703, Vivaldi (24) became maestro di violino (master of violin) at an orphanage called the Pio Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice; although it was his talents as a violinist which probably secured him the job, he soon became a successful teacher of music there. Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working at the Ospedale. There were four similar institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by funds provided by the Republic. The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached the age of fifteen. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir. Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad, too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them. These sacred works, which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for soloists, double chorus, and orchestra. In 1704, the position of teacher of viola all'inglese was added to his duties as violin instructor. The position of maestro di coro, which was at one time filled by Vivaldi, required a lot of time and work. He had to compose an oratorio or concerto at every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments. His relationship with the board of directors of the Ospedale was often strained. The board had to vote every year on whether to keep a teacher. The vote on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous and went 7 to 6 against him in 1709. After a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by the Ospedale with a unanimous vote in 1711; clearly during his year's absence the board had realized the importance of his role. He became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution when he was promoted to maestro de' concerti (music director) in 1716 and responsible for composing two new concertos every month. In 1705, the first collection (Connor Cassara) of his works was published by Giuseppe Sala: his Opus 1 is a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, in a conventional style. In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo appeared—Opus 2. A real breakthrough as a composer came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, L'estro armonico (Opus 3), which was published in Amsterdam in 1711 by Estienne Roger, dedicated to Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany. The prince sponsored many musicians including Alessandro Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. He was a musician himself, and Vivaldi probably met him in Venice. L'estro armonico was a resounding success all over Europe. It was followed in 1714 by La stravaganza (Opus 4), a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings, dedicated to an old violin student of Vivaldi's, the Venetian noble Vettor Dolfin. In February 1711, Vivaldi and his father traveled to Brescia, where his setting of the Stabat Mater (RV 621) was played as part of a religious festival. The work seems to have been written in haste: the string parts are simple, the music of the first three movements is repeated in the next three, and not all the text is set. Nevertheless, perhaps in part because of the forced essentiality of the music, the work is considered to be one of his early masterpieces. Despite his frequent travels from 1718, the Ospedale paid him 2 sequins to write two concerti a month for the orchestra and to rehearse with them at least five times when in Venice. The orphanage's records show that he was paid for 140 concerti between 1723 and 1733. Opera impresario In early 18th-century Venice, opera was the most popular musical entertainment. It proved most profitable for Vivaldi. There were several theaters competing for the public's attention. Vivaldi started his career as an opera composer as a sideline: his first opera, Ottone in villa (RV 729) was performed not in Venice, but at the Garzerie Theater in Vicenza in 1713. The following year, Vivaldi became the impresario of the Teatro San Angelo in Venice, where his opera Orlando finto pazzo (RV 727) was performed. The work was not to the public's taste, and it closed after a couple of weeks, being replaced with a repeat of a different work already given the previous year. In 1715, he presented Nerone fatto Cesare (RV 724, now lost), with music by seven different composers, of which he was the leader. The opera contained eleven arias and was a success. In the late season, Vivaldi planned to put on an opera entirely of his own creation, Arsilda, regina di Ponto (RV 700), but the state censor blocked the performance. The main character, Arsilda, falls in love with another woman, Lisea, who is pretending to be a man. Vivaldi got the censor to accept the opera the following year, and it was a resounding success. During this period, the Pietà commissioned several liturgical works. The most important were two oratorios. Moyses Deus Pharaonis, (RV 643) is now lost. The second, Juditha triumphans (RV 644), celebrates the victory of the Republic of Venice against the Turks and the recapture of the island of Corfu. Composed in 1716, it is one of his sacred masterpieces. All eleven singing parts were performed by girls of the orphanage, both the female and male roles. Many of the arias include parts for solo instruments—recorders, oboes, violas d'amore, and mandolins—that showcased the range of talents of the girls. Also in 1716, Vivaldi wrote and produced two more operas, L'incoronazione di Dario (RV 719) and La costanza trionfante degli amori e degli odi (RV 706). The latter was so popular that it was performed two years later, re-edited and retitled Artabano re dei Parti (RV 701, now lost). It was also performed in Prague in 1732. In the years that followed, Vivaldi wrote several operas that were performed all over Italy. His progressive operatic style caused him some trouble with more conservative musicians such as Benedetto Marcello, a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a pamphlet denouncing Vivaldi and his operas. The pamphlet, Il teatro alla moda, attacks the composer even as it does not mention him directly. The cover drawing shows a boat (the Sant'Angelo), on the left end of which stands a little angel wearing a priest's hat and playing the violin. The Marcello family claimed ownership of the Teatro Sant'Angelo, and a long legal battle had been fought with the management for its restitution, without success. The obscure text under the engraving mentions non-existent places and names: for example, ALDIVIVA is an anagram of "A. Vivaldi". In a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio in 1737, he makes reference to his "94 operas". Only around 50 operas by Vivaldi have been discovered, and no other documentation of the remaining operas exists. Although Vivaldi may have been exaggerating, it is plausible that, in his dual role of composer and impresario, he may have either written or been responsible for the production of as many as 94 operas—given that his career had by then spanned almost 25 years. While Vivaldi certainly composed many operas in his time, he never attained the prominence of other great composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Adolph Hasse, Leonardo Leo, and Baldassare Galuppi, as evidenced by his inability to keep a production running for an extended period of time in any major opera house. Mantua and the Four Seasons In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a prestigious new position as Maestro di Cappella of the court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, governor of Mantua, in the northwest of Italy He moved there for three years and produced several operas, among them Tito Manlio (RV 738). In 1721, he was in Milan, where he presented the pastoral drama La Silvia (RV 734); nine arias from it survive. He visited Milan again the following year with the oratorio L'adorazione delli tre re magi al bambino Gesù (RV 645, now lost). In 1722 he moved to Rome, where he introduced his operas' new style. The new pope Benedict XIII invited Vivaldi to play for him. In 1725, Vivaldi returned to Venice, where he produced four operas in the same year. During this period Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos that give musical expression to the seasons of the year. The composition was probably one of his most famous. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera Il Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cène in 1725. During his time in Mantua, Vivaldi became acquainted with an aspiring young singer Anna Tessieri Girò, who would become his student, protégée, and favorite prima donna. Anna, along with her older half-sister Paolina, moved in with Vivaldi and regularly accompanied him on his many travels. There was speculation as to the nature of Vivaldi's and Girò's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional collaboration. Vivaldi, in fact, adamantly denied any romantic relationship with Girò in a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated 16 November 1737. Late period At the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobility and royalty, some of them are: The serenata (cantata) Gloria e Imeneo (RV 687), was commissioned in 1725 by the French ambassador to Venice in celebration of the marriage of Louis XV, when Vivaldi was 48 years old. The serenata, La Sena festeggiante (RV 694), was written in 1726 for and premiered at the French embassy as well, celebrating the birth of the French royal princesses, Henriette and Louise Élisabeth. Vivaldi's Opus 9, La cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. In 1728, Vivaldi met the emperor while the emperor was visiting Trieste to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles VI admired the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer during their one meeting than he spoke to his ministers in over two years. He gave Vivaldi the title of knight, a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna. Vivaldi gave Charles a manuscript copy of La cetra, a set of concerti almost completely different from the set of the same title published as Opus 9. The printing was probably delayed, forcing Vivaldi to gather an improvised collection for the emperor. His opera Farnace (RV 711) was presented in 1730; it garnered six revivals. Some of his later operas were created in collaboration with two of Italy's major writers of the time. Vivaldi was accompanied by his father and traveled to Vienna and Prague in 1730. L'Olimpiade and Catone in Utica were written by Pietro Metastasio, the major representative of the Arcadian movement and court poet in Vienna. La Griselda was rewritten by the young Carlo Goldoni from an earlier libretto by Apostolo Zeno. Like many composers of the time, Vivaldi faced financial difficulties in his later years. His compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they once had been in Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded. In response, Vivaldi chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to Vienna. The reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that, after the success of his meeting with Emperor Charles VI, he wished to take up the position of a composer in the imperial court. On his way to Vienna, Vivaldi may have stopped in Graz to see Anna Girò. Death Vivaldi moved to Vienna probably to stage operas, especially as he took up residence near the Kärntnertortheater. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, Charles VI died, which left the composer without any royal protection or a steady source of income. Soon afterwards, Vivaldi became impoverished and died during the night of 27/28 July 1741, aged 63, of "internal infection", in a house owned by the widow of a Viennese saddlemaker. On 28 July, Vivaldi was buried in a simple grave in a burial ground that was owned by the public hospital fund. His funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral. Contrary to popular legend, the young Joseph Haydn who was in the cathedral choir at the time had nothing to do with his burial, since no music was performed on that occasion. His funeral was attended by six pall-bearers and six choir boys (Kuttenbuben), at a "mean" cost of 19 florins and 45 kreuzer. Only a Kleingeläut (small peal of bells), the lowest class, was provided, at a cost of 2ƒ 36. Vivaldi was buried next to the Karlskirche, a baroque church in an area which is now part of the site of the TU Wien university. The house where he lived in Vienna has since been destroyed; the Hotel Sacher is built on part of the site. Memorial plaques have been placed at both locations, as well as a Vivaldi "star" in the Viennese Musikmeile and a monument at the Rooseveltplatz. Only two, possibly three, original portraits of Vivaldi are known to survive: an engraving, an ink sketch and an oil painting. The engraving, which was the basis of several copies produced later by other artists, was made in 1725 by François Morellon de La Cave for the first edition of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, and shows Vivaldi holding a sheet of music. The ink sketch, a caricature, was done by Ghezzi in 1723 and shows Vivaldi's head and shoulders in profile. It exists in two versions: a first jotting kept at the Vatican Library, and a much lesser-known, slightly more detailed copy recently discovered in Moscow. The oil painting, which can be seen in the International Museum and Library of Music of Bologna, is anonymous and is thought to depict Vivaldi due to its strong resemblance to the La Cave engraving. During his lifetime, Vivaldi was popular in many countries throughout Europe, including France, but after his death his popularity dwindled. After the end of the Baroque period, Vivaldi's published concerti became relatively unknown, and were largely ignored. Even his most famous work, The Four Seasons, was unknown in its original edition during the Classical and Romantic periods. Vivaldi's work was rediscovered in the 20th century. Works A composition by Vivaldi is identified by RV number, which refers to its place in the "Ryom-Verzeichnis" or "Répertoire des oeuvres d'Antonio Vivaldi", a catalog created in the 20th century by the musicologist Peter Ryom. Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) of 1723 is his most famous work. Part of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione ("The Contest between Harmony and Invention"), it depicts moods and scenes from each of the four seasons. This work has been described as an outstanding instance of pre-19th-century program music. Vivaldi wrote more than 500 other concertos. About 350 of these are for solo instrument and strings, of which 230 are for violin, the others being for bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, viola d'amore, recorder, lute, or mandolin. About forty concertos are for two instruments and strings, and about thirty are for three or more instruments and strings. As well as about 46 operas, Vivaldi composed a large body of sacred choral music, such as the Magnificat RV 610. Other works include sinfonias, about 90 sonatas and chamber music. Some sonatas for flute, published as Il Pastor Fido, have been erroneously attributed to Vivaldi, but were composed by Nicolas Chédeville. Catalogues of Vivaldi works Vivaldi's works attracted cataloging efforts befitting a major composer. Scholarly work intended to increase the accuracy and variety of Vivaldi performances also supported new discoveries which made old catalogs incomplete. Works still in circulation today may be numbered under several different systems (some earlier catalogs are mentioned here). Because the simply consecutive Complete Edition (CE) numbers did not reflect the individual works (Opus numbers) into which compositions were grouped, numbers assigned by Antonio Fanna were often used in conjunction with CE numbers. Combined Complete Edition (CE)/Fanna numbering was especially common in the work of Italian groups driving the mid-20th-century revival of Vivaldi, such as Gli Accademici di Milano under Piero Santi. For example, the Bassoon Concerto in B major, "La Notte" RV 501, became CE 12, F. VIII,1 Despite the awkwardness of having to overlay Fanna numbers onto the Complete Edition number for meaningful grouping of Vivaldi's oeuvre, these numbers displaced the older Pincherle numbers as the (re-)discovery of more manuscripts had rendered older catalogs obsolete. This cataloging work was led by the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, where Gian Francesco Malipiero was both the director and the editor of the published scores (Edizioni G. Ricordi). His work built on that of Antonio Fanna, a Venetian businessman and the Institute's founder, and thus formed a bridge to the scholarly catalog dominant today. Compositions by Vivaldi are identified today by RV number, the number assigned by Danish musicologist Peter Ryom in works published mostly in the 1970s, such as the "Ryom-Verzeichnis" or "Répertoire des oeuvres d'Antonio Vivaldi". Like the Complete Edition before it, the RV does not typically assign its single, consecutive numbers to "adjacent" works that occupy one of the composer's single opus numbers. Its goal as a modern catalog is to index the manuscripts and sources that establish the existence and nature of all known works. Style and influence Vivaldi's music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto, in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes. The German scholar Walter Kolneder has discerned the influence of Legrenzi's style in Vivaldi's early liturgical work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31), written in 1691 at the age of thirteen. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi's concerti for solo keyboard, three for organ, and one for four harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo (BWV 1065) based upon the concerto for four violins, two violas, cello, and basso continuo (RV 580). Legacy In the early 20th century, Fritz Kreisler's Concerto in C, in the Style of Vivaldi (which he passed off as an original Vivaldi work) helped revive Vivaldi's reputation. Kreisler's concerto in C spurred the French scholar Marc Pincherle to begin an academic study of Vivaldi's oeuvre. Many Vivaldi manuscripts were rediscovered, which were acquired by the Turin National University Library as a result of the generous sponsorship of Turinese businessmen Roberto Foa and Filippo Giordano, in memory of their sons. This led to a renewed interest in Vivaldi by, among others, Mario Rinaldi, Alfredo Casella, Ezra Pound, Olga Rudge, Desmond Chute, Arturo Toscanini, Arnold Schering and Louis Kaufman, all of whom were instrumental in the revival of Vivaldi throughout the 20th century. In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, researchers discovered fourteen bound volumes of Vivaldi's work but later on discovered to be fifteen that were previously thought to have been lost during the Napoleonic Wars. Some missing tomes in the numbered set were discovered in the collections of the descendants of the Grand Duke Durazzo, who had acquired the monastery complex in the 18th century. The volumes contained 300 concertos, 19 operas and over 100 vocal-instrumental works. The resurrection of Vivaldi's unpublished works in the 20th century greatly benefited from the noted efforts of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939 organized the historic Vivaldi Week, in which the rediscovered Gloria (RV 589) and l'Olimpiade were revived. Since World War II, Vivaldi's compositions have enjoyed wide success. Historically informed performances, often on "original instruments", have increased Vivaldi's fame still further. Recent rediscoveries of works by Vivaldi include two psalm settings: Psalm 127, Nisi Dominus (RV 803 in eight movements); and Psalm 110, Dixit Dominus (RV 807 in eleven movements). These were identified in 2003 and 2005, respectively, by the Australian scholar Janice Stockigt. The Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described RV 807 as "arguably the best nonoperatic work from Vivaldi's pen to come to light since […] the 1920s". Vivaldi's 1730 opera Argippo (RV 697), which had been considered lost, was rediscovered in 2006 by the harpsichordist and conductor Ondřej Macek, whose Hofmusici orchestra performed the work at Prague Castle on 3 May 2008—its first performance since 1730. Modern depictions of Vivaldi's life include a 2005 radio play, commissioned by the ABC Radio National and written by Sean Riley. Entitled The Angel and the Red Priest, the play was later adapted for the stage and was performed at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts. Films about Vivaldi include (1989), an Italian-French co-production under the direction of Étienne Périer, (2006), an Italian-French co-production under the direction of , and Vivaldi, the Red Priest (2009), loosely based on Antonio's life as both priest and composer. References Notes Citations Sources Further reading Romijn, André. Hidden Harmonies: The Secret Life of Antonio Vivaldi, 2007 Selfridge-Field, Eleanor (1994). Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi. New York, Dover Publications. . External links 1678 births 1741 deaths 18th-century male musicians 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Catholic liturgical composers Classical composers of church music Composers for cello Composers for violin Italian Baroque composers Italian classical violinists Italian expatriates in Austria Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Republic of Venice clergy Male classical violinists Male opera composers Oratorio composers Musicians from Venice 18th-century Italian composers Impresarios

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian

Adrian

Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word adur, meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main channel of the Po River into the Adriatic Sea but ceased to exist before the 1st century BC. Hecataeus of Miletus (c.550 – c.476 BC) asserted that both the Etruscan harbor city of Adria and the Adriatic Sea had been named after it. Emperor Hadrian's family was named after the city or region of Adria/Hadria, now Atri, in Picenum, which most likely started as an Etruscan or Greek colony of the older harbor city of the same name. Several saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages. Religion Pope Adrian I (c. 700–795) Pope Adrian II (792–872) Pope Adrian III (died 885) Pope Adrian IV (c. 1100–1159), English pope Pope Adrian V (c. 1205–1276) Adrian of Batanea (died 308), Christian martyr and saint Adrian of Canterbury (died 710), scholar and Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury Adrian of Castello (1460–1521), Italian cardinal and writer Adrian of May (died 875), Scottish saint from the Isle of May, martyred by Vikings Adrian of Moscow (1627–1700), last pre-revolutionary Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Adrian of Nicomedia (died 306), martyr and Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximian Adrian of Ondrusov (died 1549), Russian Orthodox saint and wonder-worker Adrian of Poshekhonye (died 1550), Russian Orthodox saint, hegumen of Dormition monastery in Yaroslavl region Adrian of Transylvania (fl. 1183–1201), Hungarian bishop and chancellor Adrian Fortescue (martyr) (1476–1539), English courtier at Henry VIII's court, beatified as a Roman Catholic martyr Adrian Gouffier de Boissy (1479–1523), French Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal Adrian Kivumbi Ddungu (1923–2009), Ugandan Roman Catholic bishop Adrian Leo Doyle (born 1936), Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church Government and politics Adrian Amstutz (born 1953), Swiss politician Adrian Arnold (1932–2018), American politician Adrian Bailey (born 1945), British politician Adrian Baillie (1898–1947), British politician Adrian A. Basora (born 1938), American diplomat Adrian Benepe, American Commissioner Adrian Bennett (1933–2006), Australian politician Adrian Benjamin Bentzon (1777–1827), Norwegian politician Adrian Berry, 4th Viscount Camrose (1937–2016), British hereditary peer and journalist Adrian P. Burke (1904–2000), American judge and politician Adrián Fernández Cabrera (born 1967), Mexican politician Adrian Cochrane-Watson (born 1967), Irish politician Adrian Davis (civil servant), British economist and civil servant Adrian Delia (born 1969), Maltese politician Adrian Fenty (born 1970), American politician, mayor of Washington D.C. Adrian Flook (born 1963), British politician Adrian Foster (politician), Canadian politician Adrian Hasler (born 1964), Liechtenstein politician Adrian Knatchbull-Hugessen (1891–1976), Canadian lawyer and senator Adrián Vázquez Lázara (born 1982), Spanish politician Adrian Molin (1880–1942), Swedish writer and political activist Adrian Năstase (born 1950), Romanian politician Adrian Neritani, former Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations Adrián Rivera Pérez (born 1962), Mexican politician Adrian Piccoli (born 1970), Australian politician Adrian Cola Rienzi (1905–1972), Trinidadin and Tobagonian trade unionist, civil rights activist, politician, and lawyer Adriano Sánchez Roa (born 1956), Dominican politician Adrian Rurawhe (born 1961), New Zealand politician Adrian M. Smith (born 1970), American politician Adrian Sanders (born 1959), British politician Adrian Severin (born 1954), Romanian politician and Member of the European Parliament Adrian Smith (politician) (born 1970), American politician Adrian Stokes (courtier) (1519–1586), English politician Adrian Stoughton (1556–1614), English politician Academia Adrian Albert (1905–1972), American mathematician Adrian Baddeley (born 1955), Australian scientist Adrian Bailey (academic), American scholar Adrian Bejan (born 1948), Romanian-born professor of mechanical engineering at Duke University Adrian Beverland (1650–1716), Dutch philosopher and jurist who settled in England Adrian Bird (born 1947), British geneticist Adrian Bowyer (born 1952), engineer, creator of the RepRap project Adrian John Brown (1852–1919), British professor and pioneer Adrian David Cheok (born 1971/1972), Australian electrical engineer and professor Adrian Curaj (born 1958), Romanian engineer Adrian Darby (born 1937), British conservationist and academic Adrian Goldsworthy (born 1969), British historian and author who writes mostly about ancient Roman history Adrian Hardy Haworth (1767–1833), English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist Adrian Ioana (born 1981), Romanian mathematician Adrian Mihai Ionescu, Romanian professor Adrian Ioviță (born 1954), Romanian-Canadian mathematician Adrian Jacobsen (1853–1947), Norwegian ethnologist and explorer Adrian Kaehler, American scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, and author Adrian Liston (born 1980), British immunologist and author Adrian Paterson, South African scientist and engineer Adrián Recinos (1886–1962), Guatemalan historian, Mayanist and diplomat Adrian Smith (born 1946), British statistician Adrian Stephens (1795–1876), English engineer, inventor of the steam whistle Adrian V. Stokes (1945–2020), British computer scientist Adrian Webb (born 1943), British academic and public administrator Adrian Zenz (born 1974), German anthropologist Military Adrian Becher (1897–1957), British Army officer and cricketer Adrian von Bubenberg (1434–1479), Bernese knight, military commander and mayor Adrian Carton de Wiart (1880–1963), Belgian-born British Army lieutenant-general awarded the Victoria Cross Adrian Cole (RAAF officer) (1895–1966), Australian World War I flying ace Adrian Johns (born 1951), English governor of Gibraltar and former Royal Navy vice-admiral Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (1848–1920), German military commander in Africa Adrian Marks (1917–1998), United States Navy pilot Adrian Consett Stephen (1894–1918), Australian artillery officer and playwright Adrian Warburton (1918–1944), British Second World War pilot Adrián Woll (1795–1875), French Mexican general during the Texas Revolution and the Mexican–American War Sports American football Adrian Amos (born 1993), American football player Adrian Arrington (born 1985), American football player Adrian Awasom (born 1983), Cameroon-born American football player Adrian Baird (born 1979), Canadian football player Adrian Baril (1898–1961), American football player Adrian Battles (born 1987), American football player Adrian Breen (quarterback) (born 1965), American football player Adrian Burk (1927–2003), American football player Adrian Clarke (born 1991), Canadian football player Adrian Clayborn (born 1988), American football player Adrian Colbert (born 1993), American football player Adrian Cooper (born 1968), American football player Adrian Davis (Canadian football) (born 1981), Canadian football player A. J. Davis (cornerback, born 1983), American football player known as A.J. Davis Adrian Dingle (American football) (born 1977), American football player Adrian Ealy (born 1999), American football player Adrian Ford (1904–1977), American football player Adrian Grady (born 1985), American football player Adrian Hamilton (born 1987), American football player Adrian Hardy (born 1970), American football player Adrian Hubbard (born 1992), American football player Adrian Jones (American football) (born 1981), American football player Adrian Killins (born 1998), American football player Adrian Klemm (born 1977), American football player and coach Adrian Madise (born 1980), American football player Adrian Magee (born 1996), American football player Adrian Martinez (American football) (born 2000), American football player Adrian Mayes (born 1980), American football player Adrian Moten (born 1988), American football player Adrian Murrell (born 1970), American football player Adrian Peterson (American football, born 1979), American football player Adrian Peterson (born 1985), American football player Adrian Phillips (born 1992), American football player Adrian Robinson (1989–2015), American football player Adrian Ross (born 1975), American football player Adrian Tracy (born 1988), American football player Adrian White (American football) (born 1964), American football player Adrian Wilson (American football) (born 1979), American football player Adrian Young (American football) (born 1949), American football player Association football Adrián Aldrete (born 1988), Mexican footballer Adrian Aliaj (born 1976), Albanian footballer Adrian Allenspach (born 1969), Swiss footballer Adrian Alston (born 1949), English footballer Adrián Álvarez (born 1968), Argentine footballer Adrian Anca (born 1976), Romanian footballer Adrian Antunović (born 1989), Croatian footballer Adrián Argachá (born 1986), Uruguayan footballer Adrian García Arias (born 1975), Mexican footballer Adrián Arregui (born 1992), Argentine footballer Adrián Ascues (born 2002), Peruvian footballer Adrian Ávalos (born 1974), Argentine footballer