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The Yangtze, Yangzi ( or ), or officially Chang Jiang is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the seventh-largest river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population. The Yangtze has played a major role in the history, culture and economy of China. For thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The prosperous Yangtze Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced it was building a multi-tier transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports, to create a new economic belt alongside the river. The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and threatened species including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise and the Yangtze sturgeon, but also was the home of the extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish. In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, plastic pollution, agricultural runoff, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Etymology Chinese () is the modern Chinese name for the Yangtze. However, because the source of the Yangtze was not ascertained until modern times, the Chinese have given different names to the upstream sections of the river up to its confluence with the Min River at Yibin, Sichuan. Jinsha River ("Gold Sands River") refers to the 2,308 km (1,434 mi) of the Yangtze from Yibin upstream to the confluence with the Batang River near Yushu in Qinghai, while the Tongtian River ("River that leads to Heaven") describes the 813 km (505 mi) section from Yushu up to the confluence of the Tuotuo River and the Dangqu River. Chang Jiang literally means the "Long River." In Old Chinese, the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang , a character of phono-semantic compound origin, combining the water radical with the homophone (now pronounced , but *kˤoŋ in Old Chinese). Krong was probably a word in the Austroasiatic language of local peoples such as the Yue. Similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, all meaning "river", it is related to modern Vietnamese sông (river) and Khmer krung (city on riverside), whence Thai krung (กรุง capital city), not kôngkea (water) which is from the Sanskrit root gáṅgā. By the Han dynasty, had come to mean any river in Chinese, and this river was distinguished as the "Great River" (). The epithet (simplified version ), means "long", was first formally applied to the river during the Six Dynasties period. Various sections of the Yangtze have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the () or "Sichuan River." In Hubei, the river is also called the () or the "Jing River" after Jingzhou, one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. In Anhui, the river takes on the local name after the shorthand name for Anhui, (皖). And () or the "Yangzi River", from which the English name Yangtze is derived, is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the region of Yangzhou. The name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called or (). Europeans who arrived in the Yangtze River Delta region applied this local name to the whole river. The dividing site between upstream and midstream is considered to be at Yichang and that between midstream and downstream at Hukou (Jiujiang). English The river was called Quian () and Quianshui () by Marco Polo and appeared on the earliest English maps as Kian or Kiam, which derives from Cantonese, all recording dialects which preserved forms of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of as Kæwng. By the mid-19th century, these romanizations had standardized as Kiang; Dajiang, e.g., was rendered as "Ta-Kiang." "Keeang-Koo," "Kyang Kew," "Kian-ku," and related names derived from mistaking the Chinese term for the mouth of the Yangtze (, p Jiāngkǒu) as the name of the river itself. The name Blue River began to be applied in the 18th century, apparently owing to a former name of the Dam Chu or Min and to analogy with the Yellow River, but it was frequently explained in early English references as a 'translation' of Jiang, Jiangkou, or Yangzijiang. Very common in 18th- and 19th-century sources, the name fell out of favor due to growing awareness of its lack of any connection to the river's Chinese names and to the irony of its application to such a muddy waterway. Matteo Ricci's 1615 Latin account included descriptions of the "Ianſu" and "Ianſuchian." The posthumous account's translation of the name as Fils de la Mar ("Son of the Ocean") shows that Ricci, who by the end of his life was fluent in literary Chinese, was introduced to it as the homophonic rather than the 'proper' . Further, although railroads and the Shanghai concessions subsequently turned it into a backwater, Yangzhou was the lower river's principal port for much of the Qing dynasty, directing Liangjiang's important salt monopoly and connecting the Yangtze with the Grand Canal to Beijing. (That connection also made it one of the Yellow River's principal ports between the floods of 1344 and the 1850s, during which time the Yellow River ran well south of Shandong and discharged into the ocean a mere few hundred kilometers from the mouth of the Yangtze.) By 1800, English cartographers such as Aaron Arrowsmith had adopted the French style of the name as Yang-tse or Yang-tse Kiang. The British diplomat Thomas Wade emended this to Yang-tzu Chiang as part of his formerly popular romanization of Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect instead of Nanjing's and first published in 1867. The spellings Yangtze and Yangtze Kiang was a compromise between the two methods adopted at the 1906 Imperial Postal Conference in Shanghai, which established postal romanization. Hanyu Pinyin was adopted by the PRC's First Congress in 1958, but it was not widely employed in English outside mainland China prior to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the PRC in 1979; since that time, the spelling Yangzi has also been used. Tibetan The source and upper reaches of the Yangtze are located in ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai. In Tibetan, the Tuotuo headwaters are the Machu (, literally "Red River" or perhaps "Wound-[like Red] River?")). The Tongtian is the Drichu (, ‘Bri Chu}}, literally "River of the Female Yak"; transliterated into ). Geography The river originates from several tributaries in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, two of which are commonly referred to as the "source." Traditionally, the Chinese government has recognized the source as the Tuotuo tributary at the base of a glacier lying on the west of Geladandong Mountain in the Tanggula Mountains. This source is found at and while not the furthest source of the Yangtze, it is the highest source at above sea level. The true source of the Yangtze, hydrologically the longest river distance from the sea, is at Jari Hill at the head of the Dam Qu tributary, approximately southeast of Geladandong. This source was only discovered in the late 20th century and lies in wetlands at and above sea level just southeast of Chadan Township in Zadoi County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai. As the historical spiritual source of the Yangtze, the Geladandong source is still commonly referred to as the source of the Yangtze since the discovery of the Jari Hill source. These tributaries join and the river then runs eastward through Qinghai (Tsinghai), turning southward down a deep valley at the border of Sichuan (Szechwan) and Tibet to reach Yunnan. In the course of this valley, the river's elevation drops from above to less than . The headwaters of the Yangtze are situated at an elevation of about . In its descent to sea level, the river falls to an altitude of at Yibin, Sichuan, the head of navigation for riverboats, and to at Chongqing (Chungking). Between Chongqing and Yichang (I-ch'ang), at an altitude of and a distance of about , it passes through the spectacular Yangtze Gorges, which are noted for their natural beauty but are dangerous to shipping. It enters the basin of Sichuan at Yibin. While in the Sichuan basin, it receives several mighty tributaries, increasing its water volume significantly. It then cuts through Mount Wushan bordering Chongqing and Hubei to create the famous Three Gorges. Eastward of the Three Gorges, Yichang is the first city on the Yangtze Plain. After entering Hubei province, the Yangtze receives water from a number of lakes. The largest of these lakes is Dongting Lake, which is located on the border of Hunan and Hubei provinces, and is the outlet for most of the rivers in Hunan. At Wuhan, it receives its biggest tributary, the Han River, bringing water from its northern basin as far as Shaanxi. At the northern tip of Jiangxi province, Lake Poyang, the biggest freshwater lake in China, merges into the river. The river then runs through Anhui and Jiangsu, receiving more water from innumerable smaller lakes and rivers, and finally reaches the East China Sea at Shanghai. Four of China's five main freshwater lakes contribute their waters to the Yangtze River. Traditionally, the upstream part of the Yangtze River refers to the section from Yibin to Yichang; the middle part refers to the section from Yichang to Hukou County, where Lake Poyang meets the river; the downstream part is from Hukou to Shanghai. The origin of the Yangtze River has been dated by some geologists to about 45 million years ago in the Eocene, but this dating has been disputed. Image gallery Characteristics The Yangtze flows into the East China Sea and was navigable by ocean-going vessels up from its mouth even before the Three Gorges Dam was built. The Yangtze is flanked with metallurgical, power, chemical, auto, building materials and machinery industrial belts and high-tech development zones. It is playing an increasingly crucial role in the river valley's economic growth and has become a vital link for international shipping to the inland provinces. The river is a major transportation artery for China, connecting the interior with the coast. The river is one of the world's busiest waterways. Traffic includes commercial traffic transporting bulk goods such as coal as well as manufactured goods and passengers. Cargo transportation reached 795 million tons in 2005. River cruises several days long, especially through the beautiful and scenic Three Gorges area, are becoming popular as the tourism industry grows in China. Flooding along the river has been a major problem. The rainy season in China is May and June in areas south of Yangtze River, and July and August in areas north of it. The huge river system receives water from both southern and northern flanks, which causes its flood season to extend from May to August. Meanwhile, the relatively dense population and rich cities along the river make the floods more deadly and costly. The most recent major floods were the 1998 Yangtze River Floods, but more disastrous were the 1954 Yangtze River Floods, which killed around 30,000 people. History Geologic history Although the mouth of the Yellow River has fluctuated widely north and south of the Shandong peninsula within the historical record, the Yangtze has remained largely static. Based on studies of sedimentation rates, however, it is unlikely that the present discharge site predates the late Miocene ( Ma). Prior to this, its headwaters drained south into the Gulf of Tonkin along or near the course of the present Red River. Early history The Yangtze River is important to the cultural origins of southern China and Japan. Human activity has been verified in the Three Gorges area as far back as 27,000 years ago, and by the 5th millennium BC, the lower Yangtze was a major population center occupied by the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures, both among the earliest cultivators of rice. By the 3rd millennium BC, the successor Liangzhu culture showed evidence of influence from the Longshan peoples of the North China Plain. What is now thought of as Chinese culture developed along the more fertile Yellow River basin; the "Yue" people of the lower Yangtze possessed very different traditions blackening their teeth, cutting their hair short, tattooing their bodies, and living in small settlements among bamboo groves and were considered barbarous by the northerners. The Central Yangtze valley was home to sophisticated Neolithic cultures. Later it became the earliest part of the Yangtze valley to be integrated into the North Chinese cultural sphere. (Northern Chinese were active there since the Bronze Age). In the lower Yangtze, two Yue tribes, the Gouwu in southern Jiangsu and the Yuyue in northern Zhejiang, display increasing Zhou (i.e., North Chinese) influence starting in the 9th century BC. Traditional accounts credit these changes to northern refugees (Taibo and Zhongyong in Wu and Wuyi in Yue) who assumed power over the local tribes, though these are generally assumed to be myths invented to legitimate them to other Zhou rulers. As the kingdoms of Wu and Yue, they were famed as fishers, shipwrights, and sword-smiths. Adopting Chinese characters, political institutions, and military technology, they were among the most powerful states during the later Zhou. In the middle Yangtze, the state of Jing seems to have begun in the upper Han River valley a minor Zhou polity, but it adapted to native culture as it expanded south and east into the Yangtze valley. In the process, it changed its name to Chu. Whether native or nativizing, the Yangtze states held their own against the northern Chinese homeland: some lists credit them with three of the Spring and Autumn period's Five Hegemons and one of the Warring States' Four Lords. They fell in against themselves, however. Chu's growing power led its rival Jin to support Wu as a counter. Wu successfully sacked Chu's capital Ying in 506 BC, but Chu subsequently supported Yue in its attacks against Wu's southern flank. In 473 BC, King Goujian of Yue fully annexed Wu and moved his court to its eponymous capital at modern Suzhou. In 333 BC, Chu finally united the lower Yangtze by annexing Yue, whose royal family was said to have fled south and established the Minyue kingdom in Fujian. Qin was able to unite China by first subduing Ba and Shu on the upper Yangtze in modern Sichuan, giving them a strong base to attack Chu's settlements along the river. The state of Qin conquered the central Yangtze region, previous heartland of Chu, in 278 BC, and incorporated the region into its expanding empire. Qin then used its connections along the Yangtze River the Xiang River to expand China into Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong, setting up military commanderies along the main lines of communication. At the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, these southern commanderies became the independent Nanyue Empire under Zhao Tuo while Chu and Han vied with each other for control of the north. Since the Han dynasty, the region of the Yangtze River grew ever more important to China's economy. The establishment of irrigation systems (the most famous one is Dujiangyan, northwest of Chengdu, built during the Warring States period) made agriculture very stable and productive, eventually exceeding even the Yellow River region. The Qin and Han empires were actively engaged in the agricultural colonization of the Yangtze lowlands, maintaining a system of dikes to protect farmland from seasonal floods. By the Song dynasty, the area along the Yangtze had become among the wealthiest and most developed parts of the country, especially in the lower reaches of the river. Early in the Qing dynasty, the region called Jiangnan (that includes the southern part of Jiangsu, the northern part of Zhejiang, and the southeastern part of Anhui) provided – of the nation's revenues. The Yangtze has long been the backbone of China's inland water transportation system, which remained particularly important for almost two thousand years, until the construction of the national railway network during the 20th century. The Grand Canal connects the lower Yangtze with the major cities of the Jiangnan region south of the river (Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou) and with northern China (all the way from Yangzhou to Beijing). The less well known ancient Lingqu Canal, connecting the upper Xiang River with the headwaters of the Guijiang, allowed a direct water connection from the Yangtze Basin to the Pearl River Delta. Historically, the Yangtze became the political boundary between north China and south China several times (see History of China) because of the difficulty of crossing the river. This occurred notably during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Southern Song. Many battles took place along the river, the most famous being the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. The Yangtze was the site of naval battles between the Song dynasty and Jurchen Jin during the Jin–Song wars. In the Battle of Caishi of 1161, the ships of the Jin emperor Wanyan Liang clashed with the Song fleet on the Yangtze. Song soldiers fired bombs of lime and sulfur using trebuchets at the Jurchen warships. The battle was a Song victory that halted the invasion by the Jin. The Battle of Tangdao was another Yangtze naval battle in the same year. Politically, Nanjing was the capital of China several times, although most of the time its territory only covered the southeastern part of China, such as the Wu kingdom in the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and during the Southern and Northern Dynasties and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods. Only the Ming occupied most parts of China from their capital at Nanjing, though it later moved the capital to Beijing. The ROC capital was located in Nanjing in the periods 1911–12, 1927–37, and 1945–49. Age of steam The first merchant steamer in China, the Jardine, was built to order for the firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co. in 1835. She was a small vessel intended for use as a mail and passenger carrier between Lintin Island, Macao, and Whampoa. However, the Chinese, draconian in their application of the rules relating to foreign vessels, were unhappy about a "fire-ship" steaming up the Canton River. The acting Governor-General of Kwangtung issued an edict warning that she would be fired on if she attempted the trip. On the Jardine's first trial run from Lintin Island the forts on both sides of the Bogue opened fire and she was forced to turn back. The Chinese authorities issued a further warning insisting that the ship leave Chinese waters. The Jardine in any case needed repairs and was sent to Singapore. Subsequently, Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary decided mainly on the "suggestions" of William Jardine to declare war on China. In mid-1840, a large fleet of warships appeared on the China coast, and with the first cannonball fired at a British ship, the Royal Saxon, the British started the first of the Opium Wars. Royal Navy warships destroyed numerous shore batteries and Chinese warships, laying waste to several coastal forts along the way. Eventually, they pushed their way up north close enough to threaten the Imperial Palace in Peking itself. The Chinese imperial government quickly gave in to the demands of the British. British military superiority was clearly evident during the conflict. British warships, constructed using such innovations as steam power combined with sail and the use of iron in shipbuilding, wreaked havoc on Chinese junks; such ships (like the Nemesis) were not only virtually indestructible but also highly mobile and able to support a gun platform with very heavy guns. In addition, the British troops were armed with modern muskets and cannons, unlike the Qing forces. After the British captured Canton, they sailed up the Yangtze and seized the tax barges, a significant blow to the Imperial government as it slashed the revenue of the imperial court in Beijing to just a small fraction of what it had been. In 1842 the Qing authorities sued for peace, which concluded with the Treaty of Nanking signed on a warship in the river, negotiated in August of that year and ratified in 1843. In the treaty, China was forced to pay an indemnity to Britain, open five treaty ports to all foreign nations, and cede Hong Kong to Queen Victoria. In the supplementary Treaty of the Bogue, the Qing Empire also recognized Britain as an equal to China and gave British subjects extraterritorial privileges in treaty ports. The China Navigation Company was an early shipping company founded in 1876 in London, initially to trade up the Yangtze River from their Shanghai base with passengers and cargo. Chinese coastal trade started shortly after, and in 1883 a regular service to Australia was initiated. U.S. and French conflicts The US, at the same time, wanting to protect its interests and expand trade, ventured the six hundred miles up the river to Hankow sometime in the 1860s, while the , a sidewheeler, made her way up the river to Yichang in 1874. The first , a sidewheel gunboat, began charting the Yangtze River in 1871. The first , an armed tug, was on Asiatic Station into 1891, cruising the Chinese and Japanese coasts, visiting the open treaty ports and making occasional voyages up the Yangtze River. From June to September 1891, anti-foreign riots up the Yangtze forced the warship to make an extended voyage as far as Hankou, 600 miles upriver. Stopping at each open treaty port, the gunboat cooperated with naval vessels of other nations and repairing damage. She then operated along the north and central China coast and on the lower Yangtze until June 1892. The cessation of bloodshed with the Taiping Rebellion, Europeans put more steamers on the river. The French engaged the Chinese in war over the rule of Vietnam. The Sino-French Wars of the 1880s emerged with the Battle of Shipu having French cruisers in the lower Yangtze. The China Navigation Company was an early shipping company founded in 1876 in London, initially to trade up the Yangtze River from their Shanghai base with passengers and cargo. Chinese coastal trade started shortly after and in 1883 a regular service to Australia was initiated. Most of the company's ships were seized by Japan in 1941 and services did not resume until 1946. Robert Dollar was a later shipping magnate, who became enormously influential moving Californian and Canadian lumber to the Chinese and Japanese market. Yichang, or Ichang, from the sea, is the head of navigation for river steamers; oceangoing vessels may navigate the river to Hankow, a distance of almost from the sea. For about inland from its mouth, the river is virtually at sea level. The Chinese Government, too, had steamers. It had its own naval fleet, the Nanyang Fleet, which fell prey to the French fleet. The Chinese would rebuild its fleet, only to be ravaged by another war with Japan (1895), Revolution (1911) and ongoing inefficiency and corruption. Chinese companies ran their own steamers, but were second tier to European operations at the time. Navigation on the upper river Steamers came late to the upper river, the section stretching from Yichang to Chongqing. Freshets from Himalayan snowmelt created treacherous seasonal currents. But summer was better navigationally and the three gorges, described as an "150-mile passage which is like the narrow throat of an hourglass," posed hazardous threats of crosscurrents, whirlpools and eddies, creating significant challenges to steamship efforts. Furthermore, Chongqing is 700 – 800 feet above sea level, requiring powerful engines to make the upriver climb. Junk travel accomplished the upriver feat by employing 70–80 trackers, men hitched to hawsers who physically pulled ships upriver through some of the most risky and deadly sections of the three gorges. Achibald John Little took an interest in Upper Yangtze navigation when in 1876, the Chefoo Convention opened Chongqing to consular residence but stipulated that foreign trade might only commence once steamships had succeeded in ascending the river to that point. Little formed the Upper Yangtze Steam Navigation Co., Ltd. and built Kuling but his attempts to take the vessel further upriver than Yichang were thwarted by the Chinese authorities who were concerned about the potential loss of transit duties, competition to their native junk trade and physical damage to their crafts caused by steamship wakes. Kuling was sold to China Merchants Steam Navigation Company for lower river service. In 1890, the Chinese government agreed to open Chongqing to foreign trade as long as it was restricted to native crafts. In 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki provided a provision which opened Chongqing fully to foreign trade. Little took up residence in Chongqing and built Leechuan, to tackle the gorges in 1898. In March Leechuan completed the upriver journey to Chongqing but not without the assistance of trackers. Leechuan was not designed for cargo or passengers and if Little wanted to take his vision one step further, he required an expert pilot. In 1898, Little persuaded Captain Samuel Cornell Plant to come out to China to lend his expertise. Captain Plant had just completed navigation of Persia's Upper Karun River and took up Little's offer to assess the Upper Yangtze on Leechuan at the end of 1898. With Plant's design input, Little had SS Pioneer built with Plant in command. In June 1900, Plant was the first to successfully pilot a merchant steamer on the Upper Yangtze from Yichang to Chongqing. Pioneer was sold to Royal Navy after its first run due to threat from the Boxer Rebellion and renamed HMS Kinsha. Germany's steamship effort that same year on SS Suixing ended in catastrophe. On Suixing's maiden voyage, the vessel hit a rock and sunk, killing its captain and ending realistic hopes of regular commercial steam service on the Upper Yangtze. In 1908, local Sichuan merchants and their government partnered with Captain Plant to form Sichuan Steam Navigation Company becoming the first successful service between Yichang and Chongqing. Captain Plant designed and commanded its two ships, SS Shutung and SS Shuhun. Other Chinese vessels came onto the run and by 1915, foreign ships expressed their interest too. Plant was appointed by Chinese Maritime Customs Service as First Senior River Inspector in 1915. In this role, Plant installed navigational marks and established signaling systems. He also wrote Handbook for the Guidance of Shipmasters on the Ichang-Chungking Section of the Yangtze River, a detailed and illustrated account of the Upper Yangtze's currents, rocks, and other hazards with navigational instruction. Plant trained hundreds of Chinese and foreign pilots and issued licenses and worked with the Chinese government to make the river safer in 1917 by removing some of the most difficult obstacles and threats with explosives. In August 1917, British Asiatic Petroleum became the first foreign merchant steamship on the Upper Yangtze. Commercial firms, Robert Dollar Company, Jardine Matheson, Butterfield and Swire and Standard Oil added their own steamers on the river between 1917 and 1919. Between 1918 and 1919, Sichuan warlord violence and escalating civil war put Sichuan Steam Navigational Company out of business. Shutung was commandeered by warlords and Shuhun was brought down river to Shanghai for safekeeping. In 1921, when Captain Plant died tragically at sea while returning home to England, a Plant Memorial Fund was established to perpetuate Plant's name and contributions to Upper Yangtze navigation. The largest shipping companies in service, Butterfield & Swire, Jardine Matheson, Standard Oil, Mackenzie & Co., Asiatic Petroleum, Robert Dollar, China Merchants S.N. Co. and British-American Tobacco Co., contributed alongside international friends and Chinese pilots. In 1924, a 50-foot granite pyramidal obelisk was erected in Xintan, on the site of Captain Plant's home, in a Chinese community of pilots and junk owners. One face of the monument is inscribed in Chinese and another in English. Though recently relocated to higher ground ahead of the Three Gorges Dam, the monument still stands overlooking the Upper Yangtze River near Yichang, a rare collective tribute to a westerner in China. Until 1881, the India and China coastal and river services were operated by several companies. In that year, however, these were merged into the Indo-China Steam Navigation Company Ltd, a public company under the management of Jardine's. The Jardine company pushed inland up the Yangtsze River on which a specially designed fleet was built to meet all requirements of the river trade. Jardine's established an enviable reputation for the efficient handling of shipping. As a result, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company invited the firm to attend to the Agency of their Shire Line, which operated in the Far East. Standard Oil ran the tankers Mei Ping, Mei An and Mei Hsia, which were collectively destroyed on December 12, 1937, when Japanese warplanes bombed and sank the U.S.S. Panay. One of the Standard Oil captains who survived this attack had served on the Upper River for 14 years. Navy ships With the Treaty Ports, the European powers and Japan were allowed to sail navy ships into China's waters. The British, Americans, and French did this. A full international fleet featured on Chinese waters: Austro-Hungarian, Portuguese, Italian, Russian and German navy ships came to Shanghai and the treaty ports. The Japanese engaged in open warfare with the Chinese over conquest of the Chinese Qing Empire in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895, and with Russia over Qing Empire territory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Incidentally, both the French and Japanese navies were heavily involved in running opium and narcotics to Shanghai, where it was refined into morphine. It was then transhipped by liner back to Marseille and France (i.e. French Connection) for processing in Germany and eventual sale in the U.S. or Europe. In 1909 the gunboat changed station to Shanghai, where she regularly patrolled the lower Yangtze River up to Nanking and Wuhu. Following an anti-foreign riots in Changsha in April 1910, which destroyed a number of missions and merchant warehouses, Samar sailed up the Yangtze River to Hankow and then Changsa to show the flag and help restore order. The gunboat was also administratively assigned to the Asiatic Fleet that year, which had been reestablished by the Navy to better protect, in the words of the Bureau of Navigation, "American interests in the Orient." After returning to Shanghai in August, she sailed up river again the following summer, passing Wuhu in June but then running aground off Kichau on July 1, 1911. After staying stuck in the mud for two weeks, Samar broke free and sailed back down river to coal ship. Returning upriver, the gunboat reached Hankow in August and Ichang in September where she wintered over owing to both the dry season and the outbreak of rebellion at Wuchang in October 1911. Tensions eased and the gunboat turned downriver in July 1912, arriving at Shanghai in October. Samar patrolled the lower Yangtze after fighting broke out in the summer 1913, a precursor to a decade of conflict between provincial warlords in China. In 1919, she was placed on the disposal list at Shanghai following a collision with a Yangtze River steamer that damaged her bow. The Spanish boats were replaced in the 1920s by and were the largest, and next in size, and and the smallest. China in the first fifty years of the 20th century, was in low-grade chaos. Warlords, revolutions, natural disasters, civil war and invasions contributed. Yangtze boats were involved in the Nanking incident of 1927 when the Communists and Nationalists broke into open war. The Chiang Kai-shek's massacre of the Communists in Shanghai in 1927 furthered the unrest, U.S. Marines with tanks were landed. River steamers were popular targets for both Nationalists and Communists, and peasants who would take periodic pot-shots at vessels. During the course of service the second protected American interests in China down the entire length of the Yangtze, at times convoying U.S. and foreign vessels on the river, evacuating American citizens during periods of disturbance and in general giving credible presence to U.S. consulates and residences in various Chinese cities. In the period of great unrest in central China in the 1920s, Palos was especially busy patrolling the upper Yangtze against bands of warlord soldiers and outlaws. The warship engaged in continuous patrol operations between Ichang and Chungking throughout 1923, supplying armed guards to merchant ships, and protecting Americans at Chungking while that city was under siege by a warlord army. The Royal Navy had a series of Insect-class gunboats which patrolled between Chungking and Shanghai. Cruisers and destroyers and Fly-class gunboats also patrolled. The most infamous incident was when Panay and in 1937, were divebombed by Japanese airplanes during the notorious Nanking massacre. Westerners were forced to leave areas neighboring the Yangtze River with the Japanese takeover in 1941. The former steamers were either sabotaged or pressed into Japanese or Chinese service. Probably the most curious incident involved in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War between Kuomintang and People's Liberation Army forces; and led to the award of the Dickin Medal to the ship's cat Simon. Contemporary events In August 2019, Welsh adventurer Ash Dykes became the first person to complete the 4,000-mile (6,437 km) trek along the course of the river, walking for 352 days from its source to its mouth. Hydrology Periodic floods Tens of millions of people live in the floodplain of the Yangtze valley, an area that naturally floods every summer and is habitable only because it is protected by river dikes. The floods large enough to overflow the dikes have caused great distress to those who live and farm there. Floods of note include those of 1931, 1954, and 1998. The 1931 Central China floods or the Central China floods of 1931 were a series of floods that occurred in the Republic of China. The floods are generally considered among the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded, and almost certainly the deadliest of the 20th century (when pandemics and famines are discounted). Estimates of the total death toll range from 145,000 to between 3.7 million and 4 million. The Yangtze again flooded in 1935, causing great loss of life. From June to September 1954, the Yangtze River Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June. Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m in Jingzhou, Hubei and 29.73 m in Wuhan. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at around 33,000, including those who died of plague in the aftermath of the disaster. The 1998 Yangtze River floods were a series of major floods that lasted from middle of June to the beginning of September 1998 along the Yangtze. In the summer of 1998, China experienced massive flooding of parts of the Yangtze River, resulting in 3,704 dead, 15 million homeless and $26 billion in economic loss. Other sources report a total loss of 4150 people, and 180 million people were affected. A staggering were evacuated, 13.3 million houses were damaged or destroyed. The floods caused $26 billion in damages. The 2016 China floods caused US$22 billion in damages. In 2020, The Yangtze river saw the heaviest rainfall since 1961, with a 79% increase in June and July compared to the average for the period over the previous 41 years. A new theory suggested that abrupt reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, caused by shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, was a key cause of the intense downpours. Over the past decades rainfall had decreased due to increase of aerosols in the atmosphere, and lower greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 caused the opposite effect - a major increase in rain. Such a dramatic reduction of aerosols caused a dramatic change in the various components of the climate system, but such sudden change of the climate system would be very different from changes in response to continuous but gradual policy-driven emissions reductions. Degradation of the river Beginning in the 1950s, dams and dikes were built for flood control, land reclamation, irrigation, and control of diseases vectors such as blood flukes that caused Schistosomiasis. More than a hundred lakes were thusly cut off from the main river. There were gates between the lakes that could be opened during floods. However, farmers and settlements encroached on the land next to the lakes although it was forbidden to settle there. When floods came, it proved impossible to open the gates since it would have caused substantial destruction. Thus the lakes partially or completely dried up. For example, Baidang Lake shrunk from in the 1950s to in 2005. Zhangdu Lake dwindled to one quarter of its original size. Natural fisheries output in the two lakes declined sharply. Only a few large lakes, such as Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, remained connected to the Yangtze. Cutting off the other lakes that had served as natural buffers for floods increased the damage done by floods further downstream. Furthermore, the natural flow of migratory fish was obstructed and biodiversity across the whole basin decreased dramatically. Intensive farming of fish in ponds spread using one type of carp who thrived in eutrophic water conditions and who feeds on algae, causing widespread pollution. The pollution was exacerbated by the discharge of waste from pig farms as well as of untreated industrial and municipal sewage. In September 2012, the Yangtze river near Chongqing turned red from pollution. The erection of the Three Gorges Dam has created an impassable "iron barrier" that has led to a great reduction in the biodiversity of the river. Yangtze sturgeon use seasonal changes in the flow of the river to signal when is it time to migrate. However, these seasonal changes will be greatly reduced by dams and diversions. Other animals facing immediate threat of extinction are the baiji dolphin, narrow-ridged finless porpoise and the Yangtze alligator. These animals numbers went into freefall from the combined effects of accidental catches during fishing, river traffic, habitat loss and pollution. In 2006 the baiji dolphin became extinct; the world lost an entire genus. In 2020, a sweeping law was passed by the Chinese government to protect the ecology of the river. The new laws include strengthening ecological protection rules for hydropower projects along the river, banning chemical plants within 1 kilometer of the river, relocating polluting industries, severely restricting sand mining as well as a complete fishing ban on all the natural waterways of the river, including all its major tributaries and lakes. Contribution to ocean pollution The Yangtze River produces more ocean plastic pollution than any other, according to The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch environmental research foundation that focuses on ocean pollution. Together with 9 other rivers, the Yangtze transports 90% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans. Reconnecting lakes In 2002 a pilot program was initiated to reconnect lakes to the Yangtze with the objective to increase biodiversity and to alleviate flooding. The first lakes to be reconnected in 2004 were Zhangdu Lake, Honghu Lake, and Tian'e-Zhou in Hubei on the middle Yangtze. In 2005 Baidang Lake in Anhui was also reconnected. Reconnecting the lakes improved water quality and fish were able to migrate from the river into the lake, replenishing their numbers and genetic stock. The trial also showed that reconnecting the lake reduced flooding. The new approach also benefitted the farmers economically. Pond farmers switched to natural fish feed, which helped them breed better-quality fish that can be sold for more, increasing their income by 30%. Based on the successful pilot project, other provincial governments emulated the experience and also reestablished connections to lakes that had previously been cut off from the river. In 2005 a Yangtze Forum has been established bringing together 13 riparian provincial governments to manage the river from source to sea. In 2006 China's Ministry of Agriculture made it a national policy to reconnect the Yangtze River with its lakes. As of 2010, provincial governments in five provinces and Shanghai set up a network of 40 effective protected areas, covering . As a result, populations of 47 threatened species increased, including the critically endangered Yangtze alligator. In the Shanghai area, reestablished wetlands now protect drinking water sources for the city. It is envisaged to extend the network throughout the entire Yangtze to eventually cover 102 areas and . The mayor of Wuhan announced that six huge, stagnating urban lakes including the East Lake (Wuhan) would be reconnected at the cost of US$2.3 billion creating China's largest urban wetland landscape. Major cities along the river Yushu Panzhihua Yibin Luzhou Hejiang Chongqing Fuling Fengdu Wanzhou Yichang Yidu Jingzhou Shashi Shishou Yueyang Xianning Wuhan Ezhou Huangshi Huanggang Chaohu Chizhou Jiujiang Anqing Tongling Wuhu Chuzhou Ma'anshan Taizhou Yangzhou Zhenjiang Nanjing Changzhou Nantong Shanghai Crossings Until 1957, there were no bridges across the Yangtze River from Yibin to Shanghai. For millennia, travelers crossed the river by ferry. On occasions, the crossing may have been dangerous, as evidenced by the Zhong'anlun disaster (October 15, 1945). The river stood as a major geographic barrier dividing northern and southern China. In the first half of the 20th century, rail passengers from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shanghai had to disembark, respectively, at Hanyang and Pukou, and cross the river by steam ferry before resuming journeys by train from Wuchang or Nanjing West. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Soviet engineers assisted in the design and construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, a dual-use road-rail bridge, built from 1955 to 1957. It was the first bridge across the Yangtze River. The second bridge across the river that was built was a single-track railway bridge built upstream in Chongqing in 1959. The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, also a road-rail bridge, was the first bridge to cross the lower reaches of the Yangtze, in Nanjing. It was built after the Sino-Soviet Split and did not receive foreign assistance. Road-rail bridges were then built in Zhicheng (1971) and Chongqing (1980). Bridge-building slowed in the 1980s before resuming in the 1990s and accelerating in the first decade of the 21st century. The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge was built in 1992 as part of the Beijing-Jiujiang Railway. A second bridge in Wuhan was completed in 1995. By 2005, there were a total of 56 bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze River between Yibin and Shanghai. These include some of the longest suspension and cable-stayed bridges in the world on the Yangtze Delta: Jiangyin Suspension Bridge (1,385 m, opened in 1999), Runyang Bridge (1,490 m, opened 2005), Sutong Bridge (1,088 m, opened 2008). The rapid pace of bridge construction has continued. The city of Wuhan now has six bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze. A number of power line crossings have also been built across the river. Dams As of 2007, there are two dams built on the Yangtze river: Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest power station in the world by installed capacity, at 22.5 GW. Several dams are operating or are being constructed on the upper portion of the river, the Jinsha River. Among them, the Xiluodu Dam is the third largest power station in the world, and the Baihetan Dam, planned to be commissioned in 2021, will be the second largest after the Three Gorges Dam. Tributaries The Yangtze River has over 700 tributaries. The major tributaries (listed from upstream to downstream) with the locations of where they join the Yangtze are: Yalong River (Panzhihua, Sichuan) Min River (Yibin, Sichuan) Tuo River (Luzhou, Sichuan) Chishui River (Hejiang, Sichuan) Jialing River (Chongqing) Wu River (Fuling, Chongqing) Qing River (Yidu, Hubei) Yuan River (via Dongting Lake) Lishui River (via Dongting Lake) Zi River (via Dongting Lake) Xiang River (Yueyang, Hunan) Han River (Wuhan, Hubei) Gan River (near Jiujiang, Jiangxi) Shuiyang River (Dangtu, Anhui) Qingyi River (Wuhu, Anhui) Chao Lake water system (Chaohu, Anhui) Lake Tai water system (Shanghai) The Huai River flowed into the Yellow Sea until the 20th century, but now primarily discharges into the Yangtze. Protected areas Sanjiangyuan ("Three Rivers' Sources") National Nature Reserve in Qinghai Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Wildlife The Yangtze River has a high species richness, including many endemics. A high percentage of these are seriously threatened by human activities. Fish , 416 fish species are known from the Yangtze basin, including 362 that strictly are freshwater species. The remaining are also known from salt or brackish waters, such as the river's estuary or the East China Sea. This makes it one of the most species-rich rivers in Asia and by far the most species-rich in China (in comparison, the Pearl River has almost 300 fish species and the Yellow River 160). 178 fish species are endemic to the Yangtze River Basin. Many are only found in some section of the river basin and especially the upper reach (above Yichang, but below the headwaters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) is rich with 279 species, including 147 Yangtze endemics and 97 strict endemics (found only in this part of the basin). In contrast, the headwaters, where the average altitude is above , are only home to 14 highly specialized species, but 8 of these are endemic to the river. The largest orders in the Yangtze are Cypriniformes (280 species, including 150 endemics), Siluriformes (40 species, including 20 endemics), Perciformes (50 species, including 4 endemics), Tetraodontiformes (12 species, including 1 endemic) and Osmeriformes (8 species, including 1 endemic). No other order has more than four species in the river and one endemic. Many Yangtze fish species have declined drastically and 65 were recognized as threatened in the 2009 Chinese red list. Among these are three that are considered entirely extinct (Chinese paddlefish, Anabarilius liui liui and Atrilinea macrolepis), two that are extinct in the wild (Anabarilius polylepis, Schizothorax parvus), four that are critically endangered Euchiloglanis kishinouyei, Megalobrama elongata, Schizothorax longibarbus and Leiocassis longibarbus). Additionally, both the Yangtze sturgeon and Chinese sturgeon are considered critically endangered by the IUCN. The survival of these two sturgeon may rely on the continued release of captive bred specimens. Although still listed as critically endangered rather than extinct by both the Chinese red list and IUCN, recent reviews have found that the Chinese paddlefish is extinct. Surveys conducted between 2006 and 2008 by ichthyologists failed to catch any, but two probable specimens were recorded with hydroacoustic signals. The last definite record was an individual that was accidentally captured near Yibin in 2003 and released after having been radio tagged. The Chinese sturgeon is the largest fish in the river and among the largest freshwater fish in the world, reaching a length of ; the extinct Chinese paddlefish reputedly reached as much as , but its maximum size is labeled with considerable uncertainty. The largest threats to the Yangtze native fish are overfishing and habitat loss (such as building of dams and land reclamation), but pollution, destructive fishing practices (such as fishing with dynamite or poison) and introduced species also cause problems. About of the total freshwater fisheries in China are in the Yangtze Basin, but a drastic decline in size of several important species has been recorded, as highlighted by data from lakes in the river basin. In 2015, some experts recommend a 10-year fishing moratorium to allow the remaining populations to recover, and in January 2020 China imposed a 10-year fishing moratorium on 332 sites along the Yangtze. Dams present another serious problem, as several species in the river perform breeding migrations and most of these are non-jumpers, meaning that normal fish ladders designed for salmon are ineffective. For example, the Gezhouba Dam blocked the migration of the paddlerfish and two sturgeon, while also effectively splitting the Chinese high fin banded shark population into two and causing the extirpation of the Yangtze population of the Japanese eel. In an attempt of minimizing the effect of the dams, the Three Gorges Dam has released water to mimic the (pre-dam) natural flooding and trigger the breeding of carp species downstream. In addition to dams already built in the Yangtze basin, several large dams are planned and these may present further problems for the native fauna. While many fish species native to the Yangtze are seriously threatened, others have become important in fish farming and introduced widely outside their native range. A total of 26 native fish species of the Yangtze basin are farmed. Among the most important are four Asian carp: grass carp, black carp, silver carp and bighead carp. Other species that support important fisheries include northern snakehead, Chinese perch, Takifugu pufferfish (mainly in the lowermost sections) and predatory carp. Other animals Due to commercial use of the river, tourism, and pollution, the Yangtze is home to several seriously threatened species of large animals (in addition to fish): the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, baiji (Yangtze river dolphin), Chinese alligator, Yangtze giant softshell turtle and Chinese giant salamander. This is the only other place besides the United States that is native to an alligator and paddlefish species. In 2010, the Yangtze population of finless porpoise was 1000 individuals. In December 2006, the Yangtze river dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an extensive search of the river revealed no signs of the dolphin's inhabitance. In 2007, a large, white animal was sighted and photographed in the lower Yangtze and was tentatively presumed to be a baiji. However, as there have been no confirmed sightings since 2004, the baiji is presumed to be functionally extinct at this time. "Baijis were the last surviving species of a large lineage dating back seventy million years and one of only six species of freshwater dolphins." It has been argued that the extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin was a result of the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, a project that has affected many species of animals and plant life found only in the gorges area. Numerous species of land mammals are found in the Yangtze valley, but most of these are not directly associated with the river. Three exceptions are the semi-aquatic Eurasian otter, water deer and Père David's deer. In addition to the very large and exceptionally rare Yangtze giant softshell turtle, several smaller turtle species are found in the Yangtze basin, its delta and valleys. These include the Chinese box turtle, yellow-headed box turtle, Pan's box turtle, Yunnan box turtle, yellow pond turtle, Chinese pond turtle, Chinese stripe-necked turtle and Chinese softshell turtle, which all are considered threatened. More than 160 amphibian species are known from the Yangtze basin, including the world's largest, the critically endangered Chinese giant salamander. It has declined drastically due to hunting (it is considered a delicacy), habitat loss and pollution. The polluted Dian Lake, which is part of the upper Yangtze watershed (via Pudu River), is home to several highly threatened fish, but was also home to the Yunnan lake newt. This newt has not been seen since 1979 and is considered extinct. In contrast, the Chinese fire belly newt from the lower Yangtze basin is one of the few Chinese salamander species to remain common and it is considered least concern by the IUCN. The Yangtze basin contains a large number of freshwater crab species, including several endemics. A particularly rich genus in the river basin is the potamid Sinopotamon. The Chinese mitten crab is catadromous (migrates between fresh and saltwater) and it has been recorded up to up the Yangtze, which is the largest river in its native range. It is a commercially important species in its native range where it is farmed, but the Chinese mitten crab has also been spread to Europe and North America where considered invasive. The freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii, now an invasive species in large parts of the world, originates from the Yangtze. See also Category: Tributaries of the Yangtze River List of rivers in China Northern and Southern China, traditionally divided by the Huai River but sometimes considered to separate at the Yangtze Rediscovering the Yangtze River Ship lifts in China South-North Water Transfer Project Steamboats on the Yangtze River Yangtze River Crossing Yangtze Service Medal References Further reading Carles, William Richard, "The Yangtse Chiang", The Geographical Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Sep. 1898), pp. 225–240; Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Danielson, Eric N. 2004. Nanjing and the Lower Yangzi, From Past to Present, The New Yangzi River Trilogy, Vol. II. Singapore: Times Editions/Marshall Cavendish. . Danielson, Eric N. 2005. The Three Gorges and The Upper Yangzi, From Past to Present, The New Yangzi River Trilogy, Vol. III. Singapore: Times Editions/Marshall Cavendish. . Grover, David H. 1992 American Merchant Ships on the Yangtze, 1920–1941. Wesport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. Van Slyke, Lyman P. 1988. Yangtze: nature, history, and the river. A Portable Stanford Book. Winchester, Simon. 1996. The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time, Holt, Henry & Company, 1996, hardcover, ; trade paperback, Owl Publishing, 1997, ; trade paperback, St. Martins, 2004, 432 pages, Plant, Cornell. Glimpses of the Yangze Gorges; illustrations by Ivon A. Donnelly. Kelly & Walsh, Limited, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, 1926. External links Video of walking along the Yangtze River in Yichang City, Hubei Province Rivers of China Geography of Central China Geography of East China Geography of Western China Rivers of Anhui Rivers of Chongqing Rivers of Hubei Rivers of Jiangsu Rivers of Qinghai Rivers of Shanghai Rivers of Sichuan Rivers of Tibet Rivers of Yunnan Drainage basins of the Pacific Ocean Articles containing video clips

Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the third in his Dune series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1976, and was the last Dune novel to be serialized before book publication. At the end of Dune Messiah, Paul Atreides walks into the desert, a blind man, leaving his twin children Leto and Ghanima in the care of the Fremen, while his sister Alia rules the universe as regent. Awakened in the womb by the spice, the children are the heirs to Paul's prescient vision of the fate of the universe, a role that Alia desperately craves. House Corrino schemes to return to the throne, while the Bene Gesserit make common cause with the Tleilaxu and Spacing Guild to gain control of the spice and the children of Paul Atreides. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field. The novel was critically well-received for its plot, action, and atmosphere, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977. Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. Plot Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid climate and have started to move out of the sietches and into the villages and cities. As the old ways erode, more and more pilgrims arrive to experience the planet of Muad'Dib. The Imperial high council has lost its political might and is powerless to control the Jihad. Paul's young twin children, Leto II and Ghanima, have concluded that their guardian Alia has succumbed to Abomination—possession by her grandfather Baron Vladimir Harkonnen—and fear that a similar fate awaits them. They (and Alia) also realize that the terraforming of Dune will kill all the sandworms, thus destroying the source of the spice, but Harkonnen desires this outcome. Leto also fears that, like his father, he will become trapped by his prescience. Meanwhile, a new religious figure called "The Preacher" has risen in the desert, rallying against the religious government's injustices and the changes among the Fremen. Some Fremen believe he is Paul Atreides. Princess Wensicia of the fallen House Corrino on Salusa Secundus plots to assassinate the twins and regain power for her House. Lady Jessica returns to Arrakis and recognizes that her daughter is possessed, but finds no signs of Abomination in the twins. Leto arranges for Fremen leader Stilgar to protect his sister if there is an attempt on their lives. The Preacher journeys to Salusa Secundus to meet Wensicia's son Farad'n, and in return pledges the Duncan Idaho ghola as an agent of House Corrino. Alia attempts to assassinate Jessica, who escapes into the desert with Duncan's help, precipitating a rebellion among the Fremen. The twins anticipate and survive the Corrino assassination plot. Leto leaves to seek out the Preacher, while Ghanima, changing her memory with self-hypnosis, reports (and believes) that her brother has been murdered. Duncan and Jessica flee to Salusa Secundus, where Jessica begins to mentor Farad'n. He seizes power from his regent mother Wensicia and allies with the Bene Gesserit, who promise to marry him to Ghanima and support his bid to become Emperor. A band of Fremen outlaws capture Leto and force him to undergo the spice trance at the suggestion of Gurney Halleck, who has infiltrated the group on Jessica's orders. Leto's spice-induced visions show him myriad possible futures where humanity becomes extinct and only one where it survives. He names this future "The Golden Path" and resolves to bring it to fruition—something that his father, who had already glimpsed this future, refused to do. He escapes his captors and sacrifices his humanity in pursuit of the Golden Path by physically fusing with a school of sandtrout, gaining superhuman strength and near-invulnerability. He travels across the desert and confronts the Preacher, who is indeed Paul. Duncan returns to Arrakis and provokes Stilgar into killing him so that Stilgar is forced to take Ghanima and go into hiding. Alia recaptures Ghanima and arranges her marriage to Farad'n, planning to exploit the expected chaos when Ghanima kills him to avenge her brother's murder. The Preacher and Leto return to the capital to confront Alia. Upon arriving, Paul is murdered, to Alia's horror. Leto reveals himself in a display of superhuman strength and triggers the return of Ghanima's genuine memories. He confronts Alia and offers to help her overcome her possession, but Harkonnen resists. Alia manages to take her own life by throwing herself off a high balcony. Leto declares himself Emperor and asserts control over the Fremen. Farad'n enlists in his service and delivers control of the Corrino armies. Leto marries his sister Ghanima to further his goals, but Farad'n is her true consort so the Atreides line can continue. Publication history Parts of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were written before Dune was completed. Children of Dune was originally serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1976, and was the last Dune novel to be serialized before book publication. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were published in one volume by the Science Fiction Book Club in 2002. Analysis Herbert likened the initial trilogy of novels (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) to a fugue, and while Dune was a heroic melody, Dune Messiah was its inversion. Paul rises to power in Dune by seizing control of the single critical resource in the universe, melange. His enemies are dead or overthrown, and he is set to take the reins of power and bring a hard but enlightened peace to the universe. Herbert chose in the books that followed to undermine Paul's triumph with a string of failures and philosophical paradoxes. Critical reception Initially selling over 75,000 copies, Children of Dune became the first hardcover best-seller in the science fiction field. The novel was critically well-received for its gripping plot, action, and atmosphere, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977. The Los Angeles Times called Children of Dune "a major event", and Challenging Destiny noted that "Herbert adds enough new twists and turns to the ongoing saga that familiarity with the recurring elements brings pleasure." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Ranging from palace intrigue and desert chases to religious speculation and confrontations with the supreme intelligence of the universe, there is something here for all science fiction fans." In a 1976 review, Spider Robinson found Children of Dune unsatisfying, faulting the ending as unconvincing and thematically overfamiliar. The novel is referred to in A Thousand Plateaus (1980) by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. David Pringle gave the novel a rating of two stars out of four and described the novel as "dark and convoluted stuff." Adaptation Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. The three-part, six-hour miniseries covers the bulk of the plot of Dune Messiah in the first installment, and adapts Children of Dune in the second and third parts. References External links Children of Dune 1976 American novels 1976 science fiction novels Novels by Frank Herbert Dune (franchise) novels Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Novels first published in serial form G. P. Putnam's Sons books Works about women in war Sequel novels American novels adapted into television shows

Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896. The ground's capacity is 19,359; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against Millwall in 1938. Next to Bishop's Park on the banks of the River Thames, it was originally a royal hunting lodge and has a history dating back over 300 years. It has been also been used by the United States, Australia, Ireland, and Canada men's national football teams, and was formerly the home ground for rugby league club Fulham RLFC. Life Pre-Fulham The original Cottage was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven and was located close to where the Johnny Haynes Stand is now. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn's hunting grounds. The Cottage was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist among Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are reputed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall (including a temporary stay at Loftus Road), meaning that only their former 'landlords' and rivals QPR have had more home grounds (14) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886 to 1888. Under construction: 1894–1905 When representatives of Fulham first came across the land, in 1894, it was so overgrown that it took two years to be made suitable for football to be played on it. A deal was struck for the owners of the ground to carry out the work, in return for which they would receive a proportion of the gate receipts. The first football match at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, on 10 October 1896. The ground's first stand was built shortly after. Described as looking like an "orange box", it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and later was affectionately nicknamed the "rabbit hutch". In 1904 London County Council became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed. A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect who had risen to prominence after his building of the Ibrox Stadium, a few years earlier, was hired to work on the stadium. In a scheme costing £15,000 (a record for the time), he built a pavilion (the present-day 'Cottage' itself) and the Stevenage Road Stand, in his characteristic red brick style. The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005–2006 season and, following the death of Fulham FC's favourite son, former England captain Johnny Haynes, in a car accident in October 2005 the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters. Both the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch football architecture to remain in existence and both have been designated as Grade II listed buildings. Establishing itself as a stadium An England v Wales match was played at the ground in 1907, followed by a rugby league international between England and Australia in 1911. One of the club's directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hall, took over Arsenal in the early 1910s, the plan being to merge Fulham with Arsenal, to form a "London superclub" at Craven Cottage. This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. There were also plans for Henry Norris to build a larger stadium on the other side of Stevenage Road but there was little need after the merger idea failed. During this era, the Cottage was used for choir singing and marching bands along with other performances, and Mass. In 1933 there were plans to demolish the ground and start again from scratch with a new 80,000 capacity stadium. These plans never materialised mainly due to the Great Depression. On 8 October 1938, 49,335 spectators watched Fulham play Millwall. It was the largest attendance ever at Craven Cottage and the record remains today, unlikely to be bettered as it is now an all-seater stadium with currently no room for more than 25,700. The ground hosted several football games for the 1948 Summer Olympics, and is one of the last extant that did. Post-War It was not until after Fulham first reached the top division, in 1949, that further improvements were made to the stadium. In 1962 Fulham became the final side in the first division to erect floodlights. The floodlights were said to be the most expensive in Europe at the time as they were so modern. The lights were like large pylons towering 50 metres over the ground and were similar in appearance to those at the WACA. An electronic scoreboard was installed on the Riverside Terrace at the same time as the floodlights were installed and flagpoles flying the flags of all of the other first division teams were flown from them. Following the sale of Alan Mullery to Tottenham Hotspur in 1964 (for £72,500) the Hammersmith End had a roof put over it at a cost of approximately £42,500. Although Fulham were relegated, the development of Craven Cottage continued. The Riverside terracing, infamous for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads annually to watch The Boat Race pass, was replaced by what was officially named the 'Eric Miller Stand', Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. The stand, which cost £334,000 and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, (which included Eusébio). Pelé was also to appear on the ground, with a friendly played against his team Santos F.C. The Miller stand brought the seated capacity up to 11,000 out of a total 40,000. Eric Miller committed suicide five years later after a political and financial scandal, and had shady dealings with trying to move Fulham away from the Cottage. The stand is now better known as the Riverside Stand. On Boxing Day 1963, Craven Cottage was the venue of the fastest hat-trick in the history of the English football league, which was completed in less than three minutes, by Graham Leggat. This helped his Fulham team to beat Ipswich 10–1 (a club record). The international record is held by Jimmy O'Connor, an Irish player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 14 seconds in 1967. Between 1980 and 1984, Fulham rugby league played their home games at the Cottage. They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos and Harlequins Rugby League before reverting to London Broncos ahead of the 2012 season. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground with 15,013, at a game against Wakefield Trinity on 15 February 1981. Modern times When the Hillsborough disaster occurred in 1989, Fulham were in the second bottom rung of The Football League, but following the Taylor report Fulham's ambitious chairman Jimmy Hill tabled plans in 1996 for an all-seater stadium. These plans never came to fruition, partly due to local residents' pressure groups, and by the time Fulham reached the Premier League, they still had standing areas in the ground, something virtually unheard of at the time. A year remained to do something about this (teams reaching the second tier for the first time are allowed a three-year period to reach the required standards for the top two divisions), but by the time the last league game was played there, against Leicester City on 27 April 2002, no building plans had been made. Two more Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year (against FC Haka of Finland and Egaleo FC of Greece), and the eventual solution was to decamp to Loftus Road, home of local rivals QPR. During this time, many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. 'Back to the Cottage', later to become the 'Fulham Supporters Trust', was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the chairman and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable option for Fulham Football Club. After one and a half seasons at Loftus Road, no work had been done on the Cottage. In December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8 million worth of major refurbishment work to bring it in line with Premier League requirements. With planning permission granted, work began in January 2004 in order to meet the deadline of the new season. The work proceeded as scheduled and the club were able to return to their home for the start of the 2004–05 season. Their first game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium was a pre-season friendly against Watford on 10 July 2004. Fenway Sports Group originally partnered with Fulham in 2009, due to the perceived heritage and quirks shared between the Cottage and Fenway Park, saying no English club identifies with its stadium as much as Fulham. The current stadium was one of the Premier League's smallest grounds at the time of Fulham's relegation at the end of the 2013–14 season (it was third-smallest, after the KC Stadium and the Liberty Stadium). Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, mostly including Australia. This venue is suitable for Australia because most of the country's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate Australians. Also, Greece vs. South Korea was hosted on 6 February 2007. In 2011 Brazil played Ghana, in an international friendly, and the Women's Champions League Final was hosted. Craven Cottage often hosts many other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. Also, many have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant or the 'Cottage Cafe' on non-match days. Craven Cottage hosted the Oxbridge Varsity Football match annually between 1991 and 2000 and again in 2003, 2006 (the same day as the famous 'Boat Race'), 2008, 2009, and 2014 as well as having a Soccer Aid warm-up match in 2006. The half-time entertainment often includes the SW6ers (previously called The Cravenettes) which are a group of female cheerleaders. Other events have included brass bands, Michael Jackson (although just walking on the pitch, as opposed to performing), Travis playing, Arabic dancing, keepie uppie professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competition of some kind, usually involving scoring through a 'hoop' or 'beat the goalie'. On the first home game of the season, there is a carnival where every Fulham fan is expected to turn up in black-and-white colours. There is usually live rock bands, player signings, clowns, stilt walkers, a steel (calypso) band, food stalls and a free training session for children in Bishops Park. The Fulham Ladies (before their demise) and Reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. Other than this, they generally play at the club's training ground at Motspur Park or at Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon's stadium, Kingsmeadow. Craven Cottage is known by several affectionate nicknames from fans, including: The (River) Cottage, The Fortress (or Fortress Fulham), Thameside, The Friendly Confines, SW6, Lord of the Banks, The House of Hope, The Pavilion of Perfection, The 'True' Fulham Palace and The Palatial Home. The Thames at the banks of the Cottage is often referred to as 'Old Father' or The River of Dreams. The most accessible route to the ground is to walk through Bishops Park from Putney Bridge (the nearest Underground station), often known as 'The Green Mile' by Fulham fans (as it is roughly a mile walk through pleasant greenery). The Telegraph ranked the Cottage 9th out of 54 grounds to hold Premier League football. Plans On 27 July 2012, Fulham FC were granted permission to redevelop the Riverside Stand, increasing the capacity of Craven Cottage to 30,000 seats. Beforehand various rumours arose including plans to return to ground-sharing with QPR in a new 40,000 seater White City stadium, although these now appear firmly on hold with the construction of the Westfield shopping centre on the proposed site. The board seem to have moved away from their ambition to make Fulham the "Manchester United of the south" as it became clear how expensive such a plan would be. With large spaces of land at a premium in south-west London, Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual increase of the ground's capacity often during the summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during summers for instance in 2008 with a small increase in the capacity of the Hammersmith End. Fulham previously announced in 2007 that they are planning to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4,000 seats, but this is yet to be implemented. There was also proposals for a bridge to span the Thames, for a redeveloped Riverside stand and a museum. More substantial plans arose in October 2011 with the 'Fulham Forever' campaign. With Mohamed Al-Fayed selling Harrods department store for £1.5 billion in May 2010 a detailed plan emerged in the Riverside Stand as the only viable area for expansion. The scheme involved the demolition of the back of the Riverside Stand with a new tier of seating added on top of the current one and a row of corporate boxes; bringing Craven Cottage up to 30,000 capacity. Taking into account local residents, the proposal would: reopen the riverside walk; light pollution would be reduced with the removal of floodlight masts; new access points would make match-day crowds more manageable; and the new stand would be respectful in design to its position on the River Thames. Buckingham Group Contracting were chosen in March 2013 as the construction company for the project. In May 2019, the club confirmed that work on the new Riverside Stand would commence in the summer of 2019. During the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the ground's capacity is temporarily reduced to 19,000. The ground as it stands Hammersmith End The Hammersmith End (or Hammy) is the northernmost stand in the ground, the closest to Hammersmith. The roofing was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. It is traditionally the "home" end where the more vocal Fulham fans sit, and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand. If Fulham win the toss, they usually choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half. The hardcore fans tend to sit (or rather stand) in the back half of H6 and H7 zones (known as ‘H Block’ to the faithful). The stand had terracing until the reopening of the ground in 2004, when it was replaced with seating in order to comply with league rules following the Taylor Report. Putney End The Putney End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney and backing onto Bishops Park. This stand hosts home and away fans, separated by a "wall" of stewards, with away fans usually allocated blocks P5 and P6. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, although they were removed after the 2006–07 season commenced and there is now an electronic scoreboard in place. There is a plane tree in the corner by the river. Riverside Stand The Riverside was originally terracing that backed onto the Thames. It also featured large advertising hoardings above the fans. In 1971–72, an all-seater stand was built, originally known as the Riverside Stand (the name was confirmed in the Fulham v Carlisle United programme on 4 December 1971). Its hard lines and metallic and concrete finish are in stark contrast to the Johnny Haynes stand opposite. The stand was opened for a prestigious friendly against S.L. Benfica, who included Eusébio in the team. In the Fulham v Burnley programme on 4 October 1977, it was revealed that the stand would be renamed the Eric Miller Stand, following the recent death of the former vice-chairman. It is sometimes incorrectly stated that, contrary to the above, the name of the stand was changed from the Eric Miller Stand to The Riverside Stand after the discovery of Miller's suicide. He had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement. The name of the stand actually reverted to "Riverside Stand" in the 1990s. The Riverside Stand backs onto the River Thames and is elevated above pitch level, unlike the other three stands. It contains the corporate hospitality seating alongside Fulham fans. Jimmy Hill once referred to the Riverside being "a bit like the London Palladium" as Blocks V & W (the middle section) are often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There were then several Harrods advertising hoardings. Above the advertising hoardings is the gantry, for the press and cameras. Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they are also some of the more expensive. It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney End to its right and is opposite the Johnny Haynes Stand. During the 1970s, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. The stand houses the George Cohen restaurant, while on non-match days there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. (The River Café is also located nearby). Under Tommy Trinder's chairmanship in the 60s, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. However, when Fulham were relegated in 1968, Trinder decided not to change the flags as "Fulham won't be in this division next season". True to Trinder's prophecy, Fulham were relegated again. The roof of the stand has been used by sponsors, with VisitFlorida currently advertising in this way, and Pipex.com, FxPro, Lee Cooper Jeans and LG having previously done so. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the 'Hammy End' indicates the end of the 'Fulham Wall', a landmark in The Boat Race. From the 2019–20 season, this stand is being demolished and rebuilt, which will expand the capacity of the ground to around 29,600. It is due for completion at the beginning of the 2021–22 season. On 26 November 2019, the Chairman Shahid Khan provided an update in which it was announced that the new development will be known as Fulham Pier, a destination venue outside of match-day use. Johnny Haynes Stand Originally called the Stevenage Road Stand, after the road it backs onto, the Johnny Haynes stand is the oldest remaining football stand in the Football League and professional football, originally constructed in 1905, and is a Grade II listed building. Designed by Archibald Leitch, the stand contains the ticket office and club shop and features original 'Bennet' wooden seating. Following his death in 2005, the stand was renamed after former player Johnny Haynes. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a brick façade and features the club's old emblem in the artwork. Decorative pillars show the club's foundation date as 1880 though this is thought to be incorrect. Also, a special stone to commemorate the supporters' fund-raising group Fulham 2000, and The Cottagers' return to Craven Cottage, was engraved on the façade. The family enclosures are located in the two corners of the stand, one nearest to the Hammersmith End and one nearest to the Putney End. The front of the stand now contains plastic seating, but originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch up until the 1970s. The Pavilion The Cottage Pavilion dates back to 1905 along with the Johnny Haynes Stand, built by renowned football architect Archibald Leitch. Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) is traditionally used by the players' families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game. In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. There is a large tapestry draped from the Cottage which says "Still Believe". It encapsulates the now-famous moment, when fans facing defeat against Hamburg SV in the Europa League semi-final roused the players with the chant of "Stand up if you still believe". In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on three levels, but currently the box on the other side of the Putney End has been removed due to the redevelopment of the Riverside Details Records Record attendance: 49,335 v. Millwall, 8 October 1938 – Division Two Record modern seated attendance: 25,700 v.: Arsenal on Saturday 26 September 2009 – Premier League Liverpool on Saturday 31 October 2009 – Premier League Manchester United on Saturday 19 December 2009 – Premier League Hamburg on Thursday 29 April 2010 – UEFA Europa League Semi Final Second Leg Aston Villa on Saturday 13 August 2011 – Premier League Manchester United on Wednesday 21 December 2011 – Premier League Arsenal on Monday 2 January 2012 – Premier League Norwich City on Saturday 31 March 2012 – Premier League Southampton on Wednesday 26 December 2012 – Premier League Swansea City on Saturday 29 December 2012 – Premier League Arsenal on Saturday 20 April 2013 – Premier League Manchester United on Saturday 2 November 2013 – Premier League Southampton on Saturday 1 February 2014 – Premier League Hull City on Saturday 26 April 2014 – Premier League All-time attendance Total attendance: 31,234,275 (correct up to January 2013) Average total attendance: 15,759 (ranked 31 of 130 English club teams in history) Ground improvements at English football Stadia International matches Craven Cottage hosted the Northern Ireland versus Cyprus 1974 World Cup Qualifier on 8 May 1973, a match moved from Belfast due to The Troubles. Northern Ireland won 3–0, Sammy Morgan and a Trevor Anderson brace concluded the scoring in the first half. On 22 February 2000, it hosted England's under 21s international under 21 friendly against Argentina's under 21s. The hosts won 1–0 with Lee Hendrie’s sixty seventh-minute goal with 15,747 in attendance. In recent years, Craven Cottage has hosted several International Friendly matches, including the Ireland national team who played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 and May 2009 respectively and Oman in 2012. The South Korea national football team have also used the ground thrice in recent years for international friendlies, first against Greece in February 2007 second against Serbia in November 2009, and then against Croatia in February 2013. On 17 November 2007 Australia beat Nigeria 1–0 in an international friendly at Craven Cottage. On 26 May 2011, Craven Cottage hosted the game of 2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final between Lyon and Potsdam. In September 2011, a friendly between Ghana and Brazil was also held at Craven Cottage. On 15 October 2013, Australia beat Canada 3–0 at Craven Cottage. On 28 May 2014 Scotland played out a 2–2 draw with a Nigerian team who had qualified for the 2014 World Cup Finals. On 27 March 2018, Australia played host to Colombia in the international friendlies, the match ended 0-0, both teams having qualified for the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia. Other Fulham RLFC, now London Broncos, played at Craven Cottage between 1980 and 1984, hosting their largest attendance. The ground has also hosted Oxbridge varsity matches in rugby and football. The ground has hosted the most Australia national team matches outside of Australia and was one of the pioneers in hosting (neutral) international friendlies. Fulham were the last team to have standing accommodation in the Premier League, as Craven Cottage included terraces in the 2001–02 season – eight years after the Taylor Report outlawed terraces at this level. The original Craven Cottage site was covered in woodlands. One plane tree survives today in a corner of the Putney End, the sole tree to be found in any British senior football stadium. On 3 April 2011, Fulham unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson inside the stadium before its match with Blackpool. The singer, who died in 2009, was not a Fulham fan and had no interest in football whatsoever, but attended a Fulham match once, saying "Fulham fans were like people at my concerts. I wanted to jump up and start dancing"; and was friends with club chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, who commissioned the statue. In 2013, Al-Fayed stated that the statue will be moved to a different property he owns, though it was eventually moved to the National Football Museum in Manchester in 2014. The statue was removed from public display at that museum in March 2019, likely due to sexual abuse allegations made in the Channel 4/HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which had aired days before. 2016 Saudi Super Cup, Played on 8 August 2016, ended with Al-Hilal losing 4–3 on penalties to Al-Ahli. The match had no added extra time. It ended 1–1 at 90 minutes. The ambient group Stars of the Lid have recorded a track named 'Dopamine Clouds over Craven Cottage', which contains commentary of a goal scored by former Fulham player Brian McBride, who shares a name with a member of the band. See also Fulham RLFC References Further reading External links Craven Cottage Craven Cottage Social Media Football Ground Guide profile History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic football venues Football venues in London Fulham F.C. home grounds Premier League venues English Football League venues Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Defunct rugby league venues in England London Broncos Sports venues completed in 1896 Fulham 1896 establishments in England