Adrian Avrămia (born 1992), Romanian footballer Adrian Bajrami (born 2002), Swiss footballer Adrian Bakalli (born 1976), Belgian footballer Adrian Bălan (born 1990), Romanian footballer Adrián Balboa (born 1994), Uruguayan footballer Adrian Baldovin (born 1971), Romanian footballer Adrian Barbullushi (born 1968), Albanian footballer Adrian Bartkowiak (born 1987), Polish footballer Adrian Basta (born 1988), Polish footballer Adrián Bastía (born 1978), Argentine footballer Adrian Beck (born 1997), German footballer Adrian Benedyczak (born 2000), Polish footballer Adrián Berbia (born 1977), Uruguayan goalkeeper Adrián Bernabé (born 2001), Spanish footballer Adrian Bevington (born c. 1971), Club England Managing Director Adrian Bielawski (born 1996), Polish footballer Adrian Billhardt (born 1997), German footballer Adrian Bird (born 1969), English footballer Adrian Błąd (born 1991), Polish footballer Adrian Blake (born 2005), English footballer Adrian Bogoi (born 1973), Romanian footballer Adrián Bone (born 1988), Ecuadorian footballer Adrian Boothroyd (born 1971), English footballer and manager Adrian Borza (born 1985), Romanian footballer Adrian Budka (born 1980), Polish footballer Adrian Bumbescu (born 1960), Romanian footballer Adrian Bumbut (born 1984), Romanian footballer Adrian Butters (born 1988), Canadian soccer player Adrián Butzke (born 1999), Spanish footballer Adrian Caceres (born 1982), Argentine footballer Adrián Calello (born 1987), Argentine footballer Adrián Cañas (born 1992), Spanish footballer Adrian Cann (born 1980), Canadian soccer player Adrian Cașcaval (born 1987), Moldovan footballer Adrián Centurión (born 1993), Argentine footballer Adrián Čermák (born 1993), Slovak footballer Adrian Chama (born 1989), Zambian footballer Adrián Chávez (born 1962), Mexican footballer Adrian Chomiuk (born 1988), Polish footballer Adrián Chovan (born 1995), Slovak footballer Adrian Cieślewicz (born 1990), Polish footballer Adrian Clarke (footballer) (born 1974), English footballer Adrian Clifton (born 1988), English footballer Adrián Colombino (born 1993), Uruguayan footballer Adrián Colunga (born 1984), Spanish footballer Adrian Coote (born 1978), English footballer Adrián Cortés (born 1983), Mexican footballer Adrian Cristea (born 1983), Romanian footballer Adrián Cruz (born 1987), Spanish footballer Adrián Cuadra (born 1997), Chilean footballer Adrian Cuciula (born 1986), Romanian footballer Adrian Cucovei (born 1982), Moldovan footballer Adrian Dabasse (born 1993), French footballer Adrián Dalmau (born 1994), Spanish footballer Adrian Danek (born 1994), Polish footballer Adrián Diéguez (born 1996), Spanish footballer Adrian Drida (born 1982), Romanian footballer Adrian Dubois (born 1987), American footballer Adrian Dulcea (born 1978), Romanian footballer and manager Adrian Durrer (born 2001), Swiss footballer Adrian Edqvist (born 1999), Swedish footballer Adrián El Charani (born 2000), Venezuelan footballer Adrian Elrick (born 1949), New Zealand footballer Adrián Escudero (1927–2011), Spanish footballer Adrián Faúndez (born 1989), Chilean footballer Adrian Fein (born 1999), German footballer Adrián Fernández (footballer, born 1980), Argentine footballer Adrián Fernández (footballer, born 1992), Paraguayan footballer Adrian Foncette (born 1988), Trinidadian footballer Adrian Forbes (born 1979), English footballer Adrian Foster (footballer) (born 1971), English footballer and manager Adrián Fuentes (born 1996), Spanish footballer Adrián Gabbarini (born 1985), Argentine footballer Adrian Dan Găman (born 1978), Romanian footballer Adrian Gheorghiu (born 1981), Romanian footballer Adrian Gîdea (born 2000), Romanian footballer Adrián González (footballer, born 1976), Argentine footballer Adrián González (footballer, born 1988), Spanish footballer Adrián González (footballer, born 1995), Argentine footballer Adrián González (footballer, born 2003), Mexican footballer Adrián Hernán González (born 1976), Argentine footballer Adrián Goransch (born 1999), Mexican footballer Adrian Grbić (born 1996), Austrian footballer Adrian Grigoruță (born 1983), Romanian footballer Adrian Gryszkiewicz (born 1999), Polish footballer Adrián Gunino (born 1989), Uruguayan footballer Adrian Hajdari (born 2000), Macedonian footballer Adrian Aleksander Hansen (born 2001), Norwegian footballer Adrian Heath (born 1961), English footballer and manager Adrian Henger (born 1996), Polish footballer Adrián José Hernández (born 1983), Spanish footballer, known as Pollo Adrián Horváth (born 1987), Hungarian footballer Adrian Iencsi (born 1975), Romanian footballer and manager Adrian Ilie (born 1974), Romanian footballer Adrian Ilie (footballer, born 1981), Romanian footballer Adrian Ionescu (footballer, born 1958), Romanian footballer Adrian Ionescu (footballer, born 1985), Romanian footballer Adrian Ioniță (born 2000), Romanian footballer Adrian Iordache (born 1980), Romanian footballer Adrian Dragoș Iordache (born 1981), Romanian footballer Adrian Jevrić (born 1986), German footballer Adrián Jusino (born 1992), Bolivian footballer Adrian Kappenberger (born 1996), Danish footballer Adrian Kasztelan (born 1986), Polish footballer Adrian Klepczyński (born 1981), Polish footballer Adrian Klimczak (born 1997), Polish footballer Adrian Knup (born 1968), Swiss footballer Adrián Kocsis (born 1991), Hungarian footballer Adrian Kunz (born 1967), Swiss footballer Adrián Lapeña (born 1996), Spanish footballer Adrián Torres Lázaro (born 1998), Spanish footballer commonly known as Lele Adrian Leijer (born 1986), Australian footballer Adrián Leites (born 1992), Uruguayan footballer Adrian LeRoy (born 1987), Canadian soccer player Adrián Leško (born 1995), Slovak footballer Adrian Liber (born 2001), Croatian footballer Adrian Lis (born 1992), Polish footballer Adrian Littlejohn (born 1970), English footballer Adrián Lois (born 1989), Spanish footballer Adrián López (footballer, born 1987), Spanish footballer Adrián López (born 1988), Spanish footballer Adrián Lozano (born 1999), Mexican footballer Adrian Lucaci (1966–2020), Romanian footballer Adrián Lucero (born 1985), Argentine footballer Adrián Marín Lugo (born 1994), Mexican footballer Adrián Luna (born 1992), Uruguayan footballer Adrian Łyszczarz (born 1999), Polish footballer Adrian Madaschi (born 1982), Australian footballer Adrian Małachowski (born 1998), Polish footballer Adrian Marek (born 1987), Polish footballer Adrian Mariappa (born 1986), English footballer Adrián Marín (footballer, born 1994), Mexican footballer Adrián Marín (footballer, born 1997), Spanish footballer Adrian Mărkuș (born 1992), Romanian footballer Adrián Martín (footballer) (born 1982), Spanish footballer Adrián Martínez (Mexican footballer) (born 1970) Adrián Martínez (Venezuelan footballer) (born 1993) Adrián Emmanuel Martínez (born 1992), Argentine footballer Adrián Nahuel Martínez (born 1992), Argentine footballer Adrian Matei (footballer) (born 1968), Romanian footballer Adrian Mierzejewski (born 1986), Polish footballer Adrian Mihalcea (born 1976), Romanian footballer Adrian Moescu (born 2001), Romanian footballer Adrián Mouriño (born 1988), Spanish footballer Adrian Mrowiec (born 1983), Polish footballer Adrian Mutu (born 1979), Romanian footballer Adrian Nalați (born 1983), Romanian footballer Adrian Napierała (born 1982), Polish footballer Adrian Neaga (born 1979), Romanian footballer Adrian Negrău (born 1968), Romanian footballer Adrian Neniță (born 1996), Romanian footballer Adrian Nikçi (born 1989), Swiss footballer Adrian Romeo Niță (born 2003), Romania footballer Adrian Olah (born 1981), Romania footballer Adrian Olegov (born 1985), Bulgarian footballer Adrian Olszewski (born 1993), Polish footballer Adrián Ortolá (born 1993), Spanish footballer Adrian Paluchowski (born 1987), Polish footballer Adrian Pătraș (born 1984), Moldovan footballer Adrian Pătulea (born 1984), Romanian footballer Adrián Paz (born 1966), Uruguayan footballer Adrian Pelka (born 1981), German footballer Adrian Pennock (born 1971), English footballer Adrián Peralta (born 1982), Argentine footballer Adrian Pereira (born 1999), Norwegian footballer Adrian Petre (born 1998), Romanian footballer Adrian Pettigrew (born 1986), English footballer Adrian Pigulea (born 1968), Romanian footballer Adrian Piț (born 1983), Romanian footballer Adrian Pitu (born 1975), Romanian footballer Adrian Popa (footballer, born 1988), Romanian footballer Adrian Popa (footballer, born 1990), Romanian footballer Adrian Poparadu (born 1987), Romanian footballer Adrian Popescu (born 1960), Romanian footballer Adrian Popescu (footballer, born 1975), Romanian footballer Adrian Pukanych (born 1981), Ukrainian footballer Adrian Pulis (born 1979), Maltan footballer Adrian Purzycki (born 1997), Polish footballer Adrian Rakowski (born 1990), Polish footballer Adrián Ramos (born 1986), Colombian footballer Adrián Ricchiuti (born 1978), Argentine footballer Adrián Riera (born 1996), Spanish footballer Adrián Ripa (born 1985), Spanish footballer Adrian Rochet (born 1987), Israel footballer Adrián Rojas (born 1977), Chilean footballer Adrian Rolko (born 1978), Czech footballer Adrián Romero (Argentine footballer) (born 1975) Adrián Romero (Uruguayan footballer) (born 1977) Adrian Ropotan (born 1986), Romanian footballer Adrián Ruelas (born 1991), American soccer player Adrian Rus (born 1996), Romanian footballer Adrian Rusu (born 1984), Romanian footballer Adrián Sahibeddine (born 1994), French footballer Adrian Sălăgeanu (born 1983), Romanian footballer Adrián Sánchez (born 1999), Argentine footballer Adrián San Miguel del Castillo (born 1987), Spanish football goalkeeper known as simply Adrián Adrián Sardinero (born 1990), Spanish footballer Adrian Sarkissian (born 1979), Uruguayan footballer Adrian Scarlatache (born 1986), Romanian footballer Adrian Schlagbauer (born 2002), German footballer Adrián Scifo (born 1987), Argentine footballer Adrian Šemper (born 1998), Croatian footballer Adrian Senin (born 1979), Romanian footballer Adrian Serioux (born 1979), Canadian soccer player Adrian Sikora (born 1980), Polish footballer Adrian Sosnovschi (born 1977), Moldovan footballer and manager Adrián Spörle (born 1995), Argentine footballer Adrian Spyrka (born 1967), German footballer Adrian Stanilewicz (born 2000), German footballer Adrian Șter (born 1998), Romanian footballer Adrian Stoian (born 1991), Romanian footballer Adrian Stoicov (1967–2017), Romanian footballer Adrian Șut (born 1999), Romanian footballer Adrian Świątek (born 1986), Polish footballer Adrián Szekeres (born 1989), Hungarian footballer Adrián Szőke (born 1998), Serbian footballer Adrian Toma (born 1976), Romanian footballer Adrián Torres (born 1989), Argentine footballer Adrian Trinidad (born 1982), Argentine footballer Adrián Turmo (born 2001), Spanish footballer Adrián Ugarriza (born 1997), Peruvian footballer Adrian Ursea (born 1967), Romanian footballer and manager Adrian Valentić (born 1987), Croatian footballer Adrian Vera (born 1997), American footballer Adrian Viciu (born 1991), Romanian footballer Adrian Viveash (born 1969), English footballer, better known as Adi Viveash Adrian Vlas (born 1982), Romanian footballer Adrian Ionuț Voicu (born 1992), Romanian footballer Adrian Voiculeț (born 1985), Romanian footballer Adrian Webster (footballer, born 1951), English footballer Adrian Webster (footballer, born 1980), New Zealand footballer Adrian Whitbread (born 1971), English footballer and manager Adrian Williams, better known as Ady Williams (born 1971), English footballer and manager Adrian Winter (born 1986), Swiss footballer Adrian Woźniczka (born 1982), Polish footballer Adrian Zahra (born 1990), Australian footballer Adrian Zaluschi (born 1989), Romanian footballer Adrián Zambrano (born 2000), Venezuelan footballer Adrián Zela (born 1989), Peruvian footballer Adrian Zendejas (born 1995), American footballer Adrián Zermeño (born 1979), Mexican footballer Baseball Adrian Constantine Anson better known as Cap Anson (1852–1922), American baseball player Adrián Beltré (born 1979), Dominican Republic baseball player Adrian Brown (baseball) (born 1974), American baseball player Adrian Burnside (born 1977), Australian baseball player Adrian Cárdenas (born 1987), American baseball player Adrian Devine (1951–2020), American baseball player Adrian Garrett (1943–2021), American baseball player and coach Adrián González (born 1982), American-Mexican baseball player Adrian Houser (born 1993), American baseball player Addie Joss (1880–1911), American baseball pitcher Adrian Lynch (1897–1934), American baseball player Adrián Morejón (born 1999), Cuban baseball player Adrián Nieto (born 1989), Cuban baseball player Adrian Sampson (born 1991), American baseball player Adrián Sánchez (born 1990), Colombian-Venezuelan baseball player Adrián Zabala (1916–2002), Cuban baseball player Basketball Adrian Autry (born 1972), American basketball player Adrian Banks (born 1986), American basketball player Adrian Bauk (born 1985), Australian basketball player Adrian Branch (born 1963), American basketball player Adrian Caldwell (born 1966), American basketball player Adrian Celada, Filipino basketball player Adrian Dantley (born 1956), American basketball player Adrian Griffin (born 1974), American basketball player Adrian Pledger (born 1976), American basketball player Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player Adrian Tudor (born 1985), Romanian basketball player Adrian Williams-Strong (born 1977), American basketball player Boxing Adrian Blair (born 1943), Australian boxer Adrian Clark (boxer) (born 1986), American boxer Adrian Diaconu (born 1978), Romanian boxer Adrián Hernández (boxer) (born 1986), Mexican boxer Adrian Mora (born 1978), American boxer Cricket Adrian Aymes (born 1964), British cricketer Adrian Barath (born 1990), West Indian cricketer Adrian Birrell (born 1960), South African cricketer and coach Adrian Brown (cricketer) (born 1962), English cricketer Adrian Jones (cricketer) (born 1961), English cricketer Adrian Rollins (born 1972), English cricketer Ice hockey Adrian Aucoin (born 1973), Canadian ice hockey player Adrian Foster (ice hockey) (born 1982), Canadian ice hockey player Adrian Kempe (born 1996), Swedish ice hockey player Adrian Wichser (born 1980), Swiss ice hockey player Racing Adrian Adgar (born 1965), English cyclist Adrian Archibald (born 1969), British motorcycle racer Adrian Banaszek (born 1993), Polish cyclist Adrián Campos (1960-2021), Spanish racing driver Adrián Campos Jr. (born 1988), Spanish racing driver Adrian Carrio (born 1989), American racing driver Adrian "Wildman" Cenni, American off-road racing driver Adrián Fernández (born 1965), Mexican racing driver and team owner Adrián Fernández (motorcyclist) (born 2004), Spanish motorcycle racer Adrián González (cyclist) (born 1992), Spanish cyclist Adrian Kurek (born 1988), Polish road bicycle racer Adrián Martín (motorcyclist) (born 1992), Spanish motorcycle racer Adrian Newey (born 1958), British race car engineer and designer Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (born 1991), British racing driver Adrian Aas Stien (born 1992), Norwegian cyclist Adrian Sutil (born 1983), German racing driver Adrián Vallés (born 1986), Spanish race car driver Adrian Zaugg (born 1986), South African racing driver Rugby Adrian Apostol (born 1990), Romanian rugby player Adrian Barich (born 1963), Australian rules footballer and television and radio presenter Adrian Barone (born 1987), New Zealand rugby union footballer Adrian Bassett (born 1967), Australian rules footballer Adrian Battiston (born 1963), Australian rules footballer Adrian Beer (born 1943), Australian rules footballer Adrian Clarke (rugby union) (born 1938), New Zealand rugby player Adrian Davies (born 1969), English rugby player Adrian Davis (rugby league) (born 1990), Australian rugby player Adrian Garvey (born 1968), Zimbabwean-born South African rugby union player Adrian Lungu (born 1960), Romanian rugby player Adrian Morley (born 1977), English rugby player Adrian Pllotschi (born 1959), Romanian rugby player and coach Adrian Stoop (1883–1957), English rugby union player Adrian Young (footballer) (1943–2020), Australian rugby player Swimming Adrian Andermatt (born 1969), Swiss swimmer Adrian Moorhouse (born 1964), English swimmer Adrian O'Connor (born 1972), Irish backstroke swimmer Adrian Radley (born 1976), Australian swimmer Adrian Robinson (swimmer) (born 2000), Botswanan swimmer Adrian Romero (swimmer) (born 1972), Guamanian swimmer Adrian Turner (born 1977), British Olympic swimmer Tennis Adrian Andreev (born 2001), Bulgarian tennis player Adrian Bey (1938 – 2019), Rhodesian-born American professional tennis player Adrian Bodmer (born 1995), Swiss tennis player Adrian Bohane (born 1981), Irish-American former professional tennis player Adrian Cruciat (born 1983), Romanian tennis player Adrian Gavrilă (born 1984), Romanian tennis player Adrian Mannarino (born 1988), French tennis player Adrian Marcu (born 1961), professional tennis player from Romania Adrián Menéndez Maceiras (born 1985), Spanish tennis player Adrian Quist (1913–1991), Australian tennis player Adrian Ungur (born 1985), Romanian tennis player Adrian Voinea (born 1974), Romanian tennis player Other Adrian Adonis (1954–1988), American professional wrestler Adrian Alvarado (figure skater) (born 1983), Mexican figure skater Adrian Ang (born 1988), Malaysian bowler Adrián Annus (born 1973), Hungarian hammer thrower Adrian Bachmann (born 1976), Swiss sprint canoer Adrian Ballinger (born 1976), British-American climber, skier, and mountain guide Adrián Ben (born 1998) Spanish middle-distance runner Adrian Berce (born 1958), Australian field hockey player Adrian Blincoe (born 1979), New Zealand runner Adrian Błocki (born 1990), Polish racewalker Adrian Breen (hurler) (born 1992), Irish hurler Adrian Cosma (1950–1996), Romanian handball player Adrian Crișan (born 1980), Romanian table tennis player Adrián Gavira (born 1987), Spanish beach volleyball player Adrian Gomes (born 1990), Brazilian gymnast Adrian Gray (born 1981), English darts player Adrian Gunnell (born 1972), English snooker player Adrian Hansen (born 1971), South African squash player Adrian Lewis (born 1985), English darts player Adrian Matei (born 1985), Romanian figure skater Adrian Metcalfe (1942–2021), British runner and sports broadcaster Adrian Neville (born 1986), English professional wrestler, known professionally as Pac Adrian Parker (born 1951), British modern pentathlete and Olympic champion Adrian Patrick (born 1973), English former sprinter Adrián Alonso Pereira (born 1988), Spanish futsal player Adrián Popa (born 1971), Hungarian weightlifter Adrian Rollinson (born 1965), British strongman Adrian Schultheiss (born 1988), Swedish figure skater Adrian Smith (strongman) (born 1964), British strongman Adrian Street (born 1940), Welsh wrestler and author Adrian Strzałkowski (born 1990), Polish long jumper Adrián Paz Velázquez (born 1964), Mexican Paralympic athlete Adrian Watt (born 1947), American ski jumper Adrian White (equestrian) (born 1933), New Zealand equestrian Adrian Alejandro Wittwer (born 1986), Swiss extreme athlete and ice swimmer Adrian Zieliński (born 1989), Polish weightlifter Arts and entertainment Adrian Adlam (born 1963), British violinist and conductor Adrian Aeschbacher (1912–2002), Swiss classical pianist Adrian Alandy (born 1980), Filipino actor and model Adrian Allinson (1890–1959), British painter, potter and engraver Adrián Alonso (born 1994), Mexican actor Adrian Alphona, Canadian comic book artist Adrian Alvarado (actor) (born 1976), American actor Adrian Anantawan (born 1986), Canadian violinist Adrian Augier, St. Lucian poet and producer Adrian Bică Bădan (born 1988), Romanian footballer Adrian Baker (born 1951), English singer, songwriter, and record producer Adrian Bărar (1960–2021), Romanian guitarist and composer Adrian Barber (1938–2020), English musician and producer Adrian Batten (1591–1637), English organist Adrian Bawtree (born 1968), English composer and organist Adrian Beaumont (born 1937), British composer, conductor, and professor Adrian Beers (1916–2004), British double bass player and teacher Adrian Belew (born 1949), American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Adrian Benjamin (born 1942), actor and prebendary emeritus Adrian Biddle (1952–2005), English cinematographer Adrian Blevins (born 1964), American poet Adrian Borland (1957–1999), English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer Adrian Boult (1889–1983), English conductor Adrian Brown (1929–2019), British director and poet Adrian Brown (born 1949), British conductor Adrian Brunel (1892–1958), English film director and screenwriter Adrian Bustamante (born 1981), American actor Adrián Caetano (born 1969), Uruguayan-Argentine film director, producer and screenplay writer Adrian Carmack (born 1969), American video game artist Adrián Carrio (born 1986), Spanish pianist Adrian Chiles (born 1967), British television and radio presenter Adrian Clarke (photographer), English photographer Adrian Clarke (poet), British poet Adrian Conan Doyle (1910–1970), English race-car driver, big-game hunter, explorer, and writer Adrian Dingle (artist) (1911–1974), Welsh-Canadian painter and comic book artist Adrian Dunbar (born 1958), Northern Ireland actor Adrian Edmondson better known as Ade Edmondson (born 1957), English actor, comedian, director, writer and musician Adrian Enescu (1948–2016), Romanian composer Adrian Erlandsson (born 1970), Swedish heavy metal drummer Adrian Fisher (musician) (1952-2000), former guitarist for Sparks (band) Adrian Gaxha (born 1984), Macedonian singer-songwriter and producer Adrian Ghenie (born 1977), Romanian painter Adrian Gonzales (1937-1998), Filipino comic book artist Adrián Luis González (born 1939), Mexican potter Adrian Gray (born 1961), British artist Adrian Adolph Greenburg (1903–1959), costume designer for over 250 films known as simply Adrian Adrian Grenier (born 1976), American actor, producer, director, musician and environmentalist Adrian Griffin (drummer), Australian drummer Adrian Gurvitz (born 1949), English singer, musician and songwriter Adrian Hall (actor) (born 1959), British actor and co-director Adrian Hall (artist) (born 1943), British artist Adrian Hall (director) (1927–2023), American theatre director Adrian Hates (born 1973), German dark wave musician Adrian Heath (1920–1992), British painter Adrian Heathfield, British writer and curator Adrian Hoven (1922–1981), Austrian actor, producer and film director Adrian A. Husain (born 1945), Pakistani poet Adrian Ivaniţchi (born 1947), Romanian folk musician and guitarist Adrian Jones (sculptor) (1845–1938), English sculptor and painter who specialized in animals, particularly horses Adrian Jones (born 1978), Swedish musician, member of Gjallarhorn Adrian Karsten (1960–2005), American sports reporter Adrian Kowanek (born 1977), Polish musician Adrian Le Roy (1520–1598), French string player, composer, music publisher and educator Adrian Leaper (born 1953), English conductor Adrian Legg (born 1948), English guitar player Adrian Lester (born 1968), British actor Adrian Lucas (born 1962), English organist, tutor, and composer Adrian Lulgjuraj (born 1980), Albanian rock singer Adrian Lukis (born 1957), British actor Adrian Lux (born 1986), Swedish disc jockey and music producer Adrian Lyne (born 1941), English filmmaker and producer Adrian Martin (born 1959), Australian film and arts critic Adrian Martinez (actor) (born 1972), American actor and comedian Adrian McKinty (writer) (born 1968), Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels Adrian Minune (born 1974), Romani-Romanian manele singer Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008), English poet, novelist and playwright Adrian William Moore (born 1956), British philosopher and broadcaster Adrián Navarro (born 1969), Argentine actor Adrian Noble (born 1950), English theatre director Adrian Pasdar (born 1965), American actor and film director Adrian Paul (born 1959), English actor Adrian Pecknold (1920–1999), Canadian mime, director, and author Adrian Petriw (born 1987), Canadian actor Adrian Picardi (born 1987), American filmmaker Adrian Pintea (1954–2007), Romanian actor Adrian Piotrovsky (1898–1937), Russian dramaturge Adrian Piper (born 1948), American conceptual artist and philosophy professor Adrian Pisarello (born 1970), Gibraltarian musician and songwriter Adrian R'Mante (born 1978), American television actor Adrian Rawlins (born 1958), English actor Adrian Ludwig Richter (1803–1884), German painter and etcher Adrian Rodriguez (DJ), German DJ Adrián Rodríguez (born 1988), Spanish actor and singer from Catalonia Adrian Rodriguez, American bass guitarist for The Airborne Toxic Event Adrian Rollini (1903–1956), American multi-instrumentalist best known for his jazz music Adrian Ross (1859–1933), British lyricist Adrián Rubio, Mexican actor and model Adrian Scarborough (born 1968), English character actor Adrian Scott (1912–1972), American screenwriter and film producer Adrian Shaposhnikov (1888–1967), Russian classical composer Adrian Sherwood (born 1958), English record producer Adrian Sînă (born 1977), Romanian singer-songwriter and record producer Adrian D. Smith (born 1944), American architect Adrian Smith (born 1957), English musician and one of three guitarists/songwriters in the English band Iron Maiden Adrian Smith (illustrator), British illustrator Adrian Steirn, photographer and filmmaker Adrian Consett Stephen (1894–1918), Australian artillery officer and playwright Adrian Stokes (critic) (1902–1972), British art critic Adrian Scott Stokes (1854–1935), English landscape painter Adrian Stroe (born 1959), Romanian serial killer Adrian Sturges (born 1976), British film producer Adrián Suar (born 1968), Argentine actor and media producer Adrian Tanner, English writer and director Adrian Taylor (producer) (1954–2014), American television news producer Adrian Tchaikovsky (born 1972), British fantasy and science fiction author Adrián Terrazas-González (born 1975), Mexican jazz composer and wind player Adrian Thaws (born 1968), English musician and actor Adrian Tomine (born 1974), American cartoonist Adrian Truss (born 1953), British-Canadian actor Adrian Utley (born 1957), English musician best known as a member of the band Portishead Adrian Vandenberg (born 1954), Dutch rock guitarist Adrian Wells (born 1989), British-American clinical psychologist, singer and songwriter Adrian White (musician), Canadian drummer Adrian White (author), Anglo-Irish writer Adrian Willaert (c. 1490–1562), Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School Adrian Wilson (actor) (born 1969), South African model and actor Adrian Wilson (artist) (born 1964), British artist and photographer Adrian Wong (born 1990), Hong Kong actress Adrian Wright (1947–2015), English-Australian actor Adrian Young (born 1969), American drummer for the rock band No Doubt Adrian Younge (born 1978), American composer, arranger, and music producer Adrian Zagoritis (born 1968), British songwriter and record producer Adrian Zingg (1734–1816), Swiss painter Adrian Zmed (born 1954), American television personality and film actor Other Adrian Arendt (born 1952), Romanian sailor Adrian Bancker (1703–1772), American silversmith Adrian Beecroft (born 1947), British venture capitalist Adrian Bell (1901–1980), English ruralist journalist, crossword compiler, and farmer Adrian Bellamy (born 1941/1942), British businessman Adrian Block (1567–1627), Dutch explorer of the American East Coast Adrian Brown (archivist) (born 1969), British archivist Adrian Brown (journalist), Australian journalist Adrian Cheng (born 1979), Hong Kong entrepreneur and business executive Adrian Cioroianu (born 1967), Romanian historian, politician, journalist, and essayist Adrian Cronauer (1938–2018), American former lawyer and radio speaker Adrian Diel (1756–1839), German physician Adrian Finighan (born 1964), British journalist Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015), Swiss typeface designer Adrian Fulford (born 1953), British judge Adrian Geiges (born 1960), German writer and journalist Adrian Anthony Gill (1954–2016), British writer and critic Adrian Gonzalez (kidnapper) (born 2000), American kidnapper Adrián Gómez González, Mexican drug lord Adrián Arroyo Gutiérrez (born 1976), Costa Rican serial killer and rapist, known as The Southern Psychopath Adrian Hanauer (born 1966), American businessman and minority owner and general manager of the Seattle Sounders FC Adrian Hayes (adventurer) (born 1959), British explorer Adrian Holovaty (born 1981), American web developer, journalist and entrepreneur Adrian van Hooydonk (born 1964), Dutch automobile designer Adrian Albert Jurgens (1886–1953), South African philatelist Adrian Kantrowitz (1918–2008), American cardiac surgeon Adrian Kashchenko (1858–1921), Ukrainian writer, historian of the Zaporozhian Cossacks Adrian Knox (1863–1932), Australian judge Adrian Künzi (born 1973), Swiss banker Adrian Lamo (born 1981), Colombian-American threat analyst and "grey hat" hacker Adrian Lim (1942–1988), Singaporean serial killer Adrian Long, British civil engineer Adrian Mikhalchishin (born 1954), Ukrainian chess grandmaster Adrian von Mynsicht (1603–1638), German alchemist Adrian Parr (born 1967), Australian philosopher and cultural critic Adrian Păunescu (1943–2010), Romanian poet, journalist, and politician Adrian Plass (born 1948), English author and speaker Adrian Rogers (1931–2005), American pastor, conservative and author Adrian Andrei Rusu (born 1951), Romanian medieval archaeologist Adrian Anthony Spears (1910–1991), American judge Adrián Steckel, Mexican businessman Adrian Stephen (1883–1948), British author and psychoanalyst, brother of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell Adrian Stroe (born 1959), Romanian serial killer Adrian Swire (1932 – 2018), billionaire British heir and businessman Adrian Ursu (born 1968), Romanian journalist Adrian Weale (born 1964), English writer, journalist, illustrator and photographer Adrian Wewer (1836–1914), German-born American architect and Franciscan friar Adrian White (businessman) (born 1942), British businessman, founder of Biwater Adrian Zecha (born 1933), Indonesian hotelier Adrian Yeboah Otoo (born 1985) Pharmacist and Entrepreneur Ghanaian Fictional characters Adrien Agreste, a superhero and male protagonist of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Adrian Andrews, Ace Attorney character from Justice for All Adrian Chase, DC Comics superhero Adrian Corbo, alias Flex, a Marvel Comics superhero Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher, character on the British medical dramas Casualty and Holby City Adrian Hall, character on the soap opera Home and Away Adrian Ivashkov, character in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy and protagonist in Bloodlines Adrian Leverkühn, protagonist of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus Adrian Mole, protagonist of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Adrian Monk, protagonist of the television series Monk Adrian Pennino, wife of Rocky Balboa Adrian Seidelman, character from the Cybersix comic and television series Adrian Shephard, protagonist of the Half-Life expansion "Half-Life: Opposing Force" Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş, alias Alucard, character in the Castlevania video games Adrian Toomes, alias Vulture, a Marvel Comics villain Adrian Veidt, alias Ozymandias, character in the Watchmen graphic novel series Adrian Woodhouse, spawn of Satan in the film Rosemary's Baby Adrian, a character in Shakespeare's Coriolanus, is a Volscian who is oddly friendly with a Roman named Nicanor, and acts as a spy for the state. Adrian, a mental woman in The Crush (1993 film) Adrian, a son of Satan in Little Nicky See also Adreian Hadrien References Sources English masculine given names Masculine given names German masculine given names Dutch masculine given names Norwegian masculine given names Swedish masculine given names Danish masculine given names Icelandic masculine given names Romanian masculine given names Spanish masculine given names

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absalom

Absalom

Absalom ( ʾAḇšālōm, "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled against his father and was killed during the Battle of Ephraim's Wood. Biblical account Background Absalom, David's third son, by Maacah, was born in Hebron. At an early age, he moved, along with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people. His charming manners, personal beauty, insinuating ways, love of pomp, and royal pretensions captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot, and had fifty men run before him. Little is known of Absalom's family life, but the biblical narrative states that he had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who is described as a beautiful woman. From the language of 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom states, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance". It may be that his sons died before his statement, or, as Matthew Henry suggests, Absalom's three sons may have been born after his statement. Aside from his daughter Tamar, Absalom had another daughter or granddaughter named Maacah, who later became the favorite wife of Rehoboam. Maacah was the mother of Abijah of Judah and the grandmother of Asa of Judah. She served as queen mother for Asa until he deposed her for idolatry. Murder of Amnon Absalom also had a sister named Tamar, who was raped by her half-brother Amnon, David's eldest son. After the rape, Absalom waited two years and then avenged Tamar by sending his servants to murder a drunken Amnon at a feast to which Absalom had invited all of King David's sons. After this murder Absalom fled to Talmai, who was the king of Geshur and Absalom's maternal grandfather. Not until three years later was Absalom fully reinstated in David's favour and finally returned to Jerusalem. The revolt at Hebron While at Jerusalem, Absalom built support for himself by speaking to those who came to King David for justice, saying, "See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you", perhaps reflecting flaws in the judicial system of the united monarchy. "If only I were the judge of the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice." He made gestures of flattery by kissing those who bowed before him instead of accepting supplication. He "stole the hearts of the people of Israel". After four years he declared himself king, raised a revolt at Hebron, the former capital, and had sexual relations with his father's concubines. All Israel and Judah flocked to him, and David, attended only by the Cherethites and Pelethites and his former bodyguard, which had followed him from Gath, found it expedient to flee. The priests Zadok and Abiathar remained in Jerusalem, and their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz served as David's spies. Absalom reached the capital and consulted with the renowned Ahithophel (sometimes spelled Achitophel). (Although Absalom did avenge his sister's defilement, ironically he himself showed himself not to be very much different from Amnon; examples of Lifnei iver as Amnon had sought the advice of Jonadab in order to rape his half sister Tamar, Absalom had sought the advice of Ahitophel who advised Absalom to have incestuous relations with his father's concubines in order to show all Israel how odious he was to his father [2 Samuel 16:20]. In regard to Ahitophel's motives: "..and great as was his wisdom, it was equalled by his scholarship. Therefore David did not hesitate to submit himself to his instruction, even though Ahithophel was a very young man, at the time of his death not more than thirty-three years old. The one thing lacking in him was sincere piety, and this it was that proved his undoing in the end, for it induced him to take part in Absalom's rebellion against David. Thus he forfeited even his share in the world to come. To this dire course of action he was misled by astrologic and other signs, which he interpreted as prophecies of his own kingship, when in reality they pointed to the royal destiny of his granddaughter Bath-sheba. Possessed by his erroneous belief, he cunningly urged Absalom to commit an unheard-of crime. Thus Absalom would profit nothing by his rebellion, for, though he accomplished his father's ruin, he would yet be held to account and condemned to death for his violation of family purity, and the way to the throne would be clear for Ahithophel, the great sage in Israel.") David took refuge from Absalom's forces beyond the Jordan River. However, he took the precaution of instructing a servant, Hushai, to infiltrate Absalom's court and subvert it. Once in place, Hushai convinced Absalom to ignore Ahithophel's advice to attack his father while he was on the run, and instead to prepare his forces for a major attack. This gave David critical time to prepare his own troops for the battle. When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he committed suicide by hanging himself. Battle of Ephraim's Wood A fateful battle was fought in the Wood of Ephraim (the name suggests a locality west of the Jordan) and Absalom's army was completely routed. When Absalom fled from David's army, his head was caught in the boughs of an oak tree as the mule he was riding ran beneath it. He was discovered there still alive by one of David's men, who reported this to Joab, the king's commander. Joab, accustomed to avenging himself, took this opportunity to even the score with Absalom. Absalom had once set Joab's field of barley on fire and then made Amasa Captain of the Host instead of Joab. Killing Absalom was against David's explicit command, "Beware that none touch the young man Absalom". Joab injured Absalom with three darts through the heart and Absalom was subsequently killed by ten of Joab's armor-bearers. When David heard that Absalom was killed, although not how he was killed, he greatly sorrowed. David withdrew to the city of Mahanaim in mourning, until Joab roused him from "the extravagance of his grief" and called on him to fulfill his duty to his people. Memorial Absalom had erected a monument near Jerusalem to perpetuate his name: An ancient monument in the Kidron Valley near the Old City of Jerusalem, known as the Tomb of Absalom or Absalom's Pillar and traditionally identified as the monument of the biblical narrative, is now dated by modern archeologists to the first century AD. The Jewish Encyclopedia reports: "A tomb twenty feet high and twenty-four feet square, which late tradition points out as the resting-place of Absalom. It is situated in the eastern part of the valley of Kidron, to the east of Jerusalem. In all probability it is the tomb of Alexander Jannæus (Conder, in Hastings' Dict. Bible, article "Jerusalem", p. 597). It existed in the days of Josephus. However, archaeologists have now dated the tomb to the 1st century AD. In a 2013 conference, Professor Gabriel Barkay suggested that it could be the tomb of Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, based in part on the similarity to Herod's newly discovered tomb at Herodium. For centuries, it was the custom among passers-by—Jews, Christians and Muslims—to throw stones at the monument. Residents of Jerusalem would bring their unruly children to the site to teach them what became of a rebellious son. Rabbinic literature The life and death of Absalom offered to the rabbis a welcome theme wherewith to warn the people against false ambition, vainglory, and unfilial conduct. The vanity with which he displayed his beautiful hair, the rabbis say, became his snare and his stumbling-block. "By his long hair the Nazirite entangled the people to rebel against his father, and by it he himself became entangled, to fall a victim to his pursuers". And again, elsewhere: "By his vile stratagem he deceived and stole three hearts, that of his father, of the elders, and finally of the whole nation of Israel, and for this reason three darts were thrust into his heart to end his treacherous life". More striking is the following: "Did one ever hear of an oak-tree having a heart? And yet in the oak-tree in whose branches Absalom was caught, we read that upon its heart he was held up still alive while the darts were thrust through him. This is to show that when a man becomes so heartless as to make war against his own father, nature itself takes on a heart to avenge the deed." "The knowledge that a part of Absalom's following sided with him in secret,--that, though he was pursued by his son, his friends remained true to him,--somewhat consoled David in his distress. He thought that in these circumstances, if the worst came to the worst, Absalom would at least feel pity for him. At first, however, the despair of David knew no bounds. He was on the point of worshipping an idol, when his friend Hushai the Archite approached him, saying: "The people will wonder that such a king should serve idols." David replied: "Should a king such as I am be killed by his own son? It is better for me to serve idols than that God should be held responsible for my misfortune, and His Name thus be desecrated." Hushai reproached him: "Why didst thou marry a captive?" "There is no wrong in that," replied David, "it is permitted according to the law." Thereupon Hushai: "But thou didst disregard the connection between the passage permitting it and the one that follows almost immediately after it in the Scriptures, dealing with the disobedient and rebellious son, the natural issue of such a marriage." Absalom's end was beset with terrors. When he was caught in the branches of the oak-tree, he was about to sever his hair with a sword stroke, but suddenly he saw hell yawning beneath him, and he preferred to hang in the tree to throwing himself into the abyss alive. Absalom's crime was, indeed, of a nature to deserve the supreme torture, for which reason he is one of the few Jews who have no portion in the world to come. Popular legend states that the eye of Absalom was of immense size, signifying his insatiable greed. Indeed, "hell itself opened beneath him, and David, his father, cried seven times: 'My son! my son!' while bewailing his death, praying at the same time for his redemption from the seventh section of Gehenna, to which he was consigned". According to R. Meir, "he has no share in the life to come". And according to the description of Gehenna by Joshua ben Levi, who, like Dante, wandered through hell under the guidance of the angel Duma, Absalom still dwells there, having the rebellious heathen in charge; and when the angels with their fiery rods run also against Absalom to smite him like the rest, a heavenly voice says: "Spare Absalom, the son of David, My servant." "That the extreme penalties of hell were thus averted from him, was on account of David's eightfold repetition of his son's name in his lament over him. Besides, David's intercession had the effect of re-attaching Absalom's severed head to his body. At his death Absalom was childless, for all his children, his three sons and his daughter, died before him, as a punishment for his having set fire to a field of grain belonging to Joab." Art and literature Poetry The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe, with the Tragedie of Absalon, a play by George Peele, written before 1594 and published in 1599. Absalom and Achitophel (1681), a satirical poem by John Dryden, uses the biblical story as an allegory for contemporary politics. "Absalom" by Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867). "Absaloms Abfall" by Rainer Maria Rilke ("The Fall of Absalom", trans. Stephen Cohn). "Absalom" is a section in Muriel Rukeyser's long poem The Book of the Dead (1938), inspired by the biblical text, spoken by a mother who lost three sons to silicosis. "Avshalom" by Yona Wallach, published in her first poetry collection Devarim (1966), alludes to the biblical character. Fiction In the 1946 short story "Absalom" by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, the character Absalom is a child prodigy, who does non-consensual brain surgery on his father (a former child prodigy, though not as intelligent as his son) to make the father totally focused on Absalom's success. This relates to the Biblical story of the son usurping his father. Georg Christian Lehms, Des israelitischen Printzens Absolons und seiner Prinzcessin Schwester Thamar Staats- Lebens- und Helden-Geschichte (The Heroic Life and History of the Israelite Prince Absolom and his Princess Sister Tamar), novel in German published in Nuremberg, 1710. Absalom, Absalom! is a novel by William Faulkner, and refers to the return of the main character Thomas Sutpen's son. Oh Absalom! was the original title of Howard Spring's novel My Son, My Son!, later adapted for the film of the latter name. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Absalom was the name of Stephen Kumalo's son in the novel. Like the Biblical Absalom, Absalom Kumalo was at odds with his father, the two fighting a moral and ethical battle of sorts over the course of some of the novel's most important events. Absalom kills and murders a man, and also meets an untimely death. Throughout Robertson Davies's The Manticore a comparison is repeatedly made between the protagonist's problematic relations with his father and those of the Biblical Absalom and King David. Paradoxically, in the modern version, it is the rebellious son who has the first name "David". The book also introduces the term "Absalonism", as a generic term for a son's rebellion against his father. Absalom appears as a prominent character in Peter Shaffer's play Yonadab, which portrays Amnon's rape of Tamar and his murder at Absalom's hands. A scene in the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson's historical novel "The Long Ships" depicts a 10th Century Christian missionary recounting the story of Absalom's rebellion to the assembled Danish court, including the aging King Harald Bluetooth and his son Sweyn Forkbeard; thereupon, King Harald exclaims "Some people can learn a lesson from this story!", casting a meaningful glance at his son Sweyn—whom the King (rightly) suspects of plotting a rebellion. In the novel The Book of Tamar by Nel Havas, the story of Absalom is presented from the viewpoint of his sister. While closely following the main events as related in the Bible, Havas concentrates on the motives behind Absalom's actions, which Havas presents as more complex than depicted in the scriptures. In the novel Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card, the main character Bean invokes the quote to give solace to the kamikaze pilots Ender had unknowingly sent to their deaths to defeat the Formics. The role played by luxuriant hair in the death of Absalom is referenced to telling effect in the ghost story The Diary of Mr Poynter by master of the genre M.R. James. The ghost in question is that of dissolute young nobleman Sir Everard Charlett, known to his Oxford University cronies by the nickname Absalom, on account of his beautiful, long hair and debauched lifestyle. Sir Everard has commemorated his flowing locks by the unusual expedient of having them portrayed in a wallpaper pattern, which later proves to have the power to summon his malign, hair-covered ghost - much to the horror of James’s unfortunate protagonist, Mr. James Denton. Music Josquin des Prez composed the motet "Absalon, fili mi" on the occasion of the death of Juan Borgia (Absalon being a further alternative spelling). Nicholas Gombert composed the two-part, eight-voice motet "Lugebat David Absalon". Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) composed "Fili mi, Absalon" as part of his Sinfoniae Sacrae, op. 6. The single verse, 2 Samuel 18:33, regarding David's grief at the loss of his son ("And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"), is the inspiration for the text of several pieces of choral music, usually entitled When David Heard (such as those by Renaissance composers Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Weelkes, or modern composers Eric Whitacre, Joshua Shank, and Norman Dinerstein). This verse is also used in "David's Lamentation" by William Billings, first published in 1778. Leonard Cohen's poem "Prayer for Sunset" compares the setting sun to the raving Absalom, and asks whether another Joab will arrive tomorrow night to kill Absalom again. "Absalom, Absalom" is a song on the 1996 Compass CD Making Light of It by singer/songwriter Pierce Pettis, incorporating several elements of the biblical narrative. The Australian composer Nigel Butterley set the verse in his 2008 choral work "Beni Avshalom", commissioned by the Sydney Chamber Choir. During the finale of the song "Distant Early Warning" by Canadian band Rush, Geddy Lee sings, "Absalom, Absalom, Absalom"; lyrics written by drummer Neil Peart. David Olney's 2000 CD Omar's Blues includes the song "Absalom". The song depicts David grieving over the death of his son. The story of Absalom is referred to several places in folk singer Adam Arcuragi's song "Always Almost Crying". The San Francisco–based band Om mentions Absalom in their song "Kapila's Theme" from their debut album Variations on a Theme. The garage folk band David's Doldrums references Absalom in their song, "My Name Is Absalom". The song alludes to Absalom's feelings of solemnity and abandonment of love and hope. In "Every Kind Word" by Lackthereof, Danny Seim's project parallel to Menomena, Seim sings "... and your hair is long like Absalom." "Barach Hamelech", an Israeli song by Amos Etinger and Yosef Hadar. The grindcore band Discordance Axis references Absalom at the end of the track entitled "Castration Rite". In 2007 Ryland Angel released "Absalom" on Ryland Angel-Manhattan Records. "Hanging By His Hair" from the 1998 Wormwood album by The Residents recounts Absalom's defiance and death. Also performed on Roadworms (The Berlin Sessions) and Wormwood Live. "Absalom" is a song on Brand New Shadows's debut album, White Flags. It is a mournful lament from King David's perspective. "Absalom" is an album by the experimental/progressive band Stick Men featuring Tony Levin, Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto. The American Rock band Little Feat reference Absalom in their song "Gimme a Stone" on the album entitled Chinese Work Songs. This song is written from the perspective of King David—mainly focusing on the task of fighting Goliath—but contains a lament to Absalom. This was a cover of the song, the original being on the 1998 Americana concept album Largo, by David Forman and Levon Helm. References Notes Citations Sources External links Some musical scores of David's lament for Absalom: Absalon, fili mi () Biblical murderers Biblical murder victims Children of David Fratricides Jewish rebels Jewish royalty Male murder victims Rebellious princes

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abydos

Abydos

Abydos may refer to: Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor Abydos (Stargate), name of a fictional planet in the Stargate science fiction universe Abydos, Egypt, a city in ancient Egypt Abydos Station, a pastoral lease and cattle station in Western Australia See also Abidu, a village in Iran Abidos, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in southwestern France