Clyde William Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer. He discovered Pluto in 1930, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper belt. At the time of discovery, Pluto was considered a planet, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Tombaugh also discovered many asteroids, and called for the serious scientific research of unidentified flying objects. Life and career Tombaugh was born in Streator, Illinois, son of Muron Dealvo Tombaugh, a farmer, and his wife Adella Pearl Chritton. After his family moved to Burdett, Kansas, in 1922, Tombaugh's plans for attending college were frustrated when a hailstorm ruined his family's farm crops. Starting in 1926, he built several telescopes with lenses and mirrors by himself. To better test his telescope mirrors, Tombaugh, with just a pick and shovel, dug a pit 24 feet long, 8 feet deep, and 7 feet wide. This provided a constant air temperature, free of air currents, and was also used by the family as a root cellar and emergency shelter. He sent drawings of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory, at Flagstaff, Arizona, which offered him a job. Tombaugh worked there from 1929 to 1945. It was at Lowell in 1930 that Tombaugh discovered Pluto. Following his discovery, Tombaugh earned bachelor's and master's degrees in astronomy from the University of Kansas in 1936 and 1938. During World War II he taught naval personnel navigation at Northern Arizona University. He worked at White Sands Missile Range in the early 1950s, and taught astronomy at New Mexico State University from 1955 until his retirement in 1973. In 1980 he was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame. The asteroid 1604 Tombaugh, discovered in 1931, is named after him. He discovered hundreds of asteroids, beginning with 2839 Annette in 1929, mostly as a by-product of his search for Pluto and his searches for other celestial objects. Tombaugh named some of them after his wife, children and grandchildren. The Royal Astronomical Society awarded him the Jackson-Gwilt Medal in 1931. Direct visual observation became rare in astronomy. By 1965 Robert S. Richardson called Tombaugh one of two great living experienced visual observers as talented as Percival Lowell or Giovanni Schiaparelli. In 1980, Tombaugh and Patrick Moore wrote a book Out of the Darkness: The Planet Pluto. In August 1992, JPL scientist Robert Staehle called Tombaugh, requesting permission to visit his planet. "I told him he was welcome to it," Tombaugh later remembered, "though he's got to go one long, cold trip." The call eventually led to the launch of the New Horizons space probe to Pluto in 2006. Following the passage of Pluto by New Horizons on July 14, 2015, the "Heart of Pluto" was named Tombaugh Regio. Death Tombaugh died on January 17, 1997, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at the age of 90, and he was cremated. A small portion of his ashes was placed aboard the New Horizons spacecraft. The container includes the inscription: "Interred herein are remains of American Clyde W. Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto and the Solar System's 'third zone'. Adelle and Muron's boy, Patricia's husband, Annette and Alden's father, astronomer, teacher, punster and friend: Clyde W. Tombaugh (1906–1997)". Tombaugh was survived by his wife, Patricia (1912–2012), and their children, Annette and Alden. Religion Tombaugh was an active Unitarian Universalist, and he and his wife helped found the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Family Clyde Tombaugh had five siblings. Through the daughter of his youngest brother, Robert, he is the great-uncle of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Discovery of Pluto While a young researcher working for the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, Tombaugh was given the job to perform a systematic search for a trans-Neptunian planet (also called Planet X), which had been predicted by Percival Lowell based on calculations performed by his student mathematician Elizabeth Williams and William Pickering. Starting April 6, 1929, Tombaugh used the observatory's astrograph to take photographs of the same section of sky several nights apart. He then used a blink comparator to compare the different images. When he shifted between the two images, a moving object, such as a planet, would appear to jump from one position to another, while the more distant objects such as stars would appear stationary. Tombaugh noticed such a moving object in his search, near the place predicted by Lowell, and subsequent observations showed it to have an orbit beyond that of Neptune. This ruled out classification as an asteroid, and they decided this was the ninth planet that Lowell had predicted. The discovery was made on Tuesday, February 18, 1930, using images taken the previous month. Three classical mythological names were about equally popular among proposals for the new planet: Minerva, Cronus and Pluto. However, Minerva was already in use and the primary supporter of Cronus was widely disliked, leaving Pluto as the front-runner. Outside of Lowell staff, it was first proposed by an 11-year-old English schoolgirl, Venetia Burney. In its favor was that the Pluto of Roman mythology was able to render himself invisible, and that its first two letters formed Percival Lowell's initials. In order to avoid the name changes suffered by Neptune, the name was proposed to both the American Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, both of which approved it unanimously. The name was officially adopted on May 1, 1930. Following the discovery, it was recognized that Pluto wasn't massive enough to be the expected ninth planet, and some astronomers began to consider it the first of a new class of object – and indeed Tombaugh searched for additional trans-Neptunian objects for years, though due to the lack of any further discoveries he concluded that Pluto was indeed a planet. The idea that Pluto was not a true planet remained a minority position until the discovery of other Kuiper belt objects in the late 1990s, which showed that it did not orbit alone but was at best the largest of a number of icy bodies in its region of space. After it was shown that at least one such body, dubbed Eris, was more massive than Pluto, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto on August 24, 2006, as a dwarf planet, leaving eight planets in the Solar System. Tombaugh's widow Patricia stated after the IAU's decision that while he might have been disappointed with the change since he had resisted attempts to remove Pluto's planetary status in his lifetime, he would have accepted the decision now if he were alive. She noted that he "was a scientist. He would understand they had a real problem when they start finding several of these things flying around the place." Hal Levison offered this perspective on Tombaugh's place in history: "Clyde Tombaugh discovered the Kuiper Belt. That's a helluva lot more interesting than the ninth planet." Further search Tombaugh continued searching for over a decade after the discovery of Pluto, and the lack of further discoveries left him satisfied that no other object of a comparable apparent magnitude existed near the ecliptic. No more trans-Neptunian objects were discovered until 15760 Albion, in 1992. However, more recently the relatively bright object has been discovered. It has a relatively high orbital inclination, but at the time of Tombaugh's discovery of Pluto, Makemake was only a few degrees from the ecliptic, near the border of Taurus and Auriga, at an apparent magnitude of 16. This position was also very near the galactic equator, making it almost impossible to find such an object within the dense concentration of background stars of the Milky Way. In the fourteen years of looking for planets, until he was drafted in July 1943, Tombaugh looked for motion in 90 million star images (two each of 45 million stars). Asteroids discovered Tombaugh is officially credited by the Minor Planet Center with discovering 15 asteroids, and he observed nearly 800 asteroids during his search for Pluto and years of follow-up searches looking for another candidate for the postulated Planet X. Tombaugh is also credited with the discovery of periodic comet 274P/Tombaugh–Tenagra. He also discovered hundreds of variable stars, as well as star clusters, galaxy clusters, and a galaxy supercluster. Interest in UFOs Tombaugh was probably the most eminent astronomer to have reported seeing unidentified flying objects. On August 20, 1949, Tombaugh saw several unidentified objects near Las Cruces, New Mexico. He described them as six to eight rectangular lights, stating: "I doubt that the phenomenon was any terrestrial reflection, because... nothing of the kind has ever appeared before or since... I was so unprepared for such a strange sight that I was really petrified with astonishment.". Tombaugh observed these rectangles of light for about 3 seconds and his wife saw them for about seconds. He never supported the interpretation as a spaceship that has often been attributed to him. He considered other possibilities, with a temperature inversion as the most likely cause.From my own studies of the solar system I cannot entertain any serious possibility for intelligent life on other planets, not even for Mars... The logistics of visitations from planets revolving around the nearer stars is staggering. In consideration of the hundreds of millions of years in the geologic time scale when such visits may have possibly occurred, the odds of a single visit in a given century or millennium are overwhelmingly against such an event.A much more likely source of explanation is some natural optical phenomenon in our own atmosphere. In my 1949 sightings the faintness of the object, together with the manner of fading in intensity as it traveled away from the zenith towards the southeastern horizon, is quite suggestive of a reflection from an optical boundary or surface of slight contrast in refractive index, as in an inversion layer.I have never seen anything like it before or since, and I have spent a lot of time where the night sky could be seen well. This suggests that the phenomenon involves a comparatively rare set of conditions or circumstances to produce it, but nothing like the odds of an interstellar visitation. Another sighting by Tombaugh a year or two later while at a White Sands observatory was of an object of −6 magnitude, four times brighter than Venus at its brightest, going from the zenith to the southern horizon in about 3 seconds. The object executed the same maneuvers as in Tombaugh's first sighting. Tombaugh later reported having seen three of the mysterious green fireballs, which suddenly appeared over New Mexico in late 1948 and continued at least through the early 1950s. A researcher on Project Twinkle reported that Tombaugh "... never observed an unexplainable aerial object despite his continuous and extensive observations of the sky." According to an entry in "UFO updates", Tombaugh said: "I have seen three objects in the last seven years which defied any explanation of known phenomenon, such as Venus, atmospheric optic, meteors or planes. I am a professional, highly skilled, professional astronomer. In addition I have seen three green fireballs which were unusual in behavior from normal green fireballs... I think that several reputable scientists are being unscientific in refusing to entertain the possibility of extraterrestrial origin and nature." Shortly after this, in January 1957, in an Associated Press article in the Alamogordo Daily News titled "Celestial Visitors May Be Invading Earth's Atmosphere", Tombaugh was again quoted on his sightings and opinion about them. "Although our own solar system is believed to support no other life than on Earth, other stars in the galaxy may have hundreds of thousands of habitable worlds. Races on these worlds may have been able to utilize the tremendous amounts of power required to bridge the space between the stars ...". Tombaugh stated that he had observed celestial phenomena which he could not explain, but had seen none personally since 1951 or 1952. "These things, which do appear to be directed, are unlike any other phenomena I ever observed. Their apparent lack of obedience to the ordinary laws of celestial motion gives credence." In 1949, Tombaugh had also told the Naval missile director at White Sands Missile Range, Commander Robert McLaughlin, that he had seen a bright flash on Mars on August 27, 1941, which he now attributed to an atomic blast. Tombaugh also noted that the first atomic bomb tested in New Mexico would have lit up the dark side of the Earth like a neon sign and that Mars was coincidentally quite close at the time, the implication apparently being that the atomic test would have been visible from Mars. In June 1952, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer acting as a scientific consultant to the Air Force's Project Blue Book UFO study, secretly conducted a survey of fellow astronomers on UFO sightings and attitudes while attending an astronomy convention. Tombaugh and four other astronomers, including Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico, told Hynek about their sightings. Tombaugh also told Hynek that his telescopes were at the Air Force's disposal for taking photos of UFOs, if he was properly alerted. Near-Earth satellite search Tombaugh's offer may have led to his involvement in a search for near-Earth satellites, first announced in late 1953 and sponsored by the Army Office of Ordnance Research. Another public statement was made on the search in March 1954, emphasizing the rationale that such an orbiting object would serve as a natural space station. However, according to Donald Keyhoe, later director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), the real reason for the sudden search was because two near-Earth orbiting objects had been picked up on new long-range radar in the summer of 1953, according to his Pentagon source. By May 1954, Keyhoe was making public statements that his sources told him the search had indeed been successful, and either one or two objects had been found. However, the story did not break until August 23, 1954, when Aviation Week magazine stated that two satellites had been found only 400 and 600 miles out. They were termed "natural satellites" and implied that they had been recently captured, despite this being a virtual impossibility. The next day, the story was in many major newspapers. Dr. LaPaz was implicated in the discovery in addition to Tombaugh. LaPaz had earlier conducted secret investigations on behalf of the Air Force on the green fireballs and other unidentified aerial phenomena over New Mexico. The New York Times reported on August 29 that "a source close to the O. O. R. unit here described as 'quite accurate' the report in the magazine Aviation Week that two previously unobserved satellites had been spotted and identified by Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico as natural and not artificial objects. This source also said there was absolutely no connection between the reported satellites and flying saucer reports." However, in the October 10 issue, LaPaz said the magazine article was "false in every particular, in so far as reference to me is concerned." Both LaPaz and Tombaugh were to issue public denials that anything had been found. The October 1955 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine reported: "Professor Tombaugh is closemouthed about his results. He won't say whether or not any small natural satellites have been discovered. He does say, however, that newspaper reports of 18 months ago announcing the discovery of natural satellites at 400 and 600 miles out are not correct. He adds that there is no connection between the search program and the reports of so-called flying saucers." At a meteor conference in Los Angeles in 1957, Tombaugh reiterated that his four-year search for "natural satellites" had been unsuccessful. In 1959, Tombaugh was to issue a final report stating that nothing had been found in his search. His personal 16-inch telescope was reassembled and dedicated on September 17, 2009, at Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico (near Animas, New Mexico), adjacent to Astronomy 's new observatory. In popular culture The 2006 release The Avalanche by musical artist Sufjan Stevens contains an instrumental track entitled "For Clyde Tombaugh". The ninth episode of the fourth season of Fargo featured a visit to a memorial marking the site of Tombaugh's boyhood home. Robert Heinlein's 1958 juvenile science fiction novel Have Space Suit – Will Travel features a scientific base on Earth's moon called Tombaugh Station. When the hero arrives on Pluto he reflects See also List of astronomers Tombaugh (crater) Tombaugh Cliffs Tombaugh Regio References Sources Falk, Dan, "More than a one-hit wonder", Astronomy, February 2006, 40–45. David H. Levy Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of the Planet Pluto (Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press, 1991). ; also Sky Publishing Corporation, March 2006. External links Clyde Tombaugh papers at New Mexico State University Many biographical articles on Clyde Tombaugh Biography, Interviews, Photo Gallery of Clyde Tombaugh, achievement.org Illinois proposes a Pluto Day and reinstate Pluto as a Planet in honor of C. Tombaugh: Illinois General Assembly, Senate Resolution SR0046 2/26/2009 1906 births 1997 deaths American astronomers American Unitarian Universalists Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of trans-Neptunian objects New Mexico State University faculty Northern Arizona University alumni People from Flagstaff, Arizona People from Las Cruces, New Mexico People from Pawnee County, Kansas People from Streator, Illinois Planetary scientists Scientists from Kansas Space burials University of Kansas alumni Pluto

The cat (Felis catus) is a domestic species of a small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is often referred to as the domestic cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family. A cat can either be a house cat, a farm cat or a feral cat; the latter ranges freely and avoids human contact. Domestic cats are valued by humans for companionship and their ability to kill rodents. About 60 cat breeds are recognized by various cat registries. The cat is similar in anatomy to the other felid species: it has a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted to killing small prey. Its night vision and sense of smell are well developed. Cat communication includes vocalizations like meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling and grunting as well as cat-specific body language. A predator that is most active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular), the cat is a solitary hunter but a social species. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small mammals. Cats also secrete and perceive pheromones. Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late autumn, with litter sizes often ranging from two to five kittens. Domestic cats are bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed cats, a hobby known as cat fancy. Population control of cats may be affected by spaying and neutering, but their proliferation and the abandonment of pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to the extinction of entire bird, mammal, and reptile species. Cats were first domesticated in the Near East around 7500 BC. It was long thought that cat domestication began in ancient Egypt, where cats were venerated from around 3100 BC. there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world. the domestic cat was the second-most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats owned and around 42 million households own at least one cat. In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats Etymology and naming The origin of the English word cat, Old English , is thought to be the Late Latin word , which was first used at the beginning of the 6th century. It was suggested that the word 'cattus' is derived from an Egyptian precursor of Coptic , "tomcat", or its feminine form suffixed with . The Late Latin word may be derived from another Afro-Asiatic or Nilo-Saharan language. The Nubian word "wildcat" and Nobiin are possible sources or cognates. The Nubian word may be a loan from Arabic ~ . It is "equally likely that the forms might derive from an ancient Germanic word, imported into Latin and thence to Greek and to Syriac and Arabic". The word may be derived from Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic, cf. Northern Sami , "female stoat", and Hungarian , "lady, female stoat"; from Proto-Uralic *käďwä, "female (of a furred animal)". The English puss, extended as pussy and pussycat, is attested from the 16th century and may have been introduced from Dutch or from Low German , related to Swedish , or Norwegian , . Similar forms exist in Lithuanian and Irish or . The etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have simply arisen from a sound used to attract a cat. A male cat is called a tom or tomcat (or a gib, if neutered). An unspayed female is called a queen, especially in a cat-breeding context. A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten. In Early Modern English, the word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling. A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring. Taxonomy The scientific name Felis catus was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for a domestic cat. Felis catus domesticus was proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. Felis daemon proposed by Konstantin Alekseevich Satunin in 1904 was a black cat from the Transcaucasus, later identified as a domestic cat. In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that the domestic cat is a distinct species, namely Felis catus. In 2007, it was considered a subspecies, F. silvestris catus, of the European wildcat (F. silvestris) following results of phylogenetic research. In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species, Felis catus. Evolution The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae, a family that had a common ancestor about 10–15 million years ago. The genus Felis diverged from other Felidae around 6–7 million years ago. Results of phylogenetic research confirm that the wild Felis species evolved through sympatric or parapatric speciation, whereas the domestic cat evolved through artificial selection. The domesticated cat and its closest wild ancestor are diploid and both possess 38 chromosomes and roughly 20,000 genes. The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) was tamed independently in China around 5500 BC. This line of partially domesticated cats leaves no trace in the domestic cat populations of today. Domestication The earliest known indication for the taming of an African wildcat (F. lybica) was excavated close by a human Neolithic grave in Shillourokambos, southern Cyprus, dating to about 7500–7200 BC. Since there is no evidence of native mammalian fauna on Cyprus, the inhabitants of this Neolithic village most likely brought the cat and other wild mammals to the island from the Middle Eastern mainland. Scientists therefore assume that African wildcats were attracted to early human settlements in the Fertile Crescent by rodents, in particular the house mouse (Mus musculus) and were tamed by Neolithic farmers. This mutual relationship between early farmers and tamed cats lasted thousands of years. As agricultural practices spread, so did tame and domesticated cats. Wildcats of Egypt contributed to the maternal gene pool of the domestic cat at a later time. The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat in Greece dates to around 1200 BC. Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Etruscan traders introduced domestic cats to southern Europe. During the Roman Empire they were introduced to Corsica and Sardinia before the beginning of the 1st millennium. By the 5th century BC, they were familiar animals around settlements in Magna Graecia and Etruria. By the end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Egyptian domestic cat lineage had arrived in a Baltic Sea port in northern Germany. During domestication, cats have undergone only minor changes in anatomy and behavior, and they are still capable of surviving in the wild. Several natural behaviors and characteristics of wildcats may have pre-adapted them for domestication as pets. These traits include their small size, social nature, obvious body language, love of play and relatively high intelligence. Captive Leopardus cats may also display affectionate behavior toward humans but were not domesticated. House cats often mate with feral cats, producing hybrids such as the Kellas cat in Scotland. Hybridisation between domestic and other Felinae species is also possible. Development of cat breeds started in the mid 19th century. An analysis of the domestic cat genome revealed that the ancestral wildcat genome was significantly altered in the process of domestication, as specific mutations were selected to develop cat breeds. Most breeds are founded on random-bred domestic cats. Genetic diversity of these breeds varies between regions, and is lowest in purebred populations, which show more than 20 deleterious genetic disorders. Characteristics Size The domestic cat has a smaller skull and shorter bones than the European wildcat. It averages about in head-to-body length and in height, with about long tails. Males are larger than females. Adult domestic cats typically weigh between . Skeleton Cats have seven cervical vertebrae (as do most mammals); 13 thoracic vertebrae (humans have 12); seven lumbar vertebrae (humans have five); three sacral vertebrae (as do most mammals, but humans have five); and a variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans have only vestigial caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx). The extra lumbar and thoracic vertebrae account for the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Attached to the spine are 13 ribs, the shoulder, and the pelvis. Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones which allow them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their head. Skull The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large eye sockets and a powerful specialized jaw. Within the jaw, cats have teeth adapted for killing prey and tearing meat. When it overpowers its prey, a cat delivers a lethal neck bite with its two long canine teeth, inserting them between two of the prey's vertebrae and severing its spinal cord, causing irreversible paralysis and death. Compared to other felines, domestic cats have narrowly spaced canine teeth relative to the size of their jaw, which is an adaptation to their preferred prey of small rodents, which have small vertebrae. The premolar and first molar together compose the carnassial pair on each side of the mouth, which efficiently shears meat into small pieces, like a pair of scissors. These are vital in feeding, since cats' small molars cannot chew food effectively, and cats are largely incapable of mastication. Although cats tend to have better teeth than most humans, with decay generally less likely because of a thicker protective layer of enamel, a less damaging saliva, less retention of food particles between teeth, and a diet mostly devoid of sugar, they are nonetheless subject to occasional tooth loss and infection. Claws Cats have protractible and retractable claws. In their normal, relaxed position, the claws are sheathed with the skin and fur around the paw's toe pads. This keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with the ground and allows the silent stalking of prey. The claws on the fore feet are typically sharper than those on the hind feet. Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws. They may extend their claws in hunting or self-defense, climbing, kneading, or for extra traction on soft surfaces. Cats shed the outside layer of their claw sheaths when scratching rough surfaces. Most cats have five claws on their front paws, and four on their rear paws. The dewclaw is proximal to the other claws. More proximally is a protrusion which appears to be a sixth "finger". This special feature of the front paws, on the inside of the wrists has no function in normal walking, but is thought to be an antiskidding device used while jumping. Some cat breeds are prone to having extra digits (“polydactyly”). Polydactylous cats occur along North America's northeast coast and in Great Britain. Ambulation The cat is digitigrade. It walks on the toes, with the bones of the feet making up the lower part of the visible leg. Unlike most mammals, it uses a "pacing" gait and moves both legs on one side of the body before the legs on the other side. It registers directly by placing each hind paw close to the track of the corresponding fore paw, minimizing noise and visible tracks. This also provides sure footing for hind paws when navigating rough terrain. As it speeds up walking to trotting, its gait changes to a "diagonal" gait: The diagonally opposite hind and fore legs move simultaneously. Balance Most breeds of cat have a noted fondness for sitting in high places, or perching. A higher place may serve as a concealed site from which to hunt; domestic cats strike prey by pouncing from a perch such as a tree branch. Another possible explanation is that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. A cat falling from heights of up to can right itself and land on its paws. During a fall from a high place, a cat reflexively twists its body and rights itself to land on its feet using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. This reflex is known as the cat righting reflex. A cat always rights itself in the same way during a fall, if it has enough time to do so, which is the case in falls of or more. How cats are able to right themselves when falling has been investigated as the "falling cat problem". Senses Vision Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision. This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light. Large pupils are an adaptation to dim light. The domestic cat has slit pupils, which allow it to focus bright light without chromatic aberration. At low light, a cat's pupils expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes. The domestic cat has rather poor color vision and only two types of cone cells, optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; its ability to distinguish between red and green is limited. A response to middle wavelengths from a system other than the rod cells might be due to a third type of cone. This appears to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision. Hearing The domestic cat's hearing is most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz. It can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies ranging from 55 Hz to 79,000 Hz. It can hear a range of 10.5 octaves, while humans and dogs can hear ranges of about 9 octaves. Its hearing sensitivity is enhanced by its large movable outer ears, the pinnae, which amplify sounds and help detect the location of a noise. It can detect ultrasound, which enables it to detect ultrasonic calls made by rodent prey. Recent research has shown that cats have socio-spatial cognitive abilities to create mental maps of owners' locations based on hearing owners' voices. The ability to track something out of sight is called object permanence and it is found in humans, primates, and some non-primates. Smell Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and a large surface of olfactory mucosa, about in area, which is about twice that of humans. Cats and many other animals have a Jacobson's organ in their mouths that is used in the behavioral process of flehmening. It allows them to sense certain aromas in a way that humans cannot. Cats are sensitive to pheromones such as 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol, which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands. Many cats also respond strongly to plants that contain nepetalactone, especially catnip, as they can detect that substance at less than one part per billion. About 70–80% of cats are affected by nepetalactone. This response is also produced by other plants, such as silver vine (Actinidia polygama) and the herb valerian; it may be caused by the smell of these plants mimicking a pheromone and stimulating cats' social or sexual behaviors. Taste Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans (470 or so versus more than 9,000 on the human tongue). Domestic and wild cats share a taste receptor gene mutation that keeps their sweet taste buds from binding to sugary molecules, leaving them with no ability to taste sweetness. Their taste buds instead respond to acids, amino acids like protein, and bitter tastes. Cats also have a distinct temperature preference for their food, preferring food with a temperature around which is similar to that of a fresh kill and routinely rejecting food presented cold or refrigerated (which would signal to the cat that the "prey" item is long dead and therefore possibly toxic or decomposing). Whiskers To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers (vibrissae) over their body, especially their faces. These provide information on the width of gaps and on the location of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents; they also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage. Behavior Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night. Domestic cats spend the majority of their time in the vicinity of their homes but can range many hundreds of meters from this central point. They establish territories that vary considerably in size, in one study ranging from . The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and varied, which means house cats may be more active in the morning and evening, as a response to greater human activity at these times. Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older. The daily duration of sleep varies, usually between 12 and 16 hours, with 13 and 14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours. The term "cat nap" for a short rest refers to the cat's tendency to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period. While asleep, cats experience short periods of rapid eye movement sleep often accompanied by muscle twitches, which suggests they are dreaming. Sociability The social behavior of the domestic cat ranges from widely dispersed individuals to feral cat colonies that gather around a food source, based on groups of co-operating females. Within such groups, one cat is usually dominant over the others. Each cat in a colony holds a distinct territory, with sexually active males having the largest territories, which are about 10 times larger than those of female cats and may overlap with several females' territories. These territories are marked by urine spraying, by rubbing objects at head height with secretions from facial glands, and by defecation. Between these territories are neutral areas where cats watch and greet one another without territorial conflicts. Outside these neutral areas, territory holders usually chase away stranger cats, at first by staring, hissing, and growling and, if that does not work, by short but noisy and violent attacks. Despite this colonial organization, cats do not have a social survival strategy or a pack mentality, and always hunt alone. Life in proximity to humans and other domestic animals has led to a symbiotic social adaptation in cats, and cats may express great affection toward humans or other animals. Ethologically, the human keeper of a cat functions as a sort of surrogate for the cat's mother. Adult cats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood, a form of behavioral neoteny. Their high-pitched sounds may mimic the cries of a hungry human infant, making them particularly difficult for humans to ignore. Some pet cats are poorly socialized. In particular, older cats show aggressiveness toward newly arrived kittens, which include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is known as feline asocial aggression. Domestic cats' scent rubbing behavior toward humans or other cats is thought to be a feline means for social bonding. Communication Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including purring, trilling, hissing, growling/snarling, grunting, and several different forms of meowing. Their body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of the whole body, and kneading of the paws, are all indicators of mood. The tail and ears are particularly important social signal mechanisms in cats. A raised tail indicates a friendly greeting, and flattened ears indicates hostility. Tail-raising also indicates the cat's position in the group's social hierarchy, with dominant individuals raising their tails less often than subordinate ones. Feral cats are generally silent. Nose-to-nose touching is also a common greeting and may be followed by social grooming, which is solicited by one of the cats raising and tilting its head. Purring may have developed as an evolutionary advantage as a signaling mechanism of reassurance between mother cats and nursing kittens. Post-nursing cats often purr as a sign of contentment: when being petted, becoming relaxed, or eating. The mechanism by which cats purr is elusive; the cat has no unique anatomical feature that is clearly responsible for the sound. Grooming Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean. The cat's tongue has backward-facing spines about 500 μm long, which are called papillae. These contain keratin which makes them rigid so the papillae act like a hairbrush. Some cats, particularly longhaired cats, occasionally regurgitate hairballs of fur that have collected in their stomachs from grooming. These clumps of fur are usually sausage-shaped and about long. Hairballs can be prevented with remedies that ease elimination of the hair through the gut, as well as regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush. Fighting Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females. Among feral cats, the most common reason for cat fighting is competition between two males to mate with a female. In such cases, most fights are won by the heavier male. Another common reason for fighting in domestic cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within a small home. Female cats also fight over territory or to defend their kittens. Neutering will decrease or eliminate this behavior in many cases, suggesting that the behavior is linked to sex hormones. When cats become aggressive, they try to make themselves appear larger and more threatening by raising their fur, arching their backs, turning sideways and hissing or spitting. Often, the ears are pointed down and back to avoid damage to the inner ear and potentially listen for any changes behind them while focused forward. They may also vocalize loudly and bare their teeth in an effort to further intimidate their opponent. Fights usually consist of grappling and delivering powerful slaps to the face and body with the forepaws as well as bites. Cats also throw themselves to the ground in a defensive posture to rake their opponent's belly with their powerful hind legs. Serious damage is rare, as the fights are usually short in duration, with the loser running away with little more than a few scratches to the face and ears. Fights for mating rights are typically more severe and injuries may include deep puncture wounds and lacerations. Normally, serious injuries from fighting are limited to infections of scratches and bites, though these can occasionally kill cats if untreated. In addition, bites are probably the main route of transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus. Sexually active males are usually involved in many fights during their lives, and often have decidedly battered faces with obvious scars and cuts to their ears and nose. Hunting and feeding The shape and structure of cats' cheeks is insufficient to allow them to take in liquids using suction. Therefore, when drinking they lap with the tongue to draw liquid upward into their mouths. Lapping at a rate of four times a second, the cat touches the smooth tip of its tongue to the surface of the water, and quickly retracts it like a corkscrew, drawing water upward. Feral cats and free-fed house cats consume several small meals in a day. The frequency and size of meals varies between individuals. They select food based on its temperature, smell and texture; they dislike chilled foods and respond most strongly to moist foods rich in amino acids, which are similar to meat. Cats reject novel flavors (a response termed neophobia) and learn quickly to avoid foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past. It is also a common misconception that cats like milk/cream, as they tend to avoid sweet food and milk. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant; the sugar in milk is not easily digested and may cause soft stools or diarrhea. Some also develop odd eating habits and like to eat or chew on things like wool, plastic, cables, paper, string, aluminum foil, or even coal. This condition, pica, can threaten their health, depending on the amount and toxicity of the items eaten. Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents, and are often used as a form of pest control. Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured. The strategy used depends on the prey species in the area, with cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk birds. Domestic cats are a major predator of wildlife in the United States, killing an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals annually. Certain species appear more susceptible than others; for example, 30% of house sparrow mortality is linked to the domestic cat. In the recovery of ringed robins (Erithacus rubecula) and dunnocks (Prunella modularis), 31% of deaths were a result of cat predation. In parts of North America, the presence of larger carnivores such as coyotes which prey on cats and other small predators reduces the effect of predation by cats and other small predators such as opossums and raccoons on bird numbers and variety. Perhaps the best-known element of cats' hunting behavior, which is commonly misunderstood and often appalls cat owners because it looks like torture, is that cats often appear to "play" with prey by releasing it after capture. This cat and mouse behavior is due to an instinctive imperative to ensure that the prey is weak enough to be killed without endangering the cat. Another poorly understood element of cat hunting behavior is the presentation of prey to human guardians. One explanation is that cats adopt humans into their social group and share excess kill with others in the group according to the dominance hierarchy, in which humans are reacted to as if they are at, or near, the top. Another explanation is that they attempt to teach their guardians to hunt or to help their human as if feeding "an elderly cat, or an inept kitten". This hypothesis is inconsistent with the fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having negligible involvement in raising kittens. Play Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture, and kill prey. Cats also engage in play fighting, with each other and with humans. This behavior may be a way for cats to practice the skills needed for real combat, and might also reduce any fear they associate with launching attacks on other animals. Cats also tend to play with toys more when they are hungry. Owing to the close similarity between play and hunting, cats prefer to play with objects that resemble prey, such as small furry toys that move rapidly, but rapidly lose interest. They become habituated to a toy they have played with before. String is often used as a toy, but if it is eaten, it can become caught at the base of the cat's tongue and then move into the intestines, a medical emergency which can cause serious illness, even death. Owing to the risks posed by cats eating string, it is sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which cats may chase. Reproduction Female cats, called queens, are polyestrous with several estrus cycles during a year, lasting usually 21 days. They are usually ready to mate between early February and August. Several males, called tomcats, are attracted to a female in heat. They fight over her, and the victor wins the right to mate. At first, the female rejects the male, but eventually, the female allows the male to mate. The female utters a loud yowl as the male pulls out of her because a male cat's penis has a band of about 120–150 backward-pointing penile spines, which are about long; upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines may provide the female with increased sexual stimulation, which acts to induce ovulation. After mating, the female cleans her vulva thoroughly. If a male attempts to mate with her at this point, the female attacks him. After about 20 to 30 minutes, once the female is finished grooming, the cycle will repeat. Because ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating, females may not be impregnated by the first male with which they mate. Furthermore, cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, with the result that different kittens in a litter may have different fathers. The morula forms 124 hours after conception. At 148 hours, early blastocysts form. At 10–12 days, implantation occurs. The gestation of queens lasts between 64 and 67 days, with an average of 65 days. Data on the reproductive capacity of more than 2,300 free-ranging queens were collected during a study between May 1998 and October 2000. They had one to six kittens per litter, with an average of three kittens. They produced a mean of 1.4 litters per year, but a maximum of three litters in a year. Of 169 kittens, 127 died before they were six months old due to a trauma caused in most cases by dog attacks and road accidents. The first litter is usually smaller than subsequent litters. Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks of age. Queens normally reach sexual maturity at 5–10 months, and males at 5–7 months. This varies depending on breed. Kittens reach puberty at the age of 9–10 months. Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother. They can be surgically sterilized (spayed or castrated) as early as seven weeks to limit unwanted reproduction. This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such as aggression, territory marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females. Traditionally, this surgery was performed at around six to nine months of age, but it is increasingly being performed before puberty, at about three to six months. In the United States, about 80% of household cats are neutered. Lifespan and health The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent decades. In the early 1980s, it was about seven years, rising to 9.4 years in 1995 and about 15 years in 2021. Some cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s, with the oldest known cat, Creme Puff, dying at a verified age of 38. Neutering increases life expectancy: one study found castrated male cats live twice as long as intact males, while spayed female cats live 62% longer than intact females. Having a cat neutered confers health benefits, because castrated males cannot develop testicular cancer, spayed females cannot develop uterine or ovarian cancer, and both have a reduced risk of mammary cancer. Disease About 250 heritable genetic disorders have been identified in cats, many similar to human inborn errors of metabolism. The high level of similarity among the metabolism of mammals allows many of these feline diseases to be diagnosed using genetic tests that were originally developed for use in humans, as well as the use of cats as animal models in the study of the human diseases. Diseases affecting domestic cats include acute infections, parasitic infestations, injuries, and chronic diseases such as kidney disease, thyroid disease, and arthritis. Vaccinations are available for many infectious diseases, as are treatments to eliminate parasites such as worms, ticks, and fleas. Ecology Habitats The domestic cat is a cosmopolitan species and occurs across much of the world. It is adaptable and now present on all continents except Antarctica, and on 118 of the 131 main groups of islands, even on the isolated Kerguelen Islands. Due to its ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat, it is among the world's most invasive species. It lives on small islands with no human inhabitants. Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands, urban areas, and wetlands. The unwantedness that leads to the domestic cat being treated as an invasive species is twofold. On one hand, as it is little altered from the wildcat, it can readily interbreed with the wildcat. This hybridization poses a danger to the genetic distinctiveness of some wildcat populations, particularly in Scotland and Hungary, possibly also the Iberian Peninsula, and where protected natural areas are in close proximity to human-dominated landscapes, such as Kruger National Park in South Africa. On the other hand, and perhaps more obviously, its introduction to places where no native felines are present contributes to the decline of native species. Ferality Feral cats are domestic cats that were born in or have reverted to a wild state. They are unfamiliar with and wary of humans and roam freely in urban and rural areas. The numbers of feral cats is not known, but estimates of the United States feral population range from twenty-five to sixty million. Feral cats may live alone, but most are found in large colonies, which occupy a specific territory and are usually associated with a source of food. Famous feral cat colonies are found in Rome around the Colosseum and Forum Romanum, with cats at some of these sites being fed and given medical attention by volunteers. Public attitudes toward feral cats vary widely, from seeing them as free-ranging pets to regarding them as vermin. One common approach to reducing the feral cat population is termed "trap-neuter-return", where the cats are trapped, neutered, immunized against diseases such as rabies and the feline panleukopenia and leukemia viruses, and then released. Before releasing them back into their feral colonies, the attending veterinarian often nips the tip off one ear to mark it as neutered and inoculated, since these cats may be trapped again. Volunteers continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives. Given this support, their lifespans are increased, and behavior and nuisance problems caused by competition for food are reduced. Some feral cats can be successfully socialized and 're-tamed' for adoption; young cats, especially kittens and cats that have had prior experience and contact with humans are the most receptive to these efforts. Impact on wildlife On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet. In nearly all cases, the cat cannot be identified as the sole cause for reducing the numbers of island birds, and in some instances, eradication of cats has caused a "mesopredator release" effect; where the suppression of top carnivores creates an abundance of smaller predators that cause a severe decline in their shared prey. Domestic cats are a contributing factor to the decline of many species, a factor that has ultimately led, in some cases, to extinction. The South Island piopio, Chatham rail, and the New Zealand merganser are a few from a long list, with the most extreme case being the flightless Lyall's wren, which was driven to extinction only a few years after its discovery. One feral cat in New Zealand killed 102 New Zealand lesser short-tailed bats in seven days. In the US, feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 6.3 – 22.3 billion mammals annually. In Australia, the impact of cats on mammal populations is even greater than the impact of habitat loss. More than one million reptiles are killed by feral cats each day, representing 258 species. Cats have contributed to the extinction of the Navassa curly-tailed lizard and Chioninia coctei. Interaction with humans Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500 million. Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents, notably around grain stores and aboard ships, and both uses extend to the present day. As well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur trade and leather industries for making coats, hats, blankets, and stuffed toys; and shoes, gloves, and musical instruments respectively (about 24 cats are needed to make a cat-fur coat). This use has been outlawed in the United States since 2000 and in the European Union (as well as the United Kingdom) since 2007. Cat pelts have been used for superstitious purposes as part of the practice of witchcraft, and are still made into blankets in Switzerland as traditional medicine thought to cure rheumatism. A few attempts to build a cat census have been made over the years, both through associations or national and international organizations (such as that of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies) and over the Internet, but such a task does not seem simple to achieve. General estimates for the global population of domestic cats range widely from anywhere between 200 million to 600 million. Walter Chandoha made his career photographing cats after his 1949 images of Loco, an especially charming stray taken in, were published around the world. He is reported to have photographed 90,000 cats during his career and maintained an archive of 225,000 images that he drew from for publications during his lifetime. Shows A cat show is a judged event in which the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat-registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. It is often required that a cat must be healthy and vaccinated in order to participate in a cat show. Both pedigreed and non-purebred companion ("moggy") cats are admissible, although the rules differ depending on the organization. Competing cats are compared to the applicable breed standard, and assessed for temperament. Infection Cats can be infected or infested with viruses, bacteria, fungus, protozoans, arthropods or worms that can transmit diseases to humans. In some cases, the cat exhibits no symptoms of the disease. The same disease can then become evident in a human. The likelihood that a person will become diseased depends on the age and immune status of the person. Humans who have cats living in their home or in close association are more likely to become infected. Others might also acquire infections from cat feces and parasites exiting the cat's body. Some of the infections of most concern include salmonella, cat-scratch disease and toxoplasmosis. History and mythology In ancient Egypt, cats were worshipped, and the goddess Bastet often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that killing a cat was forbidden, and when a household cat died, the entire family mourned and shaved their eyebrows. Families took their dead cats to the sacred city of Bubastis, where they were embalmed and buried in sacred repositories. Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen wildcats. Ancient Greeks and Romans kept weasels as pets, which were seen as the ideal rodent-killers. The earliest unmistakable evidence of the Greeks having domestic cats comes from two coins from Magna Graecia dating to the mid-fifth century BC showing Iokastos and Phalanthos, the legendary founders of Rhegion and Taras respectively, playing with their pet cats. The usual ancient Greek word for 'cat' was , meaning 'thing with the waving tail'. Cats are rarely mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Aristotle remarked in his History of Animals that "female cats are naturally lecherous." The Greeks later syncretized their own goddess Artemis with the Egyptian goddess Bastet, adopting Bastet's associations with cats and ascribing them to Artemis. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the deities flee to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess Diana turns into a cat. Cats eventually displaced weasels as the pest control of choice because they were more pleasant to have around the house and were more enthusiastic hunters of mice. During the Middle Ages, many of Artemis's associations with cats were grafted onto the Virgin Mary. Cats are often shown in icons of Annunciation and of the Holy Family and, according to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a cat in Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten. Domestic cats were spread throughout much of the rest of the world during the Age of Discovery, as ships' cats were carried on sailing ships to control shipboard rodents and as good-luck charms. Several ancient religions believed cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that are all-knowing but mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. In Japan, the cat is a symbol of good fortune. In Norse mythology, Freyja, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats. In Jewish legend, the first cat was living in the house of the first man Adam as a pet that got rid of mice. The cat was once partnering with the first dog before the latter broke an oath they had made which resulted in enmity between the descendants of these two animals. It is also written that neither cats nor foxes are represented in the water, while every other animal has an incarnation species in the water. Although no species are sacred in Islam, cats are revered by Muslims. Some Western writers have stated Muhammad had a favorite cat, Muezza. He is reported to have loved cats so much, "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it". The story has no origin in early Muslim writers, and seems to confuse a story of a later Sufi saint, Ahmed ar-Rifa'i, centuries after Muhammad. One of the companions of Muhammad was known as Abu Hurayrah ("father of the kitten"), in reference to his documented affection to cats. Superstitions and rituals Many cultures have negative superstitions about cats. An example would be the belief that encountering a black cat ("crossing one's path") leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' familiars used to augment a witch's powers and skills. The killing of cats in Medieval Ypres, Belgium, is commemorated in the innocuous present-day Kattenstoet (cat parade). In mid-16th century France, cats would be burnt alive as a form of entertainment. According to Norman Davies, the assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized". James Frazer wrote that "It was the custom to burn a basket, barrel, or sack full of live cats, which was hung from a tall mast in the midst of the bonfire; sometimes a fox was burned. The people collected the embers and ashes of the fire and took them home, believing that they brought good luck. The French kings often witnessed these spectacles and even lit the bonfire with their own hands. In 1648 Louis XIV, crowned with a wreath of roses and carrying a bunch of roses in his hand, kindled the fire, danced at it and partook of the banquet afterwards in the town hall. But this was the last occasion when a monarch presided at the midsummer bonfire in Paris. At Metz midsummer fires were lighted with great pomp on the esplanade, and a dozen cats, enclosed in wicker cages, were burned alive in them, to the amusement of the people. Similarly, at Gap, in the department of the Hautes-Alpes, cats used to be roasted over the midsummer bonfire." According to a myth in many cultures, cats have multiple lives. In many countries, they are believed to have nine lives, but in Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives, while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six. The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations. Also lending credence to this myth is the fact that falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive righting reflex to twist their bodies around. Nonetheless, cats can still be injured or killed by a high fall. See also Cats in Australia Cats in New Zealand Cats in the United States Aging in cats Ailurophobia Animal testing on cats Animal track Cancer in cats Cat bite Cat café Cat collar Cat lady Cat lover culture Cat meat Cats and the Internet Dog–cat relationship Dried cat List of cat documentaries List of cats List of fictional cats and felines Pet door Pet first aid Popular cat names References External links High-Resolution Images of the Cat Brain Biodiversity Heritage Library bibliography for Felis catus Catpert. The Cat Expert – Cat articles View the cat genome in Ensembl Scientific American, "The Origin of the Cat", 20 August 1881, pp. 120 Mammals described in 1758 Cosmopolitan vertebrates Animal models Articles containing video clips Felis Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Cosmopolitan mammals

Camel case (sometimes stylized as camelCase or CamelCase, also known as camel caps or more formally as medial capitals) is the practice of writing phrases without spaces or punctuation, indicating the separation of words with a single capitalized letter, and the first word starting with either case. Common examples include "iPhone" and "eBay". It is also sometimes used in online usernames such as "johnSmith", and to make multi-word domain names more legible, for example in promoting "EasyWidgetCompany.com". Camel case is often used as a naming convention in computer programming, but is an ambiguous definition due to the optional capitalization of the first letter. Some programming styles prefer camel case with the first letter capitalised, others not. For clarity, this article calls the two alternatives upper camel case (initial uppercase letter, also known as Initial Capitals, Initial Caps, InitCaps or Pascal case) and lower camel case (initial lowercase letter, also known as dromedary case). Some people and organizations, notably Microsoft, use the term camel case only for lower camel case, designating Pascal case for the upper camel case. Camel case is distinct from title case, which capitalises all words but retains the spaces between them, and from Tall Man lettering, which uses capitals to emphasize the differences between similar-looking product names such as "predniSONE" and "predniSOLONE". Camel case is also distinct from snake case, which uses underscores interspersed with lowercase letters (sometimes with the first letter capitalized). A combination of snake and camel case (identifiers Written_Like_This) is recommended in the Ada 95 style guide. Variations and synonyms The original name of the practice, used in media studies, grammars and the Oxford English Dictionary, was "medial capitals". Other synonyms include: camelBack (or camel-back) notation or CamelCaps CapitalizedWords or CapWords for upper camel case in Python compoundNames Embedded caps (or embedded capitals) HumpBack (or hump-back) notation InterCaps or intercapping (abbreviation of Internal Capitalization) mixedCase for lower camel case in Python PascalCase for upper camel case (after the Pascal programming language) Smalltalk case WikiWord or WikiCase (especially in older wikis) The earliest known occurrence of the term "InterCaps" on Usenet is in an April 1990 post to the group alt.folklore.computers by Avi Rappoport. The earliest use of the name "Camel Case" occurs in 1995, in a post by Newton Love. Love has since said, "With the advent of programming languages having these sorts of constructs, the humpiness of the style made me call it HumpyCase at first, before I settled on CamelCase. I had been calling it CamelCase for years. ... The citation above was just the first time I had used the name on USENET." Traditional use in natural language In word combinations The use of medial capitals as a convention in the regular spelling of everyday texts is rare, but is used in some languages as a solution to particular problems which arise when two words or segments are combined. In Italian, pronouns can be suffixed to verbs, and because the honorific form of second-person pronouns is capitalized, this can produce a sentence like non ho trovato il tempo di risponderLe ("I have not found time to answer you" – where Le means "to you"). In German, the medial capital letter I, called Binnen-I, is sometimes used in a word like StudentInnen ("students") to indicate that both Studenten ("male students") and Studentinnen ("female students") are intended simultaneously. However, mid-word capitalisation does not conform to German orthography apart from proper names like McDonald; the previous example could be correctly written using parentheses as Student(inn)en, analogous to "congress(wo)men" in English. In Irish, camel case is used when an inflectional prefix is attached to a proper noun, for example ("in Galway"), from ("Galway"); ("the Scottish person"), from ("Scottish person"); and ("to Ireland"), from ("Ireland"). In recent Scottish Gaelic orthography, a hyphen has been inserted: . This convention is also used by several written Bantu languages (e.g. isiZulu, "Zulu language") and several indigenous languages of Mexico (e.g. Nahuatl, Totonacan, Mixe–Zoque, and some Oto-Manguean languages). In Dutch, when capitalizing the digraph ij, both the letter I and the letter J are capitalized, for example in the country name IJsland ("Iceland"). In Chinese pinyin, camel case is sometimes used for place names so that readers can more easily pick out the different parts of the name. For example, places like Beijing (北京), Qinhuangdao (秦皇岛), and Daxing'anling (大兴安岭) can be written as BeiJing, QinHuangDao, and DaXingAnLing respectively, with the number of capital letters equaling the number of Chinese characters. Writing word compounds only by the initial letter of each character is also acceptable in some cases, so Beijing can be written as BJ, Qinghuangdao as QHD, and Daxing'anling as DXAL. In English, medial capitals are usually only found in Scottish or Irish "Mac-" or "Mc-" names, where for example MacDonald, McDonald, and Macdonald are common spelling variants of the same name, and in Anglo-Norman "Fitz-" names, where for example both FitzGerald and Fitzgerald are found. In their English style guide The King's English, first published in 1906, H. W. and F. G. Fowler suggested that medial capitals could be used in triple compound words where hyphens would cause ambiguity—the examples they give are KingMark-like (as against King Mark-like) and Anglo-SouthAmerican (as against Anglo-South American). However, they described the system as "too hopelessly contrary to use at present." In transliterations In the scholarly transliteration of languages written in other scripts, medial capitals are used in similar situations. For example, in transliterated Hebrew, ha'Ivri means "the Hebrew person" or "the Jew" and b'Yerushalayim means "in Jerusalem". In Tibetan proper names like rLobsang, the "r" stands for a prefix glyph in the original script that functions as tone marker rather than a normal letter. Another example is tsIurku, a Latin transcription of the Chechen term for the capping stone of the characteristic Medieval defensive towers of Chechenia and Ingushetia; the capital letter "I" here denoting a phoneme distinct from the one transcribed as "i". In abbreviations Medial capitals are traditionally used in abbreviations to reflect the capitalization that the words would have when written out in full, for example in the academic titles PhD or BSc. A more recent example is NaNoWriMo, a contraction of National Novel Writing Month and the designation for both the annual event and the nonprofit organization that runs it. In German, the names of statutes are abbreviated using embedded capitals, e.g. StGB for Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code), PatG for Patentgesetz (Patent Act), BVerfG for Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), or the very common GmbH, for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (private limited company). In this context, there can even be three or more camel case capitals, e.g. in TzBfG for Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz (Act on Part-Time and Limited Term Occupations). In French, camel case acronyms such as OuLiPo (1960) were favored for a time as alternatives to initialisms. Camel case is often used to transliterate initialisms into alphabets where two letters may be required to represent a single character of the original alphabet, e.g., DShK from Cyrillic ДШК. History of modern technical use Chemical formulae The first systematic and widespread use of medial capitals for technical purposes was the notation for chemical formulae invented by the Swedish chemist Jacob Berzelius in 1813. To replace the multitude of naming and symbol conventions used by chemists until that time, he proposed to indicate each chemical element by a symbol of one or two letters, the first one being capitalized. The capitalization allowed formulae like "NaCl" to be written without spaces and still be parsed without ambiguity. Berzelius' system continues to be used, augmented with three-letter symbols such as "Uue" for unconfirmed or unknown elements and abbreviations for some common substituents (especially in the field of organic chemistry, for instance "Et" for "ethyl-"). This has been further extended to describe the amino acid sequences of proteins and other similar domains. Early use in trademarks Since the early 20th century, medial capitals have occasionally been used for corporate names and product trademarks, such as DryIce Corporation (1925) marketed the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2) as "Dry Ice", thus leading to its common name. CinemaScope and VistaVision, rival widescreen movie formats (1953) ShopKo (1962), retail stores, later renamed Shopko MisterRogers Neighborhood, the TV series also called Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) ChemGrass (1965), later renamed AstroTurf (1967) ConAgra (1971), formerly Consolidated Mills MasterCraft (1968), a sports boat manufacturer AeroVironment (1971) PolyGram (1972), formerly Grammophon-Philips Group. United HealthCare (1977) MasterCard (1979), formerly Master Charge SportsCenter (1979) Computer programming In the 1970s and 1980s, medial capitals were adopted as a standard or alternative naming convention for multi-word identifiers in several programming languages. The precise origin of the convention in computer programming has not yet been settled. A 1954 conference proceedings occasionally informally referred to IBM's Speedcoding system as "SpeedCo". Christopher Strachey's paper on GPM (1965), shows a program that includes some medial capital identifiers, including "NextCh" and "WriteSymbol". Multiple-word descriptive identifiers with embedded spaces such as end of file or char table cannot be used in most programming languages because the spaces between the words would be parsed as delimiters between tokens. The alternative of running the words together as in endoffile or chartable is difficult to understand and possibly misleading; for example, chartable is an English word (able to be charted), whereas charTable means a table of chars . Some early programming languages, notably Lisp (1958) and COBOL (1959), addressed this problem by allowing a hyphen ("-") to be used between words of compound identifiers, as in "END-OF-FILE": Lisp because it worked well with prefix notation (a Lisp parser would not treat a hyphen in the middle of a symbol as a subtraction operator) and COBOL because its operators were individual English words. This convention remains in use in these languages, and is also common in program names entered on a command line, as in Unix. However, this solution was not adequate for mathematically-oriented languages such as FORTRAN (1955) and ALGOL (1958), which used the hyphen as an infix subtraction operator. FORTRAN ignored blanks altogether, so programmers could use embedded spaces in variable names. However, this feature was not very useful since the early versions of the language restricted identifiers to no more than six characters. Exacerbating the problem, common punched card character sets of the time were uppercase only and lacked other special characters. It was only in the late 1960s that the widespread adoption of the ASCII character set made both lowercase and the underscore character _ universally available. Some languages, notably C, promptly adopted underscores as word separators, and identifiers such as end_of_file are still prevalent in C programs and libraries (as well as in later languages influenced by C, such as Perl and Python). However, some languages and programmers chose to avoid underscores—among other reasons to prevent confusing them with whitespace—and adopted camel case instead. Charles Simonyi, who worked at Xerox PARC in the 1970s and later oversaw the creation of Microsoft's Office suite of applications, invented and taught the use of Hungarian Notation, one version of which uses the lowercase letter(s) at the start of a (capitalized) variable name to denote its type. One account claims that the camel case style first became popular at Xerox PARC around 1978, with the Mesa programming language developed for the Xerox Alto computer. This machine lacked an underscore key (whose place was taken by a left arrow "←"), and the hyphen and space characters were not permitted in identifiers, leaving camel case as the only viable scheme for readable multiword names. The PARC Mesa Language Manual (1979) included a coding standard with specific rules for upper and lower camel case that was strictly followed by the Mesa libraries and the Alto operating system. Niklaus Wirth, the inventor of Pascal, came to appreciate camel case during a sabbatical at PARC and used it in Modula, his next programming language. The Smalltalk language, which was developed originally on the Alto, also uses camel case instead of underscores. This language became quite popular in the early 1980s, and thus may also have been instrumental in spreading the style outside PARC. Upper camel case (or "Pascal case") is used in Wolfram Language in computer algebraic system Mathematica for predefined identifiers. User defined identifiers should start with a lower case letter. This avoids the conflict between predefined and user defined identifiers both today and in all future versions. Computer companies and products Whatever its origins in the computing field, the convention was used in the names of computer companies and their commercial brands, since the late 1970s — a trend that continues to this day: (1977) CompuServe (1978) WordStar (1979) VisiCalc (1982) MicroProse, WordPerfect (1983) NetWare (1984) LaserJet, MacWorks, PostScript (1985) PageMaker (1987) ClarisWorks, HyperCard, PowerPoint (1990) WorldWideWeb (the first web browser), later renamed Nexus Spread to mainstream usage In the 1980s and 1990s, after the advent of the personal computer exposed hacker culture to the world, camel case then became fashionable for corporate trade names in non-computer fields as well. Mainstream usage was well established by 1990: (1980) EchoStar (1984) BellSouth (1985) EastEnders (1986) SpaceCamp (1990) HarperCollins, SeaTac (1998) PricewaterhouseCoopers, merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers During the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, the lowercase prefixes "e" (for "electronic") and "i" (for "Internet", "information", "intelligent", etc.) became quite common, giving rise to names like Apple's iMac and the eBox software platform. In 1998, Dave Yost suggested that chemists use medial capitals to aid readability of long chemical names, e.g. write AmidoPhosphoRibosylTransferase instead of amidophosphoribosyltransferase. This usage was not widely adopted. Camel case is sometimes used for abbreviated names of certain neighborhoods, e.g. New York City neighborhoods SoHo (South of Houston Street) and TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) and San Francisco's SoMa (South of Market). Such usages erode quickly, so the neighborhoods are now typically rendered as Soho, Tribeca, and Soma. Internal capitalization has also been used for other technical codes like HeLa (1983). Current usage in computing Programming and coding The use of medial caps for compound identifiers is recommended by the coding style guidelines of many organizations or software projects. For some languages (such as Mesa, Pascal, Modula, Java and Microsoft's .NET) this practice is recommended by the language developers or by authoritative manuals and has therefore become part of the language's "culture". Style guidelines often distinguish between upper and lower camel case, typically specifying which variety should be used for specific kinds of entities: variables, record fields, methods, procedures, functions, subroutines, types, etc. These rules are sometimes supported by static analysis tools that check source code for adherence. The original Hungarian notation for programming, for example, specifies that a lowercase abbreviation for the "usage type" (not data type) should prefix all variable names, with the remainder of the name in upper camel case; as such it is a form of lower camel case. Programming identifiers often need to contain acronyms and initialisms that are already in uppercase, such as "old HTML file". By analogy with the title case rules, the natural camel case rendering would have the abbreviation all in uppercase, namely "oldHTMLFile". However, this approach is problematic when two acronyms occur together (e.g., "parse DBM XML" would become "parseDBMXML") or when the standard mandates lower camel case but the name begins with an abbreviation (e.g. "SQL server" would become "sQLServer"). For this reason, some programmers prefer to treat abbreviations as if they were lowercase words and write "oldHtmlFile", "parseDbmXml" or "sqlServer". However, this can make it harder to recognise that a given word is intended as an acronym. Wiki link markup Camel case is used in some wiki markup languages for terms that should be automatically linked to other wiki pages. This convention was originally used in Ward Cunningham's original wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, and can be activated in most other wikis. Some wiki engines such as TiddlyWiki, Trac and PmWiki make use of it in the default settings, but usually also provide a configuration mechanism or plugin to disable it. Wikipedia formerly used camel case linking as well, but switched to explicit link markup using square brackets and many other wiki sites have done the same. MediaWiki, for example, does not support camel case for linking. Some wikis that do not use camel case linking may still use the camel case as a naming convention, such as AboutUs. Other uses The NIEM registry requires that XML data elements use upper camel case and XML attributes use lower camel case. Most popular command-line interfaces and scripting languages cannot easily handle file names that contain embedded spaces (usually requiring the name to be put in quotes). Therefore, users of those systems often resort to camel case (or underscores, hyphens and other "safe" characters) for compound file names like MyJobResume.pdf. Microblogging and social networking services that limit the number of characters in a message are potential outlets for medial capitals. Using camel case between words reduces the number of spaces, and thus the number of characters, in a given message, allowing more content to fit into the limited space. Hashtags, especially long ones, often use camel case to maintain readability (e.g. #CollegeStudentProblems is easier to read than #collegestudentproblems). In website URLs, spaces are percent-encoded as "%20", making the address longer and less human readable. By omitting spaces, camel case does not have this problem. Readability studies Camel case has been criticised as negatively impacting readability due to the removal of spaces and uppercasing of every word. A 2009 study comparing snake case to camel case found that camel case identifiers could be recognised with higher accuracy among both programmers and non-programmers, and that programmers already trained in camel case were able to recognise those identifiers faster than underscored snake-case identifiers. A 2010 follow-up study, with other subjects containing mainly pre-trained programmers and using an improved measurement method with use of eye-tracking equipment, indicates: "While results indicate no difference in accuracy between the two styles, subjects recognize identifiers in the underscore style more quickly." See also References External links Examples and history of CamelCase, also WordsSmashedTogetherLikeSo .NET Framework General Reference Capitalization Styles What's in a nAME(cq)?, by Bill Walsh, at The Slot The Science of Word Recognition, by Kevin Larson, Advanced Reading Technology, Microsoft Corporation Convert text to CamelCase OASIS Cover Pages: CamelCase for Naming XML-Related Components Convert text to CamelCase, Title Case, Uppercase and lowercase Capitalization Naming conventions Typography Source code

Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a means of transportation. Variants of cross-country skiing are adapted to a range of terrain which spans unimproved, sometimes mountainous terrain to groomed courses that are specifically designed for the sport. Modern cross-country skiing is similar to the original form of skiing, from which all skiing disciplines evolved, including alpine skiing, ski jumping and Telemark skiing. Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward (classic style) or side-to-side in a skating motion (skate skiing), aided by arms pushing on ski poles against the snow. It is practised in regions with snow-covered landscapes, including Europe, Canada, Russia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Competitive cross-country skiing is one of the Nordic skiing sports. Cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship are the two components of biathlon. Ski orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing, which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks. History The word ski comes from the Old Norse word which means stick of wood. Skiing started as a technique for traveling cross-country over snow on skis, starting almost five millennia ago with beginnings in Scandinavia. It may have been practised as early as 600 BCE in Daxing'anling, in what is now China. Early historical evidence includes Procopius's (around CE 550) description of Sami people as skrithiphinoi translated as "ski running samis". Birkely argues that the Sami people have practiced skiing for more than 6000 years, evidenced by the very old Sami word čuoigat for skiing. Egil Skallagrimsson's 950 CE saga describes King Haakon the Good's practice of sending his tax collectors out on skis. The Gulating law (1274) stated that "No moose shall be disturbed by skiers on private land." Cross-country skiing evolved from a utilitarian means of transportation to being a worldwide recreational activity and sport, which branched out into other forms of skiing starting in the mid-1800s. Early skiers used one long pole or spear in addition to the skis. The first depiction of a skier with two ski poles dates to 1741. Traditional skis, used for snow travel in Norway and elsewhere into the 1800s, often comprised one short ski with a natural fur traction surface, the andor, and one long for gliding, the langski—one being up to longer than the other—allowing skiers to propel themselves with a scooter motion. This combination has a long history among the Sami people. Skis up to 280 cm have been produced in Finland, and the longest recorded ski in Norway is 373 cm. Transportation Ski warfare, the use of ski-equipped troops in war, is first recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in the 13th century. These troops were reportedly able to cover distances comparable to that of light cavalry. The garrison in Trondheim used skis at least from 1675, and the Danish-Norwegian army included specialized skiing battalions from 1747—details of military ski exercises from 1767 are on record. Skis were used in military exercises in 1747. In 1799 French traveller Jacques de la Tocnaye recorded his visit to Norway in his travel diary: Norwegian immigrants used skis ("Norwegian snowshoes") in the US midwest from around 1836. Norwegian immigrant "Snowshoe Thompson" transported mail by skiing across the Sierra Nevada between California and Nevada from 1856. In 1888 Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his team crossed the Greenland icecap on skis. Norwegian workers on the Buenos Aires - Valparaiso railway line introduced skiing in South America around 1890. In 1910 Roald Amundsen used skis on his South Pole Expedition. In 1902 the Norwegian consul in Kobe imported ski equipment and introduced skiing to the Japanese, motivated by the death of Japanese soldiers during a snow storm. Starting in 1919, Vladimir Lenin helped popularize the activity in the Soviet Union. Sport Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided in four classes: shooting at a target while skiing at "top speed", downhill racing among trees, downhill racing on large slopes without falling, and "long racing" on "flat ground". An early record of a public ski competition occurred in Tromsø, 1843. In Norwegian, refers to "competitive skiing where the goal is to complete a specific distance in groomed tracks in the shortest possible time". In Norway, ski touring competitions () are long-distance cross-country competitions open to the public, competition is usually within age intervals. A new technique, skate skiing, was experimented with early in the 20th Century, but was not widely adopted until the 1980s. Johan Grøttumsbråten used the skating technique at the 1931 World Championship in Oberhof, one of the earliest recorded use of skating in competitive cross-country skiing. This technique was later used in ski orienteering in the 1960s on roads and other firm surfaces. It became widespread during the 1980s after the success of Bill Koch (United States) in 1982 Cross-country Skiing Championships drew more attention to the skating style. Norwegian skier Ove Aunli started using the technique in 1984, when he found it to be much faster than classic style. Finnish skier, Pauli Siitonen, developed a one-sided variant of the style in the 1970s, leaving one ski in the track while skating to the side with the other one during endurance events; this became known as the "marathon skate". Terminology The word ski comes from the Old Norse word which means "cleft wood", "stick of wood" or "ski". Norwegian language does not use a verb-form equivalent in idiomatic speech, unlike English "to ski". In modern Norwegian, a variety of terms refer to cross-country skiing, including: (literally "walk on skis")—a general term for self-propelled skiing (literally "hiking on skis")—refers to ski touring as recreation (literally "long competition")—refers to cross-country ski racing In contrast, alpine skiing is referred to as (literally "stand on skis"). Fridtjov Nansen, describes the crossing of Greenland as , literally "On skis across Greenland", while the English edition of the report was titled, The first crossing of Greenland. Nansen referred to the activity of traversing snow on skis as (he used the term also in the English translation), which may be translated as ski running. Nansen used , regarding all forms of skiing, but noted that ski jumping is purely a competitive sport and not for amateurs. He further noted that in some competitions the skier "is also required to show his skill in turning his ski to one side or the other within given marks" at full speed on a steep hill. Nansen regarded these forms (i.e., jumping and slalom) as "special arts", and believed that the most important branch of skiing was travel "in an ordinary way across the country". In Germany, Nansen's Greenland report was published as (literally "On snowshoes through Greenland"). The German term, , was supplanted by the borrowed Norwegian word, , in the late 19th century. The Norwegian encyclopedia of sports also uses the term, , (literally "ski running") for all forms of skiing. Around 1900 the word was used in German in the same sense as . Recreation Recreational cross-country skiing includes ski touring and groomed-trail skiing, typically at resorts or in parklands. It is an accessible form of recreation for persons with vision and mobility impairments. A related form of recreation is dog skijoring—a winter sport where a cross-country skier is assisted by one or more dogs. Ski touring Ski touring takes place off-piste and outside of ski resorts. Tours may extend over multiple days. Typically, skis, bindings, and boots allow for free movement of the heel to enable a walking pace, as with Nordic disciplines and unlike Alpine skiing. Ski touring's subgenre ski mountaineering involves independently navigating and route finding through potential avalanche terrain and often requires familiarity with meteorology along with skiing skills. Ski touring can be faster and easier than summer hiking in some terrain, allowing for traverses and ascents that would be harder in the summer. Skis can also be used to access backcountry alpine climbing routes when snow is off the technical route, but still covers the hiking trail. In some countries, organizations maintain a network of huts for use by cross-country skiers in wintertime. For example, the Norwegian Trekking Association maintains over 400 huts stretching across thousands of kilometres of trails which hikers can use in the summer and skiers in the winter. Groomed-trail skiing Groomed trail skiing occurs at facilities such as Nordmarka (Oslo), Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort and Gatineau Park in Quebec, where trails are laid out and groomed for both classic and skate-skiing. Such grooming and track setting (for classic technique) requires specialized equipment and techniques that adapt to the condition of the snow. Trail preparation employs snow machines which tow snow-compaction, texturing and track-setting devices. Groomers must adapt such equipment to the condition of the snow—crystal structure, temperature, degree of compaction, moisture content, etc. Depending on the initial condition of the snow, grooming may achieve an increase in density for new-fallen snow or a decrease in density for icy or compacted snow. Cross-country ski facilities may incorporate a course design that meets homologation standards for such organizations as the International Olympic Committee, the International Ski Federation, or national standards. Standards address course distances, degree of difficulty with maximums in elevation difference and steepness—both up and downhill, plus other factors. Some facilities have night-time lighting on select trails—called lysløype (light trails) in Norwegian and elljusspår (electric-light trails) in Swedish. The first lysløype opened in 1946 in Nordmarka and at Byåsen (Trondheim). Competition Cross-country ski competition encompasses a variety of formats for races over courses of varying lengths according to rules sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and by national organizations, such as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and Cross Country Ski Canada. It also encompasses cross-country ski marathon events, sanctioned by the Worldloppet Ski Federation, cross-country ski orienteering events, sanctioned by the International Orienteering Federation, and Paralympic cross-country skiing, sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee. FIS-sanctioned competition The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. From 1924 to 1939, the World Championships were held every year, including the Winter Olympic Games. After World War II, the World Championships were held every four years from 1950 to 1982. Since 1985, the World Championships have been held in odd-numbered years. Notable cross-country ski competitions include the Winter Olympics, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and the FIS World Cup events (including the Holmenkollen). Other sanctioned competition Cross-country ski marathons—races with distances greater than 40 kilometers—have two cup series, the Ski Classics, which started in 2011, and the Worldloppet. Skiers race in classic or free-style (skating) events, depending on the rules of the race. Notable ski marathons, include the Vasaloppet in Sweden, Birkebeineren in Norway, the Engadin Skimarathon in Switzerland, the American Birkebeiner, the Tour of Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Boreal Loppet, held in Forestville, Quebec, Canada. Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Depending on the shooting performance, extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total running distance/time. For each shooting round, the biathlete must hit five targets; the skier receives a penalty for each missed target, which varies according to the competition rules. Ski orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing competition that requires navigation in a landscape, making optimal route choices at racing speeds. Standard orienteering maps are used, but with special green overprinting of trails and tracks to indicate their navigability in snow; other symbols indicate whether any roads are snow-covered or clear. Standard skate-skiing equipment is used, along with a map holder attached to the chest. It is one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the International Orienteering Federation. Upper body strength is especially important because of frequent double poling along narrow snow trails. Paralympic cross-country ski competition is an adaptation of cross-country skiing for athletes with disabilities. Paralympic cross-country skiing includes standing events, sitting events (for wheelchair users), and events for visually impaired athletes under the rules of the International Paralympic Committee. These are divided into several categories for people who are missing limbs, have amputations, are blind, or have any other physical disability, to continue their sport. Techniques Cross-country skiing has two basic propulsion techniques, which apply to different surfaces: classic (undisturbed snow and tracked snow) and skate skiing (firm, smooth snow surfaces). The classic technique relies on a wax or texture on the ski bottom under the foot for traction on the snow to allow the skier to slide the other ski forward in virgin or tracked snow. With the skate skiing technique a skier slides on alternating skis on a firm snow surface at an angle from each other in a manner similar to ice skating. Both techniques employ poles with baskets that allow the arms to participate in the propulsion. Specialized equipment is adapted to each technique and each type of terrain. A variety of turns are used, when descending. Poles contribute to forward propulsion, either simultaneously (usual for the skate technique) or in alternating sequence (common for the classical technique as the "diagonal stride"). Double poling is also used with the classical technique when higher speed can be achieved on flats and slight downhills than is available in the diagonal stride, which is favored to achieve higher power going uphill. Classic The classic style is often used on prepared trails (pistes) that have pairs of parallel grooves (tracks) cut into the snow. It is also the most usual technique where no tracks have been prepared. With this technique, each ski is pushed forward from the other stationary ski in a striding and gliding motion, alternating foot to foot. With the "diagonal stride" variant the poles are planted alternately on the opposite side of the forward-striding foot; with the "kick-double-pole" variant the poles are planted simultaneously with every other stride. At times, especially with gentle descents, double poling is the sole means of propulsion. On uphill terrain, techniques include the "side step" for steep slopes, moving the skis perpendicular to the fall line, the "herringbone" for moderate slopes, where the skier takes alternating steps with the skis splayed outwards, and, for gentle slopes, the skier uses the diagonal technique with shorter strides and greater arm force on the poles. Skate skiing With skate skiing, the skier provides propulsion on a smooth, firm snow surface by pushing alternating skis away from one another at an angle, in a manner similar to ice skating. Skate-skiing usually involves a coordinated use of poles and the upper body to add impetus, sometimes with a double pole plant each time the ski is extended on a temporarily "dominant" side ("V1") or with a double pole plant each time the ski is extended on either side ("V2"). Skiers climb hills with these techniques by widening the angle of the "V" and by making more frequent, shorter strides and more forceful use of poles. A variant of the technique is the "marathon skate" or "Siitonen step", where the skier leaves one ski in the track while skating outwards to the side with the other ski. Turns Turns, used while descending or for braking, include the snowplough (or "wedge turn"), the stem christie (or "wedge christie"), parallel turn, and the Telemark turn. The step turn is used for maintaining speed during descents or out of track on flats. Equipment Equipment comprises skis, poles, boots and bindings; these vary according to: Technique, classic vs skate Terrain, which may vary from groomed trails to wilderness Performance level, from recreational use to competition at the elite level Skis Skis used in cross-country are lighter and narrower than those used in alpine skiing. Ski bottoms are designed to provide a gliding surface and, for classic skis, a traction zone under foot. The base of the gliding surface is a plastic material that is designed both to minimize friction and, in many cases, to accept waxes. Glide wax may be used on the tails and tips of classic skis and across the length of skate skis. Types Each type of ski is sized and designed differently. Length affects maneuverability; camber affects pressure on the snow beneath the feet of the skier; side-cut affects the ease of turning; width affects forward friction; overall area on the snow affects bearing capacity; and tip geometry affects the ability to penetrate new snow or to stay in a track. Each of the following ski types has a different combination of these attributes: Classic skis: Designed for skiing in tracks. For adult skiers (between 155 cm/50 kg and 185 cm/75 kg), recommended lengths are between 180 and 210 centimetres (approximately 115% of the skier's height). Traction comes from a "grip zone" underfoot that when bearing the skier's weight engages either a textured gripping surface or a grip wax. Accordingly, these skis are classified as "waxable" or "waxless". Recreational waxless skis generally require little attention and are adapted for casual use. Waxable skis, if prepared correctly, provide better grip and glide. When the skier's weight is distributed on both skis, the ski's camber diminishes the pressure of the grip zone on the snow and promotes bearing on the remaining area of the ski—the "glide zone". A test for stiffness of camber is made with a piece of paper under the skier's foot, standing on skis on a flat, hard surface—the paper should be pinned throughout the grip zone of the ski on which all the skier's weight is placed, but slide freely when the skier's weight is bearing equally on both skis. Skate skis: Designed for skiing on groomed surfaces. Recommended lengths are between 170 and 200 centimetres (up to 110% of the skier's height) for adult skiers. The entire bottom of each skate ski is a glide zone—prepared for maximum glide. Traction comes from the skier pushing away from the edge of the previous ski onto the next ski. Back country skis: Designed for ski touring on natural snow conditions. Recommended lengths are between 150 and 195 centimeters for adult skiers, depending on height and weight of the user. Back country skis are typically heavier and wider than classic and skate skis; they often have metal edges for better grip on hard snow; and their greater sidecut helps to carve turns. The geometry of a back country ski depends on its purpose—skis suited for forested areas where loose powder can predominate may be shorter and wider than those selected for open, exposed areas where compacted snow may prevail. Sidecut on Telemark skis promotes turning in forest and rugged terrain. Width and short length aid turning in loose and deep snow. Longer, narrower and more rigid skis with sharp edges are suited for snow that has been compacted by wind or freeze-thaw. Touring ski design may represent a general-purpose compromise among these different ski conditions, plus being acceptable for use in groomed tracks. Traction may come from a textured or waxed grip zone, as with classic skis, or from ski skins, which are applied to the ski bottom for long, steep ascents and have hairs or mechanical texture that prevents sliding backwards. Gliding surface Glide waxes enhance the speed of the gliding surface, and are applied by ironing them onto the ski and then polishing the ski bottom. Three classes of glide wax are available, depending on the level of desired performance with higher performance coming at higher cost. Hydrocarbon glide waxes, based on paraffin are common for recreational use. Race waxes comprise a combination of fluorinated hydrocarbon waxes and fluorocarbon overlays. Fluorocarbons decrease surface tension and surface area of the water between the ski and the snow, increasing speed and glide of the ski under specific conditions. Either combined with the wax or applied after in a spray, powder, or block form, fluorocarbons significantly improve the glide of the ski. Since the 2021-2022 race season, fluorinated products are banned in FIS sanctioned competitions. Traction surface Skis designed for classic technique, both in track and in virgin snow, rely on a traction zone, called the "grip zone" or "kick zone", underfoot. This comes either from a) texture, such as "fish scales" or mohair skins, designed to slide forward but not backwards, that is built into the grip zone of waxless skis, or from applied devices, e.g. climbing skins, or b) from grip waxes. Grip waxes are classified according to their hardness: harder waxes are for colder and newer snow. An incorrect choice of grip wax for the snow conditions encountered may cause ski slippage (wax too hard for the conditions) or snow sticking to the grip zone (wax too soft for the conditions). Grip waxes generate grip by interacting with snow crystals, which vary with temperature, age and compaction. Hard grip waxes don't work well for snow which has metamorphosed to having coarse grains, whether icy or wet. In these conditions, skiers opt for a stickier substance, called klister. Boots and bindings Ski boots are attached to the ski only at the toe, leaving the heel free. Depending on application, boots may be lightweight (performance skiing) or heavier and more supportive (back-country skiing). Bindings connect the boot to the ski. There are three primary groups of binding systems used in cross-country skiing (in descending order of importance): Standardized system: Boots and bindings have an integrated connection, typically a bar across the front end of the sole of the boot, and platform on which the boot rests. Two families of standards prevail: NNN (New Nordic Norm) and SNS (Salomon Nordic System) Profil. Both systems have variants for skiing on groomed surfaces and in back country. These systems are the most common type of binding. Three-pin: The boot-gripping system comprises three pins that correspond to three holes in the sole of the boot's toe, used primarily for back-country skiing. Cable: A cable secures the free-moving heel and keeps the toe of the boot pushed into a boot-gripping section, used primarily for back-country and telemark skiing. Poles Ski poles are used for balance and propulsion. Modern cross-country ski poles are made from aluminium, fibreglass-reinforced plastic, or carbon fibre, depending on weight, cost and performance parameters. Formerly they were made of wood or bamboo. They feature a foot (called a basket) near the end of the shaft that provides a pushing platform, as it makes contact with the snow. Baskets vary in size, according to the expected softness/firmness of the snow. Racing poles feature smaller, lighter baskets than recreational poles. Poles designed for skating are longer than those designed for classic skiing. Traditional skiing in the 1800s used a single pole for both cross-country and downhill. The single pole was longer and stronger than the poles that are used in pairs. In competitive cross-country poles in pairs were introduced around 1900. Gallery References External links Tutorial on classic style. Tutorial on skate skiing. Tutorial on the snowplough or wedge turn. Tutorial on the stem or wedge christie turn. Tutorial on the Telemark turn. Tutorial on the step turn. Nordic skiing

Constantine II may refer to: Constantine II (emperor) (317–340), Roman Emperor 337–340 Constantine III (usurper) (died 411), known as Constantine II of Britain in British legend Constantine II of Byzantine (630–668) Antipope Constantine II (died 768), antipope from 767 to 768 Constantine II of Scotland (c.878 – 952), King of Scotland 900–942 or 943 Constantine II, Prince of Armenia (died 1129) Constantine II of Cagliari (c. 1100 – 1163) Constantine II of Torres (died 1198), called de Martis, was the giudice of Logudoro Constantine II the Woolmaker (died 1322), Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church Constantine II, King of Armenia (died 1344), first Latin King of Armenian Cilicia of the Lusignan dynasty Constantine II of Bulgaria (early 1370s–1422), last emperor of Bulgaria 1396–1422. Eskender (1471–1494), Emperor of Ethiopia sometimes known as Constantine II Constantine II of Georgia (c. 1447 – 1505) Constantine II, Prince of Mukhrani (died 1716), Georgian nobleman Constantine II of Kakheti (died 1732), King of Kakheti 1722–1732 Constantine II of Greece (born 1940), Olympic champion (1960) and formerly King of the Hellenes March 6, 1964 – December 8, 1974 See also Constantius II (317–361), Roman Emperor from 337 to 361

The European patent with unitary effect, more commonly known as the unitary patent, is a European patent which will benefit from unitary effect in the participating member states of the European Union. Unitary effect may be requested by the proprietor within one month of grant of a European patent, replacing validation of the European patent in the individual countries concerned. Infringement and revocation proceedings will be conducted in front of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which decisions will have a uniform effect for the unitary patent for the participating member states as a whole rather than for each country individually. The unitary patent may be only limited, transferred or revoked, or lapse, in respect of all the participating Member States. Licensing is however to remain possible for part of the unitary territory. The unitary patent may coexist with nationally enforceable patents ("classical" patents) in the remaining states. The unitary patent's aim is to make access to the patent system easier, less costly and legally secure within the European Union. Unitary patents will be granted in English, French, or German with no further translation required after a transitional period. Machine translations will be provided, but will be, in the words of the regulation, "for information purposes only and should not have any legal effect". The maintenance fees, with a single fee for the whole area, are also expected to be lower compared to the sum of the renewal fees for national patents of the corresponding area, but the fees have yet to be announced. The negotiations which resulted in the unitary patent can be traced back to various initiatives dating to the 1970s. At different times, the project, or very similar projects, have been referred to as the "European Union patent" (the name used in the EU treaties, which serve as the legal basis for EU competency), "EU patent", "Community patent", "European Community Patent", "EC patent" and "COMPAT". On 17 December 2012, agreement was reached between the European Council and European Parliament on the two EU regulations that made the unitary patent possible through enhanced cooperation at EU level. The legality of the two regulations was challenged by Spain and Italy, but all their claims were rejected by the European Court of Justice. Italy subsequently joined the unitary patent regulation in September 2015, so that all EU member states except Spain and Croatia now participate in the enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent. Unitary effect of newly granted European patents will be available from the date when the related Unified Patent Court Agreement enters into force for the first group of ratifiers, and will extend to those participating member states for which the UPC Agreement enters into force at the time of registration of the unitary patent. Previously granted unitary patents will not automatically get their unitary effect extended to the territory of participating states which ratify the UPC agreement at a later date. The unitary patent system will apply as from the date of entry into force of the UPC Agreement. The Austrian ratification recently triggered the entry force clause of the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement on 19 January 2022. The start of the new system is currently expected for the second half of 2022, following the expected final ratification step by Germany. Background Legislative history In 2009, three draft documents were published regarding a community patent: a European patent in which the European Community was designated: Council regulation on the community patent, Agreement on the European and Community Patents Court (open to the European Community and all states of the European Patent Convention) Decision to open negotiations regarding this Agreement Based on those documents, the European Council requested on 6 July 2009 an opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union, regarding the compatibility of the envisioned Agreement with EU law: "'Is the envisaged agreement creating a Unified Patent Litigation System (currently named European and Community Patents Court) compatible with the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community?’" In December 2010, the use of the enhanced co-operation procedure, under which Articles 326–334 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that a group of member states of the European Union can choose to co-operate on a specific topic, was proposed by twelve Member States to set up a unitary patent applicable in all participating European Union Member States. The use of this procedure had only been used once in the past, for harmonising rules regarding the applicable law in divorce across several EU Member States. In early 2011, the procedure leading to the enhanced co-operation was reported to be progressing. Twenty-five Member States had written to the European Commission requesting to participate, with Spain and Italy remaining outside, primarily on the basis of ongoing concerns over translation issues. On 15 February, the European Parliament approved the use of the enhanced co-operation procedure for unitary patent protection by a vote of 471 to 160. and on 10 March 2011 the Council gave their authorisation. Two days earlier, on 8 March 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union had issued its opinion, stating that the draft Agreement creating the European and Community Patent Court would be incompatible with EU law. The same day, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council insisted that this opinion would not affect the enhanced co-operation procedure. In November 2011, negotiations on the enhanced co-operation system were reportedly advancing rapidly—too fast, in some views. It was announced that implementation required an enabling European Regulation, and a Court agreement between the states that elect to take part. The European Parliament approved the continuation of negotiations in September. A draft of the agreement was issued on 11 November 2011 and was open to all member states of the European Union, but not to other European Patent Convention states. However, serious criticisms of the proposal remained mostly unresolved. A meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 5 December failed to agree on the final text. In particular, there was no agreement on where the Central Division of a Unified Patent Court should be located, "with London, Munich and Paris the candidate cities." The Polish Presidency acknowledged on 16 December 2011 the failure to reach an agreement "on the question of the location of the seat of the central division." The Danish Presidency therefore inherited the issue. According to the President of the European Commission in January 2012, the only question remaining to be settled was the location of the Central Division of the Court. However, evidence presented to the UK House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee in February suggested that the position was more complicated. At an EU summit at the end of January 2012, participants agreed to press on and finalise the system by June. On 26 April, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, wrote to members of the council, saying "This important file has been discussed for many years and we are now very close to a final deal,.... This deal is needed now, because this is an issue of crucial importance for innovation and growth. I very much hope that the last outstanding issue will be sorted out at the May Competitiveness Council. If not, I will take it up at the June European Council." The Competitiveness Council met on 30 May and failed to reach agreement. A compromise agreement on the seat(s) of the unified court was eventually reached at the June European Council (28–29 June 2012), splitting the central division according to technology between Paris (the main seat), London and Munich. However, on 2 July 2012, the European Parliament decided to postpone the vote following a move by the European Council to modify the arrangements previously approved by MEPs in negotiations with the European Council. The modification was considered controversial and included the deletion of three key articles (6–8) of the legislation, seeking to reduce the competence of the European Union Court of Justice in unitary patent litigation. On 9 July 2012, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament debated the patent package following the decisions adopted by the General Council on 28–29 June 2012 in camera in the presence of MEP Bernhard Rapkay. A later press release by Rapkay quoted from a legal opinion submitted by the Legal Service of the European Parliament, which affirmed the concerns of MEPs to approve the decision of a recent EU summit to delete said articles as it "nullifies central aspects of a substantive patent protection". A Europe-wide uniform protection of intellectual property would thus not exist with the consequence that the requirements of the corresponding EU treaty would not be met and that the European Court of Justice could therefore invalidate the legislation. By the end of 2012 a new compromise was reached between the European Parliament and the European Council, including a limited role for the European Court of Justice. The Unified Court will apply the Unified Patent Court Agreement, which is considered national patent law from an EU law point of view, but still is equal for each participant. [However the draft statutory instrument aimed at implementation of the Unified Court and UPC in the UK provides for different infringement laws for: European patents (unitary or not) litigated through the Unified Court; European patents (UK) litigated before UK courts; and national patents]. The legislation for the enhanced co-operation mechanism was approved by the European Parliament on 11 December 2012 and the regulations were signed by the European Council and European Parliament officials on 17 December 2012. On 30 May 2011, Italy and Spain challenged the council's authorisation of the use of enhanced co-operation to introduce the trilingual (English, French, German) system for the unitary patent, which they viewed as discriminatory to their languages, with the CJEU on the grounds that it did not comply with the EU treaties. In January 2013, Advocate General Yves Bot delivered his recommendation that the court reject the complaint. Suggestions by the Advocate General are advisory only, but are generally followed by the court. The case was dismissed by the court in April 2013, however Spain launched two new challenges with the EUCJ in March 2013 against the regulations implementing the unitary patent package. The court hearing for both cases was scheduled for 1 July 2014. Advocate-General Yves Bot published his opinion on 18 November 2014, suggesting that both actions be dismissed ( and ). The court handed down its decisions on 5 May 2015 as and fully dismissing the Spanish claims. Following a request by the government of Italy, it became a participant of the unitary patent regulations in September 2015. European patents European patents are granted in accordance with the provisions of the European Patent Convention (EPC), via a unified procedure before the European Patent Office. While upon filing of a European patent application, all 38 Contracting States are automatically designated, an European patents automatically becomes a bundle of "national" European patents upon grant. In contrast to the unified character of a European patent application, a granted European patent has, in effect, no unitary character, except for the centralized opposition procedure (which can be initiated within 9 months from grant, by somebody else than the patent proprietor), and the centralized limitation and revocation procedures (which can only be instituted by the patent proprietor). In other words, a European patent in one Contracting State, i.e. a "national" European patent, is effectively independent of the same European patent in each other Contracting State, except for the opposition, limitation and revocation procedures. The enforcement of a European patent is dealt with by national law. The abandonment, revocation or limitation of the European patent in one state does not affect the European patent in other states. While the EPC already provided the possibility for a group of member states to allow European patents to have a unitary character also after grant, until now, only Liechtenstein and Switzerland have opted to create a unified protection area (see Unitary patent (Switzerland and Liechtenstein)). By requesting unitary effect upon grant, the patent proprietor will now be able to obtain uniform protection in the participating members states of the European Union in a single step, considerably simplifying obtaining patent protection in a large part of the EU. The unitary patent system will co-exist with national patent systems and European patent without unitary effects. The unitary patent will in particular not cover EPC countries that are not member of the European Union, such as UK or Turkey. Legal basis and implementation Three instruments were proposed for the implementation of the unitary patent: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council implementing enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection Council Regulation implementing enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements Agreement on a Unified Patent Court The system is based on EU law as well as the European Patent Convention (EPC). provides the legal basis for establishing a common system of patents for Parties to the EPC. Previously, only Liechtenstein and Switzerland had used this possibility to create a unified protection area (see Unitary patent (Switzerland and Liechtenstein)). Regulations regarding the unitary patent The first two regulations were approved by the European Parliament on 11 December 2012, with future application set for the 25 member states then participating in the enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent (all current EU member states except Croatia, Italy and Spain). The instruments were adopted as regulations EU 1257/2012 and 1260/2012 on 17 December 2012, and entered into force in January 2013. Following a request by the government of Italy, it became a participant of the unitary patent regulations in September 2015. As of March 2017, neither of the two remaining non-participants in the unitary patent (Spain and Croatia) had requested the European Commission to participate. Although formally the Regulations will apply to all 25 participating states from the moment the UPC Agreement enters into force for the first group of ratifiers, the unitary effect of newly granted unitary patents will only extend to those of the 25 states where the UPC Agreement has entered into force, while patent coverage for other participating states without UPC Agreement ratification will be covered by a coexisting normal European patent in each of those states. The unitary effect of unitary patents means a single renewal fee, a single ownership, a single object of property, a single court (the Unified Patent Court) and uniform protection, which means that revocation as well as infringement proceedings are to be decided for the unitary patent as a whole rather than for each country individually. Licensing is however to remain possible for part of the unitary territory. Role of the European Patent Office Some administrative tasks relating to the European patents with unitary effect will be performed by the European Patent Office. These tasks include the collection of renewal fees and registration of unitary effect upon grant, recording licenses and statements that licenses are available to any person. Decisions of the European Patent Office regarding the unitary patent are open to appeal to the Unified Patent Court, rather than to the EPO Boards of Appeal. Translation requirements For a unitary patent ultimately no translation will be required, which significantly reduces the cost for protection in the whole area. However, article 6 of EU regulation 1260/2012 provides that during a transition period of no more than twelve years one translation needs to be provided. A translation needs to be provided either into English if the application is in French or German, or into any EU official language if the application is in English. In addition, machine translations will be provided, which will be, in the words of the regulation, "for information purposes only and should not have any legal effect". In several contracting states, for "national" European patents a translation has to be filed within a three-month time limit after the publication of grant in the European Patent Bulletin under , otherwise the patent is considered never to have existed (void ab initio) in that state. For the 21 parties to the London Agreement, this requirement has already been abolished or reduced (e.g. by dispensing with the requirement if the patent is available in English, and/or only requiring translation of the claims). Translation requirements for the participating states in the enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent are shown below: Unitary patent as an object of property Article 7 of Regulation 1257/2012 provides that, as an object of property, a European patent with unitary effect will be treated "in its entirety and in all participating Member States as a national patent of the participating Member State in which that patent has unitary effect and in which the applicant had her/his residence or principal place of business or, by default, had a place of business on the date of filing the application for the European patent." When the applicant had no domicile in a participating Member State, German law will apply. Ullrich has the criticized the system, which is similar to the Community Trademark and the Community Design, as being "in conflict with both the purpose of the creation of unitary patent protection and with primary EU law." Agreement on a Unified Patent Court The Agreement on a Unified Patent Court provides the legal basis for the Unified Patent Court (UPC): a patent court for European patents (with and without unitary effect), with jurisdiction in those countries where the Agreement is in effect. In addition to regulations regarding the court structure, it also contains substantive provisions relating to the right to prevent use of an invention and allowed use by non-patent proprietors (e.g. for private non-commercial use), preliminary and permanent injunctions. Entry into force for the UPC will take place after Germany deposits its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement, which will trigger the countdown until this Agreement’s entry into force and set the date for the start of the UPC’s operations. Parties The UPC Agreement was signed on 19 February 2013 by 24 EU member states, including all states then participating in the enhanced co-operation measures except Bulgaria and Poland. Bulgaria signed the agreement on 5 March 2013 following internal administrative procedures. Italy, which did not originally join the enhanced co-operation measures but subsequently signed up, did sign the UPC agreement. The agreement remains open to accession for all remaining EU member states, with all European Union Member States except Spain and Poland having signed the Agreement. States which do not participate in the unitary patent regulations can still become parties to the UPC agreement, which would allow the new court to handle European patents validated in the country. On 18 January 2019, Kluwer Patent Blog wrote, "a recurring theme for some years has been that 'the UPC will start next year'". Then, Brexit and German constitutional court complaint were considered as the main obstacles. The German constitutional court first decided in a decision of 13 February 2020 against the German ratification of the Agreement on the ground that the German Parliament did not vote with the required majority (2/3 according to the judgement). After a second vote and further, this time unsuccessful, constitutional complaints, Germany formally ratified the UPC Agreement on 7 August 2021. While the UK ratified the agreement in April 2018, the UK later withdrew from the Agreement following Brexit. As of 21 February 2022, 16 countries have finally ratified the Agreement. Jurisdiction The Unified Patent Court will have exclusive jurisdiction in infringement and revocation proceedings involving European patents with unitary effect, and during a transition period non-exclusive jurisdiction regarding European patents without unitary effect in the states where the Agreement applies, unless the patent proprietor decides to opt out. It furthermore has jurisdiction to hear cases against decisions of the European Patent Office regarding unitary patents. As a court of several member states of the European Union it may (Court of First Instance) or must (Court of Appeal) ask prejudicial questions to the European Court of Justice when the interpretation of EU law (including the two unitary patent regulations, but excluding the UPC Agreement) is not obvious. Organization The court will have two instances: a court of first instance and a court of appeal. The court of appeal and the registry will have their seats in Luxembourg, while the central division of the court of first instance would have its seat in Paris. The central division will have a thematic branch Munich (the London location has yet to replaced by a new location within the EU). The court of first instance may further have local and regional divisions in all member states that wish to set up such divisions. Geographical scope of and request for unitary effect While the regulations formally apply to all 25 member states participating in the enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent, from the date the UPC agreement has entered into force for the first group of ratifiers, unitary patents will only extend to the territory of those participating member states where the UPC Agreement had entered into force when the unitary effect was registered. If the unitary effect territory subsequently expands to additional participating member states for which the UPC Agreement later enters into force, this will be reflected for all subsequently registered unitary patents, but the territorial scope of the unitary effect of existing unitary patents will not be extended to these states. Unitary effect can be requested up to one month after grant of the European patent directly at the EPO, with retroactive effect from the date of grant. However, according to the Draft Rules Relating to Unitary Patent Protection, unitary effect would be registered only if the European patent has been granted with the same set of claims for all the 25 participating member states in the regulations, whether the unitary effect applies to them or not. European patents automatically become a bundle of "national" European patents upon grant. Upon the grant of unitary effect, the "national" European patents will retroactively be considered to never have existed in the territories where the unitary patent has effect. The unitary effect does not affect "national" European patents in states where the unitary patent does not apply. Any "national" European patents applying outside the "unitary effect" zone will co-exist with the unitary patent. Special territories of participating member states As the unitary patent is introduced by an EU regulation, it is expected to not only be valid in the mainland territory of the participating member states that are party to the UPC, but also in those of their special territories that are part of the European Union. As of April 2014, this includes the following fourteen territories: Cyprus: UN Buffer Zone Finland: Åland France: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Martin Germany: Büsingen am Hochrhein, Helgoland Greece: Mount Athos Portugal: Azores, Madeira In addition to the territories above, the European Patent Convention has been extended by two member states participating in the enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent to cover some of their dependent territories outside the European Union: France: French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, New Caledonia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna Netherlands: Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten Among the dependencies in the second list, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten intend to apply the unitary patent. The 2019 amendment of the Dutch Patents act extends the unitary patent regulation to these territories after it has entered into force. Entry into force is conditional on extension of the Unified Patent Court agreement to these territories. and extends the unified patent court agreement there as well. Costs The renewal fees were originally planned to be based on the cumulative renewal fees of Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands, the 4 states in which most European patents are in force. The renewal fees of the unitary patent would thus be ranging from 32 Euro in the second year to 4855 in the 20th year. It is however not yet clear if the UK leaving the UPC system following Brexit will lead to a reduction of the renewal fee. The renewal fees will be collected by the EPO, with the EPO keeping 50% of the fees and the other 50% being redistributed to the participating member states. Translation requirements as well as the requirement to pay yearly patent fees in all countries in which a European patent is designated, presently renders the European patent system costly in the European Union. In an impact assessment the European Commission estimated that the costs of obtaining a patent in all 27 EU countries would drop from over 32 000 euro (mainly due to translation costs) to 6 500 euro (for the combination of an EU, Spanish and Italian patent) due to introduction of the EU patent. Per capita costs of an EU patent were estimated at just 6 euro/million in the original 25 participating countries (and 12 euro/million in the 27 EU countries for protection with an Unitary, Italian and Spanish patent). How the EU Commission has presented the expected cost savings has however been sharply criticized as exaggerated and based on unrealistic assumptions. The EU Commission has notably considered the costs for validating a European patent in 27 countries while in reality only about 1% of all granted European patents are currently validated in all 27 contracting states. Based on more realistic assumptions, the cost savings are expected to be much lower than actually claimed by the commission. Earlier attempts 1970s and 1980s: proposed Community Patent Convention Work on a Community patent started in the 1970s, but the resulting Community Patent Convention (CPC) was a failure. The "Luxembourg Conference on the Community Patent" took place in 1975 and the Convention for the European Patent for the common market, or (Luxembourg) Community Patent Convention (CPC), was signed at Luxembourg on 15 December 1975, by the 9 member states of the European Economic Community at that time. However, the CPC never entered into force. It was not ratified by enough countries. Fourteen years later, the Agreement relating to Community patents was made at Luxembourg on 15 December 1989. It attempted to revive the CPC project, but also failed. This Agreement consisted of an amended version of the original Community Patent Convention. Twelve states signed the Agreement: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and United Kingdom. All of those states would need to have ratified the Agreement to cause it to enter into force, but only seven did so: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom. Nevertheless, a majority of member states of the EEC at that time introduced some harmonisation into their national patent laws in anticipation of the entry in force of the CPC. A more substantive harmonisation took place at around the same time to take account of the European Patent Convention and the Strasbourg Convention. 2000 to 2004: EU Regulation proposal In 2000, renewed efforts from the European Union resulted in a Community Patent Regulation proposal, sometimes abbreviated as CPR. It provides that the patent, once it has been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in one of its procedural languages (English, German or French) and published in that language, with a translation of the claims into the two other procedural languages, will be valid without any further translation. This proposal is aimed to achieve a considerable reduction in translation costs. Nevertheless, additional translations could become necessary in legal proceedings against a suspected infringer. In such a situation, a suspected infringer who has been unable to consult the text of the patent in the official language of the Member State in which he is domiciled, is presumed, until proven otherwise, not to have knowingly infringed the patent. To protect a suspected infringer who, in such a situation, has not acted in a deliberate manner, it is provided that the proprietor of the patent will not be able to obtain damages in respect of the period prior to the translation of the patent being notified to the infringer. The proposed Community Patent Regulation should also establish a court holding exclusive jurisdiction to invalidate issued patents; thus, a Community Patent's validity will be the same in all EU member states. This court will be attached to the present European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance through use of provisions in the Treaty of Nice. Discussion regarding the Community patent had made clear progress in 2003 when a political agreement was reached on 3 March 2003. However, one year later in March 2004 under the Irish presidency, the Competitiveness Council failed to agree on the details of the Regulation. In particular the time delays for translating the claims and the authentic text of the claims in case of an infringement remained problematic issues throughout discussions and in the end proved insoluble. In view of the difficulties in reaching an agreement on the community patent, other legal agreements have been proposed outside the European Union legal framework to reduce the cost of translation (of patents when granted) and litigation, namely the London Agreement, which entered into force on 1 May 2008—and which has reduced the number of countries requiring translation of European patents granted nowadays under the European Patent Convention, and the corresponding costs to obtain a European patent—and the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), a proposal that has now lapsed. Reactions to the failure After the council in March 2004, EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said that "The failure to agree on the Community Patent I am afraid undermines the credibility of the whole enterprise to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010." Adding: Jonathan Todd, Commission's Internal Market spokesman, declared: European Commission President Romano Prodi, asked to evaluate his five-year term, cites as his weak point the failure of many EU governments to implement the "Lisbon Agenda", agreed in 2001. In particular, he cited the failure to agree on a Europewide patent, or even the languages to be used for such a patent, "because member states did not accept a change in the rules; they were not coherent". Support for the Regulation There is support for the Community patent from various quarters. From the point of view of the European Commission the Community Patent is an essential step towards creating a level playing field for trade within the European Union. For smaller businesses, if the Community patent achieves its aim of providing a relatively inexpensive way of obtaining patent protection across a wide trading area, then there is also support. For larger businesses, however, other issues come into play, which have tended to dilute overall support. In general, these businesses recognise that the current European Patent system provides the best possible protection given the need to satisfy national sovereignty requirements such as regarding translation and enforcement. The Community Patent proposal was generally supported if it would do away with both of these issues, but there was some concern about the level of competence of the proposed European Patent Court. A business would be reluctant to obtain a Europe-wide patent if it ran the risk of being revoked by an inexperienced judge. Also, the question of translations would not go away – unless the users of the system could see significant change in the position of some of the countries holding out for more of a patent specification to be translated on grant or before enforcement, it was understood that larger businesses (the bulk of the users of the patent system) would be unlikely to move away from the tried and tested European Patent. Since 2005: stalemate and new debate Thus, in 2005, the Community patent looked unlikely to be implemented in the near future. However, on 16 January 2006 the European Commission "launched a public consultation on how future action in patent policy to create an EU-wide system of protection can best take account of stakeholders' needs." The Community patent was one of the issues the consultation focused on. More than 2500 replies were received. According to the European Commission, the consultation showed that there is widespread support for the Community patent but not at any cost, and "in particular not on the basis of the Common Political Approach reached by EU Ministers in 2003". In February 2007, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was quoted as saying: The European Commission released a white paper in April 2007 seeking to "improve the patent system in Europe and revitalise the debate on this issue." On 18 April 2007, at the European Patent Forum in Munich, Germany, Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, said that his proposal to support the European economy was "to have the London Agreement ratified by all member states, and to have a European patent judiciary set up, in order to achieve rapid implementation of the Community patent, which is indispensable". He further said that he believed this could be done within five years. In October 2007, the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union proposed an EU patent jurisdiction, "borrowing heavily from the rejected draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA)". In November 2007, EU ministers were reported to have made some progress towards a community patent legal system, with "some specific results" expected in 2008. In 2008, the idea of using machine translations to translate patents was proposed to solve the language issue, which is partially responsible for blocking progress on the community patent. Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Günter Verheugen declared at the European Patent Forum in May 2008 that there was an "urgent need" for a community patent. Agreement in December 2009, and language issue In December 2009, it was reported that the Swedish EU presidency had achieved a breakthrough in negotiations concerning the community patent. The breakthrough was reported to involve setting up a single patent court for the EU, however ministers conceded much work remained to be done before the community patent would become a reality. According to the agreed plan, the EU would accede to the European Patent Convention as a contracting state, and patents granted by the European Patent Office will, when validated for the EU, have unitary effect in the territory of the European Union. On 10 November 2010, it was announced that no agreement had been reached and that, "in spite of the progress made, [the Competitiveness Council of the European Union had] fallen short of unanimity by a small margin," with commentators reporting that the Spanish representative, citing the aim to avoid any discrimination, had "re-iterated at length the stubborn rejection of the Madrid Government of taking the 'Munich' three languages regime (English, German, French) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) as a basis for a future EU Patent." See also Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property Strasbourg Convention (1963) Notes References Further reading L. McDonagh, 'Exploring perspectives of the Unified Patent Court and the Unitary Patent within the Business and Legal Communities' A Report Commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office (July 2014) available at UKIPO External links Unitary patent on the European Patent Office web site European Commission official website (Patents, Patent reform) Formal texts of the European Union Patent and status of adoption Regulation 1257/2012 Implementing Enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection (published 31 December 2012) Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (international treaty between the 25 states, not in force) Regulation 1260/2012 implementing enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements (published 31 December 2012) Rules of procedure, draft version 14 (published 31 January 2013) Rules Relating to Unitary Patent Protection, Draft of 6 June 2014 Non implemented instruments Amended Community Patent Convention (1989) 1989's Agreement relating to Community patents Implementing Regulations to the Convention for the European patent for the common market Protocols related to Litigation, a common appeal court, its statute and modification of entry into force Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community patent (2000) Proposal of the Commission (28.11.2000) Current state of the legislation process Positions by various organisations April: Unitary patent: For a democratic innovation policy in Europe EPO: on the EU patent FFII: The Community Patent Consultation FSFE: EU: the unitary patent Eurolinux 2001: Appeal for a Lean and Balanced Community Patent patent Patent law of the European Union Multi-speed Europe

Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animated images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics to generate a three-dimensional picture, although 2D computer graphics are still used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings. Sometimes, the target of the animation is the computer itself, but sometimes film as well. Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to stop motion techniques, but using 3D models, and traditional animation techniques using frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations. Computer-generated animations can also allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it but advanced slightly in time (usually at a rate of 24, 25, or 30 frames/second). This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures. For 3D animations, objects (models) are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton. For 2D figure animations, separate objects (illustrations) and separate transparent layers are used with or without that virtual skeleton. Then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc. of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames. The differences in appearance between key frames are automatically calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing. Finally, the animation is rendered. For 3D animations, all frames must be rendered after the modeling is complete. For 2D vector animations, the rendering process is the key frame illustration process, while tweened frames are rendered as needed. For pre-recorded presentations, the rendered frames are transferred to a different format or medium, like digital video. The frames may also be rendered in real time as they are presented to the end-user audience. Low bandwidth animations transmitted via the internet (e.g. Adobe Flash, X3D) often use software on the end-user's computer to render in real time as an alternative to streaming or pre-loaded high bandwidth animations. Explanation To trick the eye and the brain into thinking they are seeing a smoothly moving object, the pictures should be drawn at around 12 frames per second or faster. (A frame is one complete image.) With rates above 75-120 frames per second, no improvement in realism or smoothness is perceivable due to the way the eye and the brain both process images. At rates below 12 frames per second, most people can detect jerkiness associated with the drawing of new images that detracts from the illusion of realistic movement. Conventional hand-drawn cartoon animation often uses 15 frames per second in order to save on the number of drawings needed, but this is usually accepted because of the stylized nature of cartoons. To produce more realistic imagery, computer animation demands higher frame rates. Films seen in theaters in the United States run at 24 frames per second, which is sufficient to create the illusion of continuous movement. For high resolution, adapters are used. History Early digital computer animation was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1960s by Edward E. Zajac, Frank W. Sinden, Kenneth C. Knowlton, and A. Michael Noll. Other digital animation was also practiced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 1967, a computer animation named "Hummingbird" was created by Charles Csuri and James Shaffer. In 1968, a computer animation called "Kitty" was created with BESM-4 by Nikolai Konstantinov, depicting a cat moving around. In 1971, a computer animation called "Metadata" was created, showing various shapes. An early step in the history of computer animation was the sequel to the 1973 film Westworld, a science-fiction film about a society in which robots live and work among humans. The sequel, Futureworld (1976), used the 3D wire-frame imagery, which featured a computer-animated hand and face both created by University of Utah graduates Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke. This imagery originally appeared in their student film A Computer Animated Hand, which they completed in 1972. Developments in CGI technologies are reported each year at SIGGRAPH, an annual conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques that is attended by thousands of computer professionals each year. Developers of computer games and 3D video cards strive to achieve the same visual quality on personal computers in real-time as is possible for CGI films and animation. With the rapid advancement of real-time rendering quality, artists began to use game engines to render non-interactive movies, which led to the art form Machinima. Film and television CGI short films have been produced as independent animation since 1976. Early examples of feature films incorporating CGI animation include the live-action films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Tron (both 1982), and the Japanese anime film Golgo 13: The Professional (1983). VeggieTales is the first American fully 3D computer animated series sold directly (made in 1993); its success inspired other animation series, such as ReBoot (1994) and Transformers: Beast Wars (1996) to adopt a fully computer-generated style. The first full length computer animated television series was ReBoot, which debuted in September 1994; the series followed the adventures of characters who lived inside a computer. The first feature-length computer animated film is Toy Story (1995), which was made by Disney and Pixar: following an adventure centered around anthropomorphic toys and their owners, this groundbreaking film was also the first of many fully computer-animated movies. The popularity of computer animation (especially in the field of special effects) skyrocketed during the modern era of U.S. animation. Films like Avatar (2009) and The Jungle Book (2016) use CGI for the majority of the movie runtime, but still incorporate human actors into the mix. Computer animation in this era has achieved photorealism, to the point that computer animated films such as The Lion King (2019) are able to be marketed as if they were live-action. Animation methods In most 3D computer animation systems, an animator creates a simplified representation of a character's anatomy, which is analogous to a skeleton or stick figure. They are arranged into a default position known as a bind pose, or T-Pose. The position of each segment of the skeletal model is defined by animation variables, or Avars for short. In human and animal characters, many parts of the skeletal model correspond to the actual bones, but skeletal animation is also used to animate other things, with facial features (though other methods for facial animation exist). The character "Woody" in Toy Story, for example, uses 700 Avars (100 in the face alone). The computer doesn't usually render the skeletal model directly (it is invisible), but it does use the skeletal model to compute the exact position and orientation of that certain character, which is eventually rendered into an image. Thus by changing the values of Avars over time, the animator creates motion by making the character move from frame to frame. There are several methods for generating the Avar values to obtain realistic motion. Traditionally, animators manipulate the Avars directly. Rather than set Avars for every frame, they usually set Avars at strategic points (frames) in time and let the computer interpolate or tween between them in a process called keyframing. Keyframing puts control in the hands of the animator and has roots in hand-drawn traditional animation. In contrast, a newer method called motion capture makes use of live action footage. When computer animation is driven by motion capture, a real performer acts out the scene as if they were the character to be animated. Their motion is recorded to a computer using video cameras and markers and that performance is then applied to the animated character. Each method has its advantages and as of 2007, games and films are using either or both of these methods in productions. Keyframe animation can produce motions that would be difficult or impossible to act out, while motion capture can reproduce the subtleties of a particular actor. For example, in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Bill Nighy provided the performance for the character Davy Jones. Even though Nighy doesn't appear in the movie himself, the movie benefited from his performance by recording the nuances of his body language, posture, facial expressions, etc. Thus motion capture is appropriate in situations where believable, realistic behavior and action is required, but the types of characters required exceed what can be done throughout the conventional costuming. Modeling 3D computer animation combines 3D models of objects and programmed or hand "keyframed" movement. These models are constructed out of geometrical vertices, faces, and edges in a 3D coordinate system. Objects are sculpted much like real clay or plaster, working from general forms to specific details with various sculpting tools. Unless a 3D model is intended to be a solid color, it must be painted with "textures" for realism. A bone/joint animation system is set up to deform the CGI model (e.g., to make a humanoid model walk). In a process known as rigging, the virtual marionette is given various controllers and handles for controlling movement. Animation data can be created using motion capture, or keyframing by a human animator, or a combination of the two. 3D models rigged for animation may contain thousands of control points — for example, "Woody" from Toy Story uses 700 specialized animation controllers. Rhythm and Hues Studios labored for two years to create Aslan in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which had about 1,851 controllers (742 in the face alone). In the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow, designers had to design forces of extreme weather with the help of video references and accurate meteorological facts. For the 2005 remake of King Kong, actor Andy Serkis was used to help designers pinpoint the gorilla's prime location in the shots and used his expressions to model "human" characteristics onto the creature. Serkis had earlier provided the voice and performance for Gollum in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Equipment Computer animation can be created with a computer and an animation software. Some impressive animation can be achieved even with basic programs; however, the rendering can require much time on an ordinary home computer. Professional animators of movies, television and video games could make photorealistic animation with high detail. This level of quality for movie animation would take hundreds of years to create on a home computer. Instead, many powerful workstation computers are used. Graphics workstation computers use two to four processors, and they are a lot more powerful than an actual home computer and are specialized for rendering. Many workstations (known as a "render farm") are networked together to effectively act as a giant computer, resulting in a computer-animated movie that can be completed in about one to five years (however, this process is not composed solely of rendering). A workstation typically costs $2,000-16,000 with the more expensive stations being able to render much faster due to the more technologically-advanced hardware that they contain. Professionals also use digital movie cameras, motion/performance capture, bluescreens, film editing software, props, and other tools used for movie animation. Programs like Blender allow for people who can't afford expensive animation and rendering software to be able to work in a similar manner to those who use the commercial grade equipment. Facial animation The realistic modeling of human facial features is both one of the most challenging and sought after elements in computer-generated imagery. Computer facial animation is a highly complex field where models typically include a very large number of animation variables. Historically speaking, the first SIGGRAPH tutorials on State of the art in Facial Animation in 1989 and 1990 proved to be a turning point in the field by bringing together and consolidating multiple research elements and sparked interest among a number of researchers. The Facial Action Coding System (with 46 "action units", "lip bite" or "squint"), which had been developed in 1976, became a popular basis for many systems. As early as 2001, MPEG-4 included 68 Face Animation Parameters (FAPs) for lips, jaws, etc., and the field has made significant progress since then and the use of facial microexpression has increased. In some cases, an affective space, the PAD emotional state model, can be used to assign specific emotions to the faces of avatars. In this approach, the PAD model is used as a high level emotional space and the lower level space is the MPEG-4 Facial Animation Parameters (FAP). A mid-level Partial Expression Parameters (PEP) space is then used to in a two-level structure – the PAD-PEP mapping and the PEP-FAP translation model. Realism Realism in computer animation can mean making each frame look photorealistic, in the sense that the scene is rendered to resemble a photograph or make the characters' animation believable and lifelike. Computer animation can also be realistic with or without the photorealistic rendering. One of the greatest challenges in computer animation has been creating human characters that look and move with the highest degree of realism. Part of the difficulty in making pleasing, realistic human characters is the uncanny valley, the concept where the human audience (up to a point) tends to have an increasingly negative, emotional response as a human replica looks and acts more and more human. Films that have attempted photorealistic human characters, such as The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol have been criticized as "disconcerting" and "creepy". The goal of computer animation is not always to emulate live action as closely as possible, so many animated films instead feature characters who are anthropomorphic animals, legendary creatures and characters, superheroes, or otherwise have non-realistic, cartoon-like proportions. Computer animation can also be tailored to mimic or substitute for other kinds of animation, like traditional stop-motion animation (as shown in Flushed Away or The Peanuts Movie). Some of the long-standing basic principles of animation, like squash & stretch, call for movement that is not strictly realistic, and such principles still see widespread application in computer animation. Animation studios Some notable producers of computer-animated feature films include: Animal Logic – Films include Happy Feet (2006), Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), Walking with Dinosaurs (2013), The Lego Movie (2014) Aardman Animations  – Films include Flushed Away (2006), Arthur Christmas (2011) Big Idea Entertainment – Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) Bron Studios – Films include The Addams Family (2019), The Willoughbys (2020) Blue Sky Studios – Films include Ice Age (2002), Robots (2005), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Rio (2011), Epic (2013), The Peanuts Movie (2015) DNA Productions  – Films include Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), Santa vs. the Snowman 3D (2002) and The Ant Bully (2006) DNEG  - Films includes Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) DreamWorks Animation – Films include Shrek (2001), Shark Tale (2004), Madagascar (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Bee Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda (2008), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Croods (2013), Trolls (2016), The Boss Baby (2017) ImageMovers  – Films include The Polar Express (2004), Monster House (2006), Beowulf (2007), A Christmas Carol (2009), Mars Needs Moms (2011) Ilion Animation Studios — Films include Planet 51 (2009), Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible (2014) Wonder Park (2019) Illumination — Films include Despicable Me (2010), The Lorax (2012), Minions (2015), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), Sing (2016), The Grinch (2018), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) Industrial Light & Magic – Films include Rango (2011) and Strange Magic (2015) Pacific Data Images – Films include Antz (1998), Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Madagascar (2005), Megamind (2010), Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014) Paramount Animation – Films include The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), Monster Trucks (2017), Sherlock Gnomes (2018), Wonder Park (2019), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020; 2021) Pixar Animation Studios – Films include Toy Story (1995), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), Coco (2017), and Soul (2020) Rainmaker Studios – Films include Escape from Planet Earth (2013) and Ratchet & Clank (2016) Reel FX Animation Studios – Films include Free Birds (2013) and The Book of Life (2014) Wizart Animation – Films include The Snow Queen (2012), Sheep and Wolves (2016) Shirogumi – Films include Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki (2011), Stand by Me Doraemon (2014) and Dragon Quest: Your Story (2019) Square Pictures – Films include Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) Sony Pictures Imageworks  – Films include The Angry Birds Movie (2016), Sausage Party (2016), Over the Moon (2020) Triggerfish Animation Studios – Films include Zambezia (2013), Khumba (2014) Vanguard Animation - Films include Valiant (2005), Space Chimps (2008) Walt Disney Animation Studios – Films include Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014), Zootopia (2016), Moana (2016) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) Warner Animation Group – Films include The Lego Movie (2014), Storks (2016), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Smallfoot (2018), Scoob! (2020) Weta Digital – Films include The Adventures of Tintin (2011) The Pawpatrol Movie (2021) Frozen 2 (2019) Web animations The popularity of websites that allow members to upload their own movies for others to view has created a growing community of independent and amateur computer animators. With utilities and programs often included free with modern operating systems, many users can make their own animated movies and shorts. Several free and open-source animation software applications exist as well. The ease at which these animations can be distributed has attracted professional animation talent also. Companies such as PowToon and Vyond attempt to bridge the gap by giving amateurs access to professional animations as clip art. The oldest (most backward compatible) web-based animations are in the animated GIF format, which can be uploaded and seen on the web easily. However, the raster graphics format of GIF animations slows the download and frame rate, especially with larger screen sizes. The growing demand for higher quality web-based animations was met by a vector graphics alternative that relied on the use of a plugin. For decades, Flash animations were the most popular format, until the web development community abandoned support for the Flash Player plugin. Web browsers on mobile devices and mobile operating systems never fully supported the Flash plugin. By this time, internet bandwidth and download speeds increased, making raster graphic animations more convenient. Some of the more complex vector graphic animations had a slower frame rate due to complex rendering compared to some of the raster graphic alternatives. Many of the GIF and Flash animations were already converted to digital video formats, which were compatible with mobile devices and reduced file sizes via video compression technology. However, compatibility was still problematic as some of the popular video formats such as Apple's QuickTime and Microsoft Silverlight required plugins. YouTube, the most popular video sharing website, was also relying on the Flash plugin to deliver digital video in the Flash Video format. The latest alternatives are HTML5 compatible animations. Technologies such as JavaScript and CSS animations made sequencing the movement of images in HTML5 web pages more convenient. SVG animations offered a vector graphic alternative to the original Flash graphic format, SmartSketch. YouTube offers an HTML5 alternative for digital video. APNG (Animated PNG) offered a raster graphic alternative to animated GIF files that enables multi-level transparency not available in GIFs. Detailed examples and pseudocode In 2D computer animation, moving objects are often referred to as "sprites." A sprite is an image that has a location associated with it. The location of the sprite is changed slightly, between each displayed frame, to make the sprite appear to move. The following pseudocode makes a sprite move from left to right: var int x := 0, y := screenHeight / 2; while x < screenWidth drawBackground() drawSpriteAtXY (x, y) // draw on top of the background x := x + 5 // move to the right Computer animation uses different techniques to produce animations. Most frequently, sophisticated mathematics is used to manipulate complex three-dimensional polygons, apply "textures", lighting and other effects to the polygons and finally rendering the complete image. A sophisticated graphical user interface may be used to create the animation and arrange its choreography. Another technique called constructive solid geometry defines objects by conducting boolean operations on regular shapes, and has the advantage that animations may be accurately produced at any resolution. Computer-assisted vis-à-vis computer-generated To animate means, figuratively, to "give life to". There are two basic methods that animators commonly use to accomplish this. Computer-assisted animation is usually classed as two-dimensional (2D) animation. Drawings are either hand drawn (pencil to paper) or interactively drawn (on the computer) using different assisting appliances and are positioned into specific software packages. Within the software package, the creator places drawings into different key frames which fundamentally create an outline of the most important movements. The computer then fills in the "in-between frames", a process commonly known as Tweening. Computer-assisted animation employs new technologies to produce content faster than is possible with traditional animation, while still retaining the stylistic elements of traditionally drawn characters or objects. Examples of films produced using computer-assisted animation are The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, The Road to El Dorado and Tarzan. Computer-generated animation is known as three-dimensional (3D) animation. Creators design an object or character with an X, a Y and a Z axis. No pencil-to-paper drawings create the way computer-generated animation works. The object or character created will then be taken into a software. Key-framing and tweening are also carried out in computer-generated animation but so are many techniques unrelated to traditional animation. Animators can break physical laws by using mathematical algorithms to cheat mass, force and gravity rulings. Fundamentally, time scale and quality could be said to be a preferred way to produce animation as they are major aspects enhanced by using computer-generated animation. Another positive aspect of CGA is the fact one can create a flock of creatures to act independently when created as a group. An animal's fur can be programmed to wave in the wind and lie flat when it rains instead of separately programming each strand of hair. A few examples of computer-generated animation movies are Toy Story, Antz, Ice Age, Happy Feet, Despicable Me, Frozen, and Shrek. See also Animation Animation database Autodesk Avar (animation variable) Computer-generated imagery (CGI) New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab Computer representation of surfaces Hand-Over Humanoid animation List of animation studios List of computer-animated films List of computer-animated television series Medical animation Morph target animation Machinima (recording video from games and virtual worlds) Motion capture Procedural animation Ray tracing Rich Representation Language Skeletal animation Timeline of computer animation in film and television Virtual artifact Wire-frame model Twelve basic principles of animation References Citations Works cited External links Animation Animation techniques Articles containing video clips

Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 (formally designated D/1993 F2) broke apart in July 1992 and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular media, and the comet was closely observed by astronomers worldwide. The collision provided new information about Jupiter and highlighted its possible role in reducing space debris in the inner Solar System. The comet was discovered by astronomers Carolyn and Eugene M. Shoemaker and David Levy in 1993. Shoemaker–Levy 9 (SL9) had been captured by Jupiter and was orbiting the planet at the time. It was located on the night of March 24 in a photograph taken with the Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was the first active comet observed to be orbiting a planet, and had probably been captured by Jupiter around 20 to 30 years earlier. Calculations showed that its unusual fragmented form was due to a previous closer approach to Jupiter in July 1992. At that time, the orbit of Shoemaker–Levy 9 passed within Jupiter's Roche limit, and Jupiter's tidal forces had acted to pull apart the comet. The comet was later observed as a series of fragments ranging up to in diameter. These fragments collided with Jupiter's southern hemisphere between July 16 and 22, 1994 at a speed of approximately (Jupiter's escape velocity) or . The prominent scars from the impacts were more easily visible than the Great Red Spot and persisted for many months. Discovery While conducting a program of observations designed to uncover near-Earth objects, the Shoemakers and Levy discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 on the night of March 24, 1993, in a photograph taken with the Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. The comet was thus a serendipitous discovery, but one that quickly overshadowed the results from their main observing program. Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was the ninth periodic comet (a comet whose orbital period is 200 years or less) discovered by the Shoemakers and Levy, hence its name. It was their eleventh comet discovery overall including their discovery of two non-periodic comets, which use a different nomenclature. The discovery was announced in IAU Circular 5725 on March 26, 1993. The discovery image gave the first hint that comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was an unusual comet, as it appeared to show multiple nuclei in an elongated region about 50 arcseconds long and 10 arcseconds wide. Brian G. Marsden of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams noted that the comet lay only about 4 degrees from Jupiter as seen from Earth, and that although this could be a line-of-sight effect, its apparent motion in the sky suggested that the comet was physically close to the planet. Comet with a Jovian orbit Orbital studies of the new comet soon revealed that it was orbiting Jupiter rather than the Sun, unlike all other comets known at the time. Its orbit around Jupiter was very loosely bound, with a period of about 2 years and an apoapsis (the point in the orbit farthest from the planet) of . Its orbit around the planet was highly eccentric (e = 0.9986). Tracing back the comet's orbital motion revealed that it had been orbiting Jupiter for some time. It is likely that it was captured from a solar orbit in the early 1970s, although the capture may have occurred as early as the mid-1960s. Several other observers found images of the comet in precovery images obtained before March 24, including Kin Endate from a photograph exposed on March 15, S. Otomo on March 17, and a team led by Eleanor Helin from images on March 19. An image of the comet on a Schmidt photographic plate taken on March 19 was identified on March 21 by M. Lindgren, in a project searching for comets near Jupiter. However, as his team were expecting comets to be inactive or at best exhibit a weak dust coma, and SL9 had a peculiar morphology, its true nature was not recognised until the official announcement 5 days later. No precovery images dating back to earlier than March 1993 have been found. Before the comet was captured by Jupiter, it was probably a short-period comet with an aphelion just inside Jupiter's orbit, and a perihelion interior to the asteroid belt. The volume of space within which an object can be said to orbit Jupiter is defined by Jupiter's Hill sphere. When the comet passed Jupiter in the late 1960s or early 1970s, it happened to be near its aphelion, and found itself slightly within Jupiter's Hill sphere. Jupiter's gravity nudged the comet towards it. Because the comet's motion with respect to Jupiter was very small, it fell almost straight toward Jupiter, which is why it ended up on a Jove-centric orbit of very high eccentricity—that is to say, the ellipse was nearly flattened out. The comet had apparently passed extremely close to Jupiter on July 7, 1992, just over above its cloud tops—a smaller distance than Jupiter's radius of , and well within the orbit of Jupiter's innermost moon Metis and the planet's Roche limit, inside which tidal forces are strong enough to disrupt a body held together only by gravity. Although the comet had approached Jupiter closely before, the July 7 encounter seemed to be by far the closest, and the fragmentation of the comet is thought to have occurred at this time. Each fragment of the comet was denoted by a letter of the alphabet, from "fragment A" through to "fragment W", a practice already established from previously observed fragmented comets. More exciting for planetary astronomers was that the best orbital calculations suggested that the comet would pass within of the center of Jupiter, a distance smaller than the planet's radius, meaning that there was an extremely high probability that SL9 would collide with Jupiter in July 1994. Studies suggested that the train of nuclei would plow into Jupiter's atmosphere over a period of about five days. Predictions for the collision The discovery that the comet was likely to collide with Jupiter caused great excitement within the astronomical community and beyond, as astronomers had never before seen two significant Solar System bodies collide. Intense studies of the comet were undertaken, and as its orbit became more accurately established, the possibility of a collision became a certainty. The collision would provide a unique opportunity for scientists to look inside Jupiter's atmosphere, as the collisions were expected to cause eruptions of material from the layers normally hidden beneath the clouds. Astronomers estimated that the visible fragments of SL9 ranged in size from a few hundred metres (around ) to across, suggesting that the original comet may have had a nucleus up to across—somewhat larger than Comet Hyakutake, which became very bright when it passed close to the Earth in 1996. One of the great debates in advance of the impact was whether the effects of the impact of such small bodies would be noticeable from Earth, apart from a flash as they disintegrated like giant meteors. The most optimistic prediction was that large, asymmetric ballistic fireballs would rise above the limb of Jupiter and into sunlight to be visible from Earth. Other suggested effects of the impacts were seismic waves travelling across the planet, an increase in stratospheric haze on the planet due to dust from the impacts, and an increase in the mass of the Jovian ring system. However, given that observing such a collision was completely unprecedented, astronomers were cautious with their predictions of what the event might reveal. Impacts Anticipation grew as the predicted date for the collisions approached, and astronomers trained terrestrial telescopes on Jupiter. Several space observatories did the same, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the ROSAT X-ray-observing satellite, the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the Galileo spacecraft, then on its way to a rendezvous with Jupiter scheduled for 1995. Although the impacts took place on the side of Jupiter hidden from Earth, Galileo, then at a distance of from the planet, was able to see the impacts as they occurred. Jupiter's rapid rotation brought the impact sites into view for terrestrial observers a few minutes after the collisions. Two other space probes made observations at the time of the impact: the Ulysses spacecraft, primarily designed for solar observations, was pointed towards Jupiter from its location away, and the distant Voyager 2 probe, some from Jupiter and on its way out of the Solar System following its encounter with Neptune in 1989, was programmed to look for radio emission in the 1–390 kHz range and make observations with its ultraviolet spectrometer. Astronomer Ian Morison described the impacts as following: The first impact occurred at 20:13 UTC on July 16, 1994, when fragment A of the [comet's] nucleus slammed into Jupiter's southern hemisphere at about . Instruments on Galileo detected a fireball that reached a peak temperature of about , compared to the typical Jovian cloud-top temperature of about . It then expanded and cooled rapidly to about . The plume from the fireball quickly reached a height of over and was observed by the HST. A few minutes after the impact fireball was detected, Galileo measured renewed heating, probably due to ejected material falling back onto the planet. Earth-based observers detected the fireball rising over the limb of the planet shortly after the initial impact. Despite published predictions, astronomers had not expected to see the fireballs from the impacts and did not have any idea how visible the other atmospheric effects of the impacts would be from Earth. Observers soon saw a huge dark spot after the first impact; the spot was visible from Earth. This and subsequent dark spots were thought to have been caused by debris from the impacts, and were markedly asymmetric, forming crescent shapes in front of the direction of impact. Over the next six days, 21 distinct impacts were observed, with the largest coming on July 18 at 07:33 UTC when fragment G struck Jupiter. This impact created a giant dark spot over (almost one Earth diameter) across, and was estimated to have released an energy equivalent to 6,000,000 megatons of TNT (600 times the world's nuclear arsenal). Two impacts 12 hours apart on July 19 created impact marks of similar size to that caused by fragment G, and impacts continued until July 22, when fragment W struck the planet. Observations and discoveries Chemical studies Observers hoped that the impacts would give them a first glimpse of Jupiter beneath the cloud tops, as lower material was exposed by the comet fragments punching through the upper atmosphere. Spectroscopic studies revealed absorption lines in the Jovian spectrum due to diatomic sulfur (S2) and carbon disulfide (CS2), the first detection of either in Jupiter, and only the second detection of S2 in any astronomical object. Other molecules detected included ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The amount of sulfur implied by the quantities of these compounds was much greater than the amount that would be expected in a small cometary nucleus, showing that material from within Jupiter was being revealed. Oxygen-bearing molecules such as sulfur dioxide were not detected, to the surprise of astronomers. As well as these molecules, emission from heavy atoms such as iron, magnesium and silicon was detected, with abundances consistent with what would be found in a cometary nucleus. Although a substantial amount of water was detected spectroscopically, it was not as much as predicted, meaning that either the water layer thought to exist below the clouds was thinner than predicted, or that the cometary fragments did not penetrate deeply enough. Waves As predicted, the collisions generated enormous waves that swept across Jupiter at speeds of and were observed for over two hours after the largest impacts. The waves were thought to be travelling within a stable layer acting as a waveguide, and some scientists thought the stable layer must lie within the hypothesised tropospheric water cloud. However, other evidence seemed to indicate that the cometary fragments had not reached the water layer, and the waves were instead propagating within the stratosphere. Other observations Radio observations revealed a sharp increase in continuum emission at a wavelength of after the largest impacts, which peaked at 120% of the normal emission from the planet. This was thought to be due to synchrotron radiation, caused by the injection of relativistic electrons—electrons with velocities near the speed of light—into the Jovian magnetosphere by the impacts. About an hour after fragment K entered Jupiter, observers recorded auroral emission near the impact region, as well as at the antipode of the impact site with respect to Jupiter's strong magnetic field. The cause of these emissions was difficult to establish due to a lack of knowledge of Jupiter's internal magnetic field and of the geometry of the impact sites. One possible explanation was that upwardly accelerating shock waves from the impact accelerated charged particles enough to cause auroral emission, a phenomenon more typically associated with fast-moving solar wind particles striking a planetary atmosphere near a magnetic pole. Some astronomers had suggested that the impacts might have a noticeable effect on the Io torus, a torus of high-energy particles connecting Jupiter with the highly volcanic moon Io. High resolution spectroscopic studies found that variations in the ion density, rotational velocity, and temperatures at the time of impact and afterwards were within the normal limits. Voyager 2 failed to detect anything with calculations showing that the fireballs were just below the craft's limit of detection; no abnormal levels of UV radiation or radio signals were registered after the blast. Ulysses also failed to detect any abnormal radio frequencies. Post-impact analysis Several models were devised to compute the density and size of Shoemaker–Levy 9. Its average density was calculated to be about ; the breakup of a much less dense comet would not have resembled the observed string of objects. The size of the parent comet was calculated to be about in diameter. These predictions were among the few that were actually confirmed by subsequent observation. One of the surprises of the impacts was the small amount of water revealed compared to prior predictions. Before the impact, models of Jupiter's atmosphere had indicated that the break-up of the largest fragments would occur at atmospheric pressures of anywhere from 30 kilopascals to a few tens of megapascals (from 0.3 to a few hundred bar), with some predictions that the comet would penetrate a layer of water and create a bluish shroud over that region of Jupiter. Astronomers did not observe large amounts of water following the collisions, and later impact studies found that fragmentation and destruction of the cometary fragments in a meteor air burst probably occurred at much higher altitudes than previously expected, with even the largest fragments being destroyed when the pressure reached , well above the expected depth of the water layer. The smaller fragments were probably destroyed before they even reached the cloud layer. Longer-term effects The visible scars from the impacts could be seen on Jupiter for many months. They were extremely prominent, and observers described them as more easily visible than the Great Red Spot. A search of historical observations revealed that the spots were probably the most prominent transient features ever seen on the planet, and that although the Great Red Spot is notable for its striking color, no spots of the size and darkness of those caused by the SL9 impacts had ever been recorded before, or since. Spectroscopic observers found that ammonia and carbon disulfide persisted in the atmosphere for at least fourteen months after the collisions, with a considerable amount of ammonia being present in the stratosphere as opposed to its normal location in the troposphere. Counterintuitively, the atmospheric temperature dropped to normal levels much more quickly at the larger impact sites than at the smaller sites: at the larger impact sites, temperatures were elevated over a region wide, but dropped back to normal levels within a week of the impact. At smaller sites, temperatures higher than the surroundings persisted for almost two weeks. Global stratospheric temperatures rose immediately after the impacts, then fell to below pre-impact temperatures 2–3 weeks afterwards, before rising slowly to normal temperatures. Frequency of impacts SL9 is not unique in having orbited Jupiter for a time; five comets, (including 82P/Gehrels, 147P/Kushida–Muramatsu, and 111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett) are known to have been temporarily captured by the planet. Cometary orbits around Jupiter are unstable, as they will be highly elliptical and likely to be strongly perturbed by the Sun's gravity at apojove (the farthest point on the orbit from the planet). By far the most massive planet in the Solar System, Jupiter can capture objects relatively frequently, but the size of SL9 makes it a rarity: one post-impact study estimated that comets in diameter impact the planet once in approximately 500 years and those in diameter do so just once in every 6,000 years. There is very strong evidence that comets have previously been fragmented and collided with Jupiter and its satellites. During the Voyager missions to the planet, planetary scientists identified 13 crater chains on Callisto and three on Ganymede, the origin of which was initially a mystery. Crater chains seen on the Moon often radiate from large craters, and are thought to be caused by secondary impacts of the original ejecta, but the chains on the Jovian moons did not lead back to a larger crater. The impact of SL9 strongly implied that the chains were due to trains of disrupted cometary fragments crashing into the satellites. Impact of July 19, 2009 On July 19, 2009, exactly 15 years after the SL9 impacts, a new black spot about the size of the Pacific Ocean appeared in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. Thermal infrared measurements showed the impact site was warm and spectroscopic analysis detected the production of excess hot ammonia and silica-rich dust in the upper regions of Jupiter's atmosphere. Scientists have concluded that another impact event had occurred, but this time a more compact and strong object, probably a small undiscovered asteroid, was the cause. Jupiter as a "cosmic vacuum cleaner" The impact of SL9 highlighted Jupiter's role as a "cosmic vacuum cleaner" for the inner Solar System (Jupiter barrier). The planet's strong gravitational influence leads to many small comets and asteroids colliding with the planet, and the rate of cometary impacts on Jupiter is thought to be between 2,000 and 8,000 times higher than the rate on Earth. The extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period is generally thought to have been caused by the Cretaceous–Paleogene impact event, which created the Chicxulub crater, demonstrating that impacts are a serious threat to life on Earth. Astronomers have speculated that without Jupiter to mop up potential impactors, extinction events might have been more frequent on Earth, and complex life might not have been able to develop. This is part of the argument used in the Rare Earth hypothesis. In 2009, it was shown that the presence of a smaller planet at Jupiter's position in the Solar System might increase the impact rate of comets on the Earth significantly. A planet of Jupiter's mass still seems to provide increased protection against asteroids, but the total effect on all orbital bodies within the Solar System is unclear. This and other recent models call into question the nature of Jupiter's influence on Earth impacts. See also List of Jupiter events March 17, 2016 collision with Jupiter Atmosphere of Jupiter 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, a near-Earth comet in the process of disintegrating References Notes Bibliography Chodas P. W., and Yeomans D. K. (1996), The Orbital Motion and Impact Circumstances of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, in The Collision of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 and Jupiter, edited by K. S. Noll, P. D. Feldman, and H. A. Weaver, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–30 Chodas P. W. (2002), Communication of Orbital Elements to Selden E. Ball, Jr. Accessed February 21, 2006 External links Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 FAQ Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 Photo Gallery Downloadable gif Animation showing time course of impact and size relative to earthsize Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Dan Bruton, Texas A&M University Jupiter Swallows Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 APOD: November 5, 2000 Comet Shoemaker–Levy Collision with Jupiter National Space Science Data Center information Simulation of the orbit of SL-9 showing the passage that fragmented the comet and the collision 2 years later Interactive space simulator that includes accurate 3D simulation of the Shoemaker Levy 9 collision Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jupiter Impact Observing Campaign Archive at the NASA Planetary Data System, Small Bodies Node Destroyed comets Discoveries by Carolyn S. Shoemaker Discoveries by Eugene Merle Shoemaker 1993 F2 Collision Jupiter impact events 1994 in science 19930324

Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England. Major Protestant Christian traditions that employ congregationalism include Quakerism, the Baptist churches, the Congregational Methodist Church, and Congregational churches known by the Congregationalist name and having descended from the Independent Reformed wing of the Anglo-American Puritan movement of the 17th century. More recent generations have witnessed a growing number of nondenominational churches, which are often congregationalist in their governance. Congregationalism is distinguished from episcopal polity which is governance by a hierarchy of bishops, and is distinct from presbyterian polity in which higher assemblies of congregational representatives can exercise considerable authority over individual congregations. Congregationalism is not limited only to organization of Christian church congregations. The principles of congregationalism have been inherited by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Canadian Unitarian Council. Most Jewish synagogues, many Sikh Gurdwaras, and most Islamic mosques in the US operate under congregational government, with no hierarchies. Basic form The term congregationalist polity describes a form of church governance that is based on the local congregation. Each local congregation is independent and self-supporting, governed by its own members. Some band into loose voluntary associations with other congregations that share similar beliefs (e.g., the Willow Creek Association and the Unitarian Universalist Association). Others join "conventions", such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Baptist Convention or the American Baptist Churches USA (formerly the Northern Baptist Convention). In Quaker Congregationalism, monthly meetings, which are the most basic unit of administration, may be organized into larger Quarterly meetings or Yearly Meetings. Monthly, quarterly, or yearly meetings may also be associated with large "umbrella" associations such as Friends General Conference or Friends United Meeting. These conventions generally provide stronger ties between congregations, including some doctrinal direction and pooling of financial resources. Congregations that belong to associations and conventions are still independently governed. Most non-denominational churches are organized along congregationalist lines. Many do not see these voluntary associations as "denominations", because they "believe that there is no church other than the local church, and denominations are in variance to Scripture." Congregational church The earmarks of Congregationalism can be traced back to the Pilgrim societies of the United States in the early 17th century. Congregationalism expressed the viewpoint that (1) every local church is a full realization in miniature of the entire Church of Jesus Christ; and (2) the Church, while on earth, besides the local church, can only be invisible and ideal. While other theories may insist on the truth of the former, the latter precept of congregationalism gives the entire theory a unique character among plans of church government. There is no other reference than the local congregation for the "visible church" in Congregationalism. And yet, the connection of all Christians is also asserted, albeit in a way that defenders of this view usually decline, often intentionally, to elaborate more clearly or consistently. This first, foundational principle by which congregationalism is guided results in confining it to operate with the consent of each gathering of believers. Although "congregational rule" may seem to suggest that pure democracy reigns in congregational churches, this is seldom the case. It is granted, with few exceptions (namely in some Anabaptist churches), that God has given the government of the Church into the hands of an ordained ministry. What makes congregationalism unique is its system of checks and balances, which constrains the authority of the clergy, the lay officers, and the members. Most importantly, the boundaries of the powers of the ministers and church officers are set by clear and constant reminders of the freedoms guaranteed by the Gospel to the laity, collectively and individually. With that freedom comes the responsibility upon each member to govern himself or herself under Christ. This requires lay people to exercise great charity and patience in debating issues with one another and to seek the glory and service of God as the foremost consideration in all of their decisions. The authority of all of the people, including the officers, is limited in the local congregation by a definition of union, or a covenant, by which the terms of their cooperation together are spelled out and agreed to. This might be something as minimal as a charter specifying a handful of doctrines and behavioral expectations, or even a statement only guaranteeing specific freedoms. Or, it may be a constitution describing a comprehensive doctrinal system and specifying terms under which the local church is connected to other local churches, to which participating congregations give their assent. In congregationalism, rather uniquely, the church is understood to be a truly voluntary association. Finally, the congregational theory strictly forbids ministers from ruling their local churches by themselves. Not only does the minister serve by the approval of the congregation, but committees further constrain the pastor from exercising power without consent by either the particular committee, or the entire congregation. It is a contradiction of the congregational principle if a minister makes decisions concerning the congregation without the vote of these other officers. The other officers may be called deacons, elder or session (borrowing Presbyterian terminology), or even vestry (borrowing the Anglican term) – it is not their label that is important to the theory, but rather their lay status and their equal vote, together with the pastor, in deciding the issues of the church. While other forms of church government are more likely to define tyranny as "the imposition of unjust rule", a congregationally governed church would more likely define tyranny as "transgression of liberty" or equivalently, "rule by one man". To a congregationalist, no abuse of authority is worse than the concentration of all decisive power in the hands of one ruling body, or one person. Following this sentiment, congregationalism has evolved over time to include even more participation of the congregation, more kinds of lay committees to whom various tasks are apportioned, and more decisions subject to the vote of the entire membership. One of the most notable characteristics of New England (or British)-heritage Congregationalism has been its consistent leadership role in the formation of "unions" with other churches. Such sentiments especially grew strong in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when ecumenism evolved out of a liberal, non-sectarian perspective on relations to other Christian groups that accompanied the relaxation of Calvinist stringencies held by earlier generations. The congregationalist theory of independence within a union has been a cornerstone of most ecumenical movements since the 18th century. Baptist churches Most Baptists hold that no denominational or ecclesiastical organization has inherent authority over an individual Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control. Exceptions to this local form of local governance include the Episcopal Baptists that have an episcopal system. Independent Baptist churches have no formal organizational structure above the level of the local congregation. More generally among Baptists, a variety of parachurch agencies and evangelical educational institutions may be supported generously or not at all, depending entirely upon the local congregation's customs and predilections. Usually doctrinal conformity is held as a first consideration when a church makes a decision to grant or decline financial contributions to such agencies, which are legally external and separate from the congregations they serve. These practices also find currency among non-denominational fundamentalist or charismatic fellowships, many of which derive from Baptist origins, culturally if not theologically. Most Southern Baptist and National Baptist congregations, by contrast, generally relate more closely to external groups such as mission agencies and educational institutions than do those of independent persuasion. However, they adhere to a very similar ecclesiology, refusing to permit outside control or oversight of the affairs of the local church. Churches of Christ Ecclesiastical government is congregational rather than denominational. Churches of Christ purposefully have no central headquarters, councils, or other organizational structure above the local church level. Rather, the independent congregations are a network with each congregation participating at its own discretion in various means of service and fellowship with other congregations. Churches of Christ are linked by their shared commitment to restoration principles. Congregations are generally overseen by a plurality of elders (also known in some congregations as shepherds, bishops, or pastors) who are sometimes assisted in the administration of various works by deacons. Elders are generally seen as responsible for the spiritual welfare of the congregation, while deacons are seen as responsible for the non-spiritual needs of the church. Deacons serve under the supervision of the elders, and are often assigned to direct specific ministries. Successful service as a deacon is often seen as preparation for the eldership. Elders and deacons are chosen by the congregation based on the qualifications found in Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Congregations look for elders who have a mature enough understanding of scripture to enable them to supervise the minister and to teach, as well as to perform governance functions. In lieu of willing men who meet these qualifications, congregations are sometimes overseen by an unelected committee of the congregation's men. While the early Restoration Movement had a tradition of itinerant preachers rather than "located Preachers", during the 20th century a long-term, formally trained congregational minister became the norm among Churches of Christ. Ministers are understood to serve under the oversight of the elders. While the presence of a long-term professional minister has sometimes created "significant de facto ministerial authority" and led to conflict between the minister and the elders, the eldership has remained the "ultimate locus of authority in the congregation". There is a small group within the Churches of Christ which oppose a single preacher and, instead, rotate preaching duties among qualified elders (this group tends to overlap with groups which oppose Sunday School and also have only one cup to serve the Lord's Supper). Churches of Christ hold to the priesthood of all believers. No special titles are used for preachers or ministers that would identify them as clergy. Churches of Christ emphasize that there is no distinction between "clergy" and "laity" and that every member has a gift and a role to play in accomplishing the work of the church. Congregational Methodist Church Methodists who disagreed with the episcopal polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South left their mother church to form the Congregational Methodist Church, which retains Wesleyan-Arminian theology but adopts congregationalist polity as a distinctive. See also United and uniting churches Notes References Footnotes Bibliography Further reading Christian terminology Church organization Ecclesiastical polities

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissioning numerous works since the mid-20th century; the annual program Exhibit Columbus celebrates this legacy. Located about south of Indianapolis, on the east fork of the White River, it is the state's 20th-largest city. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Bartholomew County. Columbus is the birthplace of former Indiana Governor and former Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence. National Geographic Traveler ranked Columbus 11th on its historic destinations list in late 2008, describing the city as "authentic, unique, and unspoiled." Columbus won the national contest "America in Bloom" in 2006, and in 2004 it was named as one of "The Ten Most Playful Towns" by Nick Jr. Family Magazine. The July 2005 edition of GQ magazine, Columbus was named as one of the "62 Reasons to Love Your Country". Columbus is the headquarters of the engine company Cummins, Inc. History The land developed as Columbus was bought by General John Tipton and Luke Bonesteel in 1820. Tipton built a log cabin on Mount Tipton, a small hill overlooking White River and the surrounding flat, heavily forested and swampy valley. It held wetlands of the river. The town was first known as Tiptona, named in honor of Tipton. The town's name was changed to Columbus on March 20, 1821. Many people believe General Tipton was upset by the name change, but no evidence exists to prove this. Nonetheless, he decided to leave the newly founded town and did not return. He was later appointed as the highway commissioner for the State of Indiana and was assigned to building a highway from Indianapolis, Indiana to Louisville, Kentucky. When the road reached Columbus, Tipton constructed the first bypass road ever built; it detoured south around the west side of Columbus en route to Seymour. Joseph McKinney was the first to plot the town of Columbus, but no date was recorded. Local history books for years said that the land on which Columbus sits was donated by General Tipton. But in 2003, Historic Columbus Indiana acquired a deed showing that General Tipton sold the land. A ferry was established below the confluence of the Flatrock and Driftwood rivers, which form the White River. A village of three or four log cabins developed around the ferry landing, and a store was added in 1821. Later that year, Bartholomew County was organized by an act of the State Legislature and named to honor the famous Hoosier militiaman, General Joseph Bartholomew. Columbus was incorporated on June 28, 1864. The first railroad in Indiana was constructed to Columbus from Madison, Indiana in 1844. This eventually became the Madison branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The railroad fostered the growth of the community into one of the largest in Indiana, and three more railroads reached the city by 1850. Columbus is host to the oldest theater in Indiana, The Crump Theatre, which was built in 1889 by John Crump. Today the building is included within the Columbus Historic District. Before it closed permanently in 2010, it was an all-ages venue with occasional musical performances. Columbus was host to the oldest continually operated bookstore in Indiana, Cummins Bookstore, which began operations in 1892. It closed in late 2007. The Irwin Union Bank building was built in 1954. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 2001 in recognition of its unique architecture. The building consists of a one-story bank structure adjacent to a three-story office annex. A portion of the office annex was built along with the banking hall in 1954. The remaining larger portion, designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, was built in 1973. Eero Saarinen designed the bank building with its glazed hall to be set off against the blank background of its three-story brick annex. Two steel and glass vestibule connectors lead from the north side of this structure to the annex. The building was designed to distance the Irwin Union Bank from traditional banking architecture, which mostly echoed imposing, neoclassical style buildings of brick or stone. Tellers were behind iron bars and removed from their customers. Saarinen worked to develop a building that would welcome customers rather than intimidate them. Economy Columbus has been home to many manufacturing companies, including Noblitt-Sparks Industries (which built radios under the Arvin brand in the 1930s) and Arvin Industries, now Meritor, Inc. After merging with Meritor Automotive on July 10, 2000, the headquarters of the newly created ArvinMeritor Industries was established in Troy, Michigan, the home of parent company, Rockwell International. It was announced in February 2011 that the company name would revert to Meritor, Inc. Cummins, Inc. is by far the region's largest employer, and the Infotech Park accounts for a sizable number of research jobs in Columbus proper. Just south of Columbus are the North American headquarters of Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., the world's largest material handling (forklift) manufacturer. Other notable industries include architecture, a discipline for which Columbus is famous worldwide. The late J. Irwin Miller (then president and chairman of Cummins Engine Company) launched the Cummins Foundation, a charitable program that helps subsidize a large number of architectural projects throughout the city by up-and-coming engineers and architects. Early in the 20th century, Columbus also was home to a number of pioneering car manufacturers, including Reeves, which produced the unusual four-axle Octoauto and the twin rear-axle Sextoauto, both around 1911. In addition to the Columbus Historic District and Irwin Union Bank, the city has numerous buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including seven National Historic Landmarks of modernist architecture: Bartholomew County Courthouse, Columbus City Hall, First Baptist Church, First Christian Church, Haw Creek Leather Company, Mabel McDowell Elementary School, McEwen-Samuels-Marr House, McKinley School, Miller House, North Christian Church, and The Republic Newspaper Office. Geography Columbus is located at (39.213998, −85.911056). The Driftwood and Flatrock Rivers converge at Columbus to form the East Fork of the White River. According to the 2010 census, Columbus has a total area of , of which (or 98.62%) is land and (or 1.38%) is water. Demographics 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 44,061 people, 17,787 households, and 11,506 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 19,700 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 86.9% White, 2.7% African American, 0.2% Native American, 5.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.5% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.8% of the population. There were 17,787 households, of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.3% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.3% were from 25 to 44; 24.9% were from 45 to 64; and 14.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. 2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 39,059 people, 15,985 households, and 10,566 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,505.3 people per square mile (581.1/km). There were 17,162 housing units at an average density of 661.4 per square mile (255.3/km). The racial makeup of the city was 91.32% White, 2.71% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 3.23% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.39% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. 2.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 15,985 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were composed of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39, and the average family size was 2.94. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24 years, 29.5% from 25 to 44 years, 23.0% from 45 to 64 years, and 13.7% over the age of 65. The median age was 36 years. There were 92.8 males for every 100 females and 89.6 males for every 100 females over age 18. The median income for a household in the city was $41,723, and the median income for a family was $52,296. Males had a median income of $40,367 versus $24,446 for females, and the per capita income was $22,055. About 6.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over. Arts and culture Columbus is a city known for its modern architecture and public art. J. Irwin Miller, 2nd CEO and a nephew of a co-founder of Cummins Inc., the Columbus-headquartered diesel engine manufacturer, instituted a program in which the Cummins Foundation paid the architects' fees, provided the client selected a firm from a list compiled by the foundation. The plan was initiated with public schools and was so successful that the foundation decided to offer such design support to other non-profit and civic organizations. The high number of notable public buildings and public art in the Columbus area, designed by such individuals as Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli, and Richard Meier, led to Columbus earning the nickname "Athens on the Prairie." Seven buildings, constructed between 1942 and 1965, are National Historic Landmarks, and approximately 60 other buildings sustain the Bartholomew County seat's reputation as a showcase of modern architecture. National Public Radio once devoted an article to the town's architecture. In 2015, Landmark Columbus was created as a program of Heritage Fund - The Community Foundation of Bartholomew county. National Historic Landmarks First Baptist Church was designed by Harry Weese without windows and was dedicated in 1965. Its architectural features include a high-pitched roof and skylight. First Christian Church was designed by Eliel Saarinen with a 160-ft (49m) tower and was dedicated in 1942. Among the first Modern religious buildings in America, it includes a sunken terrace and a 900-person sanctuary. Irwin Union Bank was designed by Eero Saarinen and includes an addition by Kevin Roche. The building was dedicated in 1954 and is possibly the first financial institution in America to use glass walls and an open floor plan. The Mabel McDowell School opened in 1960 and was designed by John Carl Warnecke early in his career, using his "early comprehensive diverse approach." The architect fee was the second to be funded by the Cummins Engine Foundation. The Miller House and Garden was constructed in 1957 and was designed by Eero Saarinen and landscaped by Dan Kiley. One of the few residential designs by Saarinen, the home is an expression of International Style and was built for J. Irwin Miller of the Cummins Engine corporation and foundation. North Christian Church was designed by Eero Saarinen and held its first worship in 1964. The hexagonal-shaped building includes a 192-ft (59m) spire and houses a Holtkamp organ. The Republic Newspaper Office was designed by Myron Goldsmith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Other notable Modern buildings St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, by William Browne Jr. and Steven Risting Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, by I. M. Pei Columbus East High School, by Romaldo Giurgola Commons Centre and Mall, by César Pelli St. Peter's Lutheran Church, by Gunnar Birkerts Lincoln Elementary School, by Gunnar Birkerts Otter Creek Golf Course, by Harry Weese Fire Station No. 4, by Robert Venturi Columbus Regional Hospital, by Robert A.M. Stern Notable historic buildings Bartholomew County Courthouse by Isaac Hodgson Columbus Power House by Harrison Albright The Crump Theatre by Charles Franklin Sparrell Public art Chaos I by Jean Tinguely Friendship Way by William A. Johnson, containing an untitled neon sculpture by Cork Marcheschi Irwin Gardens at the Inn at Irwin Gardens Large Arch by Henry Moore 2 Arcs de 212.5˚ by Bernar Venet Horses by Costantino Nivola The Family by Harris Barron Yellow Neon Chandelier and Persians by Dale Chihuly C by Robert Indiana Sermon on the Mount by Loja Saarinen and Eliel Saarinen History and Mystery by William T. Wiley Exploded Engine by Rudolph de Harak Eos by Dessa Kirk Exhibit Columbus In May 2016, Landmark Columbus launched Exhibit Columbus as a way to continue the ambitious traditions of the past into the future. Exhibit Columbus features annual programming that alternates between symposium and exhibition years. Sports Columbus High School was home to footwear pioneer Chuck Taylor, who played basketball in Columbus before setting out to promote his now famous shoes and the sport of basketball before being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Two local high schools compete within the state in various sports. Columbus North and Columbus East both have competitive athletics and have many notable athletes that go on to compete in college and beyond. Columbus North High School houses one of the largest high school gyms in the United States. CNHS vs CEHS Indiana Diesels of the Premier Basketball League play their home games at the gymnasium at Ceraland Park, with plans to move to a proposed downtown sports complex in the near future. Parks and recreation Columbus boasts over of parks and green space and over 20 miles of People Trails. These amenities, in addition to several athletic and community facilities, including Donner Aquatic Center, Lincoln Park Softball Complex, Hamilton Center Ice Arena, Clifty Park, Foundation for Youth/Columbus Gymnastics Center and The Commons, are managed and maintained by the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department. Transportation Roads and highways The north-south US Route 31 has been diverted to the northeastern part of the city. Interstate 65 bypasses Columbus to the west. Indiana Route 46 runs-east-west through the southern section of the city. Railroads Freight rail service is provided by the Louisville and Indiana Railroad (LIRC). The LIRC line runs in a north–south orientation along the western edge of Columbus. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Kentuckyian (Chicago-Louisville) made stops in the city until 1968. The PRR and its successor, the Penn Central, ran the Florida-bound South Wind up to 1971. Airport Columbus is served by the Columbus Municipal Airport (KBAK). It is located approximately north of Columbus. The airport handles approximately 40,500 operations per year, with roughly 87% general aviation, 4% air taxi, 8% military and <1% commercial service. The airport has two concrete runways; a 6,401 foot runway with approved ILS and GPS approaches (Runway 5-23) and a 5,001 foot crosswind runway, also with GPS approaches, (Runway 14-32). The nearest commercial airport which currently has scheduled airline service is Indianapolis International Airport (IND), located approximately northwest of Columbus. Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport are to the south and to the southeast, respectively. Notable people This is a list of notable people who were born in, or who currently live, or have lived in Columbus. Ross Barbour and Don Barbour, singers, The Four Freshmen Michael Evans Behling, actor Kate Bruce, silent-film actress Clessie Cummins: inventor, mechanic, salesman, and founder of engine manufacturer Cummins, Inc. William H. Donner: businessman, industrialist and philanthropist Tyler Duncan: professional golfer Dutch Fehring: Major League Baseball player and Purdue coach Arthur W Graham III: creator of first fully automatic electronic race timing & scoring system, long-time Indy 500 executive race official Lee H. Hamilton: member of U.S. Congress and co-chair of the 9/11 Commission Jordan Bryce Hutson: gospel musician Jamie Hyneman: former host of MythBusters Blair Kiel: Notre Dame and pro football quarterback Debbi Lawrence: race walker Scott McNealy: chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems J. Irwin Miller: industrialist Mike Moore, Minor League Baseball president Jeff Osterhage: television and film actor Bob Paris: best-selling author, award-winning public speaker and social change agent, former Mr. Universe Greg Pence: U.S. representative since 2019, older brother of Mike Pence Mike Pence: 50th Governor of Indiana (2013-2017), 48th Vice President of the United States (2017–2021) Mike Phipps: Purdue All-American and #3 draft pick, NFL QB (Browns and Bears) Chaley Rose: actress Terry Schmidt: NFL cornerback Stephen Sprouse: fashion designer Tony Stewart: auto racing champion driver and owner, USAC, 3-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, owner of NASCAR Team; Stewart Haas Racing – SHR Jill Tasker: television and voice actor Chuck Taylor: shoe designer/salesman and basketball player/promoter Bruce Tinsley: creator of Mallard Fillmore Herbert Wright: producer Education The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC) is the local school district. High schools include: Columbus East High School Columbus North High School Columbus has a public library, a branch of the Bartholomew County Public Library. Secondary education includes Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC), an Ivy Tech campus, Purdue Polytechnic and an Indiana Wesleyan University education center. See also The Republic, daily newspaper based in Columbus List of public art in Columbus, Indiana Columbus, a 2017 American film set in Columbus, Indiana References Sources Illustrated Historical Atlas of Bartholomew County, Indiana, 1879 (reprinted by the Bartholomew County Historical Society, 1978) 2003 History of Bartholomew County, Indiana, Volume II, copyright 2003, by the Bartholomew County Historical Society Further reading Columbus Indiana in Vintage Postcards, by Tamara Stone Iorio, copyright 2005 by Tamara Stone Iorio, published by Arcadia Publishing, "Have you Seen my Town?" by Pamela Dinsmore "Images of America: Columbus" by Patricia Mote "I Discover Columbus" by William Marsh "The Diesel Odyssey of Clessie Cummins" by Lyle Cummins "The Engine that Could" by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and David B. Sicilia "Columbus Indiana" by Balthazar Korab "A Look at Architecture: Columbus Indiana" by the Visitor's Center "People and Places in my Town, Columbus Indiana" by Sylvia Worton "Folk Heroes, Heroines and Hometown Heritage – From Columbus, Indiana's City Hall Murals and Beyond" is about Columbus' outstanding personality beyond its architecture. , by Rose Pelone Sisson External links City of Columbus website Columbus Area Visitors Center A History of Columbus Indiana 1820 establishments in Indiana Cities in Indiana County seats in Indiana Populated places established in 1820

In computability theory, the Church–Turing thesis (also known as computability thesis, the Turing–Church thesis, the Church–Turing conjecture, Church's thesis, Church's conjecture, and Turing's thesis) is a thesis about the nature of computable functions. It states that a function on the natural numbers can be calculated by an effective method if and only if it is computable by a Turing machine. The thesis is named after American mathematician Alonzo Church and the British mathematician Alan Turing. Before the precise definition of computable function, mathematicians often used the informal term effectively calculable to describe functions that are computable by paper-and-pencil methods. In the 1930s, several independent attempts were made to formalize the notion of computability: In 1933, Kurt Gödel, with Jacques Herbrand, formalized the definition of the class of general recursive functions: the smallest class of functions (with arbitrarily many arguments) that is closed under composition, recursion, and minimization, and includes zero, successor, and all projections. In 1936, Alonzo Church created a method for defining functions called the λ-calculus. Within λ-calculus, he defined an encoding of the natural numbers called the Church numerals. A function on the natural numbers is called λ-computable if the corresponding function on the Church numerals can be represented by a term of the λ-calculus. Also in 1936, before learning of Church's work, Alan Turing created a theoretical model for machines, now called Turing machines, that could carry out calculations from inputs by manipulating symbols on a tape. Given a suitable encoding of the natural numbers as sequences of symbols, a function on the natural numbers is called Turing computable if some Turing machine computes the corresponding function on encoded natural numbers. Church, Kleene, and Turing proved that these three formally defined classes of computable functions coincide: a function is λ-computable if and only if it is Turing computable, and if and only if it is general recursive. This has led mathematicians and computer scientists to believe that the concept of computability is accurately characterized by these three equivalent processes. Other formal attempts to characterize computability have subsequently strengthened this belief (see below). On the other hand, the Church–Turing thesis states that the above three formally-defined classes of computable functions coincide with the informal notion of an effectively calculable function. Although the thesis has near-universal acceptance, it cannot be formally proven as the concept of an effectively calculability is only informally defined. Since its inception, variations on the original thesis have arisen, including statements about what can physically be realized by a computer in our universe (physical Church-Turing thesis) and what can be efficiently computed (Church–Turing thesis (complexity theory)). These variations are not due to Church or Turing, but arise from later work in complexity theory and digital physics. The thesis also has implications for the philosophy of mind (see below). Statement in Church's and Turing's words addresses the notion of "effective computability" as follows: "Clearly the existence of CC and RC (Church's and Rosser's proofs) presupposes a precise definition of 'effective'. 'Effective method' is here used in the rather special sense of a method each step of which is precisely predetermined and which is certain to produce the answer in a finite number of steps". Thus the adverb-adjective "effective" is used in a sense of "1a: producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect", and "capable of producing a result". In the following, the words "effectively calculable" will mean "produced by any intuitively 'effective' means whatsoever" and "effectively computable" will mean "produced by a Turing-machine or equivalent mechanical device". Turing's "definitions" given in a footnote in his 1938 Ph.D. thesis Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals, supervised by Church, are virtually the same: We shall use the expression "computable function" to mean a function calculable by a machine, and let "effectively calculable" refer to the intuitive idea without particular identification with any one of these definitions. The thesis can be stated as: Every effectively calculable function is a computable function. Church also stated that "No computational procedure will be considered as an algorithm unless it can be represented as a Turing Machine". Turing stated it this way: It was stated ... that "a function is effectively calculable if its values can be found by some purely mechanical process". We may take this literally, understanding that by a purely mechanical process one which could be carried out by a machine. The development ... leads to ... an identification of computability with effective calculability. [ is the footnote quoted above.] History One of the important problems for logicians in the 1930s was the Entscheidungsproblem of David Hilbert and Wilhelm Ackermann, which asked whether there was a mechanical procedure for separating mathematical truths from mathematical falsehoods. This quest required that the notion of "algorithm" or "effective calculability" be pinned down, at least well enough for the quest to begin. But from the very outset Alonzo Church's attempts began with a debate that continues to this day. the notion of "effective calculability" to be (i) an "axiom or axioms" in an axiomatic system, (ii) merely a definition that "identified" two or more propositions, (iii) an empirical hypothesis to be verified by observation of natural events, or (iv) just a proposal for the sake of argument (i.e. a "thesis"). Circa 1930–1952 In the course of studying the problem, Church and his student Stephen Kleene introduced the notion of λ-definable functions, and they were able to prove that several large classes of functions frequently encountered in number theory were λ-definable. The debate began when Church proposed to Gödel that one should define the "effectively computable" functions as the λ-definable functions. Gödel, however, was not convinced and called the proposal "thoroughly unsatisfactory". Rather, in correspondence with Church (c. 1934–35), Gödel proposed axiomatizing the notion of "effective calculability"; indeed, in a 1935 letter to Kleene, Church reported that: But Gödel offered no further guidance. Eventually, he would suggest his recursion, modified by Herbrand's suggestion, that Gödel had detailed in his 1934 lectures in Princeton NJ (Kleene and Rosser transcribed the notes). But he did not think that the two ideas could be satisfactorily identified "except heuristically". Next, it was necessary to identify and prove the equivalence of two notions of effective calculability. Equipped with the λ-calculus and "general" recursion, Stephen Kleene with help of Church and J. Barkley Rosser produced proofs (1933, 1935) to show that the two calculi are equivalent. Church subsequently modified his methods to include use of Herbrand–Gödel recursion and then proved (1936) that the Entscheidungsproblem is unsolvable: there is no algorithm that can determine whether a well formed formula has a beta normal form. Many years later in a letter to Davis (c. 1965), Gödel said that "he was, at the time of these [1934] lectures, not at all convinced that his concept of recursion comprised all possible recursions". By 1963–64 Gödel would disavow Herbrand–Gödel recursion and the λ-calculus in favor of the Turing machine as the definition of "algorithm" or "mechanical procedure" or "formal system". A hypothesis leading to a natural law?: In late 1936 Alan Turing's paper (also proving that the Entscheidungsproblem is unsolvable) was delivered orally, but had not yet appeared in print. On the other hand, Emil Post's 1936 paper had appeared and was certified independent of Turing's work. Post strongly disagreed with Church's "identification" of effective computability with the λ-calculus and recursion, stating: Rather, he regarded the notion of "effective calculability" as merely a "working hypothesis" that might lead by inductive reasoning to a "natural law" rather than by "a definition or an axiom". This idea was "sharply" criticized by Church. Thus Post in his 1936 paper was also discounting Kurt Gödel's suggestion to Church in 1934–35 that the thesis might be expressed as an axiom or set of axioms. Turing adds another definition, Rosser equates all three: Within just a short time, Turing's 1936–37 paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" appeared. In it he stated another notion of "effective computability" with the introduction of his a-machines (now known as the Turing machine abstract computational model). And in a proof-sketch added as an "Appendix" to his 1936–37 paper, Turing showed that the classes of functions defined by λ-calculus and Turing machines coincided. Church was quick to recognise how compelling Turing's analysis was. In his review of Turing's paper he made clear that Turing's notion made "the identification with effectiveness in the ordinary (not explicitly defined) sense evident immediately". In a few years (1939) Turing would propose, like Church and Kleene before him, that his formal definition of mechanical computing agent was the correct one. Thus, by 1939, both Church (1934) and Turing (1939) had individually proposed that their "formal systems" should be definitions of "effective calculability"; neither framed their statements as theses. Rosser (1939) formally identified the three notions-as-definitions: Kleene proposes Thesis I: This left the overt expression of a "thesis" to Kleene. In 1943 Kleene proposed his "THESIS I": The Church–Turing Thesis: Stephen Kleene, in Introduction To Metamathematics, finally goes on to formally name "Church's Thesis" and "Turing's Thesis", using his theory of recursive realizability. Kleene having switched from presenting his work in the terminology of Church-Kleene lambda definability, to that of Gödel-Kleene recursiveness (partial recursive functions). In this transition, Kleene modified Gödel's general recursive functions to allow for proofs of the unsolvability of problems in the Intuitionism of E. J. Brouwer. In his graduate textbook on logic, "Church's thesis" is introduced and basic mathematical results are demonstrated to be unrealizable. Next, Kleene proceeds to present "Turing's thesis", where results are shown to be uncomputable, using his simplified derivation of a Turing machine based on the work of Emil Post. Both theses are proven equivalent by use of "Theorem XXX". Kleene, finally, uses for the first time the term the "Church-Turing thesis" in a section in which he helps to give clarifications to concepts in Alan Turing's paper "The Word Problem in Semi-Groups with Cancellation", as demanded in a critique from William Boone. Later developments An attempt to understand the notion of "effective computability" better led Robin Gandy (Turing's student and friend) in 1980 to analyze machine computation (as opposed to human-computation acted out by a Turing machine). Gandy's curiosity about, and analysis of, cellular automata (including Conway's game of life), parallelism, and crystalline automata, led him to propose four "principles (or constraints) ... which it is argued, any machine must satisfy". His most-important fourth, "the principle of causality" is based on the "finite velocity of propagation of effects and signals; contemporary physics rejects the possibility of instantaneous action at a distance". From these principles and some additional constraints—(1a) a lower bound on the linear dimensions of any of the parts, (1b) an upper bound on speed of propagation (the velocity of light), (2) discrete progress of the machine, and (3) deterministic behavior—he produces a theorem that "What can be calculated by a device satisfying principles I–IV is computable." In the late 1990s Wilfried Sieg analyzed Turing's and Gandy's notions of "effective calculability" with the intent of "sharpening the informal notion, formulating its general features axiomatically, and investigating the axiomatic framework". In his 1997 and 2002 work Sieg presents a series of constraints on the behavior of a computor—"a human computing agent who proceeds mechanically". These constraints reduce to: "(B.1) (Boundedness) There is a fixed bound on the number of symbolic configurations a computor can immediately recognize. "(B.2) (Boundedness) There is a fixed bound on the number of internal states a computor can be in. "(L.1) (Locality) A computor can change only elements of an observed symbolic configuration. "(L.2) (Locality) A computor can shift attention from one symbolic configuration to another one, but the new observed configurations must be within a bounded distance of the immediately previously observed configuration. "(D) (Determinacy) The immediately recognizable (sub-)configuration determines uniquely the next computation step (and id [instantaneous description])"; stated another way: "A computor's internal state together with the observed configuration fixes uniquely the next computation step and the next internal state." The matter remains in active discussion within the academic community. The thesis as a definition The thesis can be viewed as nothing but an ordinary mathematical definition. Comments by Gödel on the subject suggest this view, e.g. "the correct definition of mechanical computability was established beyond any doubt by Turing". The case for viewing the thesis as nothing more than a definition is made explicitly by Robert I. Soare, where it is also argued that Turing's definition of computability is no less likely to be correct than the epsilon-delta definition of a continuous function. Success of the thesis Other formalisms (besides recursion, the λ-calculus, and the Turing machine) have been proposed for describing effective calculability/computability. Stephen Kleene (1952) adds to the list the functions "reckonable in the system S1" of Kurt Gödel 1936, and Emil Post's (1943, 1946) "canonical [also called normal] systems". In the 1950s Hao Wang and Martin Davis greatly simplified the one-tape Turing-machine model (see Post–Turing machine). Marvin Minsky expanded the model to two or more tapes and greatly simplified the tapes into "up-down counters", which Melzak and Lambek further evolved into what is now known as the counter machine model. In the late 1960s and early 1970s researchers expanded the counter machine model into the register machine, a close cousin to the modern notion of the computer. Other models include combinatory logic and Markov algorithms. Gurevich adds the pointer machine model of Kolmogorov and Uspensky (1953, 1958): "... they just wanted to ... convince themselves that there is no way to extend the notion of computable function." All these contributions involve proofs that the models are computationally equivalent to the Turing machine; such models are said to be Turing complete. Because all these different attempts at formalizing the concept of "effective calculability/computability" have yielded equivalent results, it is now generally assumed that the Church–Turing thesis is correct. In fact, Gödel (1936) proposed something stronger than this; he observed that there was something "absolute" about the concept of "reckonable in S1": Informal usage in proofs Proofs in computability theory often invoke the Church–Turing thesis in an informal way to establish the computability of functions while avoiding the (often very long) details which would be involved in a rigorous, formal proof. To establish that a function is computable by Turing machine, it is usually considered sufficient to give an informal English description of how the function can be effectively computed, and then conclude "by the Church–Turing thesis" that the function is Turing computable (equivalently, partial recursive). Dirk van Dalen gives the following example for the sake of illustrating this informal use of the Church–Turing thesis: In order to make the above example completely rigorous, one would have to carefully construct a Turing machine, or λ-function, or carefully invoke recursion axioms, or at best, cleverly invoke various theorems of computability theory. But because the computability theorist believes that Turing computability correctly captures what can be computed effectively, and because an effective procedure is spelled out in English for deciding the set B, the computability theorist accepts this as proof that the set is indeed recursive. Variations The success of the Church–Turing thesis prompted variations of the thesis to be proposed. For example, the physical Church–Turing thesis states: "All physically computable functions are Turing-computable." The Church–Turing thesis says nothing about the efficiency with which one model of computation can simulate another. It has been proved for instance that a (multi-tape) universal Turing machine only suffers a logarithmic slowdown factor in simulating any Turing machine. A variation of the Church–Turing thesis addresses whether an arbitrary but "reasonable" model of computation can be efficiently simulated. This is called the feasibility thesis, also known as the (classical) complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis or the extended Church–Turing thesis, which is not due to Church or Turing, but rather was realized gradually in the development of complexity theory. It states: "A probabilistic Turing machine can efficiently simulate any realistic model of computation." The word 'efficiently' here means up to polynomial-time reductions. This thesis was originally called computational complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis by Ethan Bernstein and Umesh Vazirani (1997). The complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis, then, posits that all 'reasonable' models of computation yield the same class of problems that can be computed in polynomial time. Assuming the conjecture that probabilistic polynomial time (BPP) equals deterministic polynomial time (P), the word 'probabilistic' is optional in the complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis. A similar thesis, called the invariance thesis, was introduced by Cees F. Slot and Peter van Emde Boas. It states: Reasonable' machines can simulate each other within a polynomially bounded overhead in time and a constant-factor overhead in space." The thesis originally appeared in a paper at STOC'84, which was the first paper to show that polynomial-time overhead and constant-space overhead could be simultaneously achieved for a simulation of a Random Access Machine on a Turing machine. If BQP is shown to be a strict superset of BPP, it would invalidate the complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis. In other words, there would be efficient quantum algorithms that perform tasks that do not have efficient probabilistic algorithms. This would not however invalidate the original Church–Turing thesis, since a quantum computer can always be simulated by a Turing machine, but it would invalidate the classical complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis for efficiency reasons. Consequently, the quantum complexity-theoretic Church–Turing thesis states: "A quantum Turing machine can efficiently simulate any realistic model of computation." Eugene Eberbach and Peter Wegner claim that the Church–Turing thesis is sometimes interpreted too broadly, stating "Though [...] Turing machines express the behavior of algorithms, the broader assertion that algorithms precisely capture what can be computed is invalid". They claim that forms of computation not captured by the thesis are relevant today, terms which they call super-Turing computation. Philosophical implications Philosophers have interpreted the Church–Turing thesis as having implications for the philosophy of mind. B. Jack Copeland states that it is an open empirical question whether there are actual deterministic physical processes that, in the long run, elude simulation by a Turing machine; furthermore, he states that it is an open empirical question whether any such processes are involved in the working of the human brain. There are also some important open questions which cover the relationship between the Church–Turing thesis and physics, and the possibility of hypercomputation. When applied to physics, the thesis has several possible meanings: The universe is equivalent to a Turing machine; thus, computing non-recursive functions is physically impossible. This has been termed the strong Church–Turing thesis, or Church–Turing–Deutsch principle, and is a foundation of digital physics. The universe is not equivalent to a Turing machine (i.e., the laws of physics are not Turing-computable), but incomputable physical events are not "harnessable" for the construction of a hypercomputer. For example, a universe in which physics involves random real numbers, as opposed to computable reals, would fall into this category. The universe is a hypercomputer, and it is possible to build physical devices to harness this property and calculate non-recursive functions. For example, it is an open question whether all quantum mechanical events are Turing-computable, although it is known that rigorous models such as quantum Turing machines are equivalent to deterministic Turing machines. (They are not necessarily efficiently equivalent; see above.) John Lucas and Roger Penrose have suggested that the human mind might be the result of some kind of quantum-mechanically enhanced, "non-algorithmic" computation. There are many other technical possibilities which fall outside or between these three categories, but these serve to illustrate the range of the concept. Philosophical aspects of the thesis, regarding both physical and biological computers, are also discussed in Odifreddi's 1989 textbook on recursion theory. Non-computable functions One can formally define functions that are not computable. A well-known example of such a function is the Busy Beaver function. This function takes an input n and returns the largest number of symbols that a Turing machine with n states can print before halting, when run with no input. Finding an upper bound on the busy beaver function is equivalent to solving the halting problem, a problem known to be unsolvable by Turing machines. Since the busy beaver function cannot be computed by Turing machines, the Church–Turing thesis states that this function cannot be effectively computed by any method. Several computational models allow for the computation of (Church-Turing) non-computable functions. These are known as hypercomputers. Mark Burgin argues that super-recursive algorithms such as inductive Turing machines disprove the Church–Turing thesis. His argument relies on a definition of algorithm broader than the ordinary one, so that non-computable functions obtained from some inductive Turing machines are called computable. This interpretation of the Church–Turing thesis differs from the interpretation commonly accepted in computability theory, discussed above. The argument that super-recursive algorithms are indeed algorithms in the sense of the Church–Turing thesis has not found broad acceptance within the computability research community. See also Abstract machine Church's thesis in constructive mathematics Church–Turing–Deutsch principle, which states that every physical process can be simulated by a universal computing device Computability logic Computability theory Decidability Hypercomputation Model of computation Oracle (computer science) Super-recursive algorithm Turing completeness Footnotes References Includes original papers by Gödel, Church, Turing, Rosser, Kleene, and Post mentioned in this section. Cited by . Reprinted in The Undecidable, p. 255ff. Kleene refined his definition of "general recursion" and proceeded in his chapter "12. Algorithmic theories" to posit "Thesis I" (p. 274); he would later repeat this thesis (in ) and name it "Church's Thesis" (i.e., the Church thesis). and (See also: ) External links . —a comprehensive philosophical treatment of relevant issues. A special issue (Vol.28, No.4, 1987) of the Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic was devoted to the Church–Turing thesis. Computability theory Alan Turing Theory of computation Philosophy of computer science

Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as El Pibe ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A creative playmaker, he is regarded as one of the best Colombian footballers of all time, and by some as Colombia's greatest player ever. His distinctive hairstyle, as well as his precise passing and technical skills made him one of South America's most recognisable footballers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won the South American Footballer of the Year award in 1987 and 1993, and in 1999, he was also named one of the top 100 players of the 20th century by World Soccer. In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 "greatest living footballers" chosen by Pelé to celebrate the 100th anniversary of FIFA. Valderrama was a member of the Colombia national football team from 1985 until 1998. He represented Colombia in 111 full internationals and scored 11 times, making him the second-most capped player in the country's history, behind only David Ospina. He played a major role during the golden era of Colombian football in the 1990s, representing his national side in three FIFA World Cups and five Copa América tournaments. After spending most of his career playing club football in South America and Europe, towards the end of his career Valderrama played in Major League Soccer, joining the league in its first season. One of the most recognisable players in the league at the time of its inception, he helped popularise the league during the second half of the 1990s. To this day, he is an icon and is considered one of the most decorated players to ever play in MLS; in 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. Club career Colombia and Europe Born in Santa Marta, Colombia, Valderrama began his career at Unión Magdalena of the Colombian First Division in 1981. He also later played for Millonarios in 1984. He joined Deportivo Cali in 1985, where he played most of his Colombian football. In 1988, he moved to the French First Division side Montpellier. He struggled to adapt to the less technical and the faster, more physical, and tactical brand of football being played in Europe, losing his place in the squad. However, his passing ability later saw him become the club's main creative force, and he played a decisive role as his side won the Coupe de France in 1990. In 1991, he remained in Europe and joined Spanish side Real Valladolid for a season. He then returned to Colombia in 1992 and went on to play for Independiente Medellín, and subsequently Atlético Junior in 1993, with whom he won the Colombian championship in 1993 and 1995. MLS career Valderrama began his Major League Soccer career with the US side Tampa Bay Mutiny in the league's inaugural 1996 season. The team won the first ever Supporters' Shield, awarded for having the league's best regular season record, while Valderrama was the league's first Most Valuable Player, finishing the season with 4 goals and 17 assists. He remained with the club for the 1997 season, and also spent a spell on loan back at Deportivo Cali in Colombia, before moving to another MLS side, Miami Fusion, in 1998, where he also remained for two seasons. He returned to Tampa Bay in 2000, spending two more seasons with the club; while a member of the Mutiny, the team would sell Carlos Valderrama wigs at Tampa Stadium. In the 2000 MLS season, Valderrama recorded the only 20+ assist season in MLS history—ending the season with 26 — a single season assist record that remains intact to this day, and which MLS itself suggested was an "unbreakable" record in a 2012 article. In 2001, Valderrama joined the Colorado Rapids, and remained with the team until 2002, when he retired; his American soccer league career spanned a total of eight years, during which he made 175 appearances. In the MLS, Valderrama scored relatively few goals (16) for a midfielder, but is the league's fourth all-time leader in assists (114) after Brad Davis (123), Steve Ralston (135) – a former teammate, and Landon Donovan (145). In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. International career Valderrama was a member of the Colombia national football team from 1985 until 1998; he made 111 international appearances, scoring 11 goals, making him the most capped outfield player in the country's history. He represented and captained his national side in the 1990, 1994, and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and also took part in the 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1995 Copa América tournaments. Valderrama made his international debut on 27 October 1985, in a 3–0 defeat to Paraguay in a 1986 World Cup qualifying match, at the age of 24. In his first major international tournament, he helped Colombia to a third-place finish at the 1987 Copa América in Argentina, as his team's captain, where he was named the tournament's best player; during the tournament he scored the opening goal in Colombia's 2–0 over Bolivia on 1 July, their first match of the group stage. Some of Valderrama's most impressive international performances came during the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, during which he served as Colombia's captain. He helped his team to a 2–0 win against the UAE in Colombia's opening match of the group stage, scoring the second goal of the match with a strike from 20 yards. Colombia lost their second match against Yugoslavia, however, needing at least a draw against the eventual champions West Germany in their final group match in order to advance to the next round of the competition. In the decisive game, German striker Pierre Littbarski scored what appeared to be the winning goal in the 88th minute of the game; however, within the last minute of injury time, Valderrama beat several opposing players and made a crucial left-footed pass to Freddy Rincón, who subsequently equalised, sealing a place for Colombia in the second round of the tournament with a 1–1 draw. Colombia were eliminated in the round of 16, following a 2–1 extra time loss to Cameroon. On 5 September 1993, Valderrama contributed to Colombia's historic 5–0 victory over South American rivals Argentina at the Monumental in Buenos Aires, which allowed them to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Although much was expected of Valderrama at the World Cup, an injury during a pre-tournament warm-up game put his place in the squad in jeopardy; although he was able to regain match fitness in time for the tournament, Colombia disappointed and suffered a first round elimination following defeats to Romania and the hosts USA, though it has been contributed by the internal problem and threats by cartel groups at the time. Four years later, Valderrama led his nation to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France, scoring three goals during the qualifying stages. His impact in the final tournament at the advancing age of 37, however, was less decisive, and, despite defeating Tunisia, Colombia once again suffered a first round exit, following a 2–0 defeat against England, which was Valderrama's final international appearance. Playing style Although Valderrama is often defined as a 'classic number 10 playmaker', due to his creativity and offensive contribution, in reality he was not a classic playmaker in the traditional sense. Although he often wore the number 10 shirt throughout his career and was deployed as an attacking midfielder at times, he played mostly in deeper positions in the centre of the pitch – often operating in a free role as a deep-lying playmaker, rather than in more advanced midfield positions behind the forwards – in order to have a greater influence on the game. A team-player, Valderrama was also known to be an extremely selfless midfielder, who preferred assisting his teammates over going for goal himself; his tactical intelligence, positioning, reading of the game, efficient movement, and versatile range of passing enabled him to find space for himself to distribute and receive the ball, which allowed him both to set the tempo of his team in midfield with short, first time exchanges, or create chances with long lobbed passes or through balls. Valderrama's most instantly recognisable physical features were his big afro-blonde hairstyle, jewelry, and moustache, but he was best known for his grace and elegance on the ball, as well as his agility, and quick feet as a footballer. His control, dribbling ability and footwork were similar to those of smaller players, which for a player of Valderrama's size and physical build was fairly uncommon, and he frequently stood out throughout his career for his ability to use his strength, balance, composure, and flamboyant technique to shield the ball from opponents when put under pressure, and retain possession in difficult situations, often with elaborate skills, which made him an extremely popular figure with the fans. Valderrama's mix of physical strength, two-footed ability, unpredictability and flair enabled him to produce key and incisive performances against top-tier teams, while his world class vision and exceptional passing and crossing ability with his right foot made him one of the best assist providers of his time; his height, physique and elevation also made him effective in the air, and he was also an accurate free kick taker and striker of the ball, despite not being a particularly prolific goalscorer. Despite his natural talent and ability as a footballer, Valderrama earned a reputation for having a "languid" playing style, as well as lacking notable pace, being unfit, and for having a poor defensive work-rate on the pitch, in particular, after succumbing to the physical effects of ageing in his later career in the MLS. In his first season in France, he also initially struggled to adapt to the faster-paced, more physical and tactically rigorous European brand of football, which saw him play in an unfamiliar position, and gave him less space and time on the ball to dictate attacking passing moves; he was criticised at times for his lack of match fitness and his low defensive contribution, which initially limited his appearances with the club, although he later successfully became a key creative player in his team's starting line-up due to his discipline, skill, and his precise and efficient passing. Despite these claims, earlier in his career, however, Valderrama demonstrated substantial pace, stamina, and defensive competence. Former French defender Laurent Blanc, who played with Valderrama in Montpellier, voiced one of the most accurate descriptions for Valderrama, "In the fast and furious European game he wasn't always at his ease. He was a natural exponent of 'toque', keeping the ball moving. But he was so gifted that we could give him the ball when we didn't know what else to do with it knowing he wouldn't lose it... and often he would do things that most of us only dream about." Retirement and legacy In February 2004, Valderrama ended his 22-year career in a tribute match at the Metropolitan stadium of Barranquilla, with some of the most important football players of South America, such as Diego Maradona, Enzo Francescoli, Iván Zamorano, and José Luis Chilavert. In 2006, a 22-foot bronze statue of Valderrama, created by Colombian artist Amilkar Ariza, was erected outside Estadio Eduardo Santos in Valderrama's birthplace of Santa Marta. Valderrama was the only Colombian to feature in FIFA's 125 Top Living Football Players list in March 2004. Media Valderrama appeared on the cover of Konami's International Superstar Soccer Pro 98. In the Nintendo 64 version of the game, he is referred to by his nickname, El Pibe. Valderrama has also appeared in EA Sports' FIFA football video game series; he was named one of the Ultimate Team Legend cards in FIFA 15. Coaching career Since retiring from professional football, Valderrama has become assistant manager of Atlético Junior. On 1 November 2007, Valderrama accused a referee of corruption by waving cash in the face of Oscar Julian Ruiz when the official awarded a penalty to América de Cali. Junior lost the match 4–1, which ended the club's hopes of playoff qualification. He later also served as a coach for a football academy called Clearwater Galactics in Clearwater, Florida. Personal life Valderrama is married and has six children. Career statistics Club International Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valderrama goal. Honours Montpellier Coupe de France: 1990 Atletico Junior Colombian Championship: 1993, 1995 Tampa Bay Mutiny MLS Supporters' Shield: 1996 Individual Copa América MVP: 1987 South American Footballer of the Year: 1987, 1993 South American Team of the Year: 1987, 1993, 1996 MLS All-Star of the Year: 1996 Major League Soccer MVP: 1996 World Soccer's 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time: 1999 Colombian Player of the Century: 1999 MLS Assist leader: 2000 (26 assists – a single season record) FIFA 100: 2004 MLS All-Time Best XI: Midfielder Golden Foot: 2013, as football legend See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps References External links International statistics at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Profile at Colombia.com Power 5 Unbreakable Records – Valderrama's 26 assists in 2000 at mlssoccer.com 1961 births Living people People from Santa Marta Colombian footballers Association football midfielders Categoría Primera A players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Colombian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in France Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Unión Magdalena footballers Millonarios F.C. players Deportivo Cali footballers Montpellier HSC players Real Valladolid players Independiente Medellín footballers Atlético Junior footballers Tampa Bay Mutiny players Miami Fusion players Colorado Rapids players Colombia international footballers 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1998 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Century Club FIFA 100 South American Footballer of the Year winners Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer MVPs Colombian people of African descent

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chemistry: Chemistry is the science of atomic matter (matter that is composed of chemical elements), especially its chemical reactions, but also including its properties, structure, composition, behavior, and changes as they relate to the chemical reactions. Chemistry is centrally concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds. Summary of chemistry Chemistry can be described as all of the following: An academic discipline – one with academic departments, curricula and degrees; national and international societies; and specialized journals. A scientific field (a branch of science) – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research is published. There are several chemistry-related scientific journals. A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific method. A physical science – one that studies non-living systems. A biological science – one that studies the role of chemicals and chemical processes in living organisms. See Outline of biochemistry. Branches of chemistry Physical chemistry – study of the physical and fundamental basis of chemical systems and processes. In particular, the energetics and dynamics of such systems and processes are of interest to physical chemists. Important areas of study include chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, electrochemistry, statistical mechanics, spectroscopy, and more recently, astrochemistry. Physical chemistry has large overlap with molecular physics. Physical chemistry involves the use of infinitesimal calculus in deriving equations. It is usually associated with quantum chemistry and theoretical chemistry. Physical chemistry is a distinct discipline from chemical physics, but again, there is very strong overlap. Chemical kinetics – study of rates of chemical processes. Chemical physics – investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical processes. Electrochemistry – branch of chemistry that studies chemical reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an electron conductor (the electrode: a metal or a semiconductor) and an ionic conductor (the electrolyte), and which involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution. Femtochemistry – area of physical chemistry that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10−15 seconds (one femtosecond). Geochemistry – chemical study of the mechanisms behind major systems studied in geology. Photochemistry – study of chemical reactions that proceed with the absorption of light by atoms or molecules. Quantum chemistry – branch of chemistry whose primary focus is the application of quantum mechanics in physical models and experiments of chemical systems. Solid-state chemistry – study of the synthesis, structure, and properties of solid phase materials, particularly, but not necessarily exclusively of, non-molecular solids. Spectroscopy – study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Stereochemistry – study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules Surface science – study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid-gas interfaces. Thermochemistry –The branch of chemistry that studies the relation between chemical action and the amount of heat absorbed or generated. Calorimetry – The study of heat changes in physical and chemical processes. Organic chemistry (outline) – study of the structure, properties, composition, mechanisms, and reactions of organic compounds. An organic compound is defined as any compound based on a carbon skeleton. Biochemistry – study of the chemicals, chemical reactions and chemical interactions that take place in living organisms. Biochemistry and organic chemistry are closely related, as in medicinal chemistry or neurochemistry. Biochemistry is also associated with molecular biology and genetics. Neurochemistry – study of neurochemicals; including transmitters, peptides, proteins, lipids, sugars, and nucleic acids; their interactions, and the roles they play in forming, maintaining, and modifying the nervous system. Molecular biochemistry and genetic engineering –an area of biochemistry and molecular biology that studies the genes, their heritage and their expression. Bioorganic chemistry – combines organic chemistry and biochemistry toward biology. Biophysical chemistry – is a physical science that uses the concepts of physics and physical chemistry for the study of biological systems. Medicinal chemistry – discipline which applies chemistry for medical or drug related purposes. Organometallic chemistry – is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkaline, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and sometimes broadened to include metalloids like boron, silicon, and tin. Physical organic chemistry – study of the interrelationships between structure and reactivity in organic molecules. Polymer chemistry – multidisciplinary science that deals with the chemical synthesis and chemical properties of polymers or macromolecules. Click chemistry Inorganic chemistry – study of the properties and reactions of inorganic compounds. The distinction between organic and inorganic disciplines is not absolute and there is much overlap, most importantly in the sub-discipline of organometallic chemistry. Bioinorganic chemistry Cluster chemistry Materials chemistry – preparation, characterization, and understanding of substances with a useful function. The field is a new breadth of study in graduate programs, and it integrates elements from all classical areas of chemistry with a focus on fundamental issues that are unique to materials. Primary systems of study include the chemistry of condensed phases (solids, liquids, polymers) and interfaces between different phases. Nuclear chemistry – study of how subatomic particles come together and make nuclei. Modern Transmutation is a large component of nuclear chemistry, and the table of nuclides is an important result and tool for this field. Analytical chemistry – analysis of material samples to gain an understanding of their chemical composition and structure. Analytical chemistry incorporates standardized experimental methods in chemistry. These methods may be used in all subdisciplines of chemistry, excluding purely theoretical chemistry. Other Astrochemistry – study of the abundance and reactions of chemical elements and molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation. Cosmochemistry – study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions. Computational chemistry Environmental chemistry – study of chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur diverse aspects of the environment such the air, soil, and water. It also studies the effects of human activity on the environment. Green chemistry is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that encourages the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. Supramolecular chemistry – refers to the domain of chemistry beyond that of molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or components. Theoretical chemistry – study of chemistry via fundamental theoretical reasoning (usually within mathematics or physics). In particular the application of quantum mechanics to chemistry is called quantum chemistry. Since the end of the Second World War, the development of computers has allowed a systematic development of computational chemistry, which is the art of developing and applying computer programs for solving chemical problems. Theoretical chemistry has large overlap with (theoretical and experimental) condensed matter physics and molecular physics. Wet chemistry Agrochemistry – study and application of both chemistry and biochemistry for agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and remediation. Atmospheric chemistry – branch of atmospheric science which studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. Chemical engineering – branch of engineering that applies the physical sciences (e.g., chemistry and physics) and/or life sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology and biochemistry) together with mathematics and economics to processes that convert raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. Chemical biology – scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology and involves the application of chemical techniques and tools, often compounds produced through synthetic chemistry, to analyze and manipulation of biological systems. Chemo-informatics – use of computer and informational techniques applied to a range of problems in the field of chemistry. Flow chemistry – study of chemical reactions in continuous flow, not as stationary batches, in industry and macro processing equipment. Immunohistochemistry – involves the process of detecting antigens (e.g., proteins) in cells of a tissue section by exploiting the principle of antibodies binding specifically to antigens in biological tissues. Immunochemistry – is a branch of chemistry that involves the study of the reactions and components on the immune system. Chemical oceanography – study of ocean chemistry: the behavior of the chemical elements within the Earth's oceans Materials science – is an interdisciplinary field investigating the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. Mathematical chemistry – area of study engaged in novel applications of mathematics to chemistry. It concerns itself principally with the mathematical modeling of chemical phenomena. Mechanochemistry – coupling of mechanical and chemical phenomena on a molecular scale and can be seen as a coupling of chemistry and mechanical engineering. Molecular biology – study of interactions between the various systems of a cell. It overlaps with biochemistry. Molecular mechanics – applies classical mechanics to model molecular systems. Nanotechnology – study and application of matter that is at an atomic and molecular scale. This broad field interacts with chemistry at such scales. Petrochemistry – study of the transformation of petroleum and natural gas into useful products or raw materials. Pharmacology – branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action along with the chemical effects. Phytochemistry – study of phytochemicals which come from plants. Radiochemistry – chemistry of radioactive materials. Sonochemistry – study of effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. Synthetic chemistry – study of chemical synthesis. Toxicology – study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organismand the practice of diagnosing and treating exposures to toxins and toxicants. History of chemistry History of chemistry Precursors to chemistry Alchemy (outline) History of alchemy History of the branches of chemistry History of analytical chemistry – history of the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. History of astrochemistry – history of the study of the abundance and reactions of chemical elements and molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation. History of cosmochemistry – history of the study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions History of atmospheric chemistry – history of the branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology and other disciplines History of biochemistry – history of the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes. History of agrochemistry – history of the study of both chemistry and biochemistry which are important in agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and in environmental monitoring and remediation. History of bioinorganic chemistry – history of the examines the role of metals in biology. History of bioorganic chemistry – history of the rapidly growing scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. History of biophysical chemistry – history of the new branch of chemistry that covers a broad spectrum of research activities involving biological systems. History of environmental chemistry – history of the scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. History of immunochemistry – history of the branch of chemistry that involves the study of the reactions and components on the immune system. History of medicinal chemistry – history of the discipline at the intersection of chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where they are involved with design, chemical synthesis and development for market of pharmaceutical agents (drugs). History of pharmacology – history of the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. History of natural product chemistry – history of the chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism – history of the found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design. History of neurochemistry – history of the specific study of neurochemicals, which include neurotransmitters and other molecules such as neuro-active drugs that influence neuron function. History of computational chemistry – history of the branch of chemistry that uses principles of computer science to assist in solving chemical problems. History of chemo-informatics – history of the use of computer and informational techniques, applied to a range of problems in the field of chemistry. History of molecular mechanics – history of the uses Newtonian mechanics to model molecular systems. History of Flavor chemistry – history of the someone who uses chemistry to engineer artificial and natural flavors. History of Flow chemistry – history of the chemical reaction is run in a continuously flowing stream rather than in batch production. History of geochemistry – history of the study of the mechanisms behind major geological systems using chemistry History of aqueous geochemistry – history of the study of the role of various elements in watersheds, including copper, sulfur, mercury, and how elemental fluxes are exchanged through atmospheric-terrestrial-aquatic interactions History of isotope geochemistry – history of the study of the relative and absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes using chemistry and geology History of ocean chemistry – history of the studies the chemistry of marine environments including the influences of different variables. History of organic geochemistry – history of the study of the impacts and processes that organisms have had on Earth History of regional, environmental and exploration geochemistry – history of the study of the spatial variation in the chemical composition of materials at the surface of the Earth History of inorganic chemistry – history of the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. History of nuclear chemistry – history of the subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties. History of radiochemistry – history of the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads to a substance being described as being inactive as the isotopes are stable). History of organic chemistry – history of the study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation (by synthesis or by other means) of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives. History of petrochemistry – history of the branch of chemistry that studies the transformation of crude oil (petroleum) and natural gas into useful products or raw materials. History of organometallic chemistry – history of the study of chemical compounds containing bonds between carbon and a metal. History of photochemistry – history of the study of chemical reactions that proceed with the absorption of light by atoms or molecules.. History of physical chemistry – history of the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts. History of chemical kinetics – history of the study of rates of chemical processes. History of chemical thermodynamics – history of the study of the interrelation of heat and work with chemical reactions or with physical changes of state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics. History of electrochemistry – history of the branch of chemistry that studies chemical reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an electron conductor (a metal or a semiconductor) and an ionic conductor (the electrolyte), and which involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution. History of Femtochemistry – history of the Femtochemistry is the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10−15 seconds (one femtosecond, hence the name). History of mathematical chemistry – history of the area of research engaged in novel applications of mathematics to chemistry; it concerns itself principally with the mathematical modeling of chemical phenomena. History of mechanochemistry – history of the coupling of the mechanical and the chemical phenomena on a molecular scale and includes mechanical breakage, chemical behaviour of mechanically stressed solids (e.g., stress-corrosion cracking), tribology, polymer degradation under shear, cavitation-related phenomena (e.g., sonochemistry and sonoluminescence), shock wave chemistry and physics, and even the burgeoning field of molecular machines. History of physical organic chemistry – history of the study of the interrelationships between structure and reactivity in organic molecules. History of quantum chemistry – history of the branch of chemistry whose primary focus is the application of quantum mechanics in physical models and experiments of chemical systems. History of sonochemistry – history of the study of the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. History of stereochemistry – history of the study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms within molecules. History of supramolecular chemistry – history of the area of chemistry beyond the molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or components. History of thermochemistry – history of the study of the energy and heat associated with chemical reactions and/or physical transformations. History of phytochemistry – history of the strict sense of the word the study of phytochemicals. History of polymer chemistry – history of the multidisciplinary science that deals with the chemical synthesis and chemical properties of polymers or macromolecules. History of solid-state chemistry – history of the study of the synthesis, structure, and properties of solid phase materials, particularly, but not necessarily exclusively of, non-molecular solids History of multidisciplinary fields involving chemistry: History of chemical biology – history of the scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology that involves the application of chemical techniques and tools, often compounds produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological systems. History of chemical engineering – history of the branch of engineering that deals with physical science (e.g., chemistry and physics), and life sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology and biochemistry) with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. History of chemical oceanography – history of the study of the behavior of the chemical elements within the Earth's oceans. History of chemical physics – history of the branch of physics that studies chemical processes from the point of view of physics. History of materials science – history of the interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. History of nanotechnology – history of the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale History of oenology – history of the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which is a subfield called viticulture. History of spectroscopy – history of the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy History of surface science – history of the Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid–gas interfaces. History of chemicals History of chemical elements History of carbon History of hydrogen Timeline of hydrogen technologies History of oxygen History of chemical products History of aspirin History of cosmetics History of gunpowder History of pharmaceutical drugs History of vitamins History of chemical processes History of manufactured gas History of the Haber process History of the chemical industry History of the petroleum industry History of the pharmaceutical industry History of the periodic table Chemicals Dictionary of chemical formulas List of biomolecules List of inorganic compounds Periodic table Atomic Theory Atomic theory Atomic models Atomism – Natural philosophy that theorizes that the world is composed of indivisible pieces. Plum pudding model Rutherford model Bohr model Thermochemistry Thermochemistry Terminology Thermochemistry – Chemical kinetics – the study of the rates of chemical reactions and investigates how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition states, as well as the construction of mathematical models that can describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction. Exothermic –a process or reaction in which the system release energy to its surroundings in the form of heat. They are denoted by negative heat flow. Endothermic –a process or reaction in which the system absorbs energy from its surroundings in the form of heat. They are denoted by positive heat flow. Thermochemical equation – Enthalpy change – internal energy of a system plus the product of pressure and volume. Its change in a system is equal to the heat brought to the system at constant pressure. Enthalpy of reaction – Temperature – an objective comparative measure of heat. Calorimeter – an object used for calorimetry, or the process of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes as well as heat capacity. Heat – A form of energy associated with the kinetic energy of atoms or molecules and capable of being transmitted through solid and fluid media by conduction, through fluid media by convection, and through empty space by radiation. Joule – a unit of energy. Calorie – Specific heat – Specific heat capacity – Latent heat – Heat of fusion – Heat of vaporization – Collision theory – Activation energy – Activated complex – Reaction rate – Catalyst – Thermochemical Equations Chemical equations that include the heat involved in a reaction, either on the reactant side or the product side. Examples: H2O(l) + 240kJ → H2O(g) N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3 + 92kJ Joule (J) – Enthalpy How to calculate the enthalpy of ? Enthalpy and Thermochemical Equations Endothermic Reactions Exothermic Reactions Potential Energy Diagrams Thermochemistry Stoichiometry Chemists For more chemists, see: Nobel Prize in Chemistry and List of chemists Elias James Corey Marie Curie John Dalton Humphry Davy Eleuthère Irénée du Pont George Eastman Michael Faraday Dmitriy Mendeleyev Alfred Nobel Wilhelm Ostwald Louis Pasteur Linus Pauling Joseph Priestley Karl Ziegler Ahmed Zewail Robert Burns Woodward Rosalind Franklin Amedeo Avogadro Chemistry literature Scientific literature – Scientific journal – Academic journal – List of important publications in chemistry List of scientific journals in chemistry List of science magazines Scientific American Lists Chemical elements data references List of chemical elements — atomic mass, atomic number, symbol, name List of minerals - Minerals Electron configurations of the elements (data page) — electron configuration, electrons per shell Densities of the elements (data page) — density (solid, liquid, gas) Electron affinity (data page) — electron affinity Melting points of the elements (data page) — melting point Boiling points of the elements (data page) — boiling point Critical points of the elements (data page) — critical point Heats of fusion of the elements (data page) — heat of fusion Heats of vaporization of the elements (data page) — heat of vaporization Heat capacities of the elements (data page) — heat capacity Vapor pressures of the elements (data page) — vapor pressure Electronegativities of the elements (data page) — electronegativity (Pauling scale) Ionization energies of the elements (data page) — ionization energies (in eV) and molar ionization energies (in kJ/mol) Atomic radii of the elements (data page) — atomic radius (empirical), atomic radius (calculated), van der Waals radius, covalent radius Electrical resistivities of the elements (data page) — electrical resistivity Thermal conductivities of the elements (data page) — thermal conductivity Thermal expansion coefficients of the elements (data page) — thermal expansion Speeds of sound of the elements (data page) — speed of sound Elastic properties of the elements (data page) — Young's modulus, Poisson ratio, bulk modulus, shear modulus Hardnesses of the elements (data page) — Mohs hardness, Vickers hardness, Brinell hardness Abundances of the elements (data page) — Earth's crust, sea water, Sun and solar system List of oxidation states of the elements — oxidation states List of compounds List of CAS numbers by chemical compound List of Extremely Hazardous Substances List of inorganic compounds List of organic compounds List of alkanes List of alloys Other List of thermal conductivities List of purification methods in chemistry List of unsolved problems in chemistry See also Outline of biochemistry Outline of physics References External links International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry IUPAC Nomenclature Home Page, see especially the "Gold Book" containing definitions of standard chemical terms Interactive Mind Map of Chemistry / Chemical energetics Chemistry Chemistry

In political science, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the metropolitan state (or "mother country"). This administrative colonial separation makes colonies neither incorporated territories, nor client states. Some colonies have been organized either as dependent territories that are not sufficiently self-governed, or as self-governed colonies controlled by colonial settlers. The term colony originates from the ancient Roman colonia, a type of Roman settlement. Derived from colon-us (farmer, cultivator, planter, or settler), it carries with it the sense of 'farm' and 'landed estate'. Furthermore the term was used to refer to the older Greek apoikia (), which were overseas settlements by ancient Greek city-states. The city that founded such a settlement became known as its metropolis ("mother-city"). Since early-modern times, historians, administrators, and political scientists have generally used the term "colony" to refer mainly to the many different overseas territories of particularly European states between the 15th and 20th centuries CE, with colonialism and decolonization as corresponding phenomena. While colonies often developed from trading outposts or territorial claims, such areas do not need to be a product of colonization, nor become colonially organized territories. Some historians use the term informal colony to refer to a country under the de facto control of another state, although this term is often contentious. Etymology The word "colony" comes from the Latin word , used as concept for Roman military bases and eventually cities. This in turn derives from the word , which was a Roman tenant farmer. The terminology is taken from architectural analogy, where a column pillar is beneath the (often stylized) head capital, which is also a biological analog of the body as subservient beneath the controlling head (with 'capital' coming from the Latin word , meaning 'head'). So colonies are not independently self-controlled, but rather are controlled from a separate entity that serves the capital function. Roman colonies first appeared when the Romans conquered neighbouring Italic peoples. These were small farming settlements that appeared when the Romans had subdued an enemy in war. Though a colony could take many forms, as a trade outpost or a military base in enemy territory, such have not been inherently colonies. Its original definition as a settlement created by people migrating from a central region to an outlying one became the modern definition. Settlements that began as Roman colonia include cities from Cologne (which retains this history in its name), Belgrade to York. A tell-tale sign of a settlement within the Roman sphere of influence once being a Roman colony is a city centre with a grid pattern. Ancient examples Carthage formed as a Phoenician colony Cadiz formed as a Phoenician colony Cyrene was a colony of the Greeks of Thera Sicily was a Phoenician colony Sardinia was a Phoenician colony Marseille formed as a Greek colony Malta was a Phoenician colony Cologne formed as a Roman colony, and its modern name refers to the Latin term "Colonia". Kandahar formed as a Greek colony during the Hellenistic era by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Modern historical examples : a colony of Portugal from the 16th century to its independence in 1975. gained its independence from Spain in 1810. was formed as a British Dominion in 1901 from a federation of six distinct British colonies which were founded between 1788 and 1829. : was a colony of Great Britain important in the Atlantic slave trade. It gained its independence in 1966. : a colony of Portugal since the 16th century. Independent since 1822. : was colonized first by France as New France (1534–1763) and England (in Newfoundland, 1582) then under British rule (1763–1867), before achieving Dominion status and losing "colony" designation. : a colony of Belgium from 1908 to 1960; previously under private ownership of King Leopold II. was formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia; Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War in 1893. The federation lasted until 1954. In the four protectorates, the French formally left the local rulers in power, who were the Emperors of Vietnam, Kings of Cambodia, and Kings of Luang Prabang, but in fact gathered all powers in their hands, the local rulers acting only as figureheads. : Contact between Europe and Ghana (known as the Gold Coast) began in the 15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese. This soon led to the establishment of several colonies by European powers: Portuguese Gold Coast (1482–1642), Dutch Gold Coast (1598–1872), Swedish Gold Coast (1650–1663), Danish Gold Coast (1658–1850), Brandenburger and Prussian Gold Coast (1685–1721) and British Gold Coast (1821–1957). In 1957, Ghana was the first African colony south of the Sahara to become independent. was a colony of Denmark-Norway from 1721 and was a colony of Denmark from 1814 to 1953. In 1953 Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979 and extended to self-rule in 2009. See also Danish colonization of the Americas. : a colony of Portugal since the 15th century. Independent since 1974. was a British colony (from 1983 British Dependent Territory) from 1841 to 1997. Is now a Special Administrative Region of China. India was an imperial political entity comprising present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates with regions under the direct control of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1858 to 1947. From the 15th century until 1961, Portuguese India (Goa) was a colony of Portugal. Pondicherry and Chandernagore were part of French India from 1759 to 1954. Small Danish colonies of Tharangambadi, Serampore and the Nicobar Islands) from 1620 to 1869 were known as Danish India. was a Dutch colony which differs in each region, but gain full independence as a whole nation in 1949. was part of the Spanish West Indies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It became an English colony in 1655; independence in 1962. a colony set up in 1821 by American private citizens for the migration of African American freedmen. Liberian Declaration of Independence from the American Colonization Society on 26 July 1847. It is the second oldest black republic in the world after Haiti. was a Portuguese colony (from 1976 a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration") from 1557 to 1999. In 1999, two years after Hong Kong, it became a Special Administrative Region of China. was colonized initially by the Portuguese Empire and captures Malacca. After 1511, where the Portuguese Empire had colonized Malaysia, Britain establishes colonies and trading ports on Malay peninsula; Penang is leased to the British East India Company. The Dutch Empire encountered with Malaysia when it was looking for spices to trade with. was a British protectorate and later a colony from the French Revolutionary Wars in 1800 to independence in 1964. : a colony of Portugal since the 15th century. Independent since 1975. , previously a colony of Spain from to 1898 as part of the Spanish East Indies, was a colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946. Achieved self-governing Commonwealth status in 1935; independent in 1946. was a colony of Spain from 1493 to 1898, when it passed to be a colonial possession of the United States, classified by the United States as "an unincorporated territory". In 1914, the Puerto Rican House of Delegates voted unanimously in favor of independence from the United States, but this was rejected by the U.S. Congress as "unconstitutional" and in violation of the U.S. 1900 Foraker Act. In 1952, after the US Congress approved Puerto Rico's constitution, its formal name became "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico", but its new name "did not change Puerto Rico's political, social, and economic relationship to the United States." That year, the United States advised the United Nations (UN) that the island was a self-governing territory. The United States has been "unwilling to play in public the imperial role...apparently it has no appetite for acknowledging in a public way the contradictions implicit in frankly colonial rule." The island has been called a colony by many, including US Federal judges, US Congresspeople, the Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, and numerous scholars. consisted of territories and colonies by various different African and European powers, including the Dutch, the British, and the Nguni. The territory consisting the modern nation was ruled directly by the British from 1806 to 1910; became self-governing dominion of Union of South Africa in 1910. : a British colony from 1815 to 1948. Known as Ceylon. Was a British Dominion until 1972. Also a Portuguese colony in the 16th–17th centuries, and a Dutch colony in the 17th–18th centuries. was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945. North and South Korea were established in 1948. Korea was once a vassal state of China until 1895. has a complex history of colonial rule under various powers, including the Dutch (1624–1662), Spanish (1626–1642), Chinese (1683–1895), and Japanese (1895–1945). The precolonial (pre-1624) inhabitants of Taiwan are the ethno-linguistically Austronesian Taiwanese indigenous peoples, rather than the vast majority of present-day Taiwanese people, who are mostly ethno-linguistically Han Chinese. Twice throughout history, Taiwan has served as a quasi rump state for Chinese governments, the first instance being the Ming-loyalist Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683) and the second instance being the present-day Republic of China (ROC), which officially claims continuity or succession from the Republic of China (1912–1949), having retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949 during the final years of the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). The ROC, whose de facto territory consists almost entirely of the island of Taiwan and its minor satellite islands, continues to rule Taiwan as if it were a separate country from the People's Republic of China (consisting of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau). The was formed from a union of thirteen British colonies. The Colony of Virginia was the first of the thirteen colonies. All thirteen declared independence in July 1776 and expelled the British governors. Current colonies The Special Committee on Decolonization maintains the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, which identifies areas the United Nations (though not without controversy) believes are colonies. Given that dependent territories have varying degrees of autonomy and political power in the affairs of the controlling state, there is disagreement over the classification of "colony". See also Colonialism Colonization Decolonization Democracy Peace Theory Exploitation colonialism Scramble for Africa Settler colonialism United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories Development town Spice Trade Notes References Further reading Aldrich, Robert. Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion (1996) Ansprenger, Franz ed. The Dissolution of the Colonial Empires (1989) Benjamin, Thomas, ed. Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism Since 1450 (2006). Ermatinger, James. ed. The Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia (2 vol 2018) Higham, C. S. S. History Of The British Empire (1921) online free James, Lawrence. The Illustrated Rise and Fall of the British Empire (2000) Kia, Mehrdad, ed. The Ottoman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia (2017) Page, Melvin E. ed. Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia (3 vol. 2003) Priestley, Herbert Ingram. (France overseas;: A study of modern imperialism 1938) 463pp; encyclopedic coverage as of late 1930s Tarver, H. Micheal and Emily Slape. The Spanish Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia (2 vol. 2016) Wesseling, H.L. The European Colonial Empires: 1815–1919 (2015). External links Non-Self-Governing Territories Listed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 Non-Self-Governing Territories Listed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 Siberia : History (covers Siberia as Russian colony) Types of administrative division Articles containing video clips

Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in reinforcing the DNA during cell division, preventing DNA damage, and regulating gene expression and DNA replication. During mitosis and meiosis, chromatin facilitates proper segregation of the chromosomes in anaphase; the characteristic shapes of chromosomes visible during this stage are the result of DNA being coiled into highly condensed chromatin. The primary protein components of chromatin are histones, which bind to DNA and function as "anchors" around which the strands are wound. In general, there are three levels of chromatin organization: DNA wraps around histone proteins, forming nucleosomes and the so-called beads on a string structure (euchromatin). Multiple histones wrap into a 30-nanometer fiber consisting of nucleosome arrays in their most compact form (heterochromatin). Higher-level DNA supercoiling of the 30-nm fiber produces the metaphase chromosome (during mitosis and meiosis). Many organisms, however, do not follow this organization scheme. For example, spermatozoa and avian red blood cells have more tightly packed chromatin than most eukaryotic cells, and trypanosomatid protozoa do not condense their chromatin into visible chromosomes at all. Prokaryotic cells have entirely different structures for organizing their DNA (the prokaryotic chromosome equivalent is called a genophore and is localized within the nucleoid region). The overall structure of the chromatin network further depends on the stage of the cell cycle. During interphase, the chromatin is structurally loose to allow access to RNA and DNA polymerases that transcribe and replicate the DNA. The local structure of chromatin during interphase depends on the specific genes present in the DNA. Regions of DNA containing genes which are actively transcribed ("turned on") are less tightly compacted and closely associated with RNA polymerases in a structure known as euchromatin, while regions containing inactive genes ("turned off") are generally more condensed and associated with structural proteins in heterochromatin. Epigenetic modification of the structural proteins in chromatin via methylation and acetylation also alters local chromatin structure and therefore gene expression. The structure of chromatin networks is currently poorly understood and remains an active area of research in molecular biology. Dynamic chromatin structure and hierarchy Chromatin undergoes various structural changes during a cell cycle. Histone proteins are the basic packers and arrangers of chromatin and can be modified by various post-translational modifications to alter chromatin packing (histone modification). Most modifications occur on histone tails. The consequences in terms of chromatin accessibility and compaction depend both on the modified amino acid and the type of modification. For example, histone acetylation results in loosening and increased accessibility of chromatin for replication and transcription. Lysine trimethylation can either lead to increased transcriptional activity (trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4) or transcriptional repression and chromatin compaction (trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 9 or 27). Several studies suggested that different modifications could occur simultaneously. For example, it was proposed that a bivalent structure (with trimethylation of both lysine 4 and 27 on histone H3) is involved in early mammalian development. Polycomb-group proteins play a role in regulating genes through modulation of chromatin structure. For additional information, see Chromatin variant, Histone modifications in chromatin regulation and RNA polymerase control by chromatin structure. DNA structure In nature, DNA can form three structures, A-, B-, and Z-DNA. A- and B-DNA are very similar, forming right-handed helices, whereas Z-DNA is a left-handed helix with a zig-zag phosphate backbone. Z-DNA is thought to play a specific role in chromatin structure and transcription because of the properties of the junction between B- and Z-DNA. At the junction of B- and Z-DNA, one pair of bases is flipped out from normal bonding. These play a dual role of a site of recognition by many proteins and as a sink for torsional stress from RNA polymerase or nucleosome binding. Nucleosomes and beads-on-a-string The basic repeat element of chromatin is the nucleosome, interconnected by sections of linker DNA, a far shorter arrangement than pure DNA in solution. In addition to core histones, a linker histone H1 exists that contacts the exit/entry of the DNA strand on the nucleosome. The nucleosome core particle, together with histone H1, is known as a chromatosome. Nucleosomes, with about 20 to 60 base pairs of linker DNA, can form, under non-physiological conditions, an approximately 10 nm beads on a string fibre. The nucleosomes bind DNA non-specifically, as required by their function in general DNA packaging. There are, however, large DNA sequence preferences that govern nucleosome positioning. This is due primarily to the varying physical properties of different DNA sequences: For instance, adenine (A), and thymine (T) is more favorably compressed into the inner minor grooves. This means nucleosomes can bind preferentially at one position approximately every 10 base pairs (the helical repeat of DNA)- where the DNA is rotated to maximise the number of A and T bases that will lie in the inner minor groove. (See nucleic acid structure.) 30-nanometer chromatin fiber With addition of H1, the beads-on-a-string structure in turn coils into a 30 nm diameter helical structure known as the 30 nm fibre or filament. The precise structure of the chromatin fiber in the cell is not known in detail. This level of chromatin structure is thought to be the form of heterochromatin, which contains mostly transcriptionally silent genes. Electron microscopy studies have demonstrated that the 30 nm fiber is highly dynamic such that it unfolds into a 10 nm fiber beads-on-a-string structure when transversed by an RNA polymerase engaged in transcription. The existing models commonly accept that the nucleosomes lie perpendicular to the axis of the fibre, with linker histones arranged internally. A stable 30 nm fibre relies on the regular positioning of nucleosomes along DNA. Linker DNA is relatively resistant to bending and rotation. This makes the length of linker DNA critical to the stability of the fibre, requiring nucleosomes to be separated by lengths that permit rotation and folding into the required orientation without excessive stress to the DNA. In this view, different lengths of the linker DNA should produce different folding topologies of the chromatin fiber. Recent theoretical work, based on electron-microscopy images of reconstituted fibers supports this view. Spatial organization of chromatin in the cell nucleus The spatial arrangement of the chromatin within the nucleus is not random - specific regions of the chromatin can be found in certain territories. Territories are, for example, the lamina-associated domains (LADs), and the topologically associating domains (TADs), which are bound together by protein complexes. Currently, polymer models such as the Strings & Binders Switch (SBS) model and the Dynamic Loop (DL) model are used to describe the folding of chromatin within the nucleus. Cell-cycle dependent structural organization Interphase: The structure of chromatin during interphase of mitosis is optimized to allow simple access of transcription and DNA repair factors to the DNA while compacting the DNA into the nucleus. The structure varies depending on the access required to the DNA. Genes that require regular access by RNA polymerase require the looser structure provided by euchromatin. Metaphase: The metaphase structure of chromatin differs vastly to that of interphase. It is optimised for physical strength and manageability, forming the classic chromosome structure seen in karyotypes. The structure of the condensed chromatin is thought to be loops of 30 nm fibre to a central scaffold of proteins. It is, however, not well-characterised. Chromosome scaffolds play an important role to hold the chromatin into compact chromosomes. Loops of 30 nm structure further condense with scaffold, into higher order structures. Chromosome scaffolds are made of proteins including condensin, type IIA topoisomerase and kinesin family member 4 (KIF4). The physical strength of chromatin is vital for this stage of division to prevent shear damage to the DNA as the daughter chromosomes are separated. To maximise strength the composition of the chromatin changes as it approaches the centromere, primarily through alternative histone H1 analogues. During mitosis, although most of the chromatin is tightly compacted, there are small regions that are not as tightly compacted. These regions often correspond to promoter regions of genes that were active in that cell type prior to chromatin formation. The lack of compaction of these regions is called bookmarking, which is an epigenetic mechanism believed to be important for transmitting to daughter cells the "memory" of which genes were active prior to entry into mitosis. This bookmarking mechanism is needed to help transmit this memory because transcription ceases during mitosis. Chromatin and bursts of transcription Chromatin and its interaction with enzymes has been researched, and a conclusion being made is that it is relevant and an important factor in gene expression. Vincent G. Allfrey, a professor at Rockefeller University, stated that RNA synthesis is related to histone acetylation. The lysine amino acid attached to the end of the histones is positively charged. The acetylation of these tails would make the chromatin ends neutral, allowing for DNA access. When the chromatin decondenses, the DNA is open to entry of molecular machinery. Fluctuations between open and closed chromatin may contribute to the discontinuity of transcription, or transcriptional bursting. Other factors are probably involved, such as the association and dissociation of transcription factor complexes with chromatin. The phenomenon, as opposed to simple probabilistic models of transcription, can account for the high variability in gene expression occurring between cells in isogenic populations. Alternative chromatin organizations During metazoan spermiogenesis, the spermatid's chromatin is remodeled into a more spaced-packaged, widened, almost crystal-like structure. This process is associated with the cessation of transcription and involves nuclear protein exchange. The histones are mostly displaced, and replaced by protamines (small, arginine-rich proteins). It is proposed that in yeast, regions devoid of histones become very fragile after transcription; HMO1, an HMG-box protein, helps in stabilizing nucleosomes-free chromatin. Chromatin and DNA repair The packaging of eukaryotic DNA into chromatin presents a barrier to all DNA-based processes that require recruitment of enzymes to their sites of action. To allow the critical cellular process of DNA repair, the chromatin must be remodeled. In eukaryotes, ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes and histone-modifying enzymes are two predominant factors employed to accomplish this remodeling process. Chromatin relaxation occurs rapidly at the site of a DNA damage. This process is initiated by PARP1 protein that starts to appear at DNA damage in less than a second, with half maximum accumulation within 1.6 seconds after the damage occurs. Next the chromatin remodeler Alc1 quickly attaches to the product of PARP1, and completes arrival at the DNA damage within 10 seconds of the damage. About half of the maximum chromatin relaxation, presumably due to action of Alc1, occurs by 10 seconds. This then allows recruitment of the DNA repair enzyme MRE11, to initiate DNA repair, within 13 seconds. γH2AX, the phosphorylated form of H2AX is also involved in the early steps leading to chromatin decondensation after DNA damage occurrence. The histone variant H2AX constitutes about 10% of the H2A histones in human chromatin. γH2AX (H2AX phosphorylated on serine 139) can be detected as soon as 20 seconds after irradiation of cells (with DNA double-strand break formation), and half maximum accumulation of γH2AX occurs in one minute. The extent of chromatin with phosphorylated γH2AX is about two million base pairs at the site of a DNA double-strand break. γH2AX does not, itself, cause chromatin decondensation, but within 30 seconds of irradiation, RNF8 protein can be detected in association with γH2AX. RNF8 mediates extensive chromatin decondensation, through its subsequent interaction with CHD4, a component of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex NuRD. After undergoing relaxation subsequent to DNA damage, followed by DNA repair, chromatin recovers to a compaction state close to its pre-damage level after about 20 min. Methods to investigate chromatin ChIP-seq (Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing), aimed against different histone modifications, can be used to identify chromatin states throughout the genome. Different modifications have been linked to various states of chromatin. DNase-seq (DNase I hypersensitive sites Sequencing) uses the sensitivity of accessible regions in the genome to the DNase I enzyme to map open or accessible regions in the genome. FAIRE-seq (Formaldehyde-Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements sequencing) uses the chemical properties of protein-bound DNA in a two-phase separation method to extract nucleosome depleted regions from the genome. ATAC-seq (Assay for Transposable Accessible Chromatin sequencing) uses the Tn5 transposase to integrate (synthetic) transposons into accessible regions of the genome consequentially highlighting the localisation of nucleosomes and transcription factors across the genome. DNA footprinting is a method aimed at identifying protein-bound DNA. It uses labeling and fragmentation coupled to gel electrophoresis to identify areas of the genome that have been bound by proteins. MNase-seq (Micrococcal Nuclease sequencing) uses the micrococcal nuclease enzyme to identify nucleosome positioning throughout the genome. Chromosome conformation capture determines the spatial organization of chromatin in the nucleus, by inferring genomic locations that physically interact. MACC profiling (Micrococcal nuclease ACCessibility profiling) uses titration series of chromatin digests with micrococcal nuclease to identify chromatin accessibility as well as to map nucleosomes and non-histone DNA-binding proteins in both open and closed regions of the genome. Chromatin and knots It has been a puzzle how decondensed interphase chromosomes remain essentially unknotted. The natural expectation is that in the presence of type II DNA topoisomerases that permit passages of double-stranded DNA regions through each other, all chromosomes should reach the state of topological equilibrium. The topological equilibrium in highly crowded interphase chromosomes forming chromosome territories would result in formation of highly knotted chromatin fibres. However, Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C) methods revealed that the decay of contacts with the genomic distance in interphase chromosomes is practically the same as in the crumpled globule state that is formed when long polymers condense without formation of any knots. To remove knots from highly crowded chromatin, one would need an active process that should not only provide the energy to move the system from the state of topological equilibrium but also guide topoisomerase-mediated passages in such a way that knots would be efficiently unknotted instead of making the knots even more complex. It has been shown that the process of chromatin-loop extrusion is ideally suited to actively unknot chromatin fibres in interphase chromosomes. Chromatin: alternative definitions The term, introduced by Walther Flemming, has multiple meanings: Simple and concise definition: Chromatin is a macromolecular complex of a DNA macromolecule and protein macromolecules (and RNA). The proteins package and arrange the DNA and control its functions within the cell nucleus. A biochemists’ operational definition: Chromatin is the DNA/protein/RNA complex extracted from eukaryotic lysed interphase nuclei. Just which of the multitudinous substances present in a nucleus will constitute a part of the extracted material partly depends on the technique each researcher uses. Furthermore, the composition and properties of chromatin vary from one cell type to another, during the development of a specific cell type, and at different stages in the cell cycle. The DNA + histone = chromatin definition: The DNA double helix in the cell nucleus is packaged by special proteins termed histones. The formed protein/DNA complex is called chromatin. The basic structural unit of chromatin is the nucleosome. The first definition allows for "chromatins" to be defined in other domains of life like bacteria and archaea, using any DNA-binding proteins that condenses the molecule. These proteins are usually referred to nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs); examples include AsnC/LrpC with HU. In addition, some archaea do produce nucleosomes from proteins homologous to eukaryotic histones. Nobel Prizes The following scientists were recognized for their contributions to chromatin research with Nobel Prizes: See also Active chromatin sequence Chromatid DAnCER database (2010) Epigenetics Histone-modifying enzymes Position-effect variegation Salt-and-pepper chromatin Transcriptional bursting Notes References Additional sources Cooper, Geoffrey M. 2000. The Cell, 2nd edition, A Molecular Approach. Chapter 4.2 Chromosomes and Chromatin. Cremer, T. 1985. Von der Zellenlehre zur Chromosomentheorie: Naturwissenschaftliche Erkenntnis und Theorienwechsel in der frühen Zell- und Vererbungsforschung, Veröffentlichungen aus der Forschungsstelle für Theoretische Pathologie der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. Springer-Vlg., Berlin, Heidelberg. Elgin, S. C. R. (ed.). 1995. Chromatin Structure and Gene Expression, vol. 9. IRL Press, Oxford, New York, Tokyo. Pollard, T., and W. Earnshaw. 2002. Cell Biology. Saunders. Saumweber, H. 1987. Arrangement of Chromosomes in Interphase Cell Nuclei, p. 223-234. In W. Hennig (ed.), Structure and Function of Eucaryotic Chromosomes, vol. 14. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg. Van Holde KE. 1989. Chromatin. New York: Springer-Verlag. . Van Holde, K., J. Zlatanova, G. Arents, and E. Moudrianakis. 1995. Elements of chromatin structure: histones, nucleosomes, and fibres, p. 1-26. In S. C. R. Elgin (ed.), Chromatin structure and gene expression. IRL Press at Oxford University Press, Oxford. External links Chromatin, Histones & Cathepsin; PMAP The Proteolysis Map-animation Nature journal: recent chromatin publications and news Protocol for in vitro Chromatin Assembly ENCODE threads Explorer Chromatin patterns at transcription factor binding sites. Nature (journal) Molecular genetics Nuclear substructures

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like settings. A modern campus is a collection of buildings and grounds that belong to a given institution, either academic or non-academic. Examples include the Googleplex and the Apple Campus. Etymology The word derives from a Latin word for "field" and was first used to describe the large field adjacent Nassau Hall of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774. The field separated Princeton from the small nearby town. Some other American colleges later adopted the word to describe individual fields at their own institutions, but "campus" did not yet describe the whole university property. A school might have one space called a campus, another called a field, and still another called a yard. History The tradition of a campus began with the medieval European universities where the students and teachers lived and worked together in a cloistered environment. The notion of the importance of the setting to academic life later migrated to America, and early colonial educational institutions were based on the Scottish and English collegiate system. The campus evolved from the cloistered model in Europe to a diverse set of independent styles in the United States. Early colonial colleges were all built in proprietary styles, with some contained in single buildings, such as the campus of Princeton University or arranged in a version of the cloister reflecting American values, such as Harvard's. Both the campus designs and the architecture of colleges throughout the country have evolved in response to trends in the broader world, with most representing several different contemporary and historical styles and arrangements. Uses The meaning expanded to include the whole institutional property during the 20th century, with the old meaning persisting into the 1950s in some places. Office buildings Sometimes the lands on which company office buildings sit, along with the buildings, are called campuses. The Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington, is a good example of this usage. Hospitals and even airports sometimes use the term to describe the territory of their respective facilities. Universities The word campus has also been applied to European universities, although most such institutions are characterized by ownership of individual buildings in urban settings rather than park-like lawns in which buildings are placed. See also Campus novel Campus university Satellite campus History of college campuses and architecture in the United States References External links Universities and colleges

The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar [農曆; 农历; Nónglì; 'farming calendar'], Former Calendar [舊曆; 旧历; Jiùlì], Traditional Calendar [老曆; 老历; Lǎolì], is a lunisolar calendar which identifies years, months, and days according to astronomical phenomena. In China, it is defined by the Chinese national standard GB/T 33661–2017, "Calculation and Promulgation of the Chinese Calendar", issued by the Standardization Administration of China on May 12, 2017. Although modern-day China uses the Gregorian calendar, the traditional Chinese calendar governs holidays, such as the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival, in both China and in overseas Chinese communities. It also gives the traditional Chinese nomenclature of dates within a year which people use for selecting auspicious days for weddings, funerals, moving, or starting a business. The evening state-run news program Xinwen Lianbo in the P.R.C. continues to announce the months and dates in both the Gregorian and the traditional lunisolar calendar. Like Chinese characters, variants of Chinese calendar are used in different parts of the East Asian cultural sphere throughout history. Korea, Vietnam, and the Ryukyu Islands adopted the Chinese calendar, and evolved it into Korean, Vietnamese, and Ryukyuan calendars, with the main difference from the Chinese calendar being the use of different meridians due to geography, which leads to some astronomical events—and calendar events based on them—falling on different dates. The traditional Japanese calendar was also derived from the Chinese calendar (based on a Japanese meridian), but its official use in Japan was abolished in 1873 due to reforms after the Meiji Restoration. Calendars in Mongolia and Tibet have absorbed elements of the traditional Chinese calendar but are not direct descendants of it. Days begin and end at midnight, and months begin on the day of the new moon. Years start on the second (or third) new moon after the winter solstice. Solar terms govern the beginning and end of each month. A sexagenary cycle consists of stems (干, gān) and branches (支, zhī) is used as identification alongside each year and month; including intercalary months or leap months. The length of a month is also annotated as either long (大, literally "big" for months with 30 days) or short (小, literally "small" for months with 29 days). History Solar calendars The traditional Chinese calendar was developed between 771 and 476 BC, during the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Before the Zhou dynasty, solar calendars were used. One version of the solar calendar is the five-elements calendar (), which derives from the Wu Xing. A 365-day year was divided into five phases of 73 days, with each phase corresponding to a Day 1 Wu Xing element. A phase began with a governing-element day (), followed by six 12-day weeks. Each phase consisted of two three-week months, making each year ten months long. Years began on a jiǎzǐ () day (and a 72-day wood phase), followed by a bǐngzǐ day () and a 72-day fire phase; a wùzǐ () day and a 72-day earth phase; a gēngzǐ () day and a 72-day metal phase, and a rénzǐ day () followed by a water phase. Other days were tracked using the Yellow River Map (He Tu). Another version is a four-quarters calendar (, or ). The weeks were ten days long, with one month consisting of three weeks. A year had 12 months, with a ten-day week intercalated in summer as needed to keep up with the tropical year. The 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches were used to mark days. A third version is the balanced calendar (). A year was 365.25 days, and a month was 29.5 days. After every 16th month, a half-month was intercalated. According to oracle bone records, the Shang dynasty calendar ( BC) was a balanced calendar with 12 to 14 months in a year; the month after the winter solstice was Zhēngyuè. Lunisolar calendars The first lunisolar calendar was the Zhou calendar (), introduced under the Zhou dynasty. This calendar sets the beginning of the year at the day of the new moon before the winter solstice. Several competing lunisolar calendars were also introduced, especially by states fighting Zhou control during the Warring States period. The state of Lu issued its own Lu calendar(). Jin issued the Xia calendar () in AD 102, with a year beginning on the day of the new moon nearest the March equinox. Qin issued the Zhuanxu calendar (), with a year beginning on the day of the new moon nearest the winter solstice. Song's Yin calendar () began its year on the day of the new moon after the winter solstice. These calendars are known as the six ancient calendars (), or quarter-remainder calendars, (), since all calculate a year as days long. Months begin on the day of the new moon, and a year has 12 or 13 months. Intercalary months (a 13th month) are added to the end of the year. The Qiang and Dai calendars are modern versions of the Zhuanxu calendar, used by mountain peoples. Qin and early Han dynasties After Qin Shi Huang unified China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, the Qin calendar () was introduced. It followed most of the rules governing the Zhuanxu calendar, but the month order was that of the Xia calendar; the year began with month 10 and ended with month 9, analogous to a Gregorian calendar beginning in October and ending in September. The intercalary month, known as the second Jiǔyuè (), was placed at the end of the year. The Qin calendar was used going into the Han dynasty. Han-Ming dynasties and Taichu calendar Emperor Wu of Han introduced reforms halfway through his reign. His Taichu Calendar () defined a solar year as days, and the lunar month was days. Since the 19 years cycle used for the 7 additional months were taken as an exact one, and not as an approximation. This calendar introduced the 24 solar terms, dividing the year into 24 equal parts. Solar terms were paired, with the 12 combined periods known as climate terms. The Taichu calendar established a framework for traditional calendars, with later calendars adding to the basic formula. The Dàmíng Calendar (), created in the Liang dynasty by Zu Chongzhi, introduced the equinoxes. The use of a syzygy to determine the lunar month was first described in the Tang dynasty Wùyín Yuán Calendar (). The Yuan dynasty Shòushí calendar () used spherical trigonometry to find the length of the tropical year. The calendar had a 365.2425-day year, identical to the Gregorian calendar. Modern calendars Although the Chinese calendar lost its place as the country's official calendar at the beginning of the 20th century, its use has continued. Some calendars followed the last calendar of the Qing dynasty, published in 1908. This caused confusion regarding the date of the 1978 Mid-Autumn Festival, and those areas then switched to the UTC+8-based calendar. Shíxiàn calendar During the late Ming dynasty, Xu Guangqi and his colleagues worked out a new calendar based on Western astronomical arithmetic; however, the new calendar was not released before the end of the dynasty. In the early Qing dynasty, Johann Adam Schall von Bell submitted the calendar to the Shunzhi Emperor. The Qing government issued it as the Shíxiàn (seasonal) calendar. In this calendar, the solar terms are 15° each along the ecliptic and it can be used as a solar calendar. However, the length of the climate term near the perihelion is less than 30 days and there may be two mid-climate terms. The Shíxiàn calendar changed the mid-climate-term rule to "decides the month in sequence, except the intercalary month." The present traditional calendar follows the Shíxiàn calendar, except: The baseline is Chinese Standard Time, rather than Beijing local time. Astronomical data is used, rather than mathematical calculations. Proposals To optimize the Chinese calendar, astronomers have proposed a number of changes. Gao Pingzi (; 1888–1970), a Chinese astronomer who co-founded the Purple Mountain Observatory, proposed that month numbers be calculated before the new moon and solar terms to be rounded to the day. Since the intercalary month is determined by the first month without a mid-climate and the mid-climate time varies by time zone, countries that adopted the calendar but calculate with their own time could vary from the time in China. Outlying areas Calendars of ethnic groups in the mountains and plateaus of southwestern China and the grasslands of northern China are based on their phenology and algorithms of traditional calendars of different periods, particularly the Tang and pre-Qin dynasties. Structure Elements Elements of the traditional Chinese calendar are: Day, from one midnight to the next Month, the time from one new moon to the next. These synodic months are about days long. Date, when a day occurs in the month. Days are numbered in sequence from 1 to 29 (or 30). Year, the time of one revolution of the earth around the sun. It is measured from the first day of spring (lunisolar year) or the winter solstice (solar year). A year is about days. Zodiac, year, or 30° on the ecliptic. A zodiac is about days. Solar term, year, or 15° on the ecliptic. A solar term is about days. Calendar month, when a month occurs within a year. Some months may be repeated. Calendar year, when it is agreed that one year ends and another begins. The year begins on the first day of spring, defined as the second (sometimes third) new moon after the winter solstice. A calendar year is 353–355 or 383–385 days long. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, similar to the Hindu and Hebrew, and ancient Babylonian calendars. Features The movement of the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (known as the seven luminaries) are the references for calendar calculations. The distance between Mercury and the sun is less than 30° (the sun's height at chénshí:, 8:00 to 10:00 am), so Mercury was sometimes called the "chen star" (); it is more commonly known as the "water star" (). Venus appears at dawn and dusk and is known as the "bright star" () or "long star" (). Mars looks like fire and occurs irregularly, and is known as the "fire star" ( or ). Mars is the punisher in Chinese mythology. When Mars is near Antares (), it is a bad omen and can forecast the death of an emperor or removal of a chancellor (). The period of Jupiter's revolution is 11.86 years, so Jupiter is called the "age star" (); 30° of Jupiter's revolution is about a year on earth. The period of Saturn's revolution is about 28 years. Known as the "guard star" (), Saturn guards one of the 28 Mansions every year. The Big Dipper is the celestial compass, and its handle's direction determines the season and month. The stars are divided into Three Enclosures and 28 Mansions according to their location in the sky relative to Ursa Minor, at the center. Each mansion is named with a character describing the shape of its principal asterism. The Three Enclosures are Purple Forbidden, (), Supreme Palace (), and Heavenly Market. () The eastern mansions are , , , , , , . Southern mansions are , , , , , , . Western mansions are , , , , , , . Northern mansions are , , , , , , . The moon moves through about one lunar mansion per day, so the 28 mansions were also used to count days. In the Tang dynasty, Yuan Tiangang () matched the 28 mansions, seven luminaries and yearly animal signs to yield combinations such as "horn-wood-flood dragon" (). Codes Several coding systems are used to avoid ambiguity. The Heavenly Stems is a decimal system. The Earthly Branches, a duodecimal system, mark dual hours (shí, or shíchen ()) and climatic terms. The 12 characters progress from the first day with the same branch as the month (first Yín day () of Zhēngyuè; first Mǎo day () of Èryuè), and count the days of the month. The stem-branches is a sexagesimal system. The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches make up 60 stem-branches. The stem branches mark days and years. The five elements of the Wu Xing are assigned to each of the stems, branches, and stem branches. Day China has used the Western hour-minute-second system to divide the day since the Qing dynasty. Several era-dependent systems had been in use; systems using multiples of twelve and ten were popular, since they could be easily counted and aligned with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Week As early as the Bronze-Age Xia dynasty, days were grouped into nine- or ten-day weeks known as xún (). Months consisted of three xún. The first 10 days were the early xún (), the middle 10 the mid xún (), and the last nine (or 10) days were the late xún (). Japan adopted this pattern, with 10-day-weeks known as . In Korea, they were known as sun (,). The structure of xún led to public holidays every five or ten days. During the Han dynasty, officials were legally required to rest every five days (twice a xún, or 5–6 times a month). The name of these breaks became huan (, "wash"). Grouping days into sets of ten is still used today in referring to specific natural events. "Three Fu" (), a 29–30-day period which is the hottest of the year, reflects its three-xún length. After the winter solstice, nine sets of nine days were counted to calculate the end of winter. The seven-day week was adopted from the Hellenistic system by the 4th century CE, although its source is unclear. It was again transmitted to China in the 8th century by Manichaeans via Kangju (a Central Asian kingdom near Samarkand), and is the most-used system in modern China. Month Months are defined by the time between new moons, which averages approximately days. There is no specified length of any particular Chinese month, so the first month could have 29 days (short month, ) in some years and 30 days (long month, ) in other years. A 12-month-year using this system has 354 days, which would drift significantly from the tropical year. To fix this, traditional Chinese years have a 13-month year approximately once every three years. The 13-month version has the same alternation of long and short months, but adds a 30-day leap month () at the end of the year. Years with 12 months are called common years, and 13-month years are known as long years. Although most of the above rules were used until the Tang dynasty, different eras used different systems to keep lunar and solar years aligned. The synodic month of the Taichu calendar was days long. The 7th-century, Tang-dynasty Wùyín Yuán Calendar was the first to determine month length by synodic month instead of the cycling method. Since then, month lengths have primarily been determined by observation and prediction. The days of the month are always written with two characters and numbered beginning with 1. Days one to 10 are written with the day's numeral, preceded by the character Chū (); Chūyī () is the first day of the month, and Chūshí () the 10th. Days 11 to 20 are written as regular Chinese numerals; Shíwǔ () is the 15th day of the month, and Èrshí () the 20th. Days 21 to 29 are written with the character Niàn () before the characters one through nine; Niànsān (), for example, is the 23rd day of the month. Day 30 (as applicable) is written as the numeral Sānshí (). History books use days of the month numbered with the 60 stem-branches: Because astronomical observation determines month length, dates on the calendar correspond to moon phases. The first day of each month is the new moon. On the seventh or eighth day of each month, the first-quarter moon is visible in the afternoon and early evening. On the 15th or 16th day of each month, the full moon is visible all night. On the 22nd or 23rd day of each month, the last-quarter moon is visible late at night and in the morning. Since the beginning of the month is determined by when the new moon occurs, other countries using this calendar use their own time standards to calculate it; this results in deviations. The first new moon in 1968 was at 16:29 UTC on 29 January. Since North Vietnam used UTC+07:00 to calculate their Vietnamese calendar and South Vietnam used UTC+08:00 (Beijing time) to calculate theirs, North Vietnam began the Tết holiday at 29 January at 23:29 while South Vietnam began it on 30 January at 00:15. The time difference allowed asynchronous attacks in the Tet Offensive. Names of months Lunar months were originally named according to natural phenomena. Current naming conventions use numbers as the month names. Every month is also associated with one of the twelve Earthly Branches. Gregorian dates are approximate and should be used with caution. Many years have intercalary months. Chinese lunar date conventions Though the numbered month names are often used for the corresponding month number in the Gregorian calendar, it is important to realize that the numbered month names are not interchangeable with the Gregorian months when talking about lunar dates. Incorrect: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on 5 May in the Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on 9 September 15 January, and 7 July in the Lunar Calendar, respectively. Correct: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on Wǔyuè 5th (or, 5th day of the fifth month) in the Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on Jiǔyuè 9th (or, 9th day of the ninth month), Zhēngyuè 15th (or, 15th day of the first month), and Qīyuè 7th (or, 7th day of the seventh month) in the Lunar Calendar, respectively. Alternate Chinese Zodiac correction: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on Horse Month 5th on Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on Dog Month 9th, Tiger Month 15th, and Monkey Month 7th on Lunar Calendar, respectively. One may even find out the heavenly stem and earthly branch corresponding to a particular day in the month, and those corresponding to its month, and those to its year, to determine the Four Pillars of Destiny associated with it, for which the Tung Shing, also referred to as the Chinese Almanac of the year, or the Huangli, and containing the essential information concerning Chinese astrology, is the most convenient publication to consult. Days rotate through a sexagenary cycle marked by coordination between heavenly stems and earthly branches, hence the referral to the Four Pillars of Destiny as, "Bazi", or "Birth Time Eight Characters", with each pillar consisting of a character for its corresponding heavenly stem, and another for its earthly branch. Since Huangli days are sexagenaric, their order is quite independent of their numeric order in each month, and of their numeric order within a week (referred to as True Animals in relation to the Chinese zodiac). Therefore, it does require painstaking calculation for one to arrive at the Four Pillars of Destiny of a particular given date, which rarely outpaces the convenience of simply consulting the Huangli by looking up its Gregorian date. Solar term The solar year (), the time between winter solstices, is divided into 24 solar terms known as jié qì (節氣). Each term is a 15° portion of the ecliptic. These solar terms mark both Western and Chinese seasons, as well as equinoxes, solstices, and other Chinese events. The even solar terms (marked with "Z", for ) are considered the major terms, while the odd solar terms (marked with "J", for ) are deemed minor. The solar terms qīng míng (清明) on 5 April and dōng zhì (冬至) on 22 December are both celebrated events in China. Solar year The calendar solar year, known as the suì, () begins at the December solstice and proceeds through the 24 solar terms. Due to the fact that the speed of the Sun's apparent motion in the elliptical is variable, the time between major solar terms is not fixed. This variation in time between major solar terms results in different solar year lengths. There are generally 11 or 12 complete months, plus two incomplete months around the winter solstice, in a solar year. The complete months are numbered from 0 to 10, and the incomplete months are considered the 11th month. If there are 12 complete months in the solar year, it is known as a leap solar year, or leap suì. Due to the inconsistencies in the length of the solar year, different versions of the traditional calendar might have different average solar year lengths. For example, one solar year of the 1st century BC Tàichū calendar is (365.25016) days. A solar year of the 13th-century Shòushí calendar is (365.2425) days, identical to the Gregorian calendar. The additional .00766 day from the Tàichū calendar leads to a one-day shift every 130.5 years. Pairs of solar terms are climate terms, or solar months. The first solar term is "pre-climate" (), and the second is "mid-climate" (). If there are 12 complete months within a solar year, The first month without a mid-climate is the leap, or intercalary, month. In other words, the first month that doesn't include a major solar term is the leap month. Leap months are numbered with rùn , the character for "intercalary", plus the name of the month they follow. In 2017, the intercalary month after month six was called Rùn Liùyuè, or "intercalary sixth month" () and written as 6i or 6+. The next intercalary month (in 2020, after month four) will be called Rùn Sìyuè () and written 4i or 4+. Lunisolar year The lunisolar year begins with the first spring month, Zhēngyuè (), and ends with the last winter month, Làyuè (). All other months are named for their number in the month order. Years were traditionally numbered by the reign in ancient China, but this was abolished after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. For example, the year from 8 February 2016 to 27 January 2017 was a Bǐngshēn year () of . During the Tang dynasty, the Earthly Branches were used to mark the months from December 761 to May 762. Over this period, the year began with the winter solstice. Age reckoning In China, a person's official age is based on the Gregorian calendar. For traditional use, age is based on the Chinese Sui calendar. 100 days after birth, a child is considered one year old,(9 months gestation plus 3) using ordinal numerals (instead of "zero" using cardinal numerals); after each Chinese New Year, one year is added to their traditional age. That is, age is the number of Chinese years in which they have lived. Because of the potential for confusion, infant ages are often given in months instead of years. After the Gregorian calendar's introduction in China, the Chinese traditional-age was referred to as the "nominal age" () and the Gregorian age was known as the "real age" (). Year-numbering systems Eras In ancient China, years were numbered from a new emperor's assumption of the throne or an existing emperor's announcement of a new era name. The first recorded reign title was Jiànyuán (), from 140 BC; the last reign title was Xuāntǒng (), from AD 1908. The era system was abolished in 1912, after which the current or Republican era was used. Stem-branches The 60 stem-branches have been used to mark the date since the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). Astrologers knew that the orbital period of Jupiter is about 4,332 days. Since 4332 is 12 × 361, Jupiter's orbital period was divided into 12 years () of 361 days each. The stem-branches system solved the era system's problem of unequal reign lengths. Continuous numbering Nomenclature similar to that of the Christian era has occasionally been used: Huángdì year (), starting at the beginning of the reign of the Yellow Emperor (year 1 at 2697 BC or 2698 BC; year or at AD) Yáo year (), starting at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Yao (year 1 at 2156 BC; year at AD) Gònghé year (), starting at the beginning of the Gonghe Regency (year 1 at 841 BC; year at AD) Confucius year (), starting at the birth year of Confucius (year 1 at 551 BC; year at AD) Unity year (), starting at the beginning of the reign of Qin Shi Huang (year 1 at 221 BC; year at AD) No reference date is universally accepted. The most popular is the Gregorian calendar (). On 2 January 1912, Sun Yat-sen announced changes to the official calendar and era. 1 January was 14 Shíyīyuè 4609 Huángdì year, assuming a year 1 of 2698 BC, which makes at AD. The change was adopted by many overseas Chinese communities, such as San Francisco's Chinatown. During the 17th century, the Jesuits tried to determine the epochal year of the Han calendar. In his Sinicae historiae decas prima (published in Munich in 1658), Martino Martini (1614–1661) dated the ascension of the Yellow Emperor to 2697 BC and began the Chinese calendar with the reign of Fuxi (which, according to Martini, began in 2952 BC. Philippe Couplet's 1686 Chronological table of Chinese monarchs (Tabula chronologica monarchiae sinicae) gave the same date for the Yellow Emperor. The Jesuits' dates provoked interest in Europe, where they were used for comparison with Biblical chronology. Modern Chinese chronology has generally accepted Martini's dates, except that it usually places the reign of the Yellow Emperor at 2698 BC and omits his predecessors Fuxi and Shennong as "too legendary to include". Publications began using the estimated birth date of the Yellow Emperor as the first year of the Han calendar in 1903, with newspapers and magazines proposing different dates. The province of Jiangsu counted 1905 as the year 4396 (using a year 1 of 2491 BC, and implying that is AD), and the newspaper Ming Pao () reckoned 1905 as 4603 (using a year 1 of 2698 BC, and implying that is AD). Liu Shipei (, 1884–1919) created the Yellow Emperor Calendar, with year 1 as the birth of the emperor (which he determined as 2711 BC, implying that is AD). There is no evidence that this calendar was used before the 20th century. Liu calculated that the 1900 international expedition sent by the Eight-Nation Alliance to suppress the Boxer Rebellion entered Beijing in the 4611th year of the Yellow Emperor. Chinese New Year The date of the Chinese New Year accords with the patterns of the lunisolar calendar and hence is variable from year to year. However, two general rules govern the date. Firstly, Chinese New Year transpires on the second new moon following the December solstice. If there is a leap month after the eleventh or twelfth month, then Chinese New Year falls on the third new moon after the December solstice. Alternatively, Chinese New Year will fall on the new moon that is closest to lì chūn, or the solar term that begins spring (typically falls on 4 February). However, this rule is not as reliable since it can be difficult to determine which new moon is the closest in the case of an early or late Chinese New Year. It has been found that Chinese New Year moves back by either 10, 11, or 12 days in some years. If it falls before 21 January, then it moves forward in the next year by either 18, 19, or 20 days. Phenology The plum-rains season (), the rainy season in late spring and early summer, begins on the first bǐng day after Mangzhong () and ends on the first wèi day after Xiaoshu (). The Three Fu () are three periods of hot weather, counted from the first gēng day after the summer solstice. The first fu () is 10 days long. The mid-fu () is 10 or 20 days long. The last fu () is 10 days from the first gēng day after the beginning of autumn. The Shujiu cold days () are the 81 days after the winter solstice (divided into nine sets of nine days), and are considered the coldest days of the year. Each nine-day unit is known by its order in the set, followed by "nine" (). Common holidays based on the Chinese (lunisolar) calendar There are several traditional and religious holidays shared by communities throughout the world that use the Chinese (Lunisolar) calendar: Holidays with the same day and same month The Chinese New Year (known as the Spring Festival/春節 in China) is on the first day of the first month and was traditionally called the Yuan Dan (元旦) or Zheng Ri (正日). In Vietnam, it is known as Tết Nguyên Đán () and in Korea, it is known as 설날. Traditionally it was the most important holiday of the year. It is an official holiday in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. It is also a public holiday in Thailand's Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and Satun provinces and is an official public school holiday in New York City. The Double Third Festival is on the third day of the third month and in Korea is known as 삼짇날 (samjinnal). The Dragon Boat Festival, or the Duanwu Festival (端午節), is on the fifth day of the fifth month and is an official holiday in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It is also celebrated in Vietnam where it is known as Tết Đoan Ngọ (節端午) and in Korea where it is known as 단오 (端午) (Dano) or 수릿날 (戌衣日/水瀨日) (surinal) (both Hanja are used as they are homonyms). The Qixi Festival (七夕節) is celebrated in the evening of the seventh day of the seventh month. It is also celebrated in Vietnam where it is known as Thất tịch (七夕) and in Korea where is known as 칠석 (七夕) (chilseok). The Double Ninth Festival (重陽節) is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month. It is also celebrated in Vietnam where it is known as Tết Trùng Cửu (節重九) and in Korea where it is known as 중양절 (jungyangjeol). Full moon holidays (holidays on the fifteenth day) The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month and was traditionally called the Yuan Xiao (元宵) or Shang Yuan Festival (上元節). In Vietnam, it is known as Tết Thượng Nguyên (節上元) and in Korea, it is known as 대보름 (大보름) Daeboreum (or the Great Full Month). The Zhong Yuan Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. In Vietnam, it is celebrated as Tết Trung Nguyên (中元節) or Lễ Vu Lan (禮盂蘭) and in Korea it is known as 백중 (百中/百種) Baekjong or 망혼일 (亡魂日) Manghongil (Deceased Spirit Day) or 중원 (中元) Jungwon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. In Vietnam, it is celebrated as Tết Trung Thu (節中秋) and in Korea it is known as 추석 (秋夕) Chuseok. The Xia Yuan Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the tenth month. In Vietnam, it is celebrated as Tết Hạ Nguyên (節下元). Celebrations of the twelfth month The Laba Festival is on the eighth day of the twelfth month. It is the enlightenment day of Sakyamuni Buddha and is celebrated in Korea as 성도재일 (seongdojaeil) and in Vietnam is known as Lễ Vía Phật Thích Ca Thành Đạo. The Kitchen God Festival is celebrated on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month in northern regions of China or on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month in southern regions of China. In Vietnam it is known as Tết Táo Quân (節竈君). Chinese New Year's Eve is also known as the Chuxi Festival and is celebrated on the evening of the last day of the lunar calendar. It is celebrated wherever the lunar calendar is observed. Celebrations of solar-term holidays The Qingming Festival (清明节) is celebrated on the fifteenth day after the Spring Equinox. It is celebrated in Vietnam as Tết Thanh Minh (節清明). The Dongzhi Festival (冬至) or the Winter Solstice is celebrated as Lễ hội Đông Chí (禮會冬至) in Vietnam and as 동지 (冬至) in Korea. Religious holidays based on the lunar calendar East Asian Mahayana, Daoist, and some Cao Dai holidays and/or vegetarian observances are based on the Lunar Calendar. Celebrations in Japan Many of the above holidays were celebrated in pre-Meiji Japan based on the lunar calendar, but are now celebrated based on the Gregorian calendar. Double celebrations due to intercalary months In the case where there is a corresponding intercalary month, the holidays may be celebrated twice. For example, in the hypothetical situation where there is an additional intercalary seventh month, the Zhong Yuan Festival will be celebrated on the seventh month followed by another celebration on the intercalary seventh month. See also Chinese calendar correspondence table Chinese culture Chinese numerals East Asian age reckoning Guo Shoujing, an astronomer tasked with calendar reform during the 13th century Horology List of festivals in China List of festivals in Asia Public holidays in China Traditional Chinese timekeeping Chinese era name Notes References Further reading Ho, Kai-Lung (何啟龍) (2006). "The Political Power and the Mongolian Translation of the Chinese Calendar During the Yuan Dynasty". Central Asiatic Journal 50 (1). Harrassowitz Verlag: 57–69. The Political Power and the Mongolian Translation of the Chinese Calendar During the Yuan Dynasty. External links Calendars Chinese months Gregorian-Lunar calendar years (1901–2100) Chinese calendar and holidays Chinese calendar with Auspicious Events Chinese Calendar Online Calendar conversion 2000-year Chinese-Western calendar converter From 1 AD to 2100 AD. Useful for historical studies. To use, put the western year 年 month 月day 日in the bottom row and click on 執行. Western-Chinese calendar converter Rules Mathematics of the Chinese Calendar The Structure of the Chinese Calendar Calendar Lunisolar calendars Specific calendars

The term carotene (also carotin, from the Latin carota, "carrot") is used for many related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but in general cannot be made by animals (with the exception of some aphids and spider mites which acquired the synthesizing genes from fungi). Carotenes are photosynthetic pigments important for photosynthesis. Carotenes contain no oxygen atoms. They absorb ultraviolet, violet, and blue light and scatter orange or red light, and (in low concentrations) yellow light. Carotenes are responsible for the orange colour of the carrot, after which this class of chemicals is named, and for the colours of many other fruits, vegetables and fungi (for example, sweet potatoes, chanterelle and orange cantaloupe melon). Carotenes are also responsible for the orange (but not all of the yellow) colours in dry foliage. They also (in lower concentrations) impart the yellow coloration to milk-fat and butter. Omnivorous animal species which are relatively poor converters of coloured dietary carotenoids to colourless retinoids have yellowed-coloured body fat, as a result of the carotenoid retention from the vegetable portion of their diet. The typical yellow-coloured fat of humans and chickens is a result of fat storage of carotenes from their diets. Carotenes contribute to photosynthesis by transmitting the light energy they absorb to chlorophyll. They also protect plant tissues by helping to absorb the energy from singlet oxygen, an excited form of the oxygen molecule O2 which is formed during photosynthesis. β-Carotene is composed of two retinyl groups, and is broken down in the mucosa of the human small intestine by β-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase to retinal, a form of vitamin A. β-Carotene can be stored in the liver and body fat and converted to retinal as needed, thus making it a form of vitamin A for humans and some other mammals. The carotenes α-carotene and γ-carotene, due to their single retinyl group (β-ionone ring), also have some vitamin A activity (though less than β-carotene), as does the xanthophyll carotenoid β-cryptoxanthin. All other carotenoids, including lycopene, have no beta-ring and thus no vitamin A activity (although they may have antioxidant activity and thus biological activity in other ways). Animal species differ greatly in their ability to convert retinyl (beta-ionone) containing carotenoids to retinals. Carnivores in general are poor converters of dietary ionone-containing carotenoids. Pure carnivores such as ferrets lack β-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase and cannot convert any carotenoids to retinals at all (resulting in carotenes not being a form of vitamin A for this species); while cats can convert a trace of β-carotene to retinol, although the amount is totally insufficient for meeting their daily retinol needs. Molecular structure Chemically, carotenes are polyunsaturated hydrocarbons containing 40 carbon atoms per molecule, variable numbers of hydrogen atoms, and no other elements. Some carotenes are terminated by hydrocarbon rings, on one or both ends of the molecule. All are coloured to the human eye, due to extensive systems of conjugated double bonds. Structurally carotenes are tetraterpenes, meaning that they are synthesized biochemically from four 10-carbon terpene units, which in turn are formed from eight 5-carbon isoprene units. Carotenes are found in plants in two primary forms designated by characters from the Greek alphabet: alpha-carotene (α-carotene) and beta-carotene (β-carotene). Gamma-, delta-, epsilon-, and zeta-carotene (γ, δ, ε, and ζ-carotene) also exist. Since they are hydrocarbons, and therefore contain no oxygen, carotenes are fat-soluble and insoluble in water (in contrast with other carotenoids, the xanthophylls, which contain oxygen and thus are less chemically hydrophobic). History The discovery of carotene from carrot juice is credited to Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Wackenroder, a finding made during a search for antihelminthics, which he published in 1831. He obtained it in small ruby-red flakes soluble in ether, which when dissolved in fats gave 'a beautiful yellow colour'. William Christopher Zeise recognised its hydrocarbon nature in 1847, but his analyses gave him a composition of C5H8. It was Léon-Albert Arnaud in 1886 who confirmed its hydrocarbon nature and gave the formula C26H38, which is close to the theoretical composition of C40H56. Adolf Lieben in studies, also published in 1886, of the colouring matter in corpora lutea, first came across carotenoids in animal tissue, but did not recognise the nature of the pigment. Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum, in 1868–1869, after stereoscopic spectral examination, applied the term 'luteine'(lutein) to this class of yellow crystallizable substances found in animals and plants. Richard Martin Willstätter, who gained the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1915, mainly for his work on chlorophyll, assigned the composition of C40H56, distinguishing it from the similar but oxygenated xanthophyll, C40H56O2. With Heinrich Escher, in 1910, lycopene was isolated from tomatoes and shown to be an isomer of carotene. Later work by Escher also differentiated the 'luteal' pigments in egg yolk from that of the carotenes in cow corpus luteum. Dietary sources The following foods contain carotenes in notable amounts: carrots wolfberries (goji) cantaloupe mangoes red bell pepper papaya spinach kale sweet potato tomato dandelion greens broccoli collard greens winter squash pumpkin cassava Absorption from these foods is enhanced if eaten with fats, as carotenes are fat soluble, and if the food is cooked for a few minutes until the plant cell wall splits and the color is released into any liquid. 12 μg of dietary β-carotene supplies the equivalent of 1 μg of retinol, and 24 µg of α-carotene or β-cryptoxanthin provides the equivalent of 1 µg of retinol. Forms of carotene The two primary isomers of carotene, α-carotene and β-carotene, differ in the position of a double bond (and thus a hydrogen) in the cyclic group at one end (the right end in the diagram at right). β-Carotene is the more common form and can be found in yellow, orange, and green leafy fruits and vegetables. As a rule of thumb, the greater the intensity of the orange colour of the fruit or vegetable, the more β-carotene it contains. Carotene protects plant cells against the destructive effects of ultraviolet light. β-Carotene is an antioxidant. β-Carotene and physiology β-Carotene and cancer An article on the American Cancer Society says that The Cancer Research Campaign has called for warning labels on β-carotene supplements to caution smokers that such supplements may increase the risk of lung cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine published an article in 1994 about a trial which examined the relationship between daily supplementation of β-carotene and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) and the incidence of lung cancer. The study was done using supplements and researchers were aware of the epidemiological correlation between carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables and lower lung cancer rates. The research concluded that no reduction in lung cancer was found in the participants using these supplements, and furthermore, these supplements may, in fact, have harmful effects. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute and The New England Journal of Medicine published articles in 1996 about a trial with a goal to determine if vitamin A (in the form of retinyl palmitate) and β-carotene (at about 30 mg/day, which is 10 times the Reference Daily Intake) supplements had any beneficial effects to prevent cancer. The results indicated an increased risk of lung and prostate cancers for the participants who consumed the β-carotene supplement and who had lung irritation from smoking or asbestos exposure, causing the trial to be stopped early. A review of all randomized controlled trials in the scientific literature by the Cochrane Collaboration published in JAMA in 2007 found that synthetic β-carotene increased mortality by 1-8 % (Relative Risk 1.05, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.08). However, this meta-analysis included two large studies of smokers, so it is not clear that the results apply to the general population. The review only studied the influence of synthetic antioxidants and the results should not be translated to potential effects of fruits and vegetables. β-Carotene and photosensitivity Oral β-carotene is prescribed to people suffering from erythropoietic protoporphyria. It provides them some relief from photosensitivity. Carotenemia Carotenemia or hypercarotenemia is excess carotene, but unlike excess vitamin A, carotene is non-toxic. Although hypercarotenemia is not particularly dangerous, it can lead to an oranging of the skin (carotenodermia), but not the conjunctiva of eyes (thus easily distinguishing it visually from jaundice). It is most commonly associated with consumption of an abundance of carrots, but it also can be a medical sign of more dangerous conditions. β-Carotene and nanotechnology β-Carotene and lycopene molecules can be encapsulated into carbon nanotubes enhancing the optical properties of carbon nanotubes. Efficient energy transfer occurs between the encapsulated dye and nanotube — light is absorbed by the dye and without significant loss is transferred to the single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT). Encapsulation increases chemical and thermal stability of carotene molecules; it also allows their isolation and individual characterization. Production Most of the world's synthetic supply of carotene comes from a manufacturing complex located in Freeport, Texas and owned by DSM. The other major supplier BASF also uses a chemical process to produce β-carotene. Together these suppliers account for about 85% of the β-carotene on the market. In Spain Vitatene produces natural β-carotene from fungus Blakeslea trispora, as does DSM but at much lower amount when compared to its synthetic β-carotene operation. In Australia, organic β-carotene is produced by Aquacarotene Limited from dried marine algae Dunaliella salina grown in harvesting ponds situated in Karratha, Western Australia. BASF Australia is also producing β-carotene from microalgae grown in two sites in Australia that are the world's largest algae farms. In Portugal, the industrial biotechnology company Biotrend is producing natural all-trans-β-carotene from a non-genetically-modified bacteria of the genus Sphingomonas isolated from soil. Carotenes are also found in palm oil, corn, and in the milk of dairy cows, causing cow's milk to be light yellow, depending on the feed of the cattle, and the amount of fat in the milk (high-fat milks, such as those produced by Guernsey cows, tend to be yellower because their fat content causes them to contain more carotene). Carotenes are also found in some species of termites, where they apparently have been picked up from the diet of the insects. Total synthesis There are currently two commonly used methods of total synthesis of β-carotene. The first was developed by BASF and is based on the Wittig reaction with Wittig himself as patent holder:<ref name="β-Carotin-1">Wittig G.; Pommer H.: DBP 954247, 1956</ref> The second is a Grignard reaction, elaborated by Hoffman-La Roche from the original synthesis of Inhoffen et al. They are both symmetrical; the BASF synthesis is C20 + C20, and the Hoffman-La Roche synthesis is C19 + C2 + C19. Nomenclature Carotenes are carotenoids containing no oxygen. Carotenoids containing some oxygen are known as xanthophylls. The two ends of the β-carotene molecule are structurally identical, and are called β-rings. Specifically, the group of nine carbon atoms at each end form a β-ring. The α-carotene molecule has a β-ring at one end; the other end is called an ε-ring. There is no such thing as an "α-ring". These and similar names for the ends of the carotenoid molecules form the basis of a systematic naming scheme, according to which: α-carotene is β,ε-carotene; β-carotene is β,β-carotene; γ-carotene (with one β ring and one uncyclized end that is labelled psi'') is β,ψ-carotene; δ-carotene (with one ε ring and one uncyclized end) is ε,ψ-carotene; ε-carotene is ε,ε-carotene lycopene is ψ,ψ-carotene ζ-Carotene is the biosynthetic precursor of neurosporene, which is the precursor of lycopene, which, in turn, is the precursor of the carotenes α through ε. Food additive Carotene is also used as a substance to colour products such as juice, cakes, desserts, butter and margarine. It is approved for use as a food additive in the EU (listed as additive E160a) Australia and New Zealand (listed as 160a) and the US. See also Antioxidant References External links β-Carotene website by Martha Evens, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol Berkeley Wellness Guide to Dietary Supplements β-Carotene on University of Maryland Medical Center Vitamin A Food colorings Carotenoids Hydrocarbons E-number additives

Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice in China until the 20th century that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and their experience could vary tremendously according to their masters' whim. During the Mongol conquests, both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol, and in Hindu India, where it could be practiced with women with whom marriage was considered undesirable, such as those from a lower caste. Many Middle Eastern societies utilized concubinage for reproduction. The practice of a barren wife giving her husband a slave as a concubine is recorded in the Code of Hammurabi and the Bible, where Abraham takes Hagar as pilegesh. The children of such relationships would be regarded as legitimate. Such concubinage was also widely practiced in the pre-modern Muslim world, and many of the rulers of the Abbasid caliphate and the Ottoman Empire were born out of such relationships. Throughout Africa, from Egypt to South Africa, slave concubinage resulted in racially-mixed populations. The practice declined as a result of the abolition of slavery. In ancient Rome, the practice was formalized as concubinatus, the Latin term from which the English "concubine" is derived. Romans practiced it monogamously and the concubine's children did not receive inheritance. The church tried to stamp out concubinage, but it remained widespread in Christian societies until the early modern era. In European colonies and American slave plantations, single and married men entered into long-term sexual relationships with local women. In the Dutch East Indies, concubinage created mixed-race Indo-European communities. In the Judeo-Christian world, the term concubine has almost exclusively been applied to women, although a cohabiting male may also be called a concubine. In the 21st century, concubinage is used in some Western countries as a gender neutral legal term to refer cohabitation (including cohabitation between same-sex partners). Etymology and usage The English terms "concubine" and "concubinage" appeared in the 14th century, deriving from Latin terms in Roman society and law. The term concubine (c. 1300), meaning "a paramour, a woman who cohabits with a man without being married to him", comes from the Latin (f.) and (m.), terms that in Roman law meant "one who lives unmarried with a married man or woman". The Latin terms are derived from the verb from "to lie with, to lie together, to cohabit," an assimilation of "com", a prefix meaning "with, together" and "", meaning "to lie down". Concubine is a term used widely in historical and academic literature, and which varies considerably depending on the context. In the twenty-first century, it typically refers explicitly to extramarital affection, "either to a mistress or to a sex slave", without the same emphasis on the cohabiting aspect of the original meaning. Concubinage emerged as an English term in the late 14th century to mean the "state of being a concubine; act or practice of cohabiting in intimacy without legal marriage", and was derived from Latin by means of Old French, where the term may in turn have been derived from the Latin , an institution in ancient Rome that meant "a permanent cohabitation between persons to whose marriage there were no legal obstacles". It has also been described more plainly as a long-term sexual relationship between a man and a woman who are not legally married. In pre-modern to modern law, concubinage has been used in certain jurisdictions to describe cohabitation, and in France, was formalized in 1999 as the French equivalent of a civil union. The US legal system also used to use the term in reference to cohabitation, but the term never evolved further and is now considered outdated. Characteristics Forms of concubinage have existed in all cultures, though the prevalence of the practice and the rights and expectations of the persons involved have varied considerably, as have the rights of the offspring born from such relationships, a concubine's legal and social status, their role within a household and society's perceptions of the institution. A relationship of concubinage could take place voluntarily, with the parties involved agreeing not to enter into marriage, or involuntarily (i.e. through slavery). In slave-owning societies, most concubines were slaves, also called "slave-concubines". This institutionalization of concubinage with female slaves dates back to Babylonian times, and has been practiced in patriarchal cultures throughout history. Whatever the status and rights of the persons involved, they were typically inferior to those of a legitimate spouse, often with the rights of inheritance being limited or excluded. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. In the past, a couple may not have been able to marry because of differences in social class, ethnicity or religion, or a man might want to avoid the legal and financial complications of marriage. Practical impediments or social disincentives for a couple to marry could include differences in social rank status, an existing marriage and laws against bigamy, religious or professional prohibitions, or a lack of recognition by the appropriate authorities. The concubine in a concubinage tended to have a lower social status than the married party or home owner, and this was often the reason why concubinage was preferred to marriage. A concubine could be an "alien" in a society that did not recognize marriages between foreigners and citizens. Alternatively, they might be a slave, or person from a poor family interested in a union with a man from the nobility. In other cases, some social groups were forbidden to marry, such as Roman soldiers, and concubinage served as a viable alternative to marriage. In polygynous situations, the number of concubines there were permitted within an individual concubinage arrangement has varied greatly. In Roman Law, where monogamy was expected, the relationship was identical (and alternative) to marriage except for the lack of marital affection from both or one of the parties, which conferred rights related to property, inheritance and social rank. By contrast, in parts of Asia and the Middle East, powerful men kept as many concubines as they could financially support. Some royal households had thousands of concubines. In such cases concubinage served as a status symbol and for the production of sons. In societies that accepted polygyny, there were advantages to having a concubine over a mistress, as children from a concubine were legitimate, while children from a mistress would be considered "bastards". Categorization Scholars have made attempts to categorize various patterns of concubinage practiced in the world. The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology gives four distinct forms of concubinage: Royal concubinage, where politics was connected to reproduction. Concubines became consorts to the ruler, fostered diplomatic relations, and perpetuated the royal bloodline. Imperial concubines could be selected from the general population or prisoners of war. Examples of this included imperial China, Ottoman empire and Sultanate of Kano. Elite concubinage, which offered men the chance to increase social status, and satisfy desires. Most such men already had a wife. In East Asia this practice was justified by Confucianism. In the Muslim world, this concubinage resembled slavery. Concubinage could be a form of common-law relationship that allowed a couple, who did not or wish to marry, to live together. This was prevalent in medieval Europe and colonial Asia. In Europe, some families discouraged younger sons from marriage to prevent division of family wealth among many heirs. Concubinage could also function as a form of sexual enslavement of women in a patriarchal system. In such cases the children of the concubine could become permanently inferior to the children of the wife. Examples include Mughal India and Choson Korea. Junius P. Rodriguez gives three cultural patterns of concubinage: Asian, Islamic and European. Antiquity Mesopotamia In Mesopotamia, it was customary for a sterile wife to give her husband a slave as a concubine to bear children. The status of such concubines was ambiguous; they normally could not be sold but they remained the slave of the wife. However, in the late Babylonian period, there are reports that concubines could be sold. Assyria Old Assyrian Period (20th–18th centuries BC) In general, marriage was monogamous. "If after two or three years of marriage the wife had not given birth to any children, the husband was allowed to buy a slave (who could also be chosen by the wife) in order to produce heirs. This woman, however, remained a slave and never gained the status of a second wife." Middle Assyrian Period (14th–11th centuries BC) In the Middle Assyrian Period, the main wife (assatu) wore a veil in the street, as could a concubine (esirtu) if she were accompanying the main wife, or if she were married. "If a man veils his concubine in public, by declaring 'she is my wife,' this woman shall be his wife." It was illegal for unmarried women, prostitutes and slave women to wear a veil in the street. "The children of a concubine were lower in rank than the descendants of a wife, but they could inherit if the marriage of the latter remained childless." Ancient Egypt While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife. This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings. Concubinage was a common occupation for women in ancient Egypt, especially for talented women. A request for forty concubines by Amenhotep III (c. 1386–1353 BC) to a man named Milkilu, Prince of Gezer states:"Behold, I have sent you Hanya, the commissioner of the archers, with merchandise in order to have beautiful concubines, i.e. weavers. Silver, gold, garments, all sort of precious stones, chairs of ebony, as well as all good things, worth 160 deben. In total: forty concubines—the price of every concubine is forty of silver. Therefore, send very beautiful concubines without blemish." — (Lewis, 146)Concubines would be kept in the pharaoh's harem. Amenhotep III kept his concubines in his palace at Malkata, which was one of the most opulent in the history of Egypt. The king was considered to be deserving of many women as long as he cared for his Great Royal Wife as well. Ancient Greece In Ancient Greece the practice of keeping a concubine ( pallakís) was common among the upper classes, and they were for the most part women who were slaves or foreigners, but occasional free born based on family arrangements (typically from poor families). Children produced by slaves remained slaves and those by non-slave concubines varied over time; sometimes they had the possibility of citizenship. The law prescribed that a man could kill another man caught attempting a relationship with his concubine. By the mid 4th century concubines could inherit property, but, like wives, they were treated as sexual property. While references to the sexual exploitation of maidservants appear in literature, it was considered disgraceful for a man to keep such women under the same roof as his wife. Apollodorus of Acharnae said that hetaera were concubines when they had a permanent relationship with a single man, but nonetheless used the two terms interchangeably. Ancient Rome A concubinatus (Latin for "concubinage" – see also concubina, "concubine", considered milder than paelex, and concubinus, "bridegroom") was an institution of quasi-marriage between Roman citizens who for various reasons did not want to enter into a full marriage. The institution was often found in unbalanced couples, where one of the members belonged to a higher social class or where one of the two was freed and the other one was freeborn. However it differed from a contubernium, where at least one of the partners was a slave. The relationship between a free citizen and a slave or between slaves was known as contubernium. The term describes a wide range of situations, from simple sexual slavery to quasi-marriage. For instance, according to Suetonius, Caenis, a slave and secretary of Antonia Minor, was Vespasian's wife "in all but name", until her death in AD 74. It was also not uncommon for slaves to create family-like unions, allowed but not protected by the law. The law allowed a slave-owner to free the slave and enter into a concubinatus or a regular marriage. Asia Concubinage was highly popular before the early 20th century all over East Asia. The main functions of concubinage for men was for pleasure and producing additional heirs, whereas for women the relationship could provide financial security. Children of concubines had lower rights in account to inheritance, which was regulated by the Dishu system. In places like China and the Muslim world, the concubine of a king could achieve power, especially if her son also became a monarch. China In China, successful men often had concubines until the practice was outlawed when the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. The standard Chinese term translated as "concubine" was qiè , a term that has been used since ancient times. Concubinage resembled marriage in that concubines were recognized sexual partners of a man and were expected to bear children for him. Unofficial concubines () were of lower status, and their children were considered illegitimate. The English term concubine is also used for what the Chinese refer to as pínfēi (), or "consorts of emperors", an official position often carrying a very high rank. In premodern China it was illegal and socially disreputable for a man to have more than one wife at a time, but it was acceptable to have concubines. From the earliest times wealthy men purchased concubines and added them to their household in addition to their wife. The purchase of concubine was similar to the purchase of a slave, yet concubines had a higher social status. In the earliest records a man could have as many concubines as he could afford to purchase. From the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) onward, the number of concubines a man could have was limited by law. The higher rank and the more noble identity a man possessed, the more concubines he was permitted to have. A concubine's treatment and situation was variable and was influenced by the social status of the male to whom she was attached, as well as the attitude of his wife. In the Book of Rites chapter on "The Pattern of the Family" () it says, "If there were betrothal rites, she became a wife; and if she went without these, a concubine." Wives brought a dowry to a relationship, but concubines did not. A concubinage relationship could be entered into without the ceremonies used in marriages, and neither remarriage nor a return to her natal home in widowhood were allowed to a concubine. The position of the concubine was generally inferior to that of the wife. Although a concubine could produce heirs, her children would be inferior in social status to a wife's children, although they were of higher status than illegitimate children. The child of a concubine had to show filial duty to two women, their biological mother and their legal mother—the wife of their father. After the death of a concubine, her sons would make an offering to her, but these offerings were not continued by the concubine's grandsons, who only made offerings to their grandfather's wife. There are early records of concubines allegedly being buried alive with their masters to "keep them company in the afterlife". Until the Song dynasty (960–1276), it was considered a serious breach of social ethics to promote a concubine to a wife. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the status of concubines improved. It became permissible to promote a concubine to wife, if the original wife had died and the concubine was the mother of the only surviving sons. Moreover, the prohibition against forcing a widow to remarry was extended to widowed concubines. During this period tablets for concubine-mothers seem to have been more commonly placed in family ancestral altars, and genealogies of some lineages listed concubine-mothers. Many of the concubines of the emperor of the Qing dynasty were freeborn women from prominent families. Concubines of men of lower social status could be either freeborn or slave. Imperial concubines, kept by emperors in the Forbidden City, had different ranks and were traditionally guarded by eunuchs to ensure that they could not be impregnated by anyone but the emperor. In Ming China (1368–1644) there was an official system to select concubines for the emperor. The age of the candidates ranged mainly from 14 to 16. Virtues, behavior, character, appearance and body condition were the selection criteria. Despite the limitations imposed on Chinese concubines, there are several examples in history and literature of concubines who achieved great power and influence. Lady Yehenara, otherwise known as Empress Dowager Cixi, was arguably one of the most successful concubines in Chinese history. Cixi first entered the court as a concubine to Xianfeng Emperor and gave birth to his only surviving son, who later became Tongzhi Emperor. She eventually became the de facto ruler of Qing China for 47 years after her husband's death. An examination of concubinage features in one of the Four Great Classical Novels, Dream of the Red Chamber (believed to be a semi-autobiographical account of author Cao Xueqin's family life). Three generations of the Jia family are supported by one notable concubine of the emperor, Jia Yuanchun, the full elder sister of the male protagonist Jia Baoyu. In contrast, their younger half-siblings by concubine Zhao, Jia Tanchun and Jia Huan, develop distorted personalities because they are the children of a concubine. Emperors' concubines and harems are emphasized in 21st-century romantic novels written for female readers and set in ancient times. As a plot element, the children of concubines are depicted with a status much inferior to that in actual history. The zhai dou (，residential intrigue) and gong dou (，harem intrigue) genres show concubines and wives, as well as their children, scheming secretly to gain power. Empresses in the Palace, a gong dou type novel and TV drama, has had great success in 21st-century China. Hong Kong officially abolished the Great Qing Legal Code in 1971, thereby making concubinage illegal. Casino magnate Stanley Ho of Macau took his "second wife" as his official concubine in 1957, while his "third and fourth wives" retain no official status. Mongols Polygyny and concubinage were very common in Mongol society, especially for powerful Mongol men. Genghis Khan, Ögedei Khan, Jochi, Tolui, and Kublai Khan (among others) all had many wives and concubines. Genghis Khan frequently acquired wives and concubines from empires and societies that he had conquered, these women were often princesses or queens that were taken captive or gifted to him. Genghis Khan's most famous concubine was Möge Khatun, who, according to the Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni, was "given to Chinggis Khan by a chief of the Bakrin tribe, and he loved her very much." After Genghis Khan died, Möge Khatun became a wife of Ögedei Khan. Ögedei also favored her as a wife, and she frequently accompanied him on his hunting expeditions. Japan Before monogamy was legally imposed in the Meiji period, concubinage was common among the nobility. Its purpose was to ensure male heirs. For example, the son of an Imperial concubine often had a chance of becoming emperor. Yanagihara Naruko, a high-ranking concubine of Emperor Meiji, gave birth to Emperor Taishō, who was later legally adopted by Empress Haruko, Emperor Meiji's formal wife. Even among merchant families, concubinage was occasionally used to ensure heirs. Asako Hirooka, an entrepreneur who was the daughter of a concubine, worked hard to help her husband's family survive after the Meiji Restoration. She lost her fertility giving birth to her only daughter, Kameko; so her husband—with whom she got along well—took Asako's maid-servant as a concubine and fathered three daughters and a son with her. Kameko, as the child of the formal wife, married a noble man and matrilineally carried on the family name. A samurai could take concubines but their backgrounds were checked by higher-ranked samurai. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. Kidnapping a concubine, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not criminal. If the concubine was a commoner, a messenger was sent with betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax to ask for her parents' acceptance. Even though the woman would not be a legal wife, a situation normally considered a demotion, many wealthy merchants believed that being the concubine of a samurai was superior to being the legal wife of a commoner. When a merchant's daughter married a samurai, her family's money erased the samurai's debts, and the samurai's social status improved the standing of the merchant family. If a samurai's commoner concubine gave birth to a son, the son could inherit his father's social status. Concubines sometimes wielded significant influence. Nene, wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was known to overrule her husband's decisions at times and Yodo-dono, his concubine, became the de facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. Korea Joseon monarchs had a harem which contained concubines of different ranks. Empress Myeongseong managed to have sons, preventing sons of concubines from getting power. Children of concubines often had lower value in account of marriage. A daughter of concubine could not marry a wife-born son of the same class. For example, Jang Nok-su was a concubine-born daughter of a mayor, who was initially married to a slave-servant, and later became a high-ranking concubine of Yeonsangun. The Joseon dynasty established in 1392 debated whether the children of a free parent and a slave parent should be considered free or slave. The child of a scholar-official father and a slave-concubine mother was always free, although the child could not occupy government positions. India In Hindu India, concubinage could be practiced with women with whom marriage was undesirable, such as a woman from a lower-caste or a Muslim woman. Children born of concubinage followed the caste categorization of the mother. In medieval Rajasthan, the ruling Rajput family often had certain women called paswan, khawaas, pardayat. These women were kept by ruler if their beauty had impressed him, but without formal marriage. Sometimes they were given rights to income collected from a particular village, as queens did. Their children were socially accepted but did not receive a share in the ruling family's property and married others of the same status as them. Concubinage was practiced in elite Rajput households between 16th and 20th centuries. Female slave-servants or slave-performers could be elevated to the rank of concubine (called khavas, pavas) if a ruler found them attractive. The entry into concubinage was marked by a ritual; however, this ritual differentiated from rituals marking marriage. Rajputs did not take concubines from the lower castes and refrained from taking Brahmins and Rajputs. There are instances of wife's eloping with their Rajput lovers and becoming their concubines. One such event is the elopement of Anara and Maharaja Gaj Singh. Anara was a wife of a Nawab, while her lover was the Maharaja of Marwar. The Nawab accepted the fate of his wife and did not try to get her back. Europe Vikings Polygyny was common among Vikings, and rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines. Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines. Concubinage for Vikings was connected to slavery; the Vikings took both free women and slaves as concubines. Researchers have suggested that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands. Polygynous relationships in Viking society may have led to a shortage of eligible women for the average male; polygyny increases male-male competition in society because it creates a pool of unmarried men willing to engage in risky status-elevating and sex-seeking behaviors. Thus, the average Viking man could have been forced to perform riskier actions to gain wealth and power to be able to find suitable women. The concept was expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his semi imaginary History of The Normans. The Annals of Ulster depicts raptio and states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity". Early Christianity and Feudalism The Christian morals developed by Patristic writers largely promoted marriage as the only form of union between men and women. Both Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome strongly condemned the institution of concubinage. In parallel though, the late imperial Roman law improved the rights of the classical Roman concubinatus, reaching the point, with the Corpus Iuris Civilis by Justinian, of extending inheritance laws to these unions. The two views, Christian condemnation and secular continuity with the Roman legal system, continued to be in conflict throughout the entire Middle Age, until in the 14th and 15th centuries the Church outlawed concubinage in the territories under its control. Middle East In the Medieval Muslim Arab world, "concubine" (surriyya) referred to the female slave (jāriya), whether Muslim or non-Muslim, with whom her master engages in sexual intercourse in addition to household or other services. Such relationships were common in pre-Islamic Arabia and other pre-existing cultures of the wider region. Islam introduced legal restrictions and discipline to the concubinage and encouraged manumission. Islam furthermore endorsed educating, freeing or marrying female slaves if they embrace Islam abandoning polytheism or infidelity. In verse 23:6 in the Quran it is allowed to have sexual intercourse with concubines only after harmonizing rapport and relation with them. Children of concubines are generally declared as legitimate with or without wedlock, and the mother of a free child was considered free upon the death of the male partner. There is evidence that concubines had a higher rank than female slaves. Abu Hanifa and others argued for modesty-like practices for the concubine, recommending that the concubine be established in the home and their chastity be protected and not to misuse them for sale or sharing with friends or kins. While scholars exhorted masters to treat their slaves equally, a master was allowed to show favoritism towards a concubine. Some scholars recommended holding a wedding banquet (walima) to celebrate the concubinage relationship; however, this is not required in teachings of Islam and is rather the self-preferred opinions of certain non-liberal Islamic scholars. Even the Arabic term for concubine surriyya may have been derived from sarat meaning "eminence", indicating the concubine's higher status over other female slaves. The Qur'an does not use word "surriyya", but instead uses the expression "Ma malakat aymanukum" (that which your right hands own), which occurs 15 times in the book. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi explains that "two categories of women have been excluded from the general command of guarding the private parts: (a) wives, (b) women who are legally in one's possession". Some contend that concubinage was a pre-Islamic custom that was allowed to be practiced under Islam, with Jews and non-Muslim people to marry a concubine after teaching her, instructing her well and then giving her freedom. Others contend that concubines in Islam remained in use until the 19th century. In the traditions of the Abrahamic religions, Abraham had a concubine named Hagar, who was originally a slave of his wife Sarah. The story of Hagar would affect how concubinage was perceived in early Islamic history. Sikainiga writes that one rationale for concubinage in Islam was that "it satisfied the sexual desire of the female slaves and thereby prevented the spread of immorality in the Muslim community." Most Islamic schools of thought restricted concubinage to a relationship where the female slave was required to be monogamous to her master, (though the master's monogamy to her is not required), but according to Sikainga, in reality this was not always practiced and female slaves were targeted by other men of the master's household. These opinions of Sikaingia are controversial and contested. In ancient times, two sources for concubines were permitted under an Islamic regime. Primarily, non-Muslim women taken as prisoners of war were made concubines as happened after the Battle of the Trench, or in numerous later Caliphates. It was encouraged to manumit slave women who rejected their initial faith and embraced Islam, or to bring them into formal marriage. The expansion of various Muslim dynasties resulted in acquisitions of concubines, through purchase, gifts from other rulers, and captives of war. To have a large number of concubines became a symbol of status. Almost all Abbasid caliphs were born to concubines. Several Twelver Shia imams were also born to concubines. Similarly, the sultans of the Ottoman empire were often the son of a concubine. As a result concubines came to exercise a degree of influence over Ottoman politics. Many concubines developed social networks, and accumulated personal wealth, both of which allowed them to rise on social status. The practice declined with the abolition of slavery, starting in the 19th century. Ottoman sultans appeared to have preferred concubinage to marriage, and for a time all royal children were born of concubines. The consorts of Ottoman sultans were often neither Turkish, nor Muslim by birth. Leslie Peirce argues that this was because a concubine would not have the political leverage that would be possessed by a princess or a daughter of the local elite. Ottoman sultans also appeared to have only one son with each concubine; that is once a concubine gave birth to a son, the sultan would no longer have intercourse with her. This limited the power of each son. New World When slavery became institutionalized in Colonial America, white men, whether or not they were married, sometimes took enslaved women as concubines; children of such unions remained slaves. In the various European colonies in the Caribbean, white planters took black and mulatto concubines, owing to the shortage of white women. The children of such unions were sometimes freed from slavery and even inherited from their father, though this was not the case for the majority of children born of such unions. These relationships appeared to have been socially accepted in the colony of Jamaica and even attracted European emigrants to the island. Brazil In colonial Brazil, men were expected to marry women who were equal to them in status and wealth. Alternatively, some men practiced concubinage, an extra-marital sexual relationship. This sort of relationship was condemned by the Catholic Church and the Council of Trent threatened those who engaged in it with excommunication. Concubines constituted both female slaves and former slaves. One reason for taking non-white women as concubines was that free white men outnumbered free white women, although marriage between races was not illegal. United States Relationships with slaves in the United States and the Confederacy were sometimes euphemistically referred to as concubinary. From lifelong to single or serial sexual visitations, these relationships with un-freed slaves illustrate a radical power imbalance between a human owned as chattel and the legal owner of same; they are now defined, without regard for claims of sexual attraction or affection by either party, to be rape. This is because when personal ownership of slaves was enshrined in the law, an enslaved person had no legal power over their own legal personhood, the legal control to which was held by another entity; therefore, a slave could never give real and legal consent in any aspect of their life. The inability to give any kind of consent when enslaved is in part due to the ability of a slave master to legally coerce acts and declarations including those of affection, attraction, and consent through rewards and punishments, but legally the concept of chattel slavery in the United States and Confederate States defined and enforced in the law owning the legal personhood of a slave; meaning that the proxy for legal consent was found with the slave's master, who was the sole source of consent in the law to the bodily integrity and all efforts of that slave except as regulated or limited by law. With slavery being recognized as a crime against humanity in the United States law, as well as in international customary law, the legal basis of slavery is repudiated for all time and therefore repudiates any rights of owner-rapists had had to exercise any proxy sexual or other consent for their slaves. Free men in the United States sometimes took female slaves in relationships which they referred to as concubinage, although marriage between the races was prohibited by law in the colonies and the later United States. Many colonies and states also had laws against miscegenation or any interracial relations. From 1662 the Colony of Virginia, followed by others, incorporated into law the principle that children took their mother's status, i.e., the principle of partus sequitur ventrem. This led to generations of multiracial slaves, some of whom were otherwise considered legally white (one-eighth or less African, equivalent to a great-grandparent) before the American Civil War. In some cases, men had long-term relationships with enslaved women, giving them and their mixed-race children freedom and providing their children with apprenticeships, education and transfer of capital. A relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings is an example of this. Such arrangements were more prevalent in the American South during the antebellum period. Plaçage In Louisiana and former French territories, a formalized system of concubinage called plaçage developed. European men took enslaved or free women of color as mistresses after making arrangements to give them a dowry, house or other transfer of property, and sometimes, if they were enslaved, offering freedom and education for their children. A third class of free people of color developed, especially in New Orleans. Many became educated, artisans and property owners. French-speaking and practicing Catholicism, these women combined French and African-American culture and created an elite between those of European descent and the slaves. Today, descendants of the free people of color are generally called Louisiana Creole people. In Judaism In Judaism, a concubine is a marital companion of inferior status to a wife. Among the Israelites, men commonly acknowledged their concubines, and such women enjoyed the same rights in the house as legitimate wives. Ancient Judaism The term concubine did not necessarily refer to women after the first wife. A man could have many wives and concubines. Legally, any children born to a concubine were considered to be the children of the wife she was under. Sarah had to get Ishmael (son of Hagar) out of her house because, legally, Ishmael would always be the first-born son even though Isaac was her natural child. The concubine may not have commanded the exact amount of respect as the wife. In the Levitical rules on sexual relations, the Hebrew word that is commonly translated as "wife" is distinct from the Hebrew word that means "concubine". However, on at least one other occasion the term is used to refer to a woman who is not a wife specifically, the handmaiden of Jacob's wife. In the Levitical code, sexual intercourse between a man and a wife of a different man was forbidden and punishable by death for both persons involved. Since it was regarded as the highest blessing to have many children, wives often gave their maids to their husbands if they were barren, as in the cases of Sarah and Hagar, and Rachel and Bilhah. The children of the concubine often had equal rights with those of the wife; for example, King Abimelech was the son of Gideon and his concubine. Later biblical figures, such as Gideon and Solomon, had concubines in addition to many childbearing wives. For example, the Books of Kings say that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The account of the unnamed Levite in Judges 19–20 shows that the taking of concubines was not the exclusive preserve of kings or patriarchs in Israel during the time of the Judges, and that the rape of a concubine was completely unacceptable to the Israelite nation and led to a civil war. In the story, the Levite appears to be an ordinary member of the tribe, whose concubine was a woman from Bethlehem in Judah. This woman was unfaithful, and eventually abandoned him to return to her paternal household. However, after four months, the Levite, referred to as her husband, decided to travel to her father's house to persuade his concubine to return. She is amenable to returning with him, and the father-in-law is very welcoming. The father-in-law convinces the Levite to remain several additional days, until the party leaves behind schedule in the late evening. The group pass up a nearby non-Israelite town to arrive very late in the city of Gibeah, which is in the land of the Benjaminites. The group sit around the town square, waiting for a local to invite them in for the evening, as was the custom for travelers. A local old man invites them to stay in his home, offering them guest right by washing their feet and offering them food. A band of wicked townsmen attack the house and demand the host send out the Levite man so they can rape him. The host offers to send out his virgin daughter as well as the Levite's concubine for them to rape, to avoid breaking guest right towards the Levite. Eventually, to ensure his own safety and that of his host, the Levite gives the men his concubine, who is raped and abused through the night, until she is left collapsed against the front door at dawn. In the morning, the Levite finds her when he tries to leave. When she fails to respond to her husband's order to get up (possibly because she is dead, although the language is unclear) the Levite places her on his donkey and continues home. Once home, he dismembers her body and distributes the 12 parts throughout the nation of Israel. The Israelites gather to learn why they were sent such grisly gifts, and are told by the Levite of the sadistic rape of his concubine. The crime is considered outrageous by the Israelite tribesmen, who then wreak total retribution on the men of Gibeah, as well as the surrounding tribe of Benjamin when they support the Gibeans, killing them without mercy and burning all their towns. The inhabitants of (the town of) Jabesh Gilead are then slaughtered as a punishment for not joining the 11 tribes in their war against the Benjaminites, and their 400 unmarried daughters given in forced marriage to the 600 Benjamite survivors. Finally, the 200 Benjaminite survivors who still have no wives are granted a mass marriage by abduction by the other tribes. Medieval and modern Judaism In Judaism, concubines are referred to by the Hebrew term pilegesh (). The term is a loanword from Ancient Greek , meaning "a mistress staying in house". According to the Babylonian Talmud, the difference between a concubine and a legitimate wife was that the latter received a ketubah and her marriage (nissu'in) was preceded by an erusin ("formal betrothal"), which was not the case for a concubine. One opinion in the Jerusalem Talmud argues that the concubine should also receive a marriage contract, but without a clause specifying a divorce settlement. According to Rashi, "wives with kiddushin and ketubbah, concubines with kiddushin but without ketubbah"; this reading is from the Jerusalem Talmud, Certain Jewish thinkers, such as Maimonides, believed that concubines were strictly reserved for royal leadership and thus that a commoner may not have a concubine. Indeed, such thinkers argued that commoners may not engage in any type of sexual relations outside of a marriage. Maimonides was not the first Jewish thinker to criticise concubinage. For example, Leviticus Rabbah severely condemns the custom. Other Jewish thinkers, such as Nahmanides, Samuel ben Uri Shraga Phoebus, and Jacob Emden, strongly objected to the idea that concubines should be forbidden. Despite these prohibitions, concubinage remained widespread among Jewish households of the Ottoman empire and resembled the practice among the Muslim households. In the Hebrew of the contemporary State of Israel, pilegesh is often used as the equivalent of the English word "mistress"—i.e., the female partner in extramarital relations—regardless of legal recognition. Attempts have been initiated to popularise pilegesh as a form of premarital, non-marital or extramarital relationship (which, according to the perspective of the enacting person(s), is permitted by Jewish law). Concubinage and slavery In some context, the institution of concubinage diverged from a free quasi-marital cohabitation to the extent that it was forbidden to a free woman to be involved in a concubinage and the institution was reserved only to slaves. This type of concubinage was practiced in patriarchal cultures throughout history. Many societies automatically freed the concubine after she had a child. According to one study, this was the case in about one-third of slave-holding societies, the most prominent being case of the Muslim world. Among societies that did not legally require the manumission of concubines, it was usually done anyway. In slave-owning societies, most concubines were slaves, but not all. The feature about concubinage that made it attractive to certain men was that the concubine was dependent on the man - she could be sold or punished at the master's will. According to Orlando Peterson, slaves taken as concubines would have had a higher level of material comfort than the slaves used in agriculture or in mining. See also Courtesan Polygamy Polygyny Cicisbeo Contubernium Common-law marriage References Notes Citations Sources Further reading Heterosexuality Polygyny Female beauty Feminism

A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", in use for several hundred years, has changed its meaning over time. During the Age of Sail, the term cruising referred to certain kinds of missions—independent scouting, commerce protection, or raiding—fulfilled by frigates or sloops-of-war, which functioned as the cruising warships of a fleet. In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification of the ships intended for cruising distant waters, for commerce raiding, and for scouting for the battle fleet. Cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the medium-sized protected cruiser to large armored cruisers that were nearly as big (although not as powerful or as well-armored) as a pre-dreadnought battleship. With the advent of the dreadnought battleship before World War I, the armored cruiser evolved into a vessel of similar scale known as the battlecruiser. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era that succeeded armored cruisers were now classified, along with dreadnought battleships, as capital ships. By the early 20th century after World War I, the direct successors to protected cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer. In 1922 the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on these cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre; heavy cruisers had 8-inch guns, while those with guns of 6.1 inches or less were light cruisers, which shaped cruiser design until the end of World War II. Some variations on the Treaty cruiser design included the German "pocket battleships", which had heavier armament at the expense of speed compared to standard heavy cruisers, and the American , which was a scaled-up heavy cruiser design designated as a "cruiser-killer". In the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and most powerful surface combatant ships (aircraft carriers not being considered surface combatants, as their attack capability comes from their air wings rather than on-board weapons). The role of the cruiser varied according to ship and navy, often including air defense and shore bombardment. During the Cold War the Soviet Navy's cruisers had heavy anti-ship missile armament designed to sink NATO carrier task-forces via saturation attack. The U.S. Navy built guided-missile cruisers upon destroyer-style hulls (some called "destroyer leaders" or "frigates" prior to the 1975 reclassification) primarily designed to provide air defense while often adding anti-submarine capabilities, being larger and having longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F. Adams guided-missile destroyers tasked with the short-range air defense role. By the end of the Cold War the line between cruisers and destroyers had blurred, with the cruiser using the hull of the destroyer but receiving the cruiser designation due to their enhanced mission and combat systems. only two countries operate vessels formally classed as cruisers: the United States and Russia, and in both cases the vessels are primarily armed with guided missiles. was the last gun cruiser in service, serving with the Peruvian Navy until 2017. Nevertheless, other classes in addition to the above may be considered cruisers due to differing classification systems. The US/NATO system includes the Type 055 from China and the Slava from Russia. International Institute for Strategic Studies' "The Military Balance" defines a cruiser as a surface combatant displacing at least 9750 tonnes; it includes the Type 055, the Sejong the Great from South Korea, the Atago from Japan, the Slava, the Kidd operated by Taiwan, and the Zumwalt and Flight III Arleigh Burke from the US. Early history The term "cruiser" or "cruizer" was first commonly used in the 17th century to refer to an independent warship. "Cruiser" meant the purpose or mission of a ship, rather than a category of vessel. However, the term was nonetheless used to mean a smaller, faster warship suitable for such a role. In the 17th century, the ship of the line was generally too large, inflexible, and expensive to be dispatched on long-range missions (for instance, to the Americas), and too strategically important to be put at risk of fouling and foundering by continual patrol duties. The Dutch navy was noted for its cruisers in the 17th century, while the Royal Navy—and later French and Spanish navies—subsequently caught up in terms of their numbers and deployment. The British Cruiser and Convoy Acts were an attempt by mercantile interests in Parliament to focus the Navy on commerce defence and raiding with cruisers, rather than the more scarce and expensive ships of the line. During the 18th century the frigate became the preeminent type of cruiser. A frigate was a small, fast, long range, lightly armed (single gun-deck) ship used for scouting, carrying dispatches, and disrupting enemy trade. The other principal type of cruiser was the sloop, but many other miscellaneous types of ship were used as well. Steam cruisers During the 19th century, navies began to use steam power for their fleets. The 1840s saw the construction of experimental steam-powered frigates and sloops. By the middle of the 1850s, the British and U.S. Navies were both building steam frigates with very long hulls and a heavy gun armament, for instance or . The 1860s saw the introduction of the ironclad. The first ironclads were frigates, in the sense of having one gun deck; however, they were also clearly the most powerful ships in the navy, and were principally to serve in the line of battle. In spite of their great speed, they would have been wasted in a cruising role. The French constructed a number of smaller ironclads for overseas cruising duties, starting with the , commissioned 1865. These "station ironclads" were the beginning of the development of the armored cruisers, a type of ironclad specifically for the traditional cruiser missions of fast, independent raiding and patrol. The first true armored cruiser was the Russian , completed in 1874, and followed by the British a few years later. Until the 1890s armored cruisers were still built with masts for a full sailing rig, to enable them to operate far from friendly coaling stations. Unarmored cruising warships, built out of wood, iron, steel or a combination of those materials, remained popular until towards the end of the 19th century. The ironclad's armor often meant that they were limited to short range under steam, and many ironclads were unsuited to long-range missions or for work in distant colonies. The unarmored cruiser—often a screw sloop or screw frigate—could continue in this role. Even though mid- to late-19th century cruisers typically carried up-to-date guns firing explosive shells, they were unable to face ironclads in combat. This was evidenced by the clash between , a modern British cruiser, and the Peruvian monitor Huáscar. Even though the Peruvian vessel was obsolete by the time of the encounter, it stood up well to roughly 50 hits from British shells. Steel cruisers In the 1880s, naval engineers began to use steel as a material for construction and armament. A steel cruiser could be lighter and faster than one built of iron or wood. The Jeune Ecole school of naval doctrine suggested that a fleet of fast unprotected steel cruisers were ideal for commerce raiding, while the torpedo boat would be able to destroy an enemy battleship fleet. Steel also offered the cruiser a way of acquiring the protection needed to survive in combat. Steel armor was considerably stronger, for the same weight, than iron. By putting a relatively thin layer of steel armor above the vital parts of the ship, and by placing the coal bunkers where they might stop shellfire, a useful degree of protection could be achieved without slowing the ship too much. Protected cruisers generally had an armored deck with sloped sides, providing similar protection to a light armored belt at less weight and expense. The first protected cruiser was the Chilean ship Esmeralda, launched in 1883. Produced by a shipyard at Elswick, in Britain, owned by Armstrong, she inspired a group of protected cruisers produced in the same yard and known as the "Elswick cruisers". Her forecastle, poop deck and the wooden board deck had been removed, replaced with an armored deck. Esmeraldas armament consisted of fore and aft 10-inch (25.4 cm) guns and 6-inch (15.2 cm) guns in the midships positions. It could reach a speed of , and was propelled by steam alone. It also had a displacement of less than 3,000 tons. During the two following decades, this cruiser type came to be the inspiration for combining heavy artillery, high speed and low displacement. Torpedo cruisers The torpedo cruiser (known in the Royal Navy as the torpedo gunboat) was a smaller unarmored cruiser, which emerged in the 1880s–1890s. These ships could reach speeds up to and were armed with medium to small calibre guns as well as torpedoes. These ships were tasked with guard and reconnaissance duties, to repeat signals and all other fleet duties for which smaller vessels were suited. These ships could also function as flagships of torpedo boat flotillas. After the 1900s, these ships were usually traded for faster ships with better sea going qualities. Pre-dreadnought armored cruisers Steel also affected the construction and role of armored cruisers. Steel meant that new designs of battleship, later known as pre-dreadnought battleships, would be able to combine firepower and armor with better endurance and speed than ever before. The armored cruisers of the 1890s greatly resembled the battleships of the day; they tended to carry slightly smaller main armament ( rather than 12-inch) and have somewhat thinner armor in exchange for a faster speed (perhaps rather than 18). Because of their similarity, the lines between battleships and armored cruisers became blurred. Early 20th century Shortly after the turn of the 20th century there were difficult questions about the design of future cruisers. Modern armored cruisers, almost as powerful as battleships, were also fast enough to outrun older protected and unarmored cruisers. In the Royal Navy, Jackie Fisher cut back hugely on older vessels, including many cruisers of different sorts, calling them "a miser's hoard of useless junk" that any modern cruiser would sweep from the seas. The scout cruiser also appeared in this era; this was a small, fast, lightly armed and armored type designed primarily for reconnaissance. The Royal Navy and the Italian Navy were the primary developers of this type. Battle cruisers The growing size and power of the armored cruiser resulted in the battlecruiser, with an armament and size similar to the revolutionary new dreadnought battleship; the brainchild of British admiral Jackie Fisher. He believed that to ensure British naval dominance in its overseas colonial possessions, a fleet of large, fast, powerfully armed vessels which would be able to hunt down and mop up enemy cruisers and armored cruisers with overwhelming fire superiority was needed. They were equipped with the same gun types as battleships, though usually with fewer guns, and were intended to engage enemy capital ships as well. This type of vessel came to be known as the battlecruiser, and the first were commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1907. The British battlecruisers sacrificed protection for speed, as they were intended to "choose their range" (to the enemy) with superior speed and only engage the enemy at long range. When engaged at moderate ranges, the lack of protection combined with unsafe ammunition handling practices became tragic with the loss of three of them at the Battle of Jutland. Germany and eventually Japan followed suit to build these vessels, replacing armored cruisers in most frontline roles. German battlecruisers were generally better protected but slower than British battlecruisers. Battlecruisers were in many cases larger and more expensive than contemporary battleships, due to their much-larger propulsion plants. Light cruisers At around the same time as the battlecruiser was developed, the distinction between the armored and the unarmored cruiser finally disappeared. By the British , the first of which was launched in 1909, it was possible for a small, fast cruiser to carry both belt and deck armor, particularly when turbine engines were adopted. These light armored cruisers began to occupy the traditional cruiser role once it became clear that the battlecruiser squadrons were required to operate with the battle fleet. Flotilla leaders Some light cruisers were built specifically to act as the leaders of flotillas of destroyers. Coastguard cruisers These vessels were essentially large coastal patrol boats armed with multiple light guns. One such warship was Grivița of the Romanian Navy. She displaced 110 tons, measured 60 meters in length and was armed with four light guns. Auxiliary cruisers The auxiliary cruiser was a merchant ship hastily armed with small guns on the outbreak of war. Auxiliary cruisers were used to fill gaps in their long-range lines or provide escort for other cargo ships, although they generally proved to be useless in this role because of their low speed, feeble firepower and lack of armor. In both world wars the Germans also used small merchant ships armed with cruiser guns to surprise Allied merchant ships. Some large liners were armed in the same way. In British service these were known as Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC). The Germans and French used them in World War I as raiders because of their high speed (around 30 knots (56 km/h)), and they were used again as raiders early in World War II by the Germans and Japanese. In both the First World War and in the early part of the Second, they were used as convoy escorts by the British. World War I Cruisers were one of the workhorse types of warship during World War I. By the time of World War I, cruisers had accelerated their development and improved their quality significantly, with drainage volume reaching 3000–4000 tons, a speed of 25–30 knots and a calibre of 127–152 mm. Mid-20th century Naval construction in the 1920s and 1930s was limited by international treaties designed to prevent the repetition of the Dreadnought arms race of the early 20th century. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 placed limits on the construction of ships with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons and an armament of guns larger than 8-inch (203 mm). A number of navies commissioned classes of cruisers at the top end of this limit, known as "treaty cruisers". The London Naval Treaty in 1930 then formalised the distinction between these "heavy" cruisers and light cruisers: a "heavy" cruiser was one with guns of more than 6.1-inch (155 mm) calibre. The Second London Naval Treaty attempted to reduce the tonnage of new cruisers to 8,000 or less, but this had little effect; Japan and Germany were not signatories, and some navies had already begun to evade treaty limitations on warships. The first London treaty did touch off a period of the major powers building 6-inch or 6.1-inch gunned cruisers, nominally of 10,000 tons and with up to fifteen guns, the treaty limit. Thus, most light cruisers ordered after 1930 were the size of heavy cruisers but with more and smaller guns. The Imperial Japanese Navy began this new race with the , launched in 1934. After building smaller light cruisers with six or eight 6-inch guns launched 1931–35, the British Royal Navy followed with the 12-gun in 1936. To match foreign developments and potential treaty violations, in the 1930s the US developed a series of new guns firing "super-heavy" armor piercing ammunition; these included the 6-inch (152 mm)/47 caliber gun Mark 16 introduced with the 15-gun s in 1936, and the 8-inch (203 mm)/55 caliber gun Mark 12 introduced with in 1937. Heavy cruisers The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns around 203 mm (8 in) in calibre. The first heavy cruisers were built in 1915, although it only became a widespread classification following the London Naval Treaty in 1930. The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1910s and 1920s; the US lightly armored 8-inch "treaty cruisers" of the 1920s (built under the Washington Naval Treaty) were originally classed as light cruisers until the London Treaty forced their redesignation. Initially, all cruisers built under the Washington treaty had torpedo tubes, regardless of nationality. However, in 1930, results of war games caused the US Naval War College to conclude that only perhaps half of cruisers would use their torpedoes in action. In a surface engagement, long-range gunfire and destroyer torpedoes would decide the issue, and under air attack numerous cruisers would be lost before getting within torpedo range. Thus, beginning with launched in 1933, new cruisers were built without torpedoes, and torpedoes were removed from older heavy cruisers due to the perceived hazard of their being exploded by shell fire. The Japanese took exactly the opposite approach with cruiser torpedoes, and this proved crucial to their tactical victories in most of the numerous cruiser actions of 1942. Beginning with the launched in 1925, every Japanese heavy cruiser was armed with torpedoes, larger than any other cruisers'. By 1933 Japan had developed the Type 93 torpedo for these ships, eventually nicknamed "Long Lance" by the Allies. This type used compressed oxygen instead of compressed air, allowing it to achieve ranges and speeds unmatched by other torpedoes. It could achieve a range of at , compared with the US Mark 15 torpedo with at . The Mark 15 had a maximum range of at , still well below the "Long Lance". The Japanese were able to keep the Type 93's performance and oxygen power secret until the Allies recovered one in early 1943, thus the Allies faced a great threat they were not aware of in 1942. The Type 93 was also fitted to Japanese post-1930 light cruisers and the majority of their World War II destroyers. Heavy cruisers continued in use until after World War II, with some converted to guided missile cruisers for air defense or strategic attack and some used for shore bombardment by the United States in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. German pocket battleships The German was a series of three Panzerschiffe ("armored ships"), a form of heavily armed cruiser, designed and built by the German Reichsmarine in nominal accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. All three ships were launched between 1931 and 1934, and served with Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Within the Kriegsmarine, the Panzerschiffe had the propaganda value of capital ships: heavy cruisers with battleship guns, torpedoes, and scout aircraft. The similar Swedish Panzerschiffe were tactically used as centers of battlefleets and not as cruisers. They were deployed by Nazi Germany in support of the German interests in the Spanish Civil War. Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee represented Germany in the 1937 Cornation Fleet Review. The British press referred to the vessels as pocket battleships, in reference to the heavy firepower contained in the relatively small vessels; they were considerably smaller than contemporary battleships, though at 28 knots were slower than battlecruisers. At up to 16,000 tons at full load, they were not treaty compliant 10,000 ton cruisers. And although their displacement and scale of armor protection were that of a heavy cruiser, their main armament was heavier than the guns of other nations' heavy cruisers, and the latter two members of the class also had tall conning towers resembling battleships. The Panzerschiffe were listed as Ersatz replacements for retiring Reichsmarine coastal defense battleships, which added to their propaganda status in the Kriegsmarine as Ersatz battleships; within the Royal Navy, only battlecruisers HMS Hood, HMS Repulse and HMS Renown were capable of both outrunning and outgunning the Panzerschiffe. They were seen in the 1930s as a new and serious threat by both Britain and France. While the Kriegsmarine reclassified them as heavy cruisers in 1940, Deutschland-class ships continued to be called pocket battleships in the popular press. Large cruiser The American represented the supersized cruiser design. Due to the German pocket battleships, the , and rumored Japanese "super cruisers", all of which carried guns larger than the standard heavy cruiser's 8-inch size dictated by naval treaty limitations, the Alaskas were intended to be "cruiser-killers". While superficially appearing similar to a battleship/battlecruiser and mounting three triple turrets of 12-inch guns, their actual protection scheme and design resembled a scaled-up heavy cruiser design. Their hull classification symbol of CB (cruiser, big) reflected this. Anti-aircraft cruisers A precursor to the anti-aircraft cruiser was the Romanian British-built protected cruiser Elisabeta. After the start of World War I, her four 120 mm main guns were landed and her four 75 mm (12-pounder) secondary guns were modified for anti-aircraft fire. The development of the anti-aircraft cruiser began in 1935 when the Royal Navy re-armed and . Torpedo tubes and low-angle guns were removed from these World War I light cruisers and replaced with ten high-angle guns, with appropriate fire-control equipment to provide larger warships with protection against high-altitude bombers. A tactical shortcoming was recognised after completing six additional conversions of s. Having sacrificed anti-ship weapons for anti-aircraft armament, the converted anti-aircraft cruisers might themselves need protection against surface units. New construction was undertaken to create cruisers of similar speed and displacement with dual-purpose guns, which offered good anti-aircraft protection with anti-surface capability for the traditional light cruiser role of defending capital ships from destroyers. The first purpose built anti-aircraft cruiser was the British , completed in 1940–42. The US Navy's cruisers (CLAA: light cruiser with anti-aircraft capability) were designed to match the capabilities of the Royal Navy. Both Dido and Atlanta cruisers initially carried torpedo tubes; the Atlanta cruisers at least were originally designed as destroyer leaders, were originally designated CL (light cruiser), and did not receive the CLAA designation until 1949. The concept of the quick-firing dual-purpose gun anti-aircraft cruiser was embraced in several designs completed too late to see combat, including: , completed in 1948; , completed in 1949; two s, completed in 1947; two s, completed in 1953; , completed in 1955; , completed in 1959; and , and , all completed between 1959 and 1961. Most post-World War II cruisers were tasked with air defense roles. In the early 1950s, advances in aviation technology forced the move from anti-aircraft artillery to anti-aircraft missiles. Therefore, most modern cruisers are equipped with surface-to-air missiles as their main armament. Today's equivalent of the anti-aircraft cruiser is the guided missile cruiser (CAG/CLG/CG/CGN). World War II Cruisers participated in a number of surface engagements in the early part of World War II, along with escorting carrier and battleship groups throughout the war. In the later part of the war, Allied cruisers primarily provided anti-aircraft (AA) escort for carrier groups and performed shore bombardment. Japanese cruisers similarly escorted carrier and battleship groups in the later part of the war, notably in the disastrous Battle of the Philippine Sea and Battle of Leyte Gulf. In 1937–41 the Japanese, having withdrawn from all naval treaties, upgraded or completed the Mogami and es as heavy cruisers by replacing their triple turrets with twin turrets. Torpedo refits were also made to most heavy cruisers, resulting in up to sixteen tubes per ship, plus a set of reloads. In 1941 the 1920s light cruisers and were converted to torpedo cruisers with four guns and forty torpedo tubes. In 1944 Kitakami was further converted to carry up to eight Kaiten human torpedoes in place of ordinary torpedoes. Before World War II, cruisers were mainly divided into three types: heavy cruisers, light cruisers and auxiliary cruisers. Heavy cruiser tonnage reached 20–30,000 tons, speed 32–34 knots, endurance of more than 10,000 nautical miles, armor thickness of 127–203 mm. Heavy cruisers were equipped with eight or nine guns with a range of more than 20 nautical miles. They were mainly used to attack enemy surface ships and shore-based targets. In addition, there were 10–16 secondary guns with a caliber of less than . Also, dozens of automatic antiaircraft guns were installed to fight aircraft and small vessels such as torpedo boats. For example, in World War II, American Alaska-class cruisers were more than 30,000 tons, equipped with nine guns. Some cruisers could also carry three or four seaplanes to correct the accuracy of gunfire and perform reconnaissance. Together with battleships, these heavy cruisers formed powerful naval task forces, which dominated the world's oceans for more than a century. After the signing of the Washington Treaty on Arms Limitation in 1922, the tonnage and quantity of battleships, aircraft carriers and cruisers were severely restricted. In order not to violate the treaty, countries began to develop light cruisers. Light cruisers of the 1920s had displacements of less than 10,000 tons and a speed of up to 35 knots. They were equipped with 6–12 main guns with a caliber of 127–133 mm (5–5.5 inches). In addition, they were equipped with 8–12 secondary guns under 127 mm (5 in) and dozens of small caliber cannons, as well as torpedoes and mines. Some ships also carried 2–4 seaplanes, mainly for reconnaissance. In 1930 the London Naval Treaty allowed large light cruisers to be built, with the same tonnage as heavy cruisers and armed with up to fifteen guns. The Japanese Mogami class were built to this treaty's limit, the Americans and British also built similar ships. However, in 1939 the Mogamis were refitted as heavy cruisers with ten guns. 1939 to Pearl Harbor In December 1939, three British cruisers engaged the German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee (which was on a commerce raiding mission) in the Battle of the River Plate; Admiral Graf Spee then took refuge in neutral Montevideo, Uruguay. By broadcasting messages indicating capital ships were in the area, the British caused Admiral Graf Spees captain to think he faced a hopeless situation while low on ammunition and order his ship scuttled. On 8 June 1940 the German capital ships and , classed as battleships but with large cruiser armament, sank the aircraft carrier with gunfire. From October 1940 through March 1941 the German heavy cruiser (also known as "pocket battleship", see above) conducted a successful commerce-raiding voyage in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. On 27 May 1941, attempted to finish off the German battleship with torpedoes, probably causing the Germans to scuttle the ship. Bismarck (accompanied by the heavy cruiser ) previously sank the battlecruiser and damaged the battleship with gunfire in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. On 19 November 1941 sank in a mutually fatal engagement with the German raider Kormoran in the Indian Ocean near Western Australia. Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean operations 1942–1944 Twenty-three British cruisers were lost to enemy action, mostly to air attack and submarines, in operations in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean. Sixteen of these losses were in the Mediterranean. The British included cruisers and anti-aircraft cruisers among convoy escorts in the Mediterranean and to northern Russia due to the threat of surface and air attack. Almost all cruisers in World War II were vulnerable to submarine attack due to a lack of anti-submarine sonar and weapons. Also, until 1943–44 the light anti-aircraft armament of most cruisers was weak. In July 1942 an attempt to intercept Convoy PQ 17 with surface ships, including the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, failed due to multiple German warships grounding, but air and submarine attacks sank 2/3 of the convoy's ships. In August 1942 Admiral Scheer conducted Operation Wunderland, a solo raid into northern Russia's Kara Sea. She bombarded Dikson Island but otherwise had little success. On 31 December 1942 the Battle of the Barents Sea was fought, a rare action for a Murmansk run because it involved cruisers on both sides. Four British destroyers and five other vessels were escorting Convoy JW 51B from the UK to the Murmansk area. Another British force of two cruisers ( and ) and two destroyers were in the area. Two heavy cruisers (one the "pocket battleship" Lützow), accompanied by six destroyers, attempted to intercept the convoy near North Cape after it was spotted by a U-boat. Although the Germans sank a British destroyer and a minesweeper (also damaging another destroyer), they failed to damage any of the convoy's merchant ships. A German destroyer was lost and a heavy cruiser damaged. Both sides withdrew from the action for fear of the other side's torpedoes. On 26 December 1943 the German capital ship Scharnhorst was sunk while attempting to intercept a convoy in the Battle of the North Cape. The British force that sank her was led by Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser in the battleship , accompanied by four cruisers and nine destroyers. One of the cruisers was the preserved . Scharnhorsts sister Gneisenau, damaged by a mine and a submerged wreck in the Channel Dash of 13 February 1942 and repaired, was further damaged by a British air attack on 27 February 1942. She began a conversion process to mount six guns instead of nine guns, but in early 1943 Hitler (angered by the recent failure at the Battle of the Barents Sea) ordered her disarmed and her armament used as coast defence weapons. One 28 cm triple turret survives near Trondheim, Norway. Pearl Harbor through Dutch East Indies campaign The attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 brought the United States into the war, but with eight battleships sunk or damaged by air attack. On 10 December 1941 HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser were sunk by land-based torpedo bombers northeast of Singapore. It was now clear that surface ships could not operate near enemy aircraft in daylight without air cover; most surface actions of 1942–43 were fought at night as a result. Generally, both sides avoided risking their battleships until the Japanese attack at Leyte Gulf in 1944. Six of the battleships from Pearl Harbor were eventually returned to service, but no US battleships engaged Japanese surface units at sea until the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, and not thereafter until the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944. was on hand for the initial landings at Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942, and escorted carriers in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons later that month. However, on 15 September she was torpedoed while escorting a carrier group and had to return to the US for repairs. Generally, the Japanese held their capital ships out of all surface actions in the 1941–42 campaigns or they failed to close with the enemy; the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942 was the sole exception. The four ships performed shore bombardment in Malaya, Singapore, and Guadalcanal and escorted the raid on Ceylon and other carrier forces in 1941–42. Japanese capital ships also participated ineffectively (due to not being engaged) in the Battle of Midway and the simultaneous Aleutian diversion; in both cases they were in battleship groups well to the rear of the carrier groups. Sources state that sat out the entire Guadalcanal Campaign due to lack of high-explosive bombardment shells, poor nautical charts of the area, and high fuel consumption. It is likely that the poor charts affected other battleships as well. Except for the Kongō class, most Japanese battleships spent the critical year of 1942, in which most of the war's surface actions occurred, in home waters or at the fortified base of Truk, far from any risk of attacking or being attacked. From 1942 through mid-1943, US and other Allied cruisers were the heavy units on their side of the numerous surface engagements of the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Guadalcanal Campaign, and subsequent Solomon Islands fighting; they were usually opposed by strong Japanese cruiser-led forces equipped with Long Lance torpedoes. Destroyers also participated heavily on both sides of these battles and provided essentially all the torpedoes on the Allied side, with some battles in these campaigns fought entirely between destroyers. Along with lack of knowledge of the capabilities of the Long Lance torpedo, the US Navy was hampered by a deficiency it was initially unaware of—the unreliability of the Mark 15 torpedo used by destroyers. This weapon shared the Mark 6 exploder and other problems with the more famously unreliable Mark 14 torpedo; the most common results of firing either of these torpedoes were a dud or a miss. The problems with these weapons were not solved until mid-1943, after almost all of the surface actions in the Solomon Islands had taken place. Another factor that shaped the early surface actions was the pre-war training of both sides. The US Navy concentrated on long-range 8-inch gunfire as their primary offensive weapon, leading to rigid battle line tactics, while the Japanese trained extensively for nighttime torpedo attacks. Since all post-1930 Japanese cruisers had 8-inch guns by 1941, almost all of the US Navy's cruisers in the South Pacific in 1942 were the 8-inch-gunned (203 mm) "treaty cruisers"; most of the 6-inch-gunned (152 mm) cruisers were deployed in the Atlantic. Dutch East Indies campaign Although their battleships were held out of surface action, Japanese cruiser-destroyer forces rapidly isolated and mopped up the Allied naval forces in the Dutch East Indies campaign of February–March 1942. In three separate actions, they sank five Allied cruisers (two Dutch and one each British, Australian, and American) with torpedoes and gunfire, against one Japanese cruiser damaged. With one other Allied cruiser withdrawn for repairs, the only remaining Allied cruiser in the area was the damaged . Despite their rapid success, the Japanese proceeded methodically, never leaving their air cover and rapidly establishing new air bases as they advanced. Guadalcanal campaign After the key carrier battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in mid-1942, Japan had lost four of the six fleet carriers that launched the Pearl Harbor raid and was on the strategic defensive. On 7 August 1942 US Marines were landed on Guadalcanal and other nearby islands, beginning the Guadalcanal Campaign. This campaign proved to be a severe test for the Navy as well as the Marines. Along with two carrier battles, several major surface actions occurred, almost all at night between cruiser-destroyer forces. Battle of Savo Island On the night of 8–9 August 1942 the Japanese counterattacked near Guadalcanal in the Battle of Savo Island with a cruiser-destroyer force. In a controversial move, the US carrier task forces were withdrawn from the area on the 8th due to heavy fighter losses and low fuel. The Allied force included six heavy cruisers (two Australian), two light cruisers (one Australian), and eight US destroyers. Of the cruisers, only the Australian ships had torpedoes. The Japanese force included five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and one destroyer. Numerous circumstances combined to reduce Allied readiness for the battle. The results of the battle were three American heavy cruisers sunk by torpedoes and gunfire, one Australian heavy cruiser disabled by gunfire and scuttled, one heavy cruiser damaged, and two US destroyers damaged. The Japanese had three cruisers lightly damaged. This was the most lopsided outcome of the surface actions in the Solomon Islands. Along with their superior torpedoes, the opening Japanese gunfire was accurate and very damaging. Subsequent analysis showed that some of the damage was due to poor housekeeping practices by US forces. Stowage of boats and aircraft in midships hangars with full gas tanks contributed to fires, along with full and unprotected ready-service ammunition lockers for the open-mount secondary armament. These practices were soon corrected, and US cruisers with similar damage sank less often thereafter. Savo was the first surface action of the war for almost all the US ships and personnel; few US cruisers and destroyers were targeted or hit at Coral Sea or Midway. Battle of the Eastern Solomons On 24–25 August 1942 the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, a major carrier action, was fought. Part of the action was a Japanese attempt to reinforce Guadalcanal with men and equipment on troop transports. The Japanese troop convoy was attacked by Allied aircraft, resulting in the Japanese subsequently reinforcing Guadalcanal with troops on fast warships at night. These convoys were called the "Tokyo Express" by the Allies. Although the Tokyo Express often ran unopposed, most surface actions in the Solomons revolved around Tokyo Express missions. Also, US air operations had commenced from Henderson Field, the airfield on Guadalcanal. Fear of air power on both sides resulted in all surface actions in the Solomons being fought at night. Battle of Cape Esperance The Battle of Cape Esperance occurred on the night of 11–12 October 1942. A Tokyo Express mission was underway for Guadalcanal at the same time as a separate cruiser-destroyer bombardment group loaded with high explosive shells for bombarding Henderson Field. A US cruiser-destroyer force was deployed in advance of a convoy of US Army troops for Guadalcanal that was due on 13 October. The Tokyo Express convoy was two seaplane tenders and six destroyers; the bombardment group was three heavy cruisers and two destroyers, and the US force was two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and five destroyers. The US force engaged the Japanese bombardment force; the Tokyo Express convoy was able to unload on Guadalcanal and evade action. The bombardment force was sighted at close range () and the US force opened fire. The Japanese were surprised because their admiral was anticipating sighting the Tokyo Express force, and withheld fire while attempting to confirm the US ships' identity. One Japanese cruiser and one destroyer were sunk and one cruiser damaged, against one US destroyer sunk with one light cruiser and one destroyer damaged. The bombardment force failed to bring its torpedoes into action, and turned back. The next day US aircraft from Henderson Field attacked several of the Japanese ships, sinking two destroyers and damaging a third. The US victory resulted in overconfidence in some later battles, reflected in the initial after-action report claiming two Japanese heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and three destroyers sunk by the gunfire of alone. The battle had little effect on the overall situation, as the next night two Kongō-class battleships bombarded and severely damaged Henderson Field unopposed, and the following night another Tokyo Express convoy delivered 4,500 troops to Guadalcanal. The US convoy delivered the Army troops as scheduled on the 13th. Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands took place 25–27 October 1942. It was a pivotal battle, as it left the US and Japanese with only two large carriers each in the South Pacific (another large Japanese carrier was damaged and under repair until May 1943). Due to the high carrier attrition rate with no replacements for months, for the most part both sides stopped risking their remaining carriers until late 1943, and each side sent in a pair of battleships instead. The next major carrier operations for the US were the carrier raid on Rabaul and support for the invasion of Tarawa, both in November 1943. Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal occurred 12–15 November 1942 in two phases. A night surface action on 12–13 November was the first phase. The Japanese force consisted of two Kongō-class battleships with high explosive shells for bombarding Henderson Field, one small light cruiser, and 11 destroyers. Their plan was that the bombardment would neutralize Allied airpower and allow a force of 11 transport ships and 12 destroyers to reinforce Guadalcanal with a Japanese division the next day. However, US reconnaissance aircraft spotted the approaching Japanese on the 12th and the Americans made what preparations they could. The American force consisted of two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, two anti-aircraft cruisers, and eight destroyers. The Americans were outgunned by the Japanese that night, and a lack of pre-battle orders by the US commander led to confusion. The destroyer closed with the battleship , firing all torpedoes (though apparently none hit or detonated) and raking the battleship's bridge with gunfire, wounding the Japanese admiral and killing his chief of staff. The Americans initially lost four destroyers including Laffey, with both heavy cruisers, most of the remaining destroyers, and both anti-aircraft cruisers damaged. The Japanese initially had one battleship and four destroyers damaged, but at this point they withdrew, possibly unaware that the US force was unable to further oppose them. At dawn US aircraft from Henderson Field, , and Espiritu Santo found the damaged battleship and two destroyers in the area. The battleship (Hiei) was sunk by aircraft (or possibly scuttled), one destroyer was sunk by the damaged , and the other destroyer was attacked by aircraft but was able to withdraw. Both of the damaged US anti-aircraft cruisers were lost on 13 November, one () torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and the other sank on the way to repairs. Juneaus loss was especially tragic; the submarine's presence prevented immediate rescue, over 100 survivors of a crew of nearly 700 were adrift for eight days, and all but ten died. Among the dead were the five Sullivan brothers. The Japanese transport force was rescheduled for the 14th and a new cruiser-destroyer force (belatedly joined by the surviving battleship ) was sent to bombard Henderson Field the night of 13 November. Only two cruisers actually bombarded the airfield, as Kirishima had not arrived yet and the remainder of the force was on guard for US warships. The bombardment caused little damage. The cruiser-destroyer force then withdrew, while the transport force continued towards Guadalcanal. Both forces were attacked by US aircraft on the 14th. The cruiser force lost one heavy cruiser sunk and one damaged. Although the transport force had fighter cover from the carrier , six transports were sunk and one heavily damaged. All but four of the destroyers accompanying the transport force picked up survivors and withdrew. The remaining four transports and four destroyers approached Guadalcanal at night, but stopped to await the results of the night's action. On the night of 14–15 November a Japanese force of Kirishima, two heavy and two light cruisers, and nine destroyers approached Guadalcanal. Two US battleships ( and ) were there to meet them, along with four destroyers. This was one of only two battleship-on-battleship encounters during the Pacific War; the other was the lopsided Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The battleships had been escorting Enterprise, but were detached due to the urgency of the situation. With nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns apiece against eight 14-inch (356 mm) guns on Kirishima, the Americans had major gun and armor advantages. All four destroyers were sunk or severely damaged and withdrawn shortly after the Japanese attacked them with gunfire and torpedoes. Although her main battery remained in action for most of the battle, South Dakota spent much of the action dealing with major electrical failures that affected her radar, fire control, and radio systems. Although her armor was not penetrated, she was hit by 26 shells of various calibers and temporarily rendered, in a US admiral's words, "deaf, dumb, blind, and impotent". Washington went undetected by the Japanese for most of the battle, but withheld shooting to avoid "friendly fire" until South Dakota was illuminated by Japanese fire, then rapidly set Kirishima ablaze with a jammed rudder and other damage. Washington, finally spotted by the Japanese, then headed for the Russell Islands to hopefully draw the Japanese away from Guadalcanal and South Dakota, and was successful in evading several torpedo attacks. Unusually, only a few Japanese torpedoes scored hits in this engagement. Kirishima sank or was scuttled before the night was out, along with two Japanese destroyers. The remaining Japanese ships withdrew, except for the four transports, which beached themselves in the night and started unloading. However, dawn (and US aircraft, US artillery, and a US destroyer) found them still beached, and they were destroyed. Battle of Tassafaronga The Battle of Tassafaronga took place on the night of 30 November – 1 December 1942. The US had four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and four destroyers. The Japanese had eight destroyers on a Tokyo Express run to deliver food and supplies in drums to Guadalcanal. The Americans achieved initial surprise, damaging one destroyer with gunfire which later sank, but the Japanese torpedo counterattack was devastating. One American heavy cruiser was sunk and three others heavily damaged, with the bows blown off of two of them. It was significant that these two were not lost to Long Lance hits as happened in previous battles; American battle readiness and damage control had improved. Despite defeating the Americans, the Japanese withdrew without delivering the crucial supplies to Guadalcanal. Another attempt on 3 December dropped 1,500 drums of supplies near Guadalcanal, but Allied strafing aircraft sank all but 300 before the Japanese Army could recover them. On 7 December PT boats interrupted a Tokyo Express run, and the following night sank a Japanese supply submarine. The next day the Japanese Navy proposed stopping all destroyer runs to Guadalcanal, but agreed to do just one more. This was on 11 December and was also intercepted by PT boats, which sank a destroyer; only 200 of 1,200 drums dropped off the island were recovered. The next day the Japanese Navy proposed abandoning Guadalcanal; this was approved by the Imperial General Headquarters on 31 December and the Japanese left the island in early February 1943. Post-Guadalcanal After the Japanese abandoned Guadalcanal in February 1943, Allied operations in the Pacific shifted to the New Guinea campaign and isolating Rabaul. The Battle of Kula Gulf was fought on the night of 5–6 July. The US had three light cruisers and four destroyers; the Japanese had ten destroyers loaded with 2,600 troops destined for Vila to oppose a recent US landing on Rendova. Although the Japanese sank a cruiser, they lost two destroyers and were able to deliver only 850 troops. On the night of 12–13 July, the Battle of Kolombangara occurred. The Allies had three light cruisers (one New Zealand) and ten destroyers; the Japanese had one small light cruiser and five destroyers, a Tokyo Express run for Vila. All three Allied cruisers were heavily damaged, with the New Zealand cruiser put out of action for 25 months by a Long Lance hit. The Allies sank only the Japanese light cruiser, and the Japanese landed 1,200 troops at Vila. Despite their tactical victory, this battle caused the Japanese to use a different route in the future, where they were more vulnerable to destroyer and PT boat attacks. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1943, immediately after US Marines invaded Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. A Japanese heavy cruiser was damaged by a nighttime air attack shortly before the battle; it is likely that Allied airborne radar had progressed far enough to allow night operations. The Americans had four of the new cruisers and eight destroyers. The Japanese had two heavy cruisers, two small light cruisers, and six destroyers. Both sides were plagued by collisions, shells that failed to explode, and mutual skill in dodging torpedoes. The Americans suffered significant damage to three destroyers and light damage to a cruiser, but no losses. The Japanese lost one light cruiser and a destroyer, with four other ships damaged. The Japanese withdrew; the Americans pursued them until dawn, then returned to the landing area to provide anti-aircraft cover. After the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942, both sides were short of large aircraft carriers. The US suspended major carrier operations until sufficient carriers could be completed to destroy the entire Japanese fleet at once should it appear. The Central Pacific carrier raids and amphibious operations commenced in November 1943 with a carrier raid on Rabaul (preceded and followed by Fifth Air Force attacks) and the bloody but successful invasion of Tarawa. The air attacks on Rabaul crippled the Japanese cruiser force, with four heavy and two light cruisers damaged; they were withdrawn to Truk. The US had built up a force in the Central Pacific of six large, five light, and six escort carriers prior to commencing these operations. From this point on, US cruisers primarily served as anti-aircraft escorts for carriers and in shore bombardment. The only major Japanese carrier operation after Guadalcanal was the disastrous (for Japan) Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, nicknamed the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" by the US Navy. Leyte Gulf The Imperial Japanese Navy's last major operation was the Battle of Leyte Gulf, an attempt to dislodge the American invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. The two actions at this battle in which cruisers played a significant role were the Battle off Samar and the Battle of Surigao Strait. Battle of Surigao Strait The Battle of Surigao Strait was fought on the night of 24–25 October, a few hours before the Battle off Samar. The Japanese had a small battleship group composed of and , one heavy cruiser, and four destroyers. They were followed at a considerable distance by another small force of two heavy cruisers, a small light cruiser, and four destroyers. Their goal was to head north through Surigao Strait and attack the invasion fleet off Leyte. The Allied force, known as the 7th Fleet Support Force, guarding the strait was overwhelming. It included six battleships (all but one previously damaged in 1941 at Pearl Harbor), four heavy cruisers (one Australian), four light cruisers, and 28 destroyers, plus a force of 39 PT boats. The only advantage to the Japanese was that most of the Allied battleships and cruisers were loaded mainly with high explosive shells, although a significant number of armor-piercing shells were also loaded. The lead Japanese force evaded the PT boats' torpedoes, but were hit hard by the destroyers' torpedoes, losing a battleship. Then they encountered the battleship and cruiser guns. Only one destroyer survived. The engagement is notable for being one of only two occasions in which battleships fired on battleships in the Pacific Theater, the other being the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Due to the starting arrangement of the opposing forces, the Allied force was in a "crossing the T" position, so this was the last battle in which this occurred, but it was not a planned maneuver. The following Japanese cruiser force had several problems, including a light cruiser damaged by a PT boat and two heavy cruisers colliding, one of which fell behind and was sunk by air attack the next day. An American veteran of Surigao Strait, , was transferred to Argentina in 1951 as , becoming most famous for being sunk by in the Falklands War on 2 May 1982. She was the first ship sunk by a nuclear submarine outside of accidents, and only the second ship sunk by a submarine since World War II. Battle off Samar At the Battle off Samar, a Japanese battleship group moving towards the invasion fleet off Leyte engaged a minuscule American force known as "Taffy 3" (formally Task Unit 77.4.3), composed of six escort carriers with about 28 aircraft each, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts. The biggest guns in the American force were /38 caliber guns, while the Japanese had , , and guns. Aircraft from six additional escort carriers also participated for a total of around 330 US aircraft, a mix of F6F Hellcat fighters and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. The Japanese had four battleships including Yamato, six heavy cruisers, two small light cruisers, and 11 destroyers. The Japanese force had earlier been driven off by air attack, losing Yamatos sister . Admiral Halsey then decided to use his Third Fleet carrier force to attack the Japanese carrier group, located well to the north of Samar, which was actually a decoy group with few aircraft. The Japanese were desperately short of aircraft and pilots at this point in the war, and Leyte Gulf was the first battle in which kamikaze attacks were used. Due to a tragedy of errors, Halsey took the American battleship force with him, leaving San Bernardino Strait guarded only by the small Seventh Fleet escort carrier force. The battle commenced at dawn on 25 October 1944, shortly after the Battle of Surigao Strait. In the engagement that followed, the Americans exhibited uncanny torpedo accuracy, blowing the bows off several Japanese heavy cruisers. The escort carriers' aircraft also performed very well, attacking with machine guns after their carriers ran out of bombs and torpedoes. The unexpected level of damage, and maneuvering to avoid the torpedoes and air attacks, disorganized the Japanese and caused them to think they faced at least part of the Third Fleet's main force. They had also learned of the defeat a few hours before at Surigao Strait, and did not hear that Halsey's force was busy destroying the decoy fleet. Convinced that the rest of the Third Fleet would arrive soon if it hadn't already, the Japanese withdrew, eventually losing three heavy cruisers sunk with three damaged to air and torpedo attacks. The Americans lost two escort carriers, two destroyers, and one destroyer escort sunk, with three escort carriers, one destroyer, and two destroyer escorts damaged, thus losing over one-third of their engaged force sunk with nearly all the remainder damaged. Wartime cruiser production The US built cruisers in quantity through the end of the war, notably 14 heavy cruisers and 27 Cleveland-class light cruisers, along with eight Atlanta-class anti-aircraft cruisers. The Cleveland class was the largest cruiser class ever built in number of ships completed, with nine additional Clevelands completed as light aircraft carriers. The large number of cruisers built was probably due to the significant cruiser losses of 1942 in the Pacific theater (seven American and five other Allied) and the perceived need for several cruisers to escort each of the numerous s being built. Losing four heavy and two small light cruisers in 1942, the Japanese built only five light cruisers during the war; these were small ships with six guns each. Losing 20 cruisers in 1940–42, the British completed no heavy cruisers, thirteen light cruisers ( and classes), and sixteen anti-aircraft cruisers (Dido class) during the war. Late 20th century The rise of air power during World War II dramatically changed the nature of naval combat. Even the fastest cruisers could not maneuver quickly enough to evade aerial attack, and aircraft now had torpedoes, allowing moderate-range standoff capabilities. This change led to the end of independent operations by single ships or very small task groups, and for the second half of the 20th century naval operations were based on very large fleets believed able to fend off all but the largest air attacks, though this was not tested by any war in that period. The US Navy became centered around carrier groups, with cruisers and battleships primarily providing anti-aircraft defense and shore bombardment. Until the Harpoon missile entered service in the late 1970s, the US Navy was almost entirely dependent on carrier-based aircraft and submarines for conventionally attacking enemy warships. Lacking aircraft carriers, the Soviet Navy depended on anti-ship cruise missiles; in the 1950s these were primarily delivered from heavy land-based bombers. Soviet submarine-launched cruise missiles at the time were primarily for land attack; but by 1964 anti-ship missiles were deployed in quantity on cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. US cruiser development The US Navy was aware of the potential missile threat as soon as World War II ended, and had considerable related experience due to Japanese kamikaze attacks in that war. The initial response was to upgrade the light AA armament of new cruisers from 40 mm and 20 mm weapons to twin 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun mounts. For the longer term, it was thought that gun systems would be inadequate to deal with the missile threat, and by the mid-1950s three naval SAM systems were developed: Talos (long range), Terrier (medium range), and Tartar (short range). Talos and Terrier were nuclear-capable and this allowed their use in anti-ship or shore bombardment roles in the event of nuclear war. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke is credited with speeding the development of these systems. Terrier was initially deployed on two converted Baltimore-class cruisers (CAG), with conversions completed in 1955–56. Further conversions of six Cleveland-class cruisers (CLG) ( and classes), redesign of the as guided missile "frigates" (DLG), and development of the DDGs resulted in the completion of numerous additional guided missile ships deploying all three systems in 1959–1962. Also completed during this period was the nuclear-powered , with two Terrier and one Talos launchers, plus an ASROC anti-submarine launcher the World War II conversions lacked. The converted World War II cruisers up to this point retained one or two main battery turrets for shore bombardment. However, in 1962–1964 three additional Baltimore and cruisers were more extensively converted as the . These had two Talos and two Tartar launchers plus ASROC and two 5-inch (127 mm) guns for self-defense, and were primarily built to get greater numbers of Talos launchers deployed. Of all these types, only the Farragut DLGs were selected as the design basis for further production, although their successors were significantly larger (5,670 tons standard versus 4,150 tons standard) due to a second Terrier launcher and greater endurance. An economical crew size compared with World War II conversions was probably a factor, as the Leahys required a crew of only 377 versus 1,200 for the Cleveland-class conversions. Through 1980, the ten Farraguts were joined by four additional classes and two one-off ships for a total of 36 guided missile frigates, eight of them nuclear-powered (DLGN). In 1975 the Farraguts were reclassified as guided missile destroyers (DDG) due to their small size, and the remaining DLG/DLGN ships became guided missile cruisers (CG/CGN). The World War II conversions were gradually retired between 1970 and 1980; the Talos missile was withdrawn in 1980 as a cost-saving measure and the Albanys were decommissioned. Long Beach had her Talos launcher removed in a refit shortly thereafter; the deck space was used for Harpoon missiles. Around this time the Terrier ships were upgraded with the RIM-67 Standard ER missile. The guided missile frigates and cruisers served in the Cold War and the Vietnam War; off Vietnam they performed shore bombardment and shot down enemy aircraft or, as Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ) ships, guided fighters to intercept enemy aircraft. By 1995 the former guided missile frigates were replaced by the s and s. The U.S. Navy's guided-missile cruisers were built upon destroyer-style hulls (some called "destroyer leaders" or "frigates" prior to the 1975 reclassification). As the U.S. Navy's strike role was centered around aircraft carriers, cruisers were primarily designed to provide air defense while often adding anti-submarine capabilities. These U.S. cruisers that were built in the 1960s and 1970s were larger, often nuclear-powered for extended endurance in escorting nuclear-powered fleet carriers, and carried longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F. Adams guided-missile destroyers that were tasked with the short-range air defense role. The U.S. cruiser was a major contrast to their contemporaries, Soviet "rocket cruisers" that were armed with large numbers of anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) as part of the combat doctrine of saturation attack, though in the early 1980s the U.S. Navy retrofitted some of these existing cruisers to carry a small number of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The line between U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers blurred with the . While originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, a Spruance destroyer was comparable in size to existing U.S. cruisers, while having the advantage of an enclosed hangar (with space for up to two medium-lift helicopters) which was a considerable improvement over the basic aviation facilities of earlier cruisers. The Spruance hull design was used as the basis for two classes; the which had comparable anti-air capabilities to cruisers at the time, and then the DDG-47-class destroyers which were redesignated as the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers to emphasize the additional capability provided by the ships' Aegis combat systems, and their flag facilities suitable for an admiral and his staff. In addition, 24 members of the Spruance class were upgraded with the vertical launch system (VLS) for Tomahawk cruise missiles due to its modular hull design, along with the similarly VLS-equipped Ticonderoga class, these ships had anti-surface strike capabilities beyond the 1960s–1970s cruisers that received Tomahawk armored-box launchers as part of the New Threat Upgrade. Like the Ticonderoga ships with VLS, the Arleigh Burke and , despite being classified as destroyers, actually have much heavier anti-surface armament than previous U.S. ships classified as cruisers. US Navy "cruiser gap" Prior to the introduction of the Ticonderogas, the US Navy used odd naming conventions that left its fleet seemingly without many cruisers, although a number of their ships were cruisers in all but name. From the 1950s to the 1970s, US Navy cruisers were large vessels equipped with heavy offensive missiles (mostly surface-to-air, but for several years including the Regulus nuclear cruise missile) for wide-ranging combat against land-based and sea-based targets. All save one—USS Long Beach—were converted from World War II cruisers of the Oregon City, Baltimore and Cleveland classes. Long Beach was also the last cruiser built with a World War II-era cruiser style hull (characterized by a long lean hull); later new-build cruisers were actually converted frigates (DLG/CG , , and the Leahy, , , and classes) or uprated destroyers (the DDG/CG Ticonderoga class was built on a Spruance-class destroyer hull). Frigates under this scheme were almost as large as the cruisers and optimized for anti-aircraft warfare, although they were capable anti-surface warfare combatants as well. In the late 1960s, the US government perceived a "cruiser gap"—at the time, the US Navy possessed six ships designated as cruisers, compared to 19 for the Soviet Union, even though the USN had 21 ships designated as frigates with equal or superior capabilities to the Soviet cruisers at the time. Because of this, in 1975 the Navy performed a massive redesignation of its forces: CVA/CVAN (Attack Aircraft Carrier/Nuclear-powered Attack Aircraft Carrier) were redesignated CV/CVN (although and never embarked anti-submarine squadrons). DLG/DLGN (Frigates/Nuclear-powered Frigates) of the Leahy, Belknap, and California classes along with USS Bainbridge and USS Truxtun were redesignated CG/CGN (Guided Missile Cruiser/Nuclear-powered Guided Missile Cruiser). Farragut-class guided missile frigates (DLG), being smaller and less capable than the others, were redesignated to DDGs ( was the first ship of this class to be re-numbered; because of this the class is sometimes called the Coontz class); DE/DEG (Ocean Escort/Guided Missile Ocean Escort) were redesignated to FF/FFG (Guided Missile Frigates), bringing the US "Frigate" designation into line with the rest of the world. Also, a series of Patrol Frigates of the , originally designated PFG, were redesignated into the FFG line. The cruiser-destroyer-frigate realignment and the deletion of the Ocean Escort type brought the US Navy's ship designations into line with the rest of the world's, eliminating confusion with foreign navies. In 1980, the Navy's then-building DDG-47-class destroyers were redesignated as cruisers (Ticonderoga guided missile cruisers) to emphasize the additional capability provided by the ships' Aegis combat systems, and their flag facilities suitable for an admiral and his staff. Soviet cruiser development In the Soviet Navy, cruisers formed the basis of combat groups. In the immediate post-war era it built a fleet of gun-armed light cruisers, but replaced these beginning in the early 1960s with large ships called "rocket cruisers", carrying large numbers of anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and anti-aircraft missiles. The Soviet combat doctrine of saturation attack meant that their cruisers (as well as destroyers and even missile boats) mounted multiple missiles in large container/launch tube housings and carried far more ASCMs than their NATO counterparts, while NATO combatants instead used individually smaller and lighter missiles (while appearing under-armed when compared to Soviet ships). In 1962–1965 the four s entered service; these had launchers for eight long-range SS-N-3 Shaddock ASCMs with a full set of reloads; these had a range of up to with mid-course guidance. The four more modest s, with launchers for four SS-N-3 ASCMs and no reloads, entered service in 1967–69. In 1969–79 Soviet cruiser numbers more than tripled with ten s and seven s entering service. These had launchers for eight large-diameter missiles whose purpose was initially unclear to NATO. This was the SS-N-14 Silex, an over/under rocket-delivered heavyweight torpedo primarily for the anti-submarine role, but capable of anti-surface action with a range of up to . Soviet doctrine had shifted; powerful anti-submarine vessels (these were designated "Large Anti-Submarine Ships", but were listed as cruisers in most references) were needed to destroy NATO submarines to allow Soviet ballistic missile submarines to get within range of the United States in the event of nuclear war. By this time Long Range Aviation and the Soviet submarine force could deploy numerous ASCMs. Doctrine later shifted back to overwhelming carrier group defenses with ASCMs, with the Slava and Kirov classes. Current cruisers The most recent Soviet/Russian rocket cruisers, the four s, were built in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the Kirov class is in refit, and 2 are being scrapped, with the in active service. Russia also operates three s and one Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier which is officially designated as a cruiser. Currently, the Kirov-class heavy missile cruisers are used for command purposes, as Pyotr Velikiy is the flagship of the Northern Fleet. However, their air defense capabilities are still powerful, as shown by the array of point defense missiles they carry, from 44 OSA-MA missiles to 196 9K311 Tor missiles. For longer range targets, the S-300 is used. For closer range targets, AK-630 or Kashtan CIWSs are used. Aside from that, Kirovs have 20 P-700 Granit missiles for anti-ship warfare. For target acquisition beyond the radar horizon, three helicopters can be used. Besides a vast array of armament, Kirov-class cruisers are also outfitted with many sensors and communications equipment, allowing them to lead the fleet. The United States Navy has centered on the aircraft carrier since World War II. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers, built in the 1980s, were originally designed and designated as a class of destroyer, intended to provide a very powerful air-defense in these carrier-centered fleets. Outside the US and Soviet navies, new cruisers were rare following World War II. Most navies use guided missile destroyers for fleet air defense, and destroyers and frigates for cruise missiles. The need to operate in task forces has led most navies to change to fleets designed around ships dedicated to a single role, anti-submarine or anti-aircraft typically, and the large "generalist" ship has disappeared from most forces. The United States Navy and the Russian Navy are the only remaining navies which operate cruisers. Italy used until 2003; France operated a single helicopter cruiser until May 2010, , for training purposes only. While Type 055 of the Chinese Navy is classified as a cruiser by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Chinese consider it a guided missile destroyer. In the years since the launch of in 1981, the class has received a number of upgrades that have dramatically improved its members' capabilities for anti-submarine and land attack (using the Tomahawk missile). Like their Soviet counterparts, the modern Ticonderogas can also be used as the basis for an entire battle group. Their cruiser designation was almost certainly deserved when first built, as their sensors and combat management systems enable them to act as flagships for a surface warship flotilla if no carrier is present, but newer ships rated as destroyers and also equipped with Aegis approach them very closely in capability, and once more blur the line between the two classes. Aircraft cruisers From time to time, some navies have experimented with aircraft-carrying cruisers. One example is the Swedish . Another was the Japanese Mogami, which was converted to carry a large floatplane group in 1942. Another variant is the helicopter cruiser. The last example in service was the Soviet Navy's , whose last unit was converted to a pure aircraft carrier and sold to India as . The Russian Navy's is nominally designated as an aviation cruiser but otherwise resembles a standard medium aircraft carrier, albeit with a surface-to-surface missile battery. The Royal Navy's aircraft-carrying and the Italian Navy's aircraft-carrying vessels were originally designated 'through-deck cruisers', but have since been designated as small aircraft carriers. Similarly, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's and "helicopter destroyers" are really more along the lines of helicopter cruisers in function and aircraft complement, but due to the Treaty of San Francisco, must be designated as destroyers. One cruiser alternative studied in the late 1980s by the United States was variously entitled a Mission Essential Unit (MEU) or CG V/STOL. In a return to the thoughts of the independent operations cruiser-carriers of the 1930s and the Soviet Kiev class, the ship was to be fitted with a hangar, elevators, and a flight deck. The mission systems were Aegis, SQS-53 sonar, 12 SV-22 ASW aircraft and 200 VLS cells. The resulting ship would have had a waterline length of 700 feet, a waterline beam of 97 feet, and a displacement of about 25,000 tons. Other features included an integrated electric drive and advanced computer systems, both stand-alone and networked. It was part of the U.S. Navy's "Revolution at Sea" effort. The project was curtailed by the sudden end of the Cold War and its aftermath, otherwise the first of class would have been likely ordered in the early 1990s. Operators Few cruisers are still operational in the world’s navies. Those that remain in service today are: : The cruiser is kept in ceremonial commission as the flagship of the Hellenic Navy due to her historical significance. : 2 , 3 guided missile cruisers; and the cruiser was ceremonially recommissioned as the flagship of the Russian Navy due to her historical significance. : 22 guided missile cruisers. The following is in laid up: : The cruiser is a Slava-class cruiser that was under construction during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Ukraine inherited the ship following its independence. Progress to complete the ship has been slow and has been at 95% complete since circa 1995. It is estimated that an additional US$30 million are needed to complete the ship, and in 2019 Ukroboronprom announced that the ship would be sold. The cruiser sits docked and unfinished at the harbor of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. It was reported that the Ukrainian government invested 6.08 million UAH into the ship's maintenance in 2012. On 26 March 2017, it was announced that the Ukrainian Government will be scrapping the vessel which has been laid up, incomplete, for nearly 30 years in Mykolaiv. Maintenance and construction was costing the country US$225,000 per month. On 19 September 2019, the new director of Ukroboronprom Aivaras Abromavičius announced that the ship will be sold. The following are classified as destroyers by their respective operators, but, due to their size and capabilities, are considered to be cruisers by some: : The first Type 055 destroyer was launched by China in June 2017 and was commissioned on 12 January 2020. Despite being classified as a destroyer by its operator, many naval analysts believe that it is far too large and too well equipped to be considered a destroyer, and thus is in fact a cruiser, and is classified by the United States Defense Department as such. : 3 s. Despite their classification as a destroyer, many naval analysts feel they are in fact cruisers due to their size and armament, which are both greater than most of the world's destroyer classes. Former operators last cruiser, the was sunk in action during the Falklands War in 1982. lost its entire navy following the Empire's collapse following World War I. decommissioned both its surviving s in 1949. returned its only cruiser, to France following the abolition of its navy in 1920. decommissioned its last , Almirante Tamandaré in 1976. decommissioned HMCS Quebec in 1961. decommissioned its last , O'Higgins in 1991. 's lone , ROCS Chung King defected to the People's Liberation Army Navy during the Chinese Civil War in 1949. only cruiser, Znaim was handed over to Germany in 1943. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 1923. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 2010. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 1990. decommissioned its last active duty cruiser, Elli in 1965. Haitian Navy only cruiser, Consul Gostrück sank due to the inexperience of her crew in 1910. decommissioned its , in 1985. decommissioned its only cruiser, the RI Irian in 1972. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 2003. surrendered all its remaining cruisers to the Allies following World War II. decommissioned its last cruiser, HMNZS Royalist in 1966. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 1975. decommissioned its only cruiser, in the 1970's. decommissioned its last , in 2017. returned its lone surviving , ORP Conrad, to the United Kingdom in 1946. decommissioned its last cruiser, NRP Vasco da Gama in 1935. decommissioned its only cruiser, in 1929. decommissioned its only cruiser SATS General Botha in 1947. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 1977. decommissioned its last cruiser, in 1971. decommissioned its last cruiser, TCG Mecidiye in 1948. decommissioned its last cruiser in 1979. lost its entire fleet upon its reintegration into the Soviet Union in 1921. decommissioned its only cruiser, ROU Montevideo in 1932. decommissioned its only cruiser, FNV Mariscal Sucre in 1940. only cruiser KB Dalmacija was captured by Germany during the Invasion of Yugoslavia in 1940. Museum ships As of 2019, several decommissioned cruisers have been saved from scrapping and exist worldwide as museum ships. They are: A floating replica of the is on display in Dandong, China. in Athens, Greece; still active as the flagship of the Hellenic Navy will be preserved in Lima, Peru – was the world's last operational gun cruiser. in St. Petersburg, Russia; still active as the flagship of the Russian Navy in Novorossiysk, Russia; the last surviving in London, England in Belfast, Northern Ireland; the last surviving ship from the Battle of Jutland in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the world's oldest steel-hulled warship afloat. in Buffalo, New York in Quincy, Massachusetts; the world's last heavy cruiser. Bow section of in La Spezia, Italy Former museums The was on display in Bordeaux, France until 2006, when she was forced to close due to financial difficulties. She sat in the French Navy's mothball fleet in Landevennec until she was sold for scrap in 2014. See also List of battlecruisers of the Second World War List of cruisers List of cruisers of the Second World War List of ships of the Second World War References Sources Parkes, Oscar British Battleships (2nd Edition). Leo Cooper, London, 1990. . External links Ship types

Civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. Programs of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in some countries during the 1930s as the threat of war and aerial bombardment grew. It became widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized. Since the end of the Cold War, the focus of civil defense has largely shifted from military attack to emergencies and disasters in general. The new concept is described by a number of terms, each of which has its own specific shade of meaning, such as crisis management, emergency management, emergency preparedness, contingency planning, civil contingency, civil aid and civil protection. In some countries, civil defense is seen as a key part of defense in general. For example the Swedish language word totalförsvar ("total defense") refers to the commitment of a wide range of national resources to its defense, including the protection of all aspects of civilian life. Some countries have organized civil defense along paramilitary lines, or incorporated it within armed forces, such as the Soviet Civil Defense Forces (Войска гражданской обороны). History Origins United Kingdom The advent of civil defense was stimulated by the experience of the bombing of civilian areas during the First World War. The bombing of the United Kingdom began on 19 January 1915 when German zeppelins dropped bombs on the Great Yarmouth area, killing six people. German bombing operations of the First World War were surprisingly effective, especially after the Gotha bombers surpassed the zeppelins. The most devastating raids inflicted 121 casualties for each ton of bombs dropped; this figure was then used as a basis for predictions. After the war, attention was turned toward civil defense in the event of war, and the Air Raid Precautions Committee (ARP) was established in 1924 to investigate ways for ensuring the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. The Committee produced figures estimating that in London there would be 9,000 casualties in the first two days and then a continuing rate of 17,500 casualties a week. These rates were thought conservative. It was believed that there would be "total chaos and panic" and hysterical neurosis as the people of London would try to flee the city. To control the population harsh measures were proposed: bringing London under almost military control, and physically cordoning off the city with 120,000 troops to force people back to work. A different government department proposed setting up camps for refugees for a few days before sending them back to London. A special government department, the Civil Defence Service, was established by the Home Office in 1935. Its remit included the pre-existing ARP as well as wardens, firemen (initially the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and latterly the National Fire Service (NFS)), fire watchers, rescue, first aid post, stretcher party and industry. Over 1.9 million people served within the CD; nearly 2,400 lost their lives to enemy action. The organization of civil defense was the responsibility of the local authority. Volunteers were ascribed to different units depending on experience or training. Each local civil defense service was divided into several sections. Wardens were responsible for local reconnaissance and reporting, and leadership, organization, guidance and control of the general public. Wardens would also advise survivors of the locations of rest and food centers, and other welfare facilities. Rescue Parties were required to assess and then access bombed-out buildings and retrieve injured or dead people. In addition they would turn off gas, electricity and water supplies, and repair or pull down unsteady buildings. Medical services, including First Aid Parties, provided on the spot medical assistance. The expected stream of information that would be generated during an attack was handled by 'Report and Control' teams. A local headquarters would have an ARP controller who would direct rescue, first aid and decontamination teams to the scenes of reported bombing. If local services were deemed insufficient to deal with the incident then the controller could request assistance from surrounding boroughs. Fire Guards were responsible for a designated area/building and required to monitor the fall of incendiary bombs and pass on news of any fires that had broken out to the NFS. They could deal with an individual magnesium electron incendiary bomb by dousing it with buckets of sand or water or by smothering. Additionally, 'Gas Decontamination Teams' kitted out with gas-tight and waterproof protective clothing were to deal with any gas attacks. They were trained to decontaminate buildings, roads, rail and other material that had been contaminated by liquid or jelly gases. Little progress was made over the issue of air-raid shelters, because of the apparently irreconcilable conflict between the need to send the public underground for shelter and the need to keep them above ground for protection against gas attacks. In February 1936 the Home Secretary appointed a technical Committee on Structural Precautions against Air Attack. During the Munich crisis, local authorities dug trenches to provide shelter. After the crisis, the British Government decided to make these a permanent feature, with a standard design of precast concrete trench lining. They also decided to issue the Anderson shelter free to poorer households and to provide steel props to create shelters in suitable basements. During the Second World War, the ARP was responsible for the issuing of gas masks, pre-fabricated air-raid shelters (such as Anderson shelters, as well as Morrison shelters), the upkeep of local public shelters, and the maintenance of the blackout. The ARP also helped rescue people after air raids and other attacks, and some women became ARP Ambulance Attendants whose job was to help administer first aid to casualties, search for survivors, and in many grim instances, help recover bodies, sometimes those of their own colleagues. As the war progressed, the military effectiveness of Germany's aerial bombardment was very limited. Thanks to the Luftwaffe's shifting aims, the strength of British air defenses, the use of early warning radar and the life-saving actions of local civil defense units, the aerial "Blitz" during the Battle of Britain failed to break the morale of the British people, destroy the Royal Air Force or significantly hinder British industrial production. Despite a significant investment in civil and military defense, British civilian losses during the Blitz were higher than in most strategic bombing campaigns throughout the war. For example, there were 14,000-20,000 UK civilian fatalities during the Battle of Britain, a relatively high number considering that the Luftwaffe dropped only an estimated 30,000 tons of ordinance during the battle. Granted, this resulting 0.47-0.67 civilian fatalities per ton of bombs dropped was lower than the earlier 121 casualties per ton prediction. However, in comparison, Allied strategic bombing of Germany during the war proved slightly less lethal than what was observed in the UK, with an estimated 400,000-600,000 German civilian fatalities for approximately 1.35 million tons of bombs dropped on Germany, an estimated resulting rate therefore of 0.30-0.44 civilian fatalities per ton of bombs dropped. United States In the United States, the Office of Civil Defense was established in May 1941 to coordinate civilian defense efforts. It coordinated with the Department of the Army and established similar groups to the British ARP. One of these groups that still exists today is the Civil Air Patrol, which was originally created as a civilian auxiliary to the Army. The CAP was created on December 1, 1941, with the main civil defense mission of search and rescue. The CAP also sank two Axis submarines and provided aerial reconnaissance for Allied and neutral merchant ships. In 1946, the Civil Air Patrol was barred from combat by Public Law 79-476. The CAP then received its current mission: search and rescue for downed aircraft. When the Air Force was created, in 1947, the Civil Air Patrol became the auxiliary of the Air Force. The Coast Guard Auxiliary performs a similar role in support of the U.S. Coast Guard. Like the Civil Air Patrol, the Coast Guard Auxiliary was established in the run up to World War II. Auxiliarists were sometimes armed during the war, and extensively participated in port security operations. After the war, the Auxiliary shifted its focus to promoting boating safety and assisting the Coast Guard in performing search and rescue and marine safety and environmental protection. In the United States a federal civil defense program existed under Public Law 920 of the 81st Congress, as amended, from 1951–1994. That statutory scheme was made so-called all-hazards by Public Law 103-160 in 1993 and largely repealed by Public Law 103-337 in 1994. Parts now appear in Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 100-107 [1988 as amended]. The term EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS was largely codified by that repeal and amendment. See 42 USC Sections 5101 and following. In most of the states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and West Germany, as well as the Soviet Bloc, and especially in the neutral countries, such as Switzerland and in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s, many civil defense practices took place to prepare for the aftermath of a nuclear war, which seemed quite likely at that time. In the United Kingdom, the Civil Defence Service was disbanded in 1945, followed by the ARP in 1946. With the onset of the growing tensions between East and West, the service was revived in 1949 as the Civil Defence Corps. As a civilian volunteer organization, it was tasked to take control in the aftermath of a major national emergency, principally envisaged as being a Cold War nuclear attack. Although under the authority of the Home Office, with a centralized administrative establishment, the corps was administered locally by Corps Authorities. In general every county was a Corps Authority, as were most county boroughs in England and Wales and large burghs in Scotland. Each division was divided into several sections, including the Headquarters, Intelligence and Operations, Scientific and Reconnaissance, Warden & Rescue, Ambulance and First Aid and Welfare. In 1954 Coventry City Council caused international controversy when it announced plans to disband its Civil Defence committee because the councillors had decided that hydrogen bombs meant that there could be no recovery from a nuclear attack. The British government opposed such a move and held a provocative Civil Defence exercise on the streets of Coventry which Labour council members protested against. The government also decided to implement its own committee at the city's cost until the council reinstituted its committee. In the United States, the sheer power of nuclear weapons and the perceived likelihood of such an attack precipitated a greater response than had yet been required of civil defense. Civil defense, previously considered an important and commonsense step, became divisive and controversial in the charged atmosphere of the Cold War. In 1950, the National Security Resources Board created a 162-page document outlining a model civil defense structure for the U.S. Called the "Blue Book" by civil defense professionals in reference to its solid blue cover, it was the template for legislation and organization for the next 40 years. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the Cold War civil defense effort was the educational effort made or promoted by the government. In Duck and Cover, Bert the Turtle advocated that children "duck and cover" when they "see the flash." Booklets such as Survival Under Atomic Attack, Fallout Protection and Nuclear War Survival Skills were also commonplace. The transcribed radio program Stars for Defense combined hit music with civil defense advice. Government institutes created public service announcements including children's songs and distributed them to radio stations to educate the public in case of nuclear attack. The US President Kennedy (1961–63) launched an ambitious effort to install fallout shelters throughout the United States. These shelters would not protect against the blast and heat effects of nuclear weapons, but would provide some protection against the radiation effects that would last for weeks and even affect areas distant from a nuclear explosion. In order for most of these preparations to be effective, there had to be some degree of warning. In 1951, CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was established. Under the system, a few primary stations would be alerted of an emergency and would broadcast an alert. All broadcast stations throughout the country would be constantly listening to an upstream station and repeat the message, thus passing it from station to station. In a once classified US war game analysis, looking at varying levels of war escalation, warning and pre-emptive attacks in the late 1950s early 1960s, it was estimated that approximately 27 million US citizens would have been saved with civil defense education. At the time, however, the cost of a full-scale civil defense program was regarded as less effective in cost-benefit analysis than a ballistic missile defense (Nike Zeus) system, and as the Soviet adversary was increasing their nuclear stockpile, the efficacy of both would follow a diminishing returns trend. Contrary to the largely noncommittal approach taken in NATO, with its stops and starts in civil defense depending on the whims of each newly elected government, the military strategy in the comparatively more ideologically consistent USSR held that, amongst other things, a winnable nuclear war was possible. To this effect the Soviets planned to minimize, as far as possible, the effects of nuclear weapon strikes on its territory, and therefore spent considerably more thought on civil defense preparations than in U.S., with defense plans that have been assessed to be far more effective than those in the U.S. Soviet Civil Defense Troops played the main role in the massive disaster relief operation following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Defense Troop reservists were officially mobilized (as in a case of war) from throughout the USSR to join the Chernobyl task force and formed on the basis of the Kyiv Civil Defense Brigade. The task force performed some high-risk tasks including, with the failure of their robotic machinery, the manual removal of highly-radioactive debris. Many of their personnel were later decorated with medals for their work at containing the release of radiation into the environment, with a number of the 56 deaths from the accident being Civil defense troops. Decline In Western countries, strong civil defense policies were never properly implemented, because it was fundamentally at odds with the doctrine of "mutual assured destruction" (MAD) by making provisions for survivors. It was also considered that a full-fledged total defense would have not been worth the very large expense. For whatever reason, the public saw efforts at civil defense as fundamentally ineffective against the powerful destructive forces of nuclear weapons, and therefore a waste of time and money, although detailed scientific research programs did underlie the much-mocked government civil defense pamphlets of the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil Defence Corps was stood down in Great Britain in 1968 due to the financial crisis of the mid 1960s. Its neighbors, however, remained committed to Civil Defence, namely the Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps and Civil Defence Ireland (Republic of Ireland). In the United States, the various civil defense agencies were replaced with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1979. In 2002 this became part of the Department of Homeland Security. The focus was shifted from nuclear war to an "all-hazards" approach of Comprehensive Emergency Management. Natural disasters and the emergence of new threats such as terrorism have caused attention to be focused away from traditional civil defense and into new forms of civil protection such as emergency management and homeland security. Today Many countries still maintain a national Civil Defence Corps, usually having a wide brief for assisting in large scale civil emergencies such as flood, earthquake, invasion, or civil disorder. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, in the United States the concept of civil defense has been revisited under the umbrella term of homeland security and all-hazards emergency management. In Europe, the triangle CD logo continues to be widely used. The old U.S. civil defense logo was used in the FEMA logo until 2006 and is hinted at in the United States Civil Air Patrol logo. Created in 1939 by Charles Coiner of the N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency, it was used throughout World War II and the Cold War era. In 2006, the National Emergency Management Association—a U.S. organization made up of state emergency managers—"officially" retired the Civil Defense triangle logo, replacing it with a stylised EM (standing for Emergency management). The name and logo, however, continue to be used by Hawaii State Civil Defense and Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense. The term "civil protection" is currently widely used within the European Union to refer to government-approved systems and resources tasked with protecting the non-combat population, primarily in the event of natural and technological disasters. For example, the EU's humanitarian aid policy director on the Ebola Crisis, Florika Fink-Hooijer, said that civil protection requires "not just more resources, but first and foremost better governance of the resources that are available including better synergies between humanitarian aid and civil protection". In recent years there has been emphasis on preparedness for technological disasters resulting from terrorist attack. Within EU countries the term "crisis-management" emphasizes the political and security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the immediate needs of the population. In Australia, civil defense is the responsibility of the volunteer-based State Emergency Service. In most former Soviet countries civil defense is the responsibility of governmental ministries, such as Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations. Importance Relatively small investments in preparation can speed up recovery by months or years and thereby prevent millions of deaths by hunger, cold and disease. According to human capital theory in economics, a country's population is more valuable than all of the land, factories and other assets that it possesses. People rebuild a country after its destruction, and it is therefore important for the economic security of a country that it protect its people. According to psychology, it is important for people to feel as though they are in control of their own destiny, and preparing for uncertainty via civil defense may help to achieve this. In the United States, the federal civil defense program was authorized by statute and ran from 1951 to 1994. Originally authorized by Public Law 920 of the 81st Congress, it was repealed by Public Law 93-337 in 1994. Small portions of that statutory scheme were incorporated into the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 100-707) which partly superseded in part, partly amended, and partly supplemented the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-288). In the portions of the civil defense statute incorporated into the Stafford Act, the primary modification was to use the term "Emergency Preparedness" wherever the term "Civil Defence" had previously appeared in the statutory language. An important concept initiated by President Jimmy Carter was the so-called "Crisis Relocation Program" administered as part of the federal civil defense program. That effort largely lapsed under President Ronald Reagan, who discontinued the Carter initiative because of opposition from areas potentially hosting the relocated population. Threat assessment Threats to civilians and civilian life include NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare) and others, like the more modern term CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear). Threat assessment involves studying each threat so that preventative measures can be built into civilian life. Conventional Refers to conventional explosives. A blast shelter designed to protect only from radiation and fallout would be much more vulnerable to conventional explosives. See also fallout shelter. Nuclear Shelter intended to protect against nuclear blast effects would include thick concrete and other sturdy elements which are resistant to conventional explosives. The biggest threats from a nuclear attack are effects from the blast, fires and radiation. One of the most prepared countries for a nuclear attack is Switzerland. Almost every building in Switzerland has an abri (shelter) against the initial nuclear bomb and explosion followed by the fall-out. Because of this, many people use it as a safe to protect valuables, photos, financial information and so on. Switzerland also has air-raid and nuclear-raid sirens in every village. Dirty Bomb A "radiologically enhanced weapon", or "dirty bomb", uses an explosive to spread radioactive material. This is a theoretical risk, and such weapons have not been used by terrorists. Depending on the quantity of the radioactive material, the dangers may be mainly psychological. Toxic effects can be managed by standard hazmat techniques. Biological The threat here is primarily from disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. Chemical Various chemical agents are a threat, such as nerve gas (VX, Sarin, and so on.). Stages Mitigation Mitigation is the process of actively prevents the war or the released of nuclear weapons. It includes policy analysis, diplomacy, political measures, nuclear disarmament and more military responses such as a National Missile Defense and air defense artillery. In the case of counter-terrorism, mitigation would include diplomacy, intelligence gathering and direct action against terrorist groups. Mitigation may also be reflected in long-term planning such as the design of the interstate highway system and the placement of military bases further away from populated areas. Preparation Preparation consists of building blast shelters and pre-positioning information, supplies, and emergency infrastructure. For example, most larger cities in the U.S. now have underground emergency operations centers that can perform civil defense coordination. FEMA also has many underground facilities for the same purpose located near major railheads such as the ones in Denton, Texas and Mount Weather, Virginia. Other measures would include continual government inventories of grain silos, the Strategic National Stockpile, the uncapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the dispersal of lorry-transportable bridges, water purification, mobile refineries, mobile de-contamination facilities, mobile general and special purpose disaster mortuary facilities such as Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) and DMORT-WMD, and other aids such as temporary housing to speed civil recovery. On an individual scale, one means of preparation for exposure to nuclear fallout is to obtain potassium iodide (KI) tablets as a safety measure to protect the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine. Another measure is to cover the nose, mouth and eyes with a piece of cloth and sunglasses to protect against alpha particles, which are only an internal hazard. To support and supplement efforts at national, regional and local level with regard to disaster prevention, the preparedness of those responsible for civil protection and the intervention in the event of disaster To establish a framework for effective and rapid cooperation between different civil protection services when mutual assistance is needed (police, fire service, healthcare service, public utility provider, voluntary agencies) To set up and implement training programs for intervention and coordination teams as well as assessment experts including joint courses and exchange systems To enhance the coherence of actions undertaken at international level in the field of civil protection, especially in the context of cooperation Preparing also includes sharing information: To contribute to informing the public, in view of increasing citizens' level of self-protection To collect and disseminate validated emergency information To pool information on national civil protection capabilities, military and medical resources To ensure efficient information sharing between the different authorities Response Response consists first of warning civilians so they can enter fallout shelters and protect assets. Staffing a response is always full of problems in a civil defense emergency. After an attack, conventional full-time emergency services are dramatically overloaded, with conventional fire fighting response times often exceeding several days. Some capability is maintained by local and state agencies, and an emergency reserve is provided by specialized military units, especially civil affairs, Military Police, Judge Advocates and combat engineers. However, the traditional response to massed attack on civilian population centers is to maintain a mass-trained force of volunteer emergency workers. Studies in World War II showed that lightly trained (40 hours or less) civilians in organised teams can perform up to 95% of emergency activities when trained, liaised and supported by local government. In this plan, the populace rescues itself from most situations, and provides information to a central office to prioritize professional emergency services. In the 1990s, this concept was revived by the Los Angeles Fire Department to cope with civil emergencies such as earthquakes. The program was widely adopted, providing standard terms for organization. In the U.S., this is now official federal policy, and it is implemented by community emergency response teams, under the Department of Homeland Security, which certifies training programs by local governments, and registers "certified disaster service workers" who complete such training. Recovery Recovery consists of rebuilding damaged infrastructure, buildings and production. The recovery phase is the longest and ultimately most expensive phase. Once the immediate "crisis" has passed, cooperation fades away and recovery efforts are often politicized or seen as economic opportunities. Preparation for recovery can be very helpful. If mitigating resources are dispersed before the attack, cascades of social failures can be prevented. One hedge against bridge damage in riverine cities is to subsidize a "tourist ferry" that performs scenic cruises on the river. When a bridge is down, the ferry takes up the load. Civil defense organizations Civil Defense is also the name of a number of organizations around the world dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks, as well as to providing rescue services after natural and human-made disasters alike. Worldwide protection is managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In a few countries such as Jordan and Singapore (see Singapore Civil Defence Force), civil defense is essentially the same organization as the fire brigade. In most countries, however, civil defense is a government-managed, volunteer-staffed organization, separate from the fire brigade and the ambulance service. As the threat of Cold War eased, a number of such civil defense organizations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the case of the Royal Observer Corps in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australia). However, the ideals of Civil Defense have been brought back in the United States under FEMA's Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). In the United Kingdom Civil Defence work is carried out by Emergency Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, with assistance from voluntary groups such as RAYNET, Search and Rescue Teams and 4x4 Response. In Ireland, the Civil Defence is still very much an active organization and is occasionally called upon for its Auxiliary Fire Service and ambulance/rescue services when emergencies such as flash flooding occur and require additional manpower. The organization has units of trained firemen and medical responders based in key areas around the country. By country Albanian Civil Protection – Albania State Emergency Service – Australia Belgian Civil Protection – Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Federal Administration of Civil Protection (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) Republic of Srpska – Republican Administration of Civil Protection (Republic of Srpska) Defesa Civil – Brazil Cyprus Civil Defence – Cyprus Population Protection – Czech Republic Beredskabsstyrelsen, or the Emergency Management Agency – Denmark Protección Civil – El Salvador Civil defense in Finland Sécurité Civile – France General Secretariat for Civil Protection – Greece Civil Aid Service – Hong Kong Directorate General Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards – India Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, or Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management – Indonesia Civil Defence Harir in Kurdistan – Iraq Civil Defence Ireland – Ireland Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps Civil defense in Israel Protezione Civile – Italy Malaysia Civil Defence Force – Malaysia Protección Civil – Mexico Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers – Monaco Civil Defence (New Zealand) Nigeria security and civil defence corps – Nigeria Norwegian Civil Defence Directorate General of Civil Defence – Pakistan Panama Civil Defense Seismic Network Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil – Portugal Civil Police – San Marino Singapore Civil Defence Force Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies – Spain UK: Civil Defence Corps 4x4 Response UK's National Attack Warning System Royal Observer Corps US: Civil Air Patrol United States civil defense United States civil defense association Comprehensive Emergency Management Federal Emergency Management Agency CONELRAD Duck and cover Germany: Technisches Hilfswerk Katastrophenschutz DRK ASB DLRG Feuerwehr Johanniter Malteser Bergwacht Verkehrswacht Seenotretter See also General: Nuclear warfare Nuclear holocaust Nuclear terrorism Survivalism Weapon of mass destruction Notes and references External links Greece Large gallery of Bulgaria's Civil Defense Mechanization(archived link) The UK Civil Defence Project – History & Photos National Civil Defence College, Nagpur INDIA Special Event Amateur Ham Radio Station operated from Bangalore, INDIA Protezione Civile Italian Civil Defense Dublin Civil Defence Ireland SEBEV Search and Rescue (originally a Civil Defence team in the UK) Civil Protection (Ministry of Interior, Spain). Civil Protection Villena – Spain Civil Defense Logo dies at 67, and Some Mourn its Passing, The New York Times, 1 December 2006 by David Dunlap. Cold War Era Civil Defense Museum – Features much historical information about Civil Defense history, its equipment and methods, and many historical photographs and posters. Annotated bibliography for civil defense from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues The American Civil Defense Association Civil Defense Caves – Cold War community getaway in case of nuclear war located in Idaho Comprehensive Emergency Management Reference Material Repository Ready.gov – The official preparedness site of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security "Civil Defence" – A site with details of the UK's Civil Defence preparations, including those implemented during the Cold War such as the Burlington Central Government War HQ., at Corsham, Wiltshire. Emergency Planning in Lincolnshire The official Civil Defence site for the Republic of Ireland The official Civil Defense site of São Paulo State – Brazil Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Physicians for Civil Defense Dutch civil defense instructions in English Emergency Management Portal – online resources for emergency planners and managers The Norwegian Civil Defence German Federal Agency for Technical Relief – THW Technisches Hilfswerk Emergency management Organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom

The economy of the Cook Islands is based mainly on tourism, with minor exports made up of tropical and citrus fruit. Manufacturing activities are limited to fruit-processing, clothing and handicrafts. As in many other South Pacific nations, the Cook Islands's economy is hindered by the country's isolation from foreign markets, lack of natural resources aside from fish, periodic devastation from natural disasters, and inadequate infrastructure. Trade deficits are made up for by remittances from emigrants and by foreign aid, overwhelmingly from New Zealand. Efforts to exploit tourism potential, encourage offshore banking, and expand the mining and fishing industries have been partially successful in stimulating investment and growth. Banking and finance Banks in the Cook Islands are regulated under the Banking Act 2011. Banks must be licensed and are supervised by the Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission. The Cook Islands developed an offshore financial services industry in the early 1980s. Allegations that New Zealand-based companies were using it as a tax haven led to the Winebox Inquiry in New Zealand in the 1990s, and in 2000 it was listed as a tax haven by the OECD. In 2002 it was delisted after it agreed to fiscal transparency and to exchange tax information. Allegations of being a tax haven re-emerged in 2013 following the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Offshore Leaks. Trusts incorporated in the Cook Islands are used to provide anonymity and asset-protection. The cook Islands also featured in the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and Pandora Papers financial leaks. Economist Vaine Nooana-Arioka has been executive director of the Bank of the Cook Islands since 2008. Economic statistics GDP Purchasing power parity - $183.2 million (2005 est.) GDP - real growth rate -.05% (2005); -1.2% (2014); -1.7% (2013). Growth in the Cook Islands has slowed due to a lack of infrastructure projects and accommodation capacity constraints in the tourism sector. Cook Islands economic activity is expected to be flat in FY2016; to grow by 0.2% in FY2017. Inflation 1.8% (FY2016); 2.0% (FY2017). Statistics Asian Development Bank GDP - per capita $9 100 (2005 estimate) GDP - composition by sector Agriculture: 78.9% Industry: 9.6% Services: 75.3% (2000) Population below poverty line 28.4% of the population lives below the national poverty line. Statistics 2016 Asian Development Bank Household income or consumption by percentage share Lowest 10%: NA% Highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2.1% (2005 est.) Labor force 6,820 (2001) Labor force - by occupation Agriculture 29%, industry 15%, services 56% (1995) Unemployment rate 13.1% (2005) Budget Revenues: $70.95 million Expenditures: $69.05 million; including capital expenditures of $5.744 million (FY00/01 est.) Industries Fruit processing, tourism, fishing, clothing, handicrafts Industrial production growth rate 1% (2002) Electricity - production 28 GW·h (2003) Electricity - production by source Fossil fuel: 100% Hydro: 0% Nuclear: 0% Other: 0% (2001) Electricity - consumption 34.46 GW·h (2005 est) Electricity - exports 0 kW·h (2003) Electricity - imports 0 kW·h (2003) Oil consumption (2003) Agriculture - products Copra, citrus, pineapples, tomatoes, beans, pawpaws, bananas, yams, taro, coffee, pigs, poultry Exports $5.222 million (2005) Exports - commodities Copra, papayas, fresh and canned citrus fruit, coffee; fish; pearls and pearl shells; clothing Exports - partners Australia 34%, Japan 27%, New Zealand 25%, US 8% (2004) Imports $81.04 million (2005) Imports - commodities Foodstuffs, textiles, fuels, timber, capital goods Imports - partners New Zealand 61%, Fiji 19%, US 9%, Australia 6%, Japan 2% (2004) Debt - external $141 million (1996 est.) Economic aid - recipient $13.1 million (1995); note - New Zealand furnishes the greater part Currency 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents Exchange rates New Zealand dollars (NZ$) per US$1 - 1.4203 (2005), 1.9451 (January 2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8632 (1998), 1.5083 (1997), 1.4543 (1996), 1.5235 (1995) Fiscal year 1 April–31 March Telecommunications Telecom Cook Islands Ltd (TCI) is the sole provider of telecommunications in the Cook Islands. TCI is a private company owned by Spark New Zealand Ltd (60%) and the Cook Islands Government (40%). In operation since July 1991, TCI provides local, national and international telecommunications as well as internet access on all islands except Suwarrow. Communications to Suwarrow is via HF radio. References External links CIA World Factbook, 2006

The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a soprano cornet in E and cornets in A and C. All are unrelated to the Renaissance and early Baroque cornett. History The cornet derived from the posthorn, by applying rotary valves to it in the 1820s in France. However by the 1830s, Parisian makers were using piston valves. Cornets first appeared as separate instrumental parts in 19th-century French compositions. This instrument could not have been developed without the improvement of piston valves by Silesian horn player Friedrich Blühmel and Heinrich Stölzel in the early 19th century. These two instrument makers almost simultaneously invented valves, though it is likely that Blühmel (or Blümel) was the inventor, and Stölzel who developed a practical instrument. They jointly applied for a patent and were granted this for a period of ten years. Later, and most importantly, François Périnet received a patent in 1838 for an improved valve which is the basis of all modern brass instrument piston valves. The first notable virtuoso player was Jean-Baptiste Arban, who studied the cornet extensively and published La grande méthode complète de cornet à piston et de saxhorn, commonly referred to as the Arban method, in 1864. Up until the early 20th century, the trumpet and cornet co-existed in musical ensembles. Symphonic repertoire often involves separate parts for trumpet and cornet. As several instrument builders made improvements to both instruments, they started to look and sound more alike. The modern-day cornet is used in brass bands, concert bands, and in specific orchestral repertoire that requires a more mellow sound. The name cornet derives from corne, meaning horn, itself from Latin 'cornu'. While not musically related, instruments of the Zink family (which includes serpents) are named "cornetto" or "cornett" in modern English to distinguish them from the valved cornet described here. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica referred to serpents as "old wooden cornets". The Roman/Etruscan cornu (or simply "horn") is the lingual ancestor of these. It is a predecessor of the post horn from which the cornet evolved, and was used like a bugle to signal orders on the battlefield. Relationship to trumpet The cornet's valves allowed for melodic playing throughout the register of the cornet. Trumpets were slower to adopt the new valve technology, so for 100 years or more, composers often wrote separate parts for trumpet and cornet. The trumpet would play fanfare-like passages, while the cornet played more melodic passages. The modern trumpet has valves that allow it to play the same notes and fingerings as the cornet. Cornets and trumpets made in a given key (usually the key of B) play at the same pitch, and the technique for playing the instruments is nearly identical. However, cornets and trumpets are not entirely interchangeable, as they differ in timbre. Also available, but usually seen only in the brass band, is an E soprano model, pitched a fourth above the standard B. Unlike the trumpet, which has a cylindrical bore up to the bell section, the tubing of the cornet has a mostly conical bore, starting very narrow at the mouthpiece and gradually widening towards the bell. Cornets following the 1913 patent of E.A. Couturier can have a continuously conical bore. The conical bore of the cornet is primarily responsible for its characteristic warm, mellow tone, which can be distinguished from the more penetrating sound of the trumpet. The conical bore of the cornet also makes it more agile than the trumpet when playing fast passages, but correct pitching is often less assured. The cornet is often preferred for young beginners as it is easier to hold, with its centre of gravity much closer to the player. The cornet mouthpiece has a shorter and narrower shank than that of a trumpet so it can fit the cornet's smaller mouthpiece receiver. The cup size is often deeper than that of a trumpet mouthpiece. One variety is the short model traditional cornet, also known as a "Shepherd's Crook" shaped model. These are most often large–bore instruments with a rich mellow sound. There is also a long-model or "American-wrap" cornet, often with a smaller bore and a brighter sound, which is produced in a variety of different tubing wraps and is closer to a trumpet in appearance. The Shepherd's Crook model is preferred by cornet traditionalists. The long-model cornet is generally used in concert bands in the United States, but has found little following in British-style brass and concert bands. A third and relatively rare variety—distinct from the long-model or "American-wrap" cornet—is the "long cornet", which was produced in the mid-20th Century by C.G. Conn and F.E. Olds and visually is nearly indistinguishable from a trumpet except that it has a receiver fashioned to accept cornet mouthpieces. Echo cornet The echo cornet has been called an obsolete variant. It has a mute chamber (or echo chamber) mounted to the side acting as a second bell when the fourth valve is pressed. The second bell has a sound similar to that of a Harmon mute and is typically used to play echo phrases, whereupon the player imitates the sound from the primary bell using the echo chamber. Playing technique Like the trumpet and all other modern brass wind instruments, the cornet makes a sound when the player vibrates ("buzzes") the lips in the mouthpiece, creating a vibrating column of air in the tubing. The frequency of the air column's vibration can be modified by changing the lip tension and aperture or "embouchure", and by altering the tongue position to change the shape of the oral cavity, thereby increasing or decreasing the speed of the airstream. In addition, the column of air can be lengthened by engaging one or more valves, thus lowering the pitch. Double and triple tonguing are also possible. Without valves, the player could produce only a harmonic series of notes like those played by the bugle and other "natural" brass instruments. These notes are far apart for most of the instrument's range, making diatonic and chromatic playing impossible except in the extreme high register. The valves change the length of the vibrating column and provide the cornet with the ability to play chromatically. Ensembles with cornets Brass band British brass bands consist only of brass instruments and a percussion section. The cornet is the leading melodic instrument in this ensemble; trumpets are never used. The ensemble consists of about thirty musicians, including nine B cornets and one E cornet (soprano cornet). In the UK, companies such as Besson and Boosey & Hawkes specialized in instrument for brass bands. In America, 19th-century manufacturers such as Graves and Company, Hall and Quinby, E.G. Wright and the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury made instruments for this ensemble. Concert band The cornet features in the British-style concert band, and early American concert band pieces, particularly those written or transcribed before 1960, often feature distinct, separate parts for trumpets and cornets. Cornet parts are rarely included in later American pieces, however, and cornets are replaced in modern American bands by the trumpet. This slight difference in instrumentation derives from the British concert band's heritage in military bands, where the highest brass instrument is always the cornet. There are usually four to six B cornets present in a British concert band, but no E instrument, as this role is taken by the E clarinet. Fanfareorkest Fanfareorkesten ("fanfare orchestras"), found in only the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern France and Lithuania, use the complete saxhorn family of instruments. The standard instrumentation includes both the cornet and the trumpet; however, in recent decades, the cornet has largely been replaced by the trumpet. Jazz ensemble In old style jazz bands, the cornet was preferred to the trumpet, but from the swing era onwards, it has been largely replaced by the louder, more piercing trumpet. Likewise the cornet has been largely phased out of big bands by a growing taste for louder and more aggressive instruments, especially since the advent of bebop in the post World War II era. Jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden played the cornet, and Louis Armstrong started off on the cornet but his switch to the trumpet is often credited with beginning of the trumpet's dominance in jazz. Cornetists such as Bubber Miley and Rex Stewart contributed substantially to the Duke Ellington Orchestra's early sound. Other influential jazz cornetists include Freddie Keppard, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, Ruby Braff, Bobby Hackett, and Nat Adderley. Notable performances on cornet by players generally associated with the trumpet include Freddie Hubbard's on Empyrean Isles by Herbie Hancock and Don Cherry's on The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman. The band Tuba Skinny is led by cornetist Shaye Cohn. Symphony orchestra Soon after its invention, the cornet was introduced into the symphony orchestra, supplementing the trumpets. The use of valves meant they could play a full chromatic scale in contrast with trumpets, which were still restricted to the harmonic series. In addition, their tone was found to unify the horn and trumpet sections. Hector Berlioz was the first significant composer to use them in these ways, and his orchestral works often use pairs of both trumpets and cornets, the latter playing more of the melodic lines. In his Symphonie fantastique (1830), he added a counter-melody for a solo cornet in the second movement (Un Bal). Cornets continued to be used, particularly in French compositions, well after the valve trumpet was common. They blended well with other instruments, and were held to be better suited to certain types of melody. Tchaikovsky used them effectively this way in his Capriccio Italien (1880). From the early 20th century, the cornet and trumpet combination was still favored by some composers, including Edward Elgar and Igor Stravinsky, but tended to be used for occasions when the composer wanted the specific mellower and more agile sound. The sounds of cornet and trumpet have grown closer together over time and the former is now rarely used as an ensemble instrument: in the first version of his ballet Petrushka (1911), Stravinsky gives a celebrated solo to the cornet; in the 1946 revision he removed cornets from the orchestration and instead assigned the solo to the trumpet. See also Flugelhorn References External links The Cornet Compendium Brass instruments B-flat instruments

A calendar date is a reference to a particular day represented within a calendar system. The calendar date allows the specific day to be identified. The number of days between two dates may be calculated. For example, "25 " is ten days after "15 ". The date of a particular event depends on the observed time zone. For example, the air attack on Pearl Harbor that began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time on 7 December 1941 took place at 3:18 a.m. Japan Standard Time, 8 December in Japan. A particular day may be assigned a different nominal date according to the calendar used, so an identifying suffix may be needed where ambiguity may arise. The Gregorian calendar is the world's most widely used civil calendar, and is designated (in English) as AD or CE. Many cultures use religious or regnal calendars such as the Gregorian (Western Christendom, AD), Hebrew calendar (Judaism, AM), the Hijri calendars (Islam, AH), Julian calendar (Eastern Christendom, AD) or any other of the many calendars used around the world. In most calendar systems, the date consists of three parts: the (numbered) day of the month, the month, and the (numbered) year. There may also be additional parts, such as the day of the week. Years are usually counted from a particular starting point, usually called the epoch, with era referring to the span of time since that epoch. A date without the year may also be referred to as a date or calendar date (such as " " rather than " "). As such, it is either shorthand for the current year or it defines the day of an annual event, such as a birthday on 31 May, a holiday on 1 September, or Christmas on 25 December. Many computer systems internally store points in time in Unix time format or some other system time format. The date (Unix) command—internally using the C date and time functions—can be used to convert that internal representation of a point in time to most of the date representations shown here. Usage map Date format There is a large variety of formats for dates in use, which differ in the order of date components. These variations use the sample date of 31 May 2006: (e.g. 31/05/2006, 05/31/2006, 2006/05/31), component separators (e.g. 31.05.2006, 31/05/2006, 31-05-2006), whether leading zeros are included (e.g. 31/5/2006 vs. 31/05/2006), whether all four digits of the year are written (e.g., 31.05.2006 vs. 31.05.06), and whether the month is represented in Arabic or Roman numerals or by name (e.g. 31.05.2006, 31.V.2006 vs. 31 May 2006). Gregorian, day–month–year (DMY) This little-endian sequence is used by a majority of the world and is the preferred form by the United Nations when writing the full date format in official documents. This date format originates from the custom of writing the date as "the Nth day of [month] in the year of our Lord [year]" in Western religious and legal documents. The format has shortened over time but the order of the elements has remained constant. The following examples use the date of 9 November 2006. (With the years 2000–2009, care must be taken to ensure that two digit years do not intend to be 1900–1909 or other similar years.) The dots have a function of ordinal dot. "9 November 2006" or "9. November 2006" (the latter is common in German-speaking regions) 9/11/2006 or 09/11/2006 09.11.2006 or 9.11.2006 9. 11. 2006 9-11-2006 or 09-11-2006 09-Nov-2006 09Nov06 – Used, including in the U.S., where space needs to be saved by skipping punctuation (often seen on the dateline of Internet news articles). [The] 9th [of] November 2006 – 'The' and 'of' are often spoken but generally omitted in all but the most formal writing such as legal documents. 09/Nov/2006 – used in the Common Log Format Thursday, 9 November 2006 9/xi/06, 9.xi.06, 9-xi.06, 9/xi-06, 9.XI.2006, 9. XI. 2006 or 9 XI 2006 (using the Roman numeral for the month) – In the past, this was a common and typical way of distinguishing day from month and was widely used in many countries, but recently this practice has been affected by the general retreat from the use of Roman numerals. This is usually confined to handwriting only and is not put into any form of print. It is associated with a number of schools and universities. It has also been used by the Vatican as an alternative to using months named after Roman deities. It is used on Canadian postmarks as a bilingual form of the month. It was also commonly used in the Soviet Union, in both handwriting and print. 9 November 2006 CE or 9 November 2006 AD Gregorian, year–month–day (YMD) In this format, the most significant data item is written before lesser data items i.e. the year before the month before the day. It is consistent with the big-endianness of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, which progresses from the highest to the lowest order magnitude. That is, using this format textual orderings and chronological orderings are identical. This form is standard in East Asia, Iran, Lithuania, Hungary, and Sweden; and some other countries to a limited extent. Examples for the 9th of November 2003: 2003-11-09: the standard Internet date/time format, a profile of the international standard ISO 8601, orders the components of a date like this, and additionally uses leading zeros, for example, 1996-05-01, to be easily read and sorted by computers. It is used with UTC in RFC 3339. This format is also favored in certain Asian countries, mainly East Asian countries, as well as in some European countries. The big-endian convention is also frequently used in Canada, but all three conventions are used there (both endians and the American DDMMMYYYY format are allowed on bank cheques). 2003, November 9 2003Nov9 2003Nov09 2003-Nov-9 2003-Nov-09 2003-Nov-9, Sunday 2003. 9. – The official format in Hungary, point after year and day, month name with small initial. Following shorter formats also can be used: 2003. . 9., 2003. 11. 9., 2003. XI. 9. 2003.11.9 using dots and no leading zeros, common in China. 2003.11.09 2003/11/09 using slashes and leading zeros, common in Internet in Japan. 2003/11/9 03/11/09 20031109 : the "basic format" profile of ISO 8601, an 8-digit number providing monotonic date codes, common in computing and increasingly used in dated computer file names. It is used in the standard iCalendar file format defined in RFC 5545. A big advantage of the ISO 8601 "basic format" is that a simple textual sort is equivalent to a sort by date. It is also extended through the universal big-endian format clock time: 9 November 2003, 18h 14m 12s, or 2003/11/9/18:14:12 or (ISO 8601) 2003-11-09T18:14:12. Gregorian, month–day–year (MDY) This sequence is used primarily in the Philippines and the United States. This date format was commonly used alongside the little-endian form in the United Kingdom until the mid-20th century and can be found in both defunct and modern print media such as the London Gazette and The Times, respectively. This format was also commonly used by several English-language print media in many former British colonies and also one of two formats commonly used in India during British Raj era until the mid-20th century. In the United States, it is said as of Sunday, November 9, for example, although usage of "the" isn't uncommon (e.g. Sunday, November the 9th, and even November the 9th, Sunday, are also possible and readily understood). Thursday, November 9, 2006 November 9, 2006 Nov 9, 2006 Nov-9-2006 Nov-09-2006 11/9/2006 or 11/09/2006 11-09-2006 or 11-9-2006 11.09.2006 or 11.9.2006 11.09.06 11/09/06 20060911 The modern convention is to avoid using the ordinal (th, st, rd, nd) form of numbers when the day follows the month (July 4 or July 4, 2006). The ordinal was common in the past and is still sometimes used ([the] 4th [of] July or July 4th). Gregorian, year–day–month (YDM) This date format is used in Kazakhstan, Latvia, Nepal, and Turkmenistan. According to the official rules of documenting dates by governmental authorities, the long date format in Kazakh is written in the year–day–month order, e.g. 2006 5 April (). Standards There are several standards that specify date formats: ISO 8601 Data elements and interchange formats – Information interchange – Representation of dates and times specifies YYYY-MM-DD (the separators are optional, but only hyphens are allowed to be used), where all values are fixed length numeric, but also allows YYYY-DDD, where DDD is the ordinal number of the day within the year, e.g. 2001–365. RFC 3339 Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps specifies YYYY-MM-DD, i.e. a particular subset of the options allowed by ISO 8601. RFC 5322 Internet Message Format specifies day month year where day is one or two digits, month is a three letter month abbreviation, and year is four digits. Usage overloading Many numerical forms can create confusion when used in international correspondence, particularly when abbreviating the year to its final two digits, with no context. For example, "07/08/06" could refer to either 7 August 2006 or July 8, 2006 (or 1906, or the sixth year of any century), or 6 August 2007. In the United States, dates are rarely written in purely numerical forms in formal writing, although they are very common elsewhere; when numerical forms are used, the month appears first. In the United Kingdom, while it is regarded as acceptable albeit less common to write month-name day, year, this order is never used when written numerically. However, as an exception, the American shorthand "9/11" is widely understood as referring to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. When numbers are used to represent months, a significant amount of confusion can arise from the ambiguity of a date order; especially when the numbers representing the day, month, or year are low, it can be impossible to tell which order is being used. This can be clarified by using four digits to represent years, and naming the month; for example, "Feb" instead of "02". The ISO 8601 date order with four-digit years: YYYY-MM-DD (introduced in ISO 2014), is specifically chosen to be unambiguous. The ISO 8601 standard also has the advantage of being language independent and is therefore useful when there may be no language context and a universal application is desired (expiration dating on export products, for example). Many Internet sites use YYYY-MM-DD, and those using other conventions often use -MMM- for the month to further clarify and avoid ambiguity (2001-MAY-09, 9-MAY-2001, MAY 09 2001, etc.). In addition, the International Organization for Standardization considers its ISO 8601 standard to make sense from a logical perspective. Mixed units, for example, feet and inches, or pounds and ounces, are normally written with the largest unit first, in decreasing order. Numbers are also written in that order, so the digits of 2006 indicate, in order, the millennium, the century within the millennium, the decade within the century, and the year within the decade. The only date order that is consistent with these well-established conventions is year–month–day. A plain text list of dates with this format can be easily sorted by file managers, word processors, spreadsheets, and other software tools with built-in sorting functions. Some database systems use an eight-digit YYYYMMDD representation to handle date values. Naming folders with YYYY-MM-DD at the beginning allows them to be listed in date order when sorting by name – especially useful for organizing document libraries. An early U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard recommended 2-digit years. This is now widely recognized as extremely problematic, because of the year 2000 problem. Some U.S. government agencies now use ISO 8601 with 4-digit years. When transitioning from one date notation to another, people often write both styles; for example Old Style and New Style dates in the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Advantages for ordering in sequence One of the advantages of using the ISO 8601 date format is that the lexicographical order (ASCIIbetical) of the representations is equivalent to the chronological order of the dates, assuming that all dates are in the same time zone. Thus dates can be sorted using simple string comparison algorithms, and indeed by any left to right collation. For example: 2003-02-28 (28 February 2003) sorts before 2006-03-01 (1 March 2006) which sorts before 2015-01-30 (30 January 2015) The YYYY-MM-DD layout is the only common format that can provide this. Sorting other date representations involves some parsing of the date strings. This also works when a time in 24-hour format is included after the date, as long as all times are understood to be in the same time zone. ISO 8601 is used widely where concise, human-readable yet easily computable and unambiguous dates are required, although many applications store dates internally as UNIX time and only convert to ISO 8601 for display. It is worth noting that all modern computer Operating Systems retain date information of files outside of their titles, allowing the user to choose which format they prefer and have them sorted thus, irrespective of the files' names. Specialized usage Day and year only The U.S. military sometimes uses a system, which they call "Julian date format" that indicates the year and the actual day out of the 365 days of the year (and thus a designation of the month would not be needed). For example, "11 December 1999" can be written in some contexts as "1999345" or "99345", for the 345th day of 1999. This system is most often used in US military logistics since it simplifies the process of calculating estimated shipping and arrival dates. For example: say a tank engine takes an estimated 35 days to ship by sea from the US to South Korea. If the engine is sent on 06104 (Friday, 14 April 2006), it should arrive on 06139 (Friday, 19 May). Note that outside of the US military and some US government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, this format is usually referred to as "ordinal date", rather than "Julian date". Such ordinal date formats are also used by many computer programs (especially those for mainframe systems). Using a three-digit Julian day number saves one byte of computer storage over a two-digit month plus two-digit day, for example, "January 17" is 017 in Julian versus 0117 in month-day format. OS/390 or its successor, z/OS, display dates in yy.ddd format for most operations. UNIX time stores time as a number in seconds since the beginning of the UNIX Epoch (1970-01-01). Another "ordinal" date system ("ordinal" in the sense of advancing in value by one as the date advances by one day) is in common use in astronomical calculations and referencing and uses the same name as this "logistics" system. The continuity of representation of period regardless of the time of year being considered is highly useful to both groups of specialists. The astronomers describe their system as also being a "Julian date" system. Week number used Companies in Europe often use year, week number, and day for planning purposes. So, for example, an event in a project can happen on w43 (week 43) or w43-1 (Monday, week 43) or, if the year needs to be indicated, on w0643 or w643 (the year 2006 week 43; i.e., Monday 23OctoberSunday 29October 2006). The ISO does present a standard for identifying weeks, but as it does not match up with the Gregorian calendar (the beginning and ending days of a given year do not match up), this standard is somewhat more problematic than the other standards for dates. Expressing dates in spoken English In English-language outside North America (mostly in Anglophone Europe and some countries in Australasia), full dates are written as 7 December 1941 (or 7th December 1941) and spoken as "the seventh of December, nineteen forty-one" (exceedingly common usage of "the" and "of"), with the occasional usage of December 7, 1941 ("December the seventh, nineteen forty-one"). In common with most continental European usage, however, all-numeric dates are invariably ordered dd/mm/yyyy. In Canada and the United States, the usual written form is December 7, 1941, spoken as "December seventh, nineteen forty-one" or colloquially "December the seventh, nineteen forty-one". Ordinal numerals, however, are not always used when writing and pronouncing dates, and "December seven, nineteen forty-one" is also an accepted pronunciation of the date written December 7, 1941. A notable exception to this rule is the Fourth of July (U.S. Independence Day). See also Calendar algorithms Date and time representation by country Date and time notation in the United Kingdom Date and time notation in the United States Internationalization and localization ISO 8601 – an international standard covering the representation of dates and times List of calendars Time formatting and storage bugs Year 10,000 problem Notes References External links IETF: The ISO 8601 Date Format : Y10K and Beyond Today's date (Gregorian) in over 400 more-or-less obscure foreign languages Date

The carat (ct) is a unit of mass equal to or 0.00643 troy oz, and is used for measuring gemstones and pearls. The current definition, sometimes known as the metric carat, was adopted in 1907 at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures, and soon afterwards in many countries around the world. The carat is divisible into 100 points of 2 mg. Other subdivisions, and slightly different mass values, have been used in the past in different locations. In terms of diamonds, a paragon is a flawless stone of at least 100 carats (20 g). The ANSI X.12 EDI standard abbreviation for the carat is CD. Etymology First attested in English in the mid-15th century, the word carat comes from Italian carato, which comes from Arabic qīrāṭ قيراط , in turn borrowed from Greek kerátion κεράτιον 'carob seed', a diminutive of keras 'horn'. It was a unit of weight, equal to 1/1728 (1/12) of a pound (see Mina (unit)). History Carob seeds have been used throughout history to measure jewelry, because it was believed that there was little variance in their mass distribution. However, this was a factual inaccuracy, as their mass varies about as much as seeds of other species. In the past, each country had its own carat. It was often used for weighing gold. Beginning in the 1570s, it was used to measure weights of diamonds. Standardization An 'international carat' of 205 milligrams was proposed in 1871 by the Syndical Chamber of Jewellers, etc., in Paris, and accepted in 1877 by the Syndical Chamber of Diamond Merchants in Paris. A metric carat of 200 milligrams – exactly one-fifth of a gram – had often been suggested in various countries, and was finally proposed by the International Committee of Weights and Measures, and unanimously accepted at the fourth sexennial General Conference of the Metric Convention held in Paris in October 1907. It was soon made compulsory by law in France, but uptake of the new carat was slower in England, where its use was allowed by the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act of 1897. Historical definitions UK Board of Trade In the United Kingdom the original Board of Trade carat was exactly grains (~3.170 grains = ~205 mg); in 1888, the Board of Trade carat was changed to exactly grains (~3.168 grains = ~205 mg). Despite its being a non-metric unit, a number of metric countries have used this unit for its limited range of application. The Board of Trade carat was divisible into four diamond grains, but measurements were typically made in multiples of carat. Refiners' carats There were also two varieties of refiners' carats once used in the United Kingdom — the pound carat and the ounce carat. The pound troy was divisible into 24 pound carats of 240 grains troy each; the pound carat was divisible into four pound grains of 60 grains troy each; and the pound grain was divisible into four pound quarters of 15 grains troy each. Likewise, the ounce troy was divisible into 24 ounce carats of 20 grains troy each; the ounce carat was divisible into four ounce grains of 5 grains troy each; and the ounce grain was divisible into four ounce quarters of grains troy each. Greco-Roman The solidus was also a Roman weight unit. There is literary evidence that the weight of 72 coins of the type called solidus was exactly 1 Roman pound, and that the weight of 1 solidus was 24 siliquae. The weight of a Roman pound is generally believed to have been 327.45 g or possibly up to 5 g less. Therefore, the metric equivalent of 1 siliqua was approximately 189 mg. The Greeks had a similar unit of the same value. Gold fineness in carats comes from carats and grains of gold in a solidus of coin. The conversion rates 1 solidus = 24 carats, 1 carat = 4 grains still stand. Woolhouse's Measures, Weights and Moneys of all Nations gives gold fineness in carats of 4 grains, and silver in troy pounds of 12 troy ounces of 20 pennyweight each. Notes References Units of mass Jewellery making Metricated units

In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cryogenic” by accepting a threshold of 120 K (or –153 °C) to distinguish these terms from the conventional refrigeration. . The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology considers the field of cryogenics as that involving temperatures below . Discovery of superconducting materials with critical temperatures significantly above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen has provided new interest in reliable, low cost methods of producing high temperature cryogenic refrigeration. The term "high temperature cryogenic" describes temperatures ranging from above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, , up to . Cryogenicists use the Kelvin or Rankine temperature scale, both of which measure from absolute zero, rather than more usual scales such as Celsius which measures from the freezing point of water at sea level or Fahrenheit which measures from the freezing point of a particular brine solution at sea level. Definitions and distinctions Cryogenics The branches of engineering that involve the study of very low temperatures, how to produce them, and how materials behave at those temperatures. Cryobiology The branch of biology involving the study of the effects of low temperatures on organisms (most often for the purpose of achieving cryopreservation). Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources The conservation of genetic material with the intention of conserving a breed. Cryosurgery The branch of surgery applying cryogenic temperatures to destroy and kill tissue, e.g. cancer cells. Cryoelectronics The study of electronic phenomena at cryogenic temperatures. Examples include superconductivity and variable-range hopping. Cryonics Cryopreserving humans and animals with the intention of future revival. "Cryogenics" is sometimes erroneously used to mean "Cryonics" in popular culture and the press. Etymology The word cryogenics stems from Greek κρύος (cryos) – "cold" + γενής (genis) – "generating". Cryogenic fluids Cryogenic fluids with their boiling point in kelvins. Industrial applications Liquefied gases, such as liquid nitrogen and liquid helium, are used in many cryogenic applications. Liquid nitrogen is the most commonly used element in cryogenics and is legally purchasable around the world. Liquid helium is also commonly used and allows for the lowest attainable temperatures to be reached. These liquids may be stored in Dewar flasks, which are double-walled containers with a high vacuum between the walls to reduce heat transfer into the liquid. Typical laboratory Dewar flasks are spherical, made of glass and protected in a metal outer container. Dewar flasks for extremely cold liquids such as liquid helium have another double-walled container filled with liquid nitrogen. Dewar flasks are named after their inventor, James Dewar, the man who first liquefied hydrogen. Thermos bottles are smaller vacuum flasks fitted in a protective casing. Cryogenic barcode labels are used to mark Dewar flasks containing these liquids, and will not frost over down to −195 degrees Celsius. Cryogenic transfer pumps are the pumps used on LNG piers to transfer liquefied natural gas from LNG carriers to LNG storage tanks, as are cryogenic valves. Cryogenic processing The field of cryogenics advanced during World War II when scientists found that metals frozen to low temperatures showed more resistance to wear. Based on this theory of cryogenic hardening, the commercial cryogenic processing industry was founded in 1966 by Ed Busch. With a background in the heat treating industry, Busch founded a company in Detroit called CryoTech in 1966 which merged with 300 Below in 1999 to become the world's largest and oldest commercial cryogenic processing company. Busch originally experimented with the possibility of increasing the life of metal tools to anywhere between 200% and 400% of the original life expectancy using cryogenic tempering instead of heat treating. This evolved in the late 1990s into the treatment of other parts. Cryogens, such as liquid nitrogen, are further used for specialty chilling and freezing applications. Some chemical reactions, like those used to produce the active ingredients for the popular statin drugs, must occur at low temperatures of approximately . Special cryogenic chemical reactors are used to remove reaction heat and provide a low temperature environment. The freezing of foods and biotechnology products, like vaccines, requires nitrogen in blast freezing or immersion freezing systems. Certain soft or elastic materials become hard and brittle at very low temperatures, which makes cryogenic milling (cryomilling) an option for some materials that cannot easily be milled at higher temperatures. Cryogenic processing is not a substitute for heat treatment, but rather an extension of the heating–quenching–tempering cycle. Normally, when an item is quenched, the final temperature is ambient. The only reason for this is that most heat treaters do not have cooling equipment. There is nothing metallurgically significant about ambient temperature. The cryogenic process continues this action from ambient temperature down to . In most instances the cryogenic cycle is followed by a heat tempering procedure. As all alloys do not have the same chemical constituents, the tempering procedure varies according to the material's chemical composition, thermal history and/or a tool's particular service application. The entire process takes 3–4 days. Fuels Another use of cryogenics is cryogenic fuels for rockets with liquid hydrogen as the most widely used example. Liquid oxygen (LOX) is even more widely used but as an oxidizer, not a fuel. NASA's workhorse Space Shuttle used cryogenic hydrogen/oxygen propellant as its primary means of getting into orbit. LOX is also widely used with RP-1 kerosene, a non-cryogenic hydrocarbon, such as in the rockets built for the Soviet space program by Sergei Korolev. Russian aircraft manufacturer Tupolev developed a version of its popular design Tu-154 with a cryogenic fuel system, known as the Tu-155. The plane uses a fuel referred to as liquefied natural gas or LNG, and made its first flight in 1989. Other applications Some applications of cryogenics: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is one of the most common methods to determine the physical and chemical properties of atoms by detecting the radio frequency absorbed and subsequent relaxation of nuclei in a magnetic field. This is one of the most commonly used characterization techniques and has applications in numerous fields. Primarily, the strong magnetic fields are generated by supercooling electromagnets, although there are spectrometers that do not require cryogens. In traditional superconducting solenoids, liquid helium is used to cool the inner coils because it has a boiling point of around 4 K at ambient pressure. Cheap metallic superconductors can be used for the coil wiring. So-called high-temperature superconducting compounds can be made to super conduct with the use of liquid nitrogen, which boils at around 77 K. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a complex application of NMR where the geometry of the resonances is deconvoluted and used to image objects by detecting the relaxation of protons that have been perturbed by a radio-frequency pulse in the strong magnetic field. This is most commonly used in health applications. In large cities, it is difficult to transmit power by overhead cables, so underground cables are used. But underground cables get heated and the resistance of the wire increases, leading to waste of power. Superconductors could be used to increase power throughput, although they would require cryogenic liquids such as nitrogen or helium to cool special alloy-containing cables to increase power transmission. Several feasibility studies have been performed and the field is the subject of an agreement within the International Energy Agency. Cryogenic gases are used in transportation and storage of large masses of frozen food. When very large quantities of food must be transported to regions like war zones, earthquake hit regions, etc., they must be stored for a long time, so cryogenic food freezing is used. Cryogenic food freezing is also helpful for large scale food processing industries. Many infrared (forward looking infrared) cameras require their detectors to be cryogenically cooled. Certain rare blood groups are stored at low temperatures, such as −165 °C, at blood banks. Cryogenics technology using liquid nitrogen and CO2 has been built into nightclub effect systems to create a chilling effect and white fog that can be illuminated with colored lights. Cryogenic cooling is used to cool the tool tip at the time of machining in manufacturing process. It increases the tool life. Oxygen is used to perform several important functions in the steel manufacturing process. Many rockets use cryogenic gases as propellants. These include liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, and liquid methane. By freezing the automobile or truck tire in liquid nitrogen, the rubber is made brittle and can be crushed into small particles. These particles can be used again for other items. Experimental research on certain physics phenomena, such as spintronics and magnetotransport properties, requires cryogenic temperatures for the effects to be observed. Certain vaccines must be stored at cryogenic temperatures. For example, the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine must be stored at temperatures of . (See cold chain.) Production Cryogenic cooling of devices and material is usually achieved via the use of liquid nitrogen, liquid helium, or a mechanical cryocooler (which uses high-pressure helium lines). Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers, pulse tube cryocoolers and Stirling cryocoolers are in wide use with selection based on required base temperature and cooling capacity. The most recent development in cryogenics is the use of magnets as regenerators as well as refrigerators. These devices work on the principle known as the magnetocaloric effect. Detectors There are various cryogenic detectors which are used to detect particles. For cryogenic temperature measurement down to 30 K, Pt100 sensors, a resistance temperature detector (RTD), are used. For temperatures lower than 30 K, it is necessary to use a silicon diode for accuracy. See also Absolute zero Coldest temperature recorded on Earth Cryogenic grinding References Further reading Haselden, G. G. (1971), Cryogenic fundamentals, Academic Press, New York, . Cooling technology Industrial gases

In mathematics, particularly in the area of abstract algebra known as group theory, a characteristic subgroup is a subgroup that is mapped to itself by every automorphism of the parent group. Because every conjugation map is an inner automorphism, every characteristic subgroup is normal; though the converse is not guaranteed. Examples of characteristic subgroups include the commutator subgroup and the center of a group. Definition A subgroup of a group is called a characteristic subgroup if for every automorphism of , one has ; then write . It would be equivalent to require the stronger condition = for every automorphism of , because implies the reverse inclusion . Basic properties Given , every automorphism of induces an automorphism of the quotient group , which yields a homomorphism . If has a unique subgroup of a given index, then is characteristic in . Related concepts Normal subgroup A subgroup of that is invariant under all inner automorphisms is called normal; also, an invariant subgroup. Since and a characteristic subgroup is invariant under all automorphisms, every characteristic subgroup is normal. However, not every normal subgroup is characteristic. Here are several examples: Let be a nontrivial group, and let be the direct product, . Then the subgroups, and , are both normal, but neither is characteristic. In particular, neither of these subgroups is invariant under the automorphism, , that switches the two factors. For a concrete example of this, let be the Klein four-group (which is isomorphic to the direct product, ). Since this group is abelian, every subgroup is normal; but every permutation of the 3 non-identity elements is an automorphism of , so the 3 subgroups of order 2 are not characteristic. Here . Consider and consider the automorphism, ; then is not contained in . In the quaternion group of order 8, each of the cyclic subgroups of order 4 is normal, but none of these are characteristic. However, the subgroup, , is characteristic, since it is the only subgroup of order 2. If is even, the dihedral group of order has 3 subgroups of index 2, all of which are normal. One of these is the cyclic subgroup, which is characteristic. The other two subgroups are dihedral; these are permuted by an outer automorphism of the parent group, and are therefore not characteristic. Strictly characteristic subgroup A , or a , which is invariant under surjective endomorphisms. For finite groups, surjectivity of an endomorphism implies injectivity, so a surjective endomorphism is an automorphism; thus being strictly characteristic is equivalent to characteristic. This is not the case anymore for infinite groups. Fully characteristic subgroup For an even stronger constraint, a fully characteristic subgroup (also, fully invariant subgroup; cf. invariant subgroup), , of a group , is a group remaining invariant under every endomorphism of ; that is, . Every group has itself (the improper subgroup) and the trivial subgroup as two of its fully characteristic subgroups. The commutator subgroup of a group is always a fully characteristic subgroup. Every endomorphism of induces an endomorphism of , which yields a map . Verbal subgroup An even stronger constraint is verbal subgroup, which is the image of a fully invariant subgroup of a free group under a homomorphism. More generally, any verbal subgroup is always fully characteristic. For any reduced free group, and, in particular, for any free group, the converse also holds: every fully characteristic subgroup is verbal. Transitivity The property of being characteristic or fully characteristic is transitive; if is a (fully) characteristic subgroup of , and is a (fully) characteristic subgroup of , then is a (fully) characteristic subgroup of . . Moreover, while normality is not transitive, it is true that every characteristic subgroup of a normal subgroup is normal. Similarly, while being strictly characteristic (distinguished) is not transitive, it is true that every fully characteristic subgroup of a strictly characteristic subgroup is strictly characteristic. However, unlike normality, if and is a subgroup of containing , then in general is not necessarily characteristic in . Containments Every subgroup that is fully characteristic is certainly strictly characteristic and characteristic; but a characteristic or even strictly characteristic subgroup need not be fully characteristic. The center of a group is always a strictly characteristic subgroup, but it is not always fully characteristic. For example, the finite group of order 12, , has a homomorphism taking to , which takes the center, , into a subgroup of , which meets the center only in the identity. The relationship amongst these subgroup properties can be expressed as: Subgroup ⇐ Normal subgroup ⇐ Characteristic subgroup ⇐ Strictly characteristic subgroup ⇐ Fully characteristic subgroup ⇐ Verbal subgroup Examples Finite example Consider the group (the group of order 12 that is the direct product of the symmetric group of order 6 and a cyclic group of order 2). The center of is isomorphic to its second factor . Note that the first factor, , contains subgroups isomorphic to , for instance ; let be the morphism mapping onto the indicated subgroup. Then the composition of the projection of onto its second factor , followed by , followed by the inclusion of into as its first factor, provides an endomorphism of under which the image of the center, , is not contained in the center, so here the center is not a fully characteristic subgroup of . Cyclic groups Every subgroup of a cyclic group is characteristic. Subgroup functors The derived subgroup (or commutator subgroup) of a group is a verbal subgroup. The torsion subgroup of an abelian group is a fully invariant subgroup. Topological groups The identity component of a topological group is always a characteristic subgroup. See also Characteristically simple group References Subgroup properties

Claudius Aelianus (, Greek transliteration Kláudios Ailianós; c. 175c. 235 AD), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "honey-tongued" ( ); Roman-born, he preferred Greek authors, and wrote in a slightly archaizing Greek himself. His two chief works are valuable for the numerous quotations from the works of earlier authors, which are otherwise lost, and for the surprising lore, which offers unexpected glimpses into the Greco-Roman world-view. It is also the only Greco-Roman work to mention Gilgamesh. De Natura Animalium On the Nature of Animals ("On the Characteristics of Animals" is an alternative title; , ; usually cited, though, by its Latin title: De Natura Animalium) is a curious collection, in seventeen books, of brief stories of natural history, sometimes selected with an eye to conveying allegorical moral lessons, sometimes because they are just so astonishing: "The Beaver is an amphibious creature: by day it lives hidden in rivers, but at night it roams the land, feeding itself with anything that it can find. Now it understands the reason why hunters come after it with such eagerness and impetuosity, and it puts down its head and with its teeth cuts off its testicles and throws them in their path, as a prudent man who, falling into the hands of robbers, sacrifices all that he is carrying, to save his life, and forfeits his possessions by way of ransom. If however it has already saved its life by self-castration and is again pursued, then it stands up and reveals that it offers no ground for their eager pursuit, and releases the hunters from all further exertions, for they esteem its flesh less. Often however Beavers with testicles intact, after escaping as far away as possible, have drawn in the coveted part, and with great skill and ingenuity tricked their pursuers, pretending that they no longer possessed what they were keeping in concealment." The Loeb Classical Library introduction characterizes the book as "an appealing collection of facts and fables about the animal kingdom that invites the reader to ponder contrasts between human and animal behavior." Aelian's anecdotes on animals rarely depend on direct observation: they are almost entirely taken from written sources, often Pliny the Elder, but also other authors and works now lost, to whom he is thus a valuable witness. He is more attentive to marine life than might be expected, though, and this seems to reflect first-hand personal interest; he often quotes "fishermen". At times he strikes the modern reader as thoroughly credulous, but at others he specifically states that he is merely reporting what is told by others, and even that he does not believe them. Aelian's work is one of the sources of medieval natural history and of the bestiaries of the Middle Ages. The portions of the text that are still extant are badly mangled and garbled and replete with later interpolations. Conrad Gessner (or Gesner), the Swiss scientist and natural historian of the Renaissance, made a Latin translation of Aelian's work, to give it a wider European audience. An English translation by A. F. Scholfield has been published in the Loeb Classical Library, 3 vols. (1958-59). Varia Historia Various History (, )—for the most part preserved only in an abridged form—is Aelian's other well-known work, a miscellany of anecdotes and biographical sketches, lists, pithy maxims, and descriptions of natural wonders and strange local customs, in 14 books, with many surprises for the cultural historian and the mythographer, anecdotes about the famous Greek philosophers, poets, historians, and playwrights and myths instructively retold. The emphasis is on various moralizing tales about heroes and rulers, athletes and wise men; reports about food and drink, different styles in dress or lovers, local habits in giving gifts or entertainments, or in religious beliefs and death customs; and comments on Greek painting. Aelian gives an account of fly fishing, using lures of red wool and feathers, of lacquerwork, serpent worship — Essentially the Various History is a Classical "magazine" in the original senses of that word. He is not perfectly trustworthy in details, and his agenda was heavily influenced by Stoic opinions, perhaps so that his readers will not feel guilty, but Jane Ellen Harrison found survivals of archaic rites mentioned by Aelian very illuminating in her Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903, 1922). The first printing was in 1545. The standard modern text is Mervin R. Dilts's, of 1974. Two English translations of the Various History, by Fleming (1576) and Stanley (1665) made Aelian's miscellany available to English readers, but after 1665 no English translation appeared, until three English translations appeared almost simultaneously: James G. DeVoto, Claudius Aelianus: Ποικίλης Ἱστορίας (Varia Historia) Chicago, 1995; Diane Ostrom Johnson, An English Translation of Claudius Aelianus' "Varia Historia", 1997; and N. G. Wilson, Aelian: Historical Miscellany in the Loeb Classical Library. Other works Considerable fragments of two other works, On Providence and Divine Manifestations, are preserved in the early medieval encyclopedia, the Suda. Twenty "letters from a farmer" after the manner of Alciphron are also attributed to him. The letters are invented compositions to a fictitious correspondent, which are a device for vignettes of agricultural and rural life, set in Attica, though mellifluous Aelian once boasted that he had never been outside Italy, never been aboard a ship (which is at variance, though, with his own statement, de Natura Animalium XI.40, that he had seen the bull Serapis with his own eyes). Thus conclusions about actual agriculture in the Letters are as likely to evoke Latium as Attica. The fragments have been edited in 1998 by D. Domingo-Foraste, but are not available in English. The Letters are available in the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Allen Rogers Benner and Francis H. Fobes (1949). See also Historiae animalium by Gessner References Further reading Aelian, On Animals. 3 volumes. Translated by A. F. Scholfield. 1958–9. Loeb Classical Library. , , and Aelian, Historical Miscellany. Translated by Nigel G. Wilson. 1997. Loeb Classical Library. Alciphron, Aelian, and Philostratus, The Letters. Translated by A. R. Benner, F. H. Fobes. 1949. Loeb Classical Library. Aelian, On the Nature of Animals. Translated by Gregory McNamee. 2011. Trinity University Press. Ailianos, Vermischte Forschung. Greek and German by Kai Brodersen. 2018. Sammlung Tusculum. De Gruyter Berlin & Boston Ailianos, Tierleben. Greek and German by Kai Brodersen. 2018. Sammlung Tusculum. De Gruyter Berlin & Boston 2018, ISBN Claudius Aelianus, Vom Wesen der Tiere - De natura animalium. German and Commentary by Paul-Gerhard Veh, Philipp Stahlhut. 2020. Bibliothek der Griechischen Literaur. Anton Hiersemann Verlag Stuttgart 2020, ISBN External links Ποικίλη ἱστορία – bibliotheca Augustana Raw Greek OCR of Hercher's 1864 Teubner edition of Aelian's works at the Lace repository of Mount Allison University: vol. I, vol. 2 Various History at James Eason's site (excerpts in English translation) English translation of Aelian's fragments at attalus.org Some quotes from Aelian's natural history (English) Aelian from the fly-fisherman's point-of-view The Evidence for Aelian's Katêgoria tou gunnidos regarding Aelian's presumed invective against Elagabalus Aelian's Characteristics of Animals Greek with English translation Aelian on the Characteristics of Animals, Books I-V (Greek with English translation by A.F. Scholfield, 1950) Aelian on the Characteristics of Animals, Books VI-XI (Greek with English translation by A.F. Scholfield, 1950) Aelian on the Characteristics of Animals, Books XII-XVII (Greek with English translation by A.F. Scholfield, 1950) HTML version of Scholfield's English translation at attalus.org Latin translation De natura animalium at LacusCurtius (complete Latin translation) Greek De natura animalium libri XVII, Varia historia, Epistolae fragmenta, ex recognitione Rudolphi Hercheri, Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1864: vol. 1, vol. 2. 175 births 235 deaths People from Palestrina Claudii Ancient Roman rhetoricians Ancient Greek writers 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans 3rd-century writers 2nd-century Greek people 3rd-century Greek people

or (in Modern Gaelic: ; died 877) was a king of the Picts. He is often known as Constantine I in reference to his place in modern lists of kings of Scots, but contemporary sources described only as a Pictish king. A son of ("Kenneth MacAlpin"), he succeeded his uncle as Pictish king following the latter's death on 13 April 862. It is likely that Causantín's reign witnessed increased activity by Vikings, based in Ireland, Northumbria and northern Britain. He died fighting one such invasion. Sources Very few records of ninth century events in northern Britain survive. The main local source from the period is the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, a list of kings from Cináed mac Ailpín (died 858) to Cináed mac Maíl Coluim (died 995). The list survives in the Poppleton Manuscript, a thirteenth-century compilation. Originally simply a list of kings with reign lengths, the other details contained in the Poppleton Manuscript version were added from the tenth century onwards. In addition to this, later king lists survive. The earliest genealogical records of the descendants of Cináed mac Ailpín may date from the end of the tenth century, but their value lies more in their context, and the information they provide about the interests of those for whom they were compiled, than in the unreliable claims they contain. The Pictish king-lists originally ended with this Causantín, who was reckoned the seventieth and last king of the Picts. For narrative history the principal sources are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Irish annals. While Scandinavian sagas describe events in 9th century Britain, their value as sources of historical narrative, rather than documents of social history, is disputed. If the sources for north-eastern Britain, the lands of the kingdom of Northumbria and the former Pictland, are limited and late, those for the areas on the Irish Sea and Atlantic coasts—the modern regions of north-west England and all of northern and western Scotland—are non-existent, and archaeology and toponymy are of primary importance. Languages and names Writing a century before Causantín was born, Bede recorded five languages in Britain. Latin, the common language of the church; Old English, the language of the Angles and Saxons; Irish, spoken on the western coasts of Britain and in Ireland; Brythonic, ancestor of the Welsh language, spoken in large parts of western Britain; and Pictish, spoken in northern Britain. By the ninth century a sixth language, Old Norse, had arrived with the Vikings. Amlaíb and Ímar Viking activity in northern Britain appears to have reached a peak during Causantín's reign. Viking armies were led by a small group of men who may have been kinsmen. Among those noted by the Irish annals, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are Ívarr—Ímar in Irish sources—who was active from East Anglia to Ireland, Halfdán—Albdann in Irish, Healfdene in Old English— and Amlaíb or Óláfr. As well as these leaders, various others related to them appear in the surviving record. Viking activity in Britain increased in 865 when the Great Heathen Army, probably a part of the forces which had been active in Francia, landed in East Anglia. The following year, having obtained tribute from the East Anglian King Edmund, the Great Army moved north, seizing York, chief city of the Northumbrians. The Great Army defeated an attack on York by the two rivals for the Northumbrian throne, Osberht and Ælla, who had put aside their differences in the face of a common enemy. Both would-be kings were killed in the failed assault, probably on 21 March 867. Following this, the leaders of the Great Army are said to have installed one Ecgberht as king of the Northumbrians. Their next target was Mercia where King Burgred, aided by his brother-in-law King Æthelred of Wessex, drove them off. While the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria were under attack, other Viking armies were active in the far north. Amlaíb and Auisle (Ásl or Auðgísl), said to be his brother, brought an army to Fortriu and obtained tribute and hostages in 866. Historians disagree as to whether the army returned to Ireland in 866, 867 or even in 869. Late sources of uncertain reliability state that Auisle was killed by Amlaíb in 867 in a dispute over Amlaíb's wife, the daughter of Cináed. It is unclear whether, if accurate, this woman should be identified as a daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín, and thus Causantín's sister, or as a daughter of Cináed mac Conaing, king of Brega. While Amlaíb and Auisle were in north Britain, the Annals of Ulster record that Áed Findliath, High King of Ireland, took advantage of their absence to destroy the longphorts along the northern coasts of Ireland. Áed Findliath was married to Causantín's sister Máel Muire. She later married Áed's successor Flann Sinna. Her death is recorded in 913. In 870, Amlaíb and Ívarr attacked Dumbarton Rock, where the River Leven meets the River Clyde, the chief place of the kingdom of Alt Clut, south-western neighbour of Pictland. The siege lasted four months before the fortress fell to the Vikings who returned to Ireland with many prisoners, "Angles, Britons and Picts", in 871. Archaeological evidence suggests that Dumbarton Rock was largely abandoned and that Govan replaced it as the chief place of the kingdom of Strathclyde, as Alt Clut was later known. King Artgal of Alt Clut did not long survive these events, being killed "at the instigation" of Causantín son of Cináed two years later. Artgal's son and successor Run was married to a sister of Causantín. Amlaíb disappears from Irish annals after his return to Ireland in 871. According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba he was killed by Causantín either in 871 or 872 when he returned to Pictland to collect further tribute. His ally Ívarr died in 873. Last days of the Pictish kingdom In 875, the Chronicle and the Annals of Ulster again report a Viking army in Pictland. A battle, fought near Dollar, was a heavy defeat for the Picts; the Annals of Ulster say that "a great slaughter of the Picts resulted". In 877, shortly after building a new church for the Culdees at St Andrews, Causantín was captured and executed (or perhaps killed in battle) after defending against Viking raiders. Although there is agreement on the time and general manner of his death, it is not clear where this happened. Some believe he was beheaded on a Fife beach, following a battle at Fife Ness, near Crail. William Forbes Skene reads the Chronicle as placing Causantín's death at Inverdovat (by Newport-on-Tay), which appears to match the Prophecy of Berchán. The account in the Chronicle of Melrose names the place as the "Black Cave," and John of Fordun calls it the "Black Den". Causantín was buried on Iona. Aftermath Causantín's son Domnall and his descendants represented the main line of the kings of Alba and later Scotland. Notes References Pictish monarchs Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action House of Alpin 9th-century Scottish monarchs Monarchs killed in action Year of birth unknown 877 deaths Burials in Iona

The Cemetery H culture was a Bronze Age culture in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from about 1900 BC until about 1300 BC. It is regarded as a regional form of the late phase of the Harappan (Indus Valley) civilisation (alongside the Jhukar culture of Sindh and Rangpur culture of Gujarat), but also as the manifestation of a first wave of Indo-Aryan migrations, predating the migrations of the proto-Rig Vedic people. Origins The Cemetery H culture was located in and around the Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan. It was named after a cemetery found in "area H" at Harappa. Remains of the culture have been dated from about 1900 BC until about 1300 BC. According to Rafique Mughal, the Cemetery H culture developed out of the northern part of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1700 BC, being part of the Punjab Phase, one of three cultural phases that developed in the Localization Era or "Late Harappan phase" of the Indus Valley Tradition. According to Kenoyer, the Cemetery H culture "may only reflect a change in the focus of settlement organization from that which was the pattern of the earlier Harappan phase and not cultural discontinuity, urban decay, invading aliens, or site abandonment, all of which have been suggested in the past." According to Kennedy and Mallory & Adams, the Cemetery H culture also "shows clear biological affinities" with the earlier population of Harappa. Some traits of the Cemetery H culture have been associated with the Swat culture, which has been regarded as evidence of the Indo-Aryan movement toward the Indian subcontinent. According to Parpola, the Cemetery H culture represents a first wave of Indo-Aryan migration from as early as 1900 BC, which was followed by a migration to the Punjab c. 1700-1400 BC. According to Kochhar, the Swat IV co-founded the Harappan Cemetery H phase in Punjab (2000-1800 BC), while the Rigvedic Indo-Aryans of Swat V later absorbed the Cemetery H people and gave rise to the Painted Grey Ware culture (to 1400 BC). Together with the Gandhara grave culture and the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture, the Cemetery H culture is considered by some scholars as a factor in the formation of the Vedic civilization. Features The distinguishing features of this culture include: The use of cremation of human remains. The bones were stored in painted pottery burial urns. This is completely different from the Indus civilization where bodies were buried in wooden coffins. The urn burials and the "grave skeletons" were nearly contemporaneous. Reddish pottery, painted in black with antelopes, peacocks etc., sun or star motifs, with different surface treatments to the earlier period. Expansion of settlements into the east. Rice became a main crop. Apparent breakdown of the widespread trade of the Indus civilization, with materials such as marine shells no longer used. Continued use of mud brick for building. Some of the designs painted on the Cemetery H funerary urns have been interpreted through the lens of Vedic mythology: for instance, peacocks with hollow bodies and a small human form inside, which has been interpreted as the souls of the dead, and a hound that can be seen as the hound of Yama, the god of death. This may indicate the introduction of new religious beliefs during this period, but the archaeological evidence does not support the hypothesis that the Cemetery H people were the destroyers of the Harappan cities. Archaeology Cremation in India is first attested in the Cemetery H culture, a practice previously described in the Vedas. The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice, in RV 10.15.14, where the forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked. See also Chronological dating Phases in archaeology Pottery in the Indian subcontinent Periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation Ahar-Banas culture (3000 – 1500 BCE) Late Harappan Phase of IVC (1900 - 1500 BCE) Cemetery H culture in Punjab Jhukar-Jhangar culture in Punjab Rangpur culture in Gujarat Vedic period Kuru Kingdom (1200 – c. 500 BCE) OCP (2000-1500 BCE) Copper Hoard Culture (2800-1500 BCE), may or may not be independent of vedic culture References Sources External links http://www.harappa.com harappa.com https://web.archive.org/web/20060908052731/http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/3_1_01.html journal Archaeological cultures of South Asia Bronze Age cultures of Asia Archaeological cultures in Pakistan Prehistoric India History of Punjab Indus Valley Civilisation Indus Archaeological sites in Punjab, India Archaeological cultures in India Indo-Aryan archaeological cultures

CORAL, short for Computer On-line Real-time Applications Language is a programming language originally developed in 1964 at the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE), Malvern, Worcestershire, in the United Kingdom. The R was originally for "radar", not "real-time". It was influenced primarily by JOVIAL, and thus ALGOL, but is not a subset of either. The most widely-known version, CORAL 66, was subsequently developed by I. F. Currie and M. Griffiths under the auspices of the Inter-Establishment Committee for Computer Applications (IECCA). Its official definition, edited by Woodward, Wetherall, and Gorman, was first published in 1970. In 1971, CORAL was selected by the Ministry of Defence as the language for future military applications and to support this, a standardization program was introduced to ensure CORAL compilers met the specifications. This process was later adopted by the US Department of Defense while defining Ada. Overview Coral 66 is a general-purpose programming language based on ALGOL 60, with some features from Coral 64, JOVIAL, and Fortran. It includes structured record types (as in Pascal) and supports the packing of data into limited storage (also as in Pascal). Like Edinburgh IMP it allows inline (embedded) assembly language, and also offers good runtime checking and diagnostics. It is designed for real-time computing and embedded system applications, and for use on computers with limited processing power, including those limited to fixed-point arithmetic and those without support for dynamic storage allocation. The language was an inter-service standard for British military programming, and was also widely adopted for civil purposes in the British control and automation industry. It was used to write software for both the Ferranti and General Electric Company (GEC) computers from 1971 onwards. Implementations also exist for the Interdata 8/32, PDP-11, VAX and Alpha platforms and HPE Integrity Servers; for the Honeywell, and for the Computer Technology Limited (CTL, later ITL) Modular-1; and for SPARC running Solaris, and Intel running Linux. Queen Elizabeth II sent the first email from a head of state from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment over the ARPANET on March 26, 1976. The message read "This message to all ARPANET users announces the availability on ARPANET of the Coral 66 compiler provided by the GEC 4080 computer at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, Malvern, England, ... Coral 66 is the standard real-time high level language adopted by the Ministry of Defence." As Coral was aimed at a variety of real-time work, rather than general office data processing, there was no standardised equivalent to a stdio library. IECCA recommended a primitive input/output (I/O) package to accompany any compiler (in a document titled Input/Output of Character data in Coral 66 Utility Programs). Most implementers avoided this by producing Coral interfaces to extant Fortran and, later, C libraries. CORAL's most significant contribution to computing may have been enforcing quality control in commercial compilers. To have a CORAL compiler approved by IECCA, and thus allowing a compiler to be marketed as a CORAL 66 compiler, the candidate compiler had to compile and execute a standard suite of 25 test programs and 6 benchmark programs. The process was part of the British Standard (BS) 5905 approval process. This methodology was observed and adapted later by the United States Department of Defense for the certification of Ada compilers. Source code for a Coral 66 compiler (written in BCPL) has been recovered and the Official Definition of Coral 66 document by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) has been scanned; the Ministry of Defence patent office has issued a licence to the Edinburgh Computer History project to allow them to put both the code and the language reference online for non-commercial use. Variants A variant of Coral 66 named PO-CORAL was developed during the late 1970s to early 1980s by the British General Post Office (GPO), together with GEC, STC and Plessey, for use on the System X digital telephone exchange control computers. This was later renamed BT-CORAL when British Telecom was spun off from the Post Office. Unique features of this language were the focus on real-time execution, message processing, limits on statement execution between waiting for input, and a prohibition on recursion to remove the need for a stack. References External links CORAL 66 test program extracted from the Test Responder report CORAL 66 benchmarks BS5905 CORAL 66 Standard DEF STAN 05-47 PDP-11 CORAL/ASM interfacing library ECCE editor script to translate CORAL 66 into Edinburgh IMP History of computing in the United Kingdom Procedural programming languages Programming languages created in 1964

The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers attach to the centromere via the kinetochore. The physical role of the centromere is to act as the site of assembly of the kinetochores – a highly complex multiprotein structure that is responsible for the actual events of chromosome segregation – i.e. binding microtubules and signaling to the cell cycle machinery when all chromosomes have adopted correct attachments to the spindle, so that it is safe for cell division to proceed to completion and for cells to enter anaphase. There are, broadly speaking, two types of centromeres. "Point centromeres" bind to specific proteins that recognize particular DNA sequences with high efficiency. Any piece of DNA with the point centromere DNA sequence on it will typically form a centromere if present in the appropriate species. The best characterized point centromeres are those of the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. "Regional centromeres" is the term coined to describe most centromeres, which typically form on regions of preferred DNA sequence, but which can form on other DNA sequences as well. The signal for formation of a regional centromere appears to be epigenetic. Most organisms, ranging from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe to humans, have regional centromeres. Regarding mitotic chromosome structure, centromeres represent a constricted region of the chromosome (often referred to as the primary constriction) where two identical sister chromatids are most closely in contact. When cells enter mitosis, the sister chromatids (the two copies of each chromosomal DNA molecule resulting from DNA replication in chromatin form) are linked along their length by the action of the cohesin complex. It is now believed that this complex is mostly released from chromosome arms during prophase, so that by the time the chromosomes line up at the mid-plane of the mitotic spindle (also known as the metaphase plate), the last place where they are linked with one another is in the chromatin in and around the centromere. Position Each chromosome has two arms, labeled p (the shorter of the two) and q (the longer). Many remember that the short arm 'p' is named for the French word "petit" meaning 'small', although this explanation was shown to be apocryphal. They can be connected in either metacentric, submetacentric, acrocentric or telocentric manner. {| border="1" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 10px 0 10px 25px; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #AAA solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 85%; float: center;" |- |colspan ="7" | Categorization of chromosomes according to the relative arms length |- |style="background: bgcolor=lightblue | Centromere position|style="background: bgcolor=lightblue | Arms length ratio |style="background: bgcolor=lightblue | Sign|style="background: bgcolor=lightblue| Description |- |Medial sensu stricto |1.0 – 1.6 |M |Metacentric |- |Medial region |1.7 |m |Metacentric |- |Submedial |3.0 |sm |Submetacentric |- |Subterminal |3.1 – 6.9 |st |Subtelocentric |- |Terminal region |7.0 |t |Acrocentric |- |Terminal sensu stricto |∞ |T |Telocentric |- |style="background: bgcolor=lightblue|Notes|style="background: bgcolor=lightblue| – |style="background: bgcolor=lightblue|Metacentric: M+m|style="background: bgcolor=lightblue|Atelocentric: M+m+sm+st+t |- |} Metacentric Metacentric means that the centromere is positioned midway between the chromosome ends, resulting in the arms being approximately equal in length. When the centromeres are metacentric, the chromosomes appear to be "x-shaped." Submetacentric Submetacentric means that the centromere is positioned below the middle, with one chromosome arm shorter than the other, often resulting in an L shape. Acrocentric An acrocentric chromosome's centromere is situated so that one of the chromosome arms is much shorter than the other. The "acro-" in acrocentric refers to the Greek word for "peak." The human genome includes six acrocentric chromosomes. Five autosomal acrocentric chromosomes: 13, 14, 15, 21, 22; and the Y chromosome is also acrocentric. Short acrocentric p-arms contain little genetic material and can be translocated without significant harm, as in a balanced Robertsonian translocation. In addition to some protein coding genes, human acrocentric p-arms also contain Nucleolus organizer regions (NORs), from which ribosomal RNA is transcribed. However, a proportion of acrocentric p-arms in cell lines and tissues from normal human donors do not contain detectable NORs. The domestic horse genome includes one metacentric chromosome that is homologous to two acrocentric chromosomes in the conspecific but undomesticated Przewalski's horse. This may reflect either fixation of a balanced Robertsonian translocation in domestic horses or, conversely, fixation of the fission of one metacentric chromosome into two acrocentric chromosomes in Przewalski's horses. A similar situation exists between the human and great ape genomes, with a reduction of two acrocentric chromosomes in the great apes to one metacentric chromosome in humans (see aneuploidy and the human chromosome 2). Many diseases from the result of unbalanced translocations more frequently involve acrocentric chromosomes than other non-acrocentric chromosomes. Acrocentric chromosomes are usually located in and around the nucleolus. As a result these chromosomes tend to be less densely packed than chromosomes in the nuclear periphery. Consistently, chromosomal regions that are less densely packed are also more prone to chromosomal translocations in cancers. Telocentric Telocentric chromosomes' centromeres are located at one end of the chromosome. Telocentric centromeres often result in the p arms being barely or not visible at all. If the telocentric chromosome's centromere is located at the terminal end of the chromosome, then the chromosome only has one arm. Naturally occurring telocentric chromosomes with a terminal centromere are rare, but do exist. Telocentric chromosomes are not present in healthy humans. Misdivision of centromeres in normal chromosomes lead to the development of telosomes. The structure of the telosomes kinetochores determines their cytological stability. The standard house mouse karyotype has only telocentric chromosomes. Subtelocentric Subtelocentric chromosomes' centromeres are located between the middle and the end of the chromosomes, but reside closer to the end of the chromosomes. Centromere number Acentric An acentric chromosome is fragment of a chromosome that lacks a centromere. Since centromeres are the attachment point for spindle fibers in cell division, acentric fragments are not evenly distributed to daughter cells during cell division. As a result, a daughter cell will lack the acentric fragment and deleterious consequences could occur. Chromosome-breaking events can also generate acentric chromosomes or acentric fragments. Dicentric A dicentric chromosome is an abnormal chromosome with two centromeres. It is formed through the fusion of two chromosome segments, each with a centromere, resulting in the loss of acentric fragments (lacking a centromere) and the formation of dicentric fragments. The formation of dicentric chromosomes has been attributed to genetic processes, such as Robertsonian translocation and paracentric inversion. Dicentric chromosomes have important roles in the mitotic stability of chromosomes and the formation of pseudodicentric chromosomes. Monocentric The monocentric chromosome is a chromosome that has only one centromere in a chromosome and forms a narrow constriction. Monocentric centromeres are the most common structure on highly repetitive DNA in plants and animals. Holocentric Unlike monocentric chromosomes, in holocentric chromosomes the entire length of the chromosome acts as the centromere. In holocentric chromosomes there is not one primary constriction but the centromere has many CenH3 loci spread over the whole chromosome. Examples of this type of centromere can be found scattered throughout the plant and animal kingdoms, with the most well-known example being the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Polycentric Human chromosomes Sequence There are two types of centromeres. In regional centromeres, DNA sequences contribute to but do not define function. Regional centromeres contain large amounts of DNA and are often packaged into heterochromatin. In most eukaryotes, the centromere's DNA sequence consists of large arrays of repetitive DNA (e.g. satellite DNA) where the sequence within individual repeat elements is similar but not identical. In humans, the primary centromeric repeat unit is called α-satellite (or alphoid), although a number of other sequence types are found in this region. Centromere satellites evolve rapidly between species, and analyses in wild mice show that satellite copy number and heterogeneity relates to population origins and subspecies. Additionally, satellite sequences may be affected by inbreeding. Point centromeres are smaller and more compact. DNA sequences are both necessary and sufficient to specify centromere identity and function in organisms with point centromeres. In budding yeasts, the centromere region is relatively small (about 125 bp DNA) and contains two highly conserved DNA sequences that serve as binding sites for essential kinetochore proteins. Inheritance Since centromeric DNA sequence is not the key determinant of centromeric identity in metazoans, it is thought that epigenetic inheritance plays a major role in specifying the centromere. The daughter chromosomes will assemble centromeres in the same place as the parent chromosome, independent of sequence. It has been proposed that histone H3 variant CENP-A (Centromere Protein A) is the epigenetic mark of the centromere. The question arises whether there must be still some original way in which the centromere is specified, even if it is subsequently propagated epigenetically. If the centromere is inherited epigenetically from one generation to the next, the problem is pushed back to the origin of the first metazoans. Structure The centromeric DNA is normally in a heterochromatin state, which is essential for the recruitment of the cohesin complex that mediates sister chromatid cohesion after DNA replication as well as coordinating sister chromatid separation during anaphase. In this chromatin, the normal histone H3 is replaced with a centromere-specific variant, CENP-A in humans. The presence of CENP-A is believed to be important for the assembly of the kinetochore on the centromere. CENP-C has been shown to localise almost exclusively to these regions of CENP-A associated chromatin. In human cells, the histones are found to be most enriched for H4K20me3 and H3K9me3 which are known heterochromatic modifications. In Drosophila, Islands of retroelements are major components of the centromeres. In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (and probably in other eukaryotes), the formation of centromeric heterochromatin is connected to RNAi. In nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans, some plants, and the insect orders Lepidoptera and Hemiptera, chromosomes are "holocentric", indicating that there is not a primary site of microtubule attachments or a primary constriction, and a "diffuse" kinetochore assembles along the entire length of the chromosome. Centromeric aberrations In rare cases, neocentromeres can form at new sites on a chromosome as a result of a repositioning of the centromere. This phenomenon is most well known from human clinical studies and there are currently over 90 known human neocentromeres identified on 20 different chromosomes. The formation of a neocentromere must be coupled with the inactivation of the previous centromere, since chromosomes with two functional centromeres (Dicentric chromosome) will result in chromosome breakage during mitosis. In some unusual cases human neocentromeres have been observed to form spontaneously on fragmented chromosomes. Some of these new positions were originally euchromatic and lack alpha satellite DNA altogether. Neocentromeres lack the repetitive structure seen in normal centromeres which suggest that centromere formation is mainly controlled epigenetically. Over time a neocentromere can accumulate repetitive elements and mature into what is known as an evolutionary new centromere. There are several well known examples in primate chromosomes where the centromere position is different from the human centromere of the same chromosome and is thought to be evolutionary new centromeres. Centromere repositioning and the formation of evolutionary new centromeres has been suggested to be a mechanism of speciation. Centromere proteins are also the autoantigenic target for some anti-nuclear antibodies, such as anti-centromere antibodies. Dysfunction and disease It has been known that centromere misregulation contributes to mis-segregation of chromosomes, which is strongly related to cancer and abortion. Notably, overexpression of many centromere genes have been linked to cancer malignant phenotypes. Overexpression of these centromere genes can increase genomic instability in cancers. Elevated genomic instability on one hand relates to malignant phenotypes; on the other hand, it makes the tumor cells more vulnerable to specific adjuvant therapies such as certain chemotherapies and radiotherapy. Instability of centromere repetitive DNA was recently shown in cancer and aging. Etymology and pronunciation The word centromere () uses combining forms of centro- and -mere, yielding "central part", describing the centromere's location at the center of the chromosome. See also Telomere Chromatid Diploid Monopolin References Further reading Chromosomes DNA replication

Casablanca (, ; ) is the largest city of Morocco. Located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, it is the second largest city in the Maghreb region and the eighth-largest in the Arab world. Casablanca is Morocco's chief port and one of the largest financial centers in Africa. According to the 2019 population estimate, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area and over 4.27 million in the Greater Casablanca. Casablanca is considered the economic and business center of Morocco, although the national political capital is Rabat. The leading Moroccan companies and many international corporations doing business in the country have their headquarters and main industrial facilities in Casablanca. Recent industrial statistics show Casablanca holds its recorded position as the primary industrial zone of the nation. The Port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the second largest port in North Africa, after Tanger-Med ( east of Tangier). Casablanca also hosts the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy. Etymology Anfa Before 15th century, the settlement at what is now Casablanca had been called Anfa, rendered in European sources variously as El-Anfa, Anafa or Anaffa, Anafe, Anife, Anafee, Nafe, and Nafee. Ibn Khaldun ascribed the name to the Anfaça, a branch of the tribe of the Maghreb, though the sociologist André Adam refuted this claim due to the absence of the third syllable. Nahum Slouschz gave a Hebrew etymology, citing the Lexicon of Gesenius: anâphâh (a type of bird) or anaph (face, figure), though Adam refuted this arguing that even a Judaized population would still have spoken Tamazight. Adam also refuted an Arabic etymology, (anf, "nose"), as the city predated the linguistic Arabization of the country, and the term anf was not used to describe geographic areas. Adam affirmed a Tamazight etymology—from anfa "hill," anfa "promontory on the sea," ifni "sandy beach," or anfa "threshing floor"—although he determined the available information insufficient to establish exactly which. The name Anfa is now rendered in Neo-Tifinagh as ⴰⵏⴼⴰ. The name "Anfa" was used in maps until around 1830—in some until 1851—which Adam attributes to the tendency of cartographers to replicate previous maps. Casablanca When Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (c. 1710 – 1790) rebuilt the city after its destruction in the earthquake of 1755, it was renamed "ad-Dār al-Bayda " ( The White House), though in vernacular use it was pronounced "Dar al-Baiḍā" ( House of the White). André Adam mentions the legend of the Sufi saint and merchant Allal al-Qairawani, who supposedly came from Tunisia and settled in Casablanca with his wife Lalla al-Baiḍā' ( White Lady). The villagers of Mediouna would reportedly provision themselves at "Dar al-Baiḍā" ( House of the White). In fact, rising above the ruins of Anfa, it appears there was a tall white-washed structure, as the Portuguese cartographer Duarte Pacheco wrote in the early 16th century that the city could easily be identified by a large tower, and nautical guides from the late 19th century still mentioned a "white tower" as a point of reference. The Portuguese mariners came to call the city "Casa Branca" ( White House) in place of Anfa. The present name, "Casablanca," which is the Spanish version (), came when the Kingdom of Portugal came under Spanish control through the Iberian Union. Adam argues that it is unlikely that the Arabic name "Dar al-Baiḍā" () is a translation of the European names; the presence of the two names indicates that they came about together, not one from the other. During the French protectorate in Morocco, the name remained Casablanca (). The city is still nicknamed Casa by many locals and outsiders to the city. In many other cities with a different dialect, it is called Ad-dār al-Bayḍā, instead. History Early history The area which is today Casablanca was founded and settled by Berbers by at least the seventh century BC. It was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later the Romans. In his book Description of Africa, Leo Africanus refers to ancient Casablanca as "Anfa", a great city founded in the Berber kingdom of Barghawata in 744 AD. He believed Anfa was the most "prosperous city on the Atlantic Coast because of its fertile land." Barghawata rose as an independent state around this time, and continued until it was conquered by the Almoravids in 1068. Following the defeat of the Barghawata in the 12th century, Arab tribes of Hilal and Sulaym descent settled in the region, mixing with the local Berbers, which led to widespread Arabization.S. Lévy, Pour une histoire linguistique du Maroc, in Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental: dialectologie et histoire, 1998, pp.11–26 () During the 14th century, under the Merinids, Anfa rose in importance as a port. The last of the Merinids were ousted by a popular revolt in 1465. Portuguese conquest and Spanish influence In the early 15th century, the town became an independent state once again, and emerged as a safe harbour for pirates and privateers, leading to it being targeted by the Portuguese, who bombarded the town which led to its destruction in 1468. The Portuguese used the ruins of Anfa to build a military fortress in 1515. The town that grew up around it was called Casa Branca, meaning "white house" in Portuguese. Between 1580 and 1640, the Crown of Portugal was integrated to the Crown of Spain, so Casablanca and all other areas occupied by the Portuguese were under Spanish control, though maintaining an autonomous Portuguese administration. As Portugal broke ties with Spain in 1640, Casablanca came under fully Portuguese control once again. The Europeans eventually abandoned the area completely in 1755 following an earthquake which destroyed most of the town. The town was finally reconstructed by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (1756–1790), the grandson of Moulay Ismail and an ally of George Washington, with the help of Spaniards from the nearby emporium. The town was called ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ (الدار البيضاء), the Arabic translation of the Portuguese Casa Branca. Colonial struggle In the 19th century, the area's population began to grow as it became a major supplier of wool to the booming textile industry in Britain and shipping traffic increased (the British, in return, began importing gunpowder tea, used in Morocco's national drink, mint tea). By the 1860s, around 5,000 residents were there, and the population grew to around 10,000 by the late 1880s. Casablanca remained a modestly sized port, with a population reaching around 12,000 within a few years of the French conquest and arrival of French colonialists in 1906. By 1921, this rose to 110,000, largely through the development of shanty towns. French rule and influence The Treaty of Algeciras of 1906 formalized French preeminence in Morocco and included three measures that directly impacted Casablanca: that French officers would control operations at the customs office and seize revenue as collateral for loans given by France, that the French holding company La Compagnie Marocaine would develop the port of Casablanca, and that a French-and-Spanish-trained police force would be assembled to patrol the port. To build the port's breakwater, narrow-gauge track was laid in June 1907 for a small Decauville locomotive to connect the port to a quarry in Roches Noires, passing through the sacred Sidi Belyout graveyard. In resistance to this and the measures of the 1906 Treaty of Algeciras, tribesmen of the Chaouia attacked the locomotive, killing 9 Compagnie Marocaine laborers—3 French, 3 Italians, and 3 Spanish. In response, the French bombarded the city with multiple gunboats and landed troops inside the town, causing severe damage and 15,000 dead and wounded. In the immediate aftermath of the bombardment and the deployment of French troops, the European homes and the Mellah, or Jewish quarter, were sacked, and the latter was also set ablaze.As Oujda had already been occupied, the bombardment and military invasion of the city opened a western front to the French military conquest of Morocco. French control of Casablanca was formalized March 1912 when the Treaty of Fes established the French Protectorat. General Hubert Lyautey assigned the planning of the new colonial port city to Henri Prost. As he did in other Moroccan cities, Prost designed a European ville nouvelle outside the walls of the medina. In Casablanca, he also designed a new "ville indigène" to house Moroccans arriving from other cities. Europeans formed almost half the population of Casablanca. World War II After Philippe Pétain of France signed the armistice with the Nazis, he ordered French troops in France's colonial empire to defend French territory against any aggressors—Allied or otherwise—applying a policy of "asymmetrical neutrality" in favour of the Germans. French colonists in Morocco generally supported Pétain, while politically conscious Moroccans tended to favour de Gaulle and the Allies. Operation Torch, which started on 8 November 1942, was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. The Western Task Force, composed of American units led by Major General George S. Patton and Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt, carried out the invasions of Mehdia, Fedhala, and Asfi. American forces captured Casablanca from Vichy control when France surrendered November 11, 1942, but the Naval Battle of Casablanca continued until American forces sank German submarine U-173 on November 16. Casablanca was the site of the Nouasseur Air Base, a large American air base used as the staging area for all American aircraft for the European Theatre of Operations during World War II. The airfield has since become Mohammed V International Airport. Anfa Conference Casablanca hosted the Anfa Conference (also called the Casablanca Conference) in January 1943. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussed the progress of the war. Also in attendance were the Free France generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, though they played minor roles and didn't participate in the military planning. It was at this conference that the Allies adopted the doctrine of "unconditional surrender," meaning that the Axis powers would be fought until their defeat. Roosevelt also met privately with Sultan Muhammad V and expressed his support for Moroccan independence after the war. This became a turning point, as Moroccan nationalists were emboldened to openly seek complete independence. Toward independence During the 1940s and 1950s, Casablanca was a major centre of anti-French rioting. April 7, 1947, a massacre of working class Moroccans, carried out by Senegalese Tirailleurs in the service of the French colonial army, was instigated just as Sultan Muhammed V was due to make a speech in Tangier appealing for independence. Riots in Casablanca took place from December 7–8, 1952, in response to the assassination of the Tunisian labor unionist Farhat Hached by La Main Rouge—the clandestine militant wing of French intelligence. Then, on 25 December 1953 (Christmas Day), Muhammad Zarqtuni orchestrated a bombing of Casablanca's Central Market in response to the forced exile of Sultan Muhammad V and the royal family on August 20 (Eid al-Adha) of that year. Since independence Morocco gained independence from France in 1956. Casablanca Group January 4–7, 1961, the city hosted an ensemble of progressive African leaders during the Casablanca Conference of 1961. Among those received by King Muhammad V were Gamal Abd An-Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Modibo Keïta, and Ahmed Sékou Touré, Ferhat Abbas. Jewish emigration Casablanca was a major departure point for Jews leaving Morocco through Operation Yachin, an operation conducted by Mossad to secretly migrate Moroccan Jews to Israel between November 1961 and spring 1964. 1965 riots The 1965 student protests organized by the National Union of Popular Forces-affiliated National Union of Moroccan Students, which spread to cities around the country and devolved into riots, started on March 22, 1965, in front of Lycée Mohammed V in Casablanca."Il y avait au moins quinze mille lycéens. Je n'avais jamais vu un rassemblement d'adolescents aussi impressionnant" as quoted in Brousky, 2005. The protests started as a peaceful march to demand the right to public higher education for Morocco, but expanded to include concerns of laborers, the unemployed, and other marginalized segments of society, and devolved into vandalism and rioting. The riots were violently repressed by security forces with tanks and armored vehicles; Moroccan authorities reported a dozen deaths while the UNFP reported more than 1,000. King Hassan II blamed the events on teachers and parents, and declared in a speech to the nation on March 30, 1965: "There is no greater danger to the State than a so-called intellectual. It would have been better if you were all illiterate.”Susan Ossman, Picturing Casablanca: Portraits of Power in a Modern City; University of California Press, 1994; p. 37. 1981 riots On June 6, 1981, the Casablanca Bread Riots took place. Hassan II appointed the French-trained interior minister Driss Basri as hardliner, who would later become a symbol of the Years of Lead, with quelling the protests. The government stated that 66 people were killed and 100 were injured, while opposition leaders put the number of dead at 637, saying that many of these were killed by police and army gunfire. Mudawana In March 2000, more than 60 women's groups organized demonstrations in Casablanca proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country. About 40,000 women attended, calling for a ban on polygamy and the introduction of divorce law (divorce being a purely religious procedure at that time). Although the counter-demonstration attracted half a million participants, the movement for change started in 2000 was influential on King Mohammed VI, and he enacted a new mudawana, or family law, in early 2004, meeting some of the demands of women's rights activists. On 16 May 2003, 33 civilians were killed and more than 100 people were injured when Casablanca was hit by a multiple suicide bomb attack carried out by Moroccans and claimed by some to have been linked to al-Qaeda. Twelve suicide bombers struck five locations in the city. Another series of suicide bombings struck the city in early 2007. These events illustrated some of the persistent challenges the city faces in addressing poverty and integrating disadvantaged neighborhoods and populations. One initiative to improve conditions in the city's disadvantaged neighborhoods was the creation of the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center. As calls for reform spread through the Arab world in 2011, Moroccans joined in, but concessions by the ruler led to acceptance. However, in December, thousands of people demonstrated in several parts of the city, especially the city center near la Fontaine, desiring more significant political reforms. Geography Casablanca is located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia Plains, which have historically been the breadbasket of Morocco. Apart from the Atlantic coast, the Bouskoura forest is the only natural attraction in the city. The forest was planted in the 20th century and consists mostly of eucalyptus, palm, and pine trees. It is located halfway to the city's international airport. The only watercourse in Casablanca is oued Bouskoura, a small seasonal creek that until 1912 reached the Atlantic Ocean near the actual port. Most of oued Bouskoura's bed has been covered due to urbanization and only the part south of El Jadida road can now be seen. The closest permanent river to Casablanca is Oum Rabia, to the south-east. Climate Casablanca has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). The cool Canary Current off the Atlantic coast moderates temperature variation, which results in a climate remarkably similar to that of coastal Los Angeles, with similar temperature ranges. The city has an annual average of 72 days with significant precipitation, which amounts to per year. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in the city are and , respectively. The highest amount of rainfall recorded in a single day is on 30 November 2010. Economy The Grand Casablanca region is considered the locomotive of the development of the Moroccan economy. It attracts 32% of the country's production units and 56% of industrial labor. The region uses 30% of the national electricity production. With MAD 93 billion, the region contributes to 44% of the industrial production of the kingdom. About 33% of national industrial exports, MAD 27 billion, comes from the Grand Casablanca; 30% of the Moroccan banking network is concentrated in Casablanca. One of the most important Casablancan exports is phosphate. Other industries include fishing, fish canning, sawmills, furniture production, building materials, glass, textiles, electronics, leather work, processed food, spirits, soft drinks, and cigarettes. The Casablanca and Mohammedia seaports activity represent 50% of the international commercial flows of Morocco. Almost the entire Casablanca waterfront is under development, mainly the construction of huge entertainment centres between the port and Hassan II Mosque, the Anfa Resort project near the business, entertainment and living centre of Megarama, the shopping and entertainment complex of Morocco Mall, as well as a complete renovation of the coastal walkway. The Sindbad park is planned to be totally renewed with rides, games and entertainment services. Royal Air Maroc has its head office at the Casablanca-Anfa Airport. In 2004, it announced that it was moving its head office from Casablanca to a location in Province of Nouaceur, close to Mohammed V International Airport. The agreement to build the head office in Nouaceur was signed in 2009. The largest CBD both in Casablanca and the Maghreb is in Sidi Maarouf, near the Hassan II Mosque. Administrative divisions Casablanca is a commune, part of the region of Casablanca-Settat. The commune is divided into eight districts or prefectures, which are themselves divided into 16 subdivisions or arrondissements and one municipality. The districts and their subdivisions are: Aïn Chock (عين الشق) – Aïn Chock (عين الشق) Aïn Sebaâ - Hay Mohammadi (عين السبع الحي المحمدي) – Aïn Sebaâ (عين السبع), Hay Mohammadi (الحي المحمدي), Roches Noires (روش نوار). Anfa (أنفا) – Anfa (أنفا), Maârif (المعاريف), Sidi Belyout (سيدي بليوط). Ben M'Sick (بن مسيك) – Ben M'Sick (بن مسيك), Sbata (سباته). Sidi Bernoussi (سيدي برنوصي) – Sidi Bernoussi (سيدي برنوصي), Sidi Moumen (سيدي مومن). Al Fida - Mers Sultan (الفداء – مرس السلطان) – Al Fida (الفداء); Mechouar (المشور) (municipality), Mers Sultan (مرس السلطان). Hay Hassani (الحي الحسني) – Hay Hassani (الحي الحسني). Moulay Rachid''' (مولاي رشيد) – Moulay Rachid (مولاي رشيد), Sidi Othmane (سيدي عثمان). Neighborhoods The list of neighborhoods is indicative and not complete: 2 Mars Ain Chock Ain Diab Ain Sebaa Belvédère Beausejour Bouchentouf Bouskoura Bourgogne Californie Centre Ville C.I.L. La Colline Derb Ghallef Derb Sultan Derb Tazi Gauthier Ghandi Habous El Hank Hay Dakhla Hay El Baraka Hay El Hanaa Hay El Hassani Hay El Mohammadi Hay Farah Hay Moulay Rachid Hay Salama Hubous Inara Laimoun (Hay Hassani) Lamkansa Lissasfa Maârif Mers Sultan Nassim Oasis Old Madina Oulfa Palmiers Polo Racine Riviera Roches Noires Salmia 2 Sbata Sidi Bernoussi Sidi Maârouf Sidi Moumen Sidi Othmane Demographics The commune of Casablanca recorded a population of 3,359,818 in the 2014 Moroccan census. About 98% live in urban areas. Around 25% of them are under 15 and 9% are over 60 years old. The population of the city is about 11% of the total population of Morocco. Grand Casablanca is also the largest urban area in the Maghreb. 99.9% of the population of Morocco are Arab and Berber Muslims. During the French protectorate in Morocco, European Christians formed almost half the population of Casablanca. Since independence in 1956, the European population has decreased substantially. The city also is still home to a small community of Moroccan Christians, as well as a small group of foreign Roman Catholic and Protestant residents. Judaism in Casablanca Jews have a long history in Casablanca. A Sephardic Jewish community was in Anfa up to the destruction of the city by the Portuguese in 1468. Jews were slow to return to the town, but by 1750, the Rabbi Elijah Synagogue was built as the first Jewish synagogue in Casablanca. It was destroyed along with much of the town in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Approximately 28,000 Moroccan Jews immigrated to the State of Israel between 1948 and 1951, many through Casablanca. Casablanca then became a departure point in Operation Yachin, the covert Mossad-organized migration operation from 1961 to 1964. In 2018 it was estimated that there were only 2,500 Moroccan Jews living in Casablanca, while according to the World Jewish Congress there were only 1,000 Moroccan Jews remaining. Today, the Jewish cemetery of Casablanca is one of the major cemeteries of the city, and many synagogues remain in service, but the city's Jewish community has dwindled. The Moroccan Jewish Museum is a museum established in the city in 1997. Education Colleges and universities Public: University of Hassan II Casablanca Private: Université Mundiapolis Université Internationale de Casablanca Primary and secondary schools International schools: Belgium: École Belge de Casablanca French: Collège Anatole France Lycée Lyautey Groupe Scolaire Louis Massignon Lycée La Résidence Lycée Maïmonide (FR) Lycée Léon l'Africain École Normale Hébraïque École Al Jabr Italian: Scuola "Enrico Mattei" Spanish: Instituto Español Juan Ramón Jiménez American: Casablanca American School American Academy Casablanca George Washington Academy Libraries King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Human Sciences and Islamic Studies Dar America Institut Français Instituto Cervantes Places of worship Most of the city's places of worship are Muslim mosques. Some of the city's synagogues, such as Ettedgui Synagogue, also remain. There are also Christian churches; some remain in use — particularly by the West African migrant community — while many of the churches built during the colonial period have been repurposed, such as Church of the Sacred Heart. Sports Association football Casablanca is home to two popular football clubs: Wydad Casablanca and Raja Casablanca—which are rivals. Raja's symbol is an eagle and Wydad's symbol is a star and crescent, a symbol of Islam. These two popular clubs have produced some of Morocco's best players, such as: Salaheddine Bassir, Abdelmajid Dolmy, Baddou Zaki, Aziz Bouderbala, and Noureddine Naybet. Other football teams on top of these two major teams based in the city of Casablanca include Rachad Bernoussi, TAS de Casablanca, Majd Al Madina, and Racing Casablanca. Tennis Casablanca hosts The Grand Prix Hassan II, a professional men's tennis tournament of the ATP tour. It first began in 1986, and is played on clay courts type at Complexe Al Amal. Notable winners of the Hassan II Grand-Prix are Thomas Muster in 1990, Hicham Arazi in 1997, Younes El Aynaoui in 2002, and Stanislas Wawrinka in 2010. Hosting Casablanca staged the 1961 Pan Arab Games, the 1983 Mediterranean Games, and games during the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations. Morocco was scheduled to host the 2015 African Nations Cup, but decided to decline due to Ebola fears. Morocco was expelled and the tournament was held in Equatorial Guinea. Venues Stade Larbi Zaouli Stade Mohamed V Stade Sidi Bernoussi Complexe Al Amal de Casablanca The Grand Stade de Casablanca is the proposed title of the planned football stadium to be built in the city. Once completed in 2014, it will be used mostly for football matches and will serve as the home of Raja Casablanca, Wydad Casablanca, and the Morocco national football team. The stadium was designed with a capacity of 93,000 spectators, making it one of the highest-capacity stadiums in Africa. Once completed, it will replace the Stade Mohamed V. The initial idea of the stadium was for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for which Morocco lost their bid to South Africa. Nevertheless, the Moroccan government supported the decision to go ahead with the plans. It will be completed in 2025. The idea of the stadium was also for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which Morocco lost their bid to Canada, Mexico and United States. It is now hoping for the 2030 FIFA World Cup which Morocco is co-bidding with either African neighbors Tunisia and Algeria or two European nations Spain and Portugal. Road Racing The city is host to the International Casablanca Marathon, a 26.2-mile road race that draws international competition. The race was founded in 2008 and is a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. Culture Music Haja El Hamdaouia, one of the most iconic figures in aita music, was born in Casablanca. Nass El Ghiwane, led by Larbi Batma, came out of Hay Mohammadi in Casablanca. Naima Samih of Derb Sultan gained prominence through the program Mawahib (). Abdelhadi Belkhayat and Abdelwahab Doukkali are musicians specializing in traditional Moroccan Arabic popular music. Zina Daoudia, Abdelaziz Stati, Abdellah Daoudi, and Said Senhaji are notable Moroccan chaabi musicians. Abdelakabir Faradjallah founded Attarazat Addahabia, a Moroccan funk band, in 1968. Fadoul, another funk band, formed in the 1970s. Hoba Hoba Spirit also formed in Casablanca, and is still based there. Casablanca has a thriving hiphop scene, with artists such as El Grande Toto, Don Big, 7liwa, and Issam Harris. Casablanca hosts numerous music festivals, such as Jazzablanca and L'Boulevard, as well as a museum dedicated to Andalusi music, Dar ul-Aala. Literature The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is associated with Casablanca. Driss Chraïbi's novel The Simple Past takes place in Casablanca. Mohamed Zafzaf lived in Maarif while writing and teaching at a high school. Lamalif, a radical leftist political and cultural magazine, was based in Casablanca. Casablanca's International Book Fair is held at the fair grounds opposite Hassan II Mosque annually in February. Theater Tayeb Saddiki, described as the father of Moroccan theater, grew up in Casablanca and made his career there. Hanane el-Fadili and Hassan El Fad are popular comedians from Casablanca. Gad Elmaleh is another comedian from Casablanca, though he has made his career abroad. Visual art The École des Beaux-Arts of Casablanca was founded in 1919 by a French Orientalist painter named Édouard Brindeau de Jarny, who started his career teaching drawing at Lycée Lyautey. The Casablanca School—a Modernist art movement and collective including artists such as Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Melehi, and Mohammed Chabâa—developed out of the École des Beaux-Arts of Casablanca in the late 1960s. The Academy of Traditional Arts, part of the Hassan II Mosque complex, was founded October 31, 2012. L'Uzine is a community-based art and culture space in Casablanca. Rebel Spirit published The Casablanca Guide (, ) a comic book about life in Casablanca. Sbagha Bagha is a street art festival during which murals are created on the sides of apartment buildings. Photography Postcard companies such as Léon & Lévy were active in Casablanca. Gabriel Veyre also worked and eventually died in Casablanca. Marcelin Flandrin (1889-1957), a French military photographer, settled in Casablanca and recorded much of the early colonial period in Morocco with his photography. With his staged nude postcard photos taken in Casablanca's colonial brothel quarter, Flandrin was also responsible for disseminating the orientalist image of Moroccan women as sexual objects. Casablanca has a thriving street photography scene. Yoriyas is prominent among photographers capturing the economic capital's street scenes, and has attracted international attention. Film In the first half of the 20th century, Casablanca had many movie theaters, such as Cinema Rialto, Cinema Lynx and Cinema Vox—the largest in Africa at the time it was built. The 1942 American film Casablanca is set in Casablanca and has had a lasting impact on the city's image, despite being filmed in the US. Salut Casa! was a propaganda film brandishing France's purported colonial triumph in its mission civilizatrice in the city. Mostafa Derkaoui's revolutionary independent film About Some Meaningless Events (1974) took place in Casablanca. It was the main subject of Ali Essafi's documentary Before the Dying of the Light.Love in Casablanca (1991), starring Abdelkarim Derqaoui and Muna Fettou, is one of the first Moroccan films to deal with Morocco's complex realities and depict life in Casablanca with verisimilitude. Nour-Eddine Lakhmari's Casanegra (2008) depicts the harsh realities of Casablanca's working classes. The films Ali Zaoua (2000), Horses of God (2012), and Razzia (2017) of Nabil Ayouch—a French director of Moroccan heritage—deal with street crime, terrorism, and social issues in Casablanca, respectively. The events in Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi's 2018 film Sofia revolve around an illegitimate pregnancy in Casablanca. Ahmed El Maanouni, Hicham Lasri, and Said Naciri are also from Casablanca. Architecture Casablanca's architecture and urban development are historically significant. The city is home to many notable buildings in a variety of styles, including traditional Moroccan architecture, various colonial architectural styles, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Neo-Mauresque, Streamline Moderne, Modernism, Brutalism, and more. During the French Protectorate, the French government described Casablanca as a "laboratory of urbanism." The work of the Groupe des Architectes Modernes Marocains (GAMMA) on public housing projects—such as Carrières Centrales in Hay Mohammadi—in a style described as vernacular modernism influenced modernist architecture around the world. Casamémoire and MAMMA. are two organizations dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the city's architectural heritage. Transport Rapid transit The Casablanca Tramway is the rapid transit tram system in Casablanca. As of 2019, the network consists of two lines covering , with 71 stops; further lines (T3 and T4) are under construction. Since the 1970s, Casablanca had planned to build a metro system to offer some relief to the problems of traffic congestion and poor air quality. However, the city council voted to abandon the metro project in 2014 due to high costs, and decided to continue expanding the already operating tram system instead. Air Casablanca's main airport is Mohammed V International Airport, Morocco's busiest airport. Regular domestic flights serve Marrakech, Rabat, Agadir, Oujda, Tangier, Al Hoceima, and Laayoune, as well as other cities. Casablanca is well-served by international flights to Europe, especially French and Spanish airports, and has regular connections to North American, Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan African destinations. New York City, Montreal, Paris, Washington D.C., London and Dubai are important primary destinations. The older, smaller Casablanca-Anfa Airport to the west of the city, served certain destinations including Damascus and Tunis, and was largely closed to international civilian traffic in 2006. It was eventually demolished to make way for construction of the "Casablanca Finance City", the new heart of the city of Casablanca. Casablanca Tit Mellil Airport is located in the nearby community of Tit Mellil. Coach buses Compagnie de Transports au Maroc (CTM) offers private intercity coach buses on various lines run servicing most notable Moroccan towns, as well as a number of European cities. These run from the CTM Bus Station on Leo Africanus Street near the Central Market in downtown Casablanca. Supratours, an affiliate of ONCF, also offers coach bus service at a slightly lower cost, departing from a station on Wilad Zian Street. There is another bus station farther down on the same street called the Wilad Zian Bus Station; this station is the country's largest bus station, serving over 800 buses daily, catering more to Morocco's lower income population. Taxis Registered taxis in Casablanca are coloured red and known as petit taxis (small taxis), or coloured white and known as grands taxis (big taxis). As is standard Moroccan practice, petits taxis, typically small-four door Dacia Logan, Peugeot 207, or similar cars, provide metered cab service in the central metropolitan areas. Grands taxis, generally older Mercedes-Benz sedans, provide shared mini-bus like service within the city on predefined routes, or shared intercity service. Grands taxis may also be hired for private service by the hour or day. Trains Casablanca is served by three main railway stations run by the national rail service, the ONCF. is the main intercity station, from which trains run south to Marrakech or El Jadida and north to Mohammedia and Rabat, and then on either to Tangier or Meknes, Fes, Taza and Oujda/Nador. It also serves as the southern terminus of the Al-Boraq high speed line from Tangier. A dedicated airport shuttle service to Mohammed V International Airport also has its primary in-city stop at this station, for connections on to further destinations. serves primarily commuter trains such as the Train Navette Rapide (TNR or Aouita) operating on the Casablanca – Kenitra rail corridor, with some connecting trains running on to Gare de Casa-Voyageurs. The station provides a direct interchange between train and shipping services, and is located near several port-area hotels. It is the nearest station to the old town of Casablanca, and to the modern city centre, around the landmark Casablanca Twin Center. Casa-Port station is being rebuilt in a modern and enlarged configuration. During the construction, the station is still operational. From 2013, it will provide a close connection from the rail network to the city's new tram network. Casa-Oasis was originally a suburban commuter station which was fully redesigned and rebuilt in the early 21st century, and officially reopened in 2005 as a primary city rail station. Owing to its new status, all southern intercity train services to and from Casa-Voyageurs now call at Casa-Oasis. ONCF stated in 2005 that the refurbishment and upgrading of Casa-Oasis to intercity standards was intended to relieve passenger congestion at Casa-Voyageurs station. Tourism Although Mohammed V International Airport receives most international flights into Morocco, international tourism in Casablanca is not as developed as it is in cities like Marrakesh. Casablanca, however, attracts fewer tourists than those of cities such as Fes and Marrakech. The Hassan II Mosque, which is the second largest mosque in Africa and the seventh largest in the world, is the city's main tourist attraction. Visitors also come to see the city's rich architectural heritage. Popular sites for national tourism include shopping centers such as Morocco Mall, Anfa Place, the Marina Shopping Center, and the Tachfine Center. Additional sites include the Corniche and the beach of Ain Diab, and parks such as the Arab League Park or the Sindibad theme park. Notable people Lahcen Abrami - Former footballer Amine Atouchi - Moroccan footballer Khalil Azmi - Former moroccan goalkeeper Amal Ayouch (born 1966) – stage and film actress Wissam Baraka – Moroccan footballer Salaheddine Bassir – Moroccan footballer Laarbi Batma – Moroccan musician and artist, founding member of Nas El Ghiwan Larbi Benbarek – Moroccan footballer Badr Benoun - Moroccan footballer Miriem Bensalah-Chaqroun – Moroccan businesswoman Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes – French footballer Frida Boccara – French singer, Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 Aziz Bouderbala - Former Moroccan footballer Merieme Chadid – Moroccan astronomer Mustapha Chadili - Former goalkeeper Achraf Dari – Moroccan footballer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac – French fashion designer Nabil Dirar – Moroccan footballer Abdelmajid Dolmy - Former moroccan footballer Dizzy DROS – Moroccan rapper Issam El Adoua - Moroccan footballer Badr El Kaddouri - Former moroccan footballer Talal El Karkouri - Former moroccan footballer Gad Elmaleh – French/Canadian comedian Bouchaib El Moubarki - Former moroccan footballer Youssef Fertout - moroccan manager La Fouine – Moroccan-French rapper Khalid Fouhami - Former gmoroccan oalkeeper Mohamed Fouzair - Moroccan footballer El Haqed – Moroccan rapper Serge Haroche – French physicist who was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics Shatha Hassoun – Moroccan/Iraqi singer Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann – Israeli Olympic fencer Mouhcine Iajour - Moroccan footballer Nadir Lamyaghri - Former moroccan goalkeeper Hamza Mendyl – Moroccan footballer Hicham Mesbahi – Moroccan boxer French Montana – American rapper Nawal El Moutawakel – Olympic champion Hakim Mouzaki - Moroccan footballer Noureddine Naybet – Moroccan footballer Mostafa Nissaboury – Moroccan poet Hakim Noury – Moroccan film director Maurice Ohana – French composer Faouzia Ouihya – Moroccan-Canadian singer Jean Reno – French Hollywood actor Youssef Rossi - Former moroccan footballer Abdelilah Saber - Former footballer Youssef Safri - Moroccan football manager Jamal Sellami - Moroccan football manager Daniel Sivan – professor Alain Souchon – French songwriter Frank Stephenson – award-winning automobile designer Hassan Saada – Moroccan boxer arrested for alleged rape before Olympic match Sidney Taurel – naturalized American CEO of Eli Lilly and Company from 1998 to 2008 Richard Virenque – French cyclist Muhammad Zarqtuni – Moroccan nationalist and resistance leader Abdallah Zrika – Moroccan poet Soufiane Choubani – Founder of the Moroccan National Debate In popular culture The 1942 film Casablanca (starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart) is supposed to have been set in Casablanca, although it was filmed entirely in Los Angeles and doesn't feature a single Arab or North African character with a speaking role. The film depicts Casablanca as the scene of power struggle between various foreign powers, which had much more to do with the Tangier of the time. The film has achieved worldwide popularity since its release. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won three, including Best Picture.A Night in Casablanca (1946) was the 12th Marx Brothers' movie. The film stars Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, and Harpo Marx. It was directed by Archie Mayo and written by Joseph Fields and Roland Kibbee. The film contains the song "Who's Sorry Now?", with music by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It is sung in French by Lisette Verea playing the part of Beatrice Rheiner, and then later sung in English. Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" is played twice, once by Chico on piano as an introduction to the "Beer Barrel Polka", and again by Harpo on the harp. The city is featured in The Mysterious Caravan (1975), volume 54 in the original Hardy Boys series. Casablanca is the setting for several chapters in Doubleshot, a 2000 James Bond novel by Raymond Benson. In the novel, one of the characters mentions that the 1942 film was shot in Hollywood and not on location. Casablanca is one of the key locations in the 2006 video game Dreamfall, as it is where the primary protagonist of the game, Zoë Castillo, lives. Although the city is imagined in the year 2219, much of the present-day architecture is used for inspiration. Casablanca is the setting for the first act of the 2016 World War II romantic thriller film Allied'' starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Twin towns – sister cities Casablanca is twinned with: Bordeaux, France Busan, South Korea Chicago, United States Dakar, Senegal Dubai, United Arab Emirates Jakarta, Indonesia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Muscat, Oman Nouadhibou, Mauritania Shanghai, China See also Rabat Zoo References External links Official web site of Casablanca Official Casablanca Tourism Website Casablanca photo gallery (buildings and other landmarks with a history dating back to the French Protectorate) Open Air Museum of 20th century architecture Prefecturial capitals in Morocco Regional capitals in Morocco Municipalities of Morocco Populated places established in the 7th century BC

A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body"). The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, but is also used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, most Oriental Orthodox Churches (except the Armenian & Syriac Church), and the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as by the Lutheran, Moravian and Anglican Churches. The symbol is less common in churches of other Protestant denominations, and in the Assyrian Church of the East and Armenian Apostolic Church, which prefer to use a cross without the figure of Jesus (the corpus). The crucifix emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice—his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of humankind. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, such as a Tau cross or a Coptic cross. Western crucifixes usually have a three-dimensional corpus, but in Eastern Orthodoxy Jesus' body is normally painted on the cross, or in low relief. Strictly speaking, to be a crucifix, the cross must be three-dimensional, but this distinction is not always observed. An entire painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus including a landscape background and other figures is not a crucifix either. Large crucifixes high across the central axis of a church are known by the Old English term rood. By the late Middle Ages these were a near-universal feature of Western churches, but are now very rare. Modern Roman Catholic churches and many Lutheran churches often have a crucifix above the altar on the wall; for the celebration of Mass, the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church requires that "on or close to the altar there is to be a cross with a figure of Christ crucified". Description The standard, four-pointed Latin crucifix consists of an upright post or stipes and a single crosspiece to which the sufferer's arms were nailed. There may also be a short projecting nameplate, showing the letters INRI (Greek: INBI). The Russian Orthodox crucifix usually has an additional third crossbar, to which the feet are nailed, and which is angled upward toward the penitent thief Saint Dismas (to the viewer's left) and downward toward the impenitent thief Gestas (to the viewer's right). The corpus of Eastern crucifixes is normally a two-dimensional or low relief icon that shows Jesus as already dead, his face peaceful and somber. They are rarely three-dimensional figures as in the Western tradition, although these may be found where Western influences are strong, but are more typically icons painted on a piece of wood shaped to include the double-barred cross and perhaps the edge of Christ's hips and halo, and no background. More sculptural small crucifixes in metal relief are also used in Orthodoxy (see gallery examples), including as pectoral crosses and blessing crosses. Western crucifixes may show Christ dead or alive, the presence of the spear wound in his ribs traditionally indicating that he is dead. In either case his face very often shows his suffering. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition he has normally been shown as dead since around the end of the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. Eastern crucifixes have Jesus' two feet nailed side by side, rather than crossed one above the other, as Western crucifixes have shown them since around the 13th century. The crown of thorns is also generally absent in Eastern crucifixes, since the emphasis is not on Christ's suffering, but on his triumph over sin and death. The "S"-shaped position of Jesus' body on the cross is a Byzantine innovation of the late 10th century, though also found in the German Gero Cross of the same date. Probably more from Byzantine influence, it spread elsewhere in the West, especially to Italy, by the Romanesque period, though it was more usual in painting than sculpted crucifixes. It's in Italy that the emphasis was put on Jesus' suffering and realistic details, during a process of general humanization of Christ favored by the Franciscan order. During the 13th century the suffering Italian model (Christus patiens) triumphed over the traditional Byzantine one (Christus gloriosus) anywhere in Europe also due to the works of artists such as Giunta Pisano and Cimabue. Since the Renaissance the "S"-shape is generally much less pronounced. Eastern Christian blessing crosses will often have the Crucifixion depicted on one side, and the Resurrection on the other, illustrating Eastern Orthodox theology's understanding of the Crucifixion and Resurrection as two intimately related aspects of the same act of salvation. Another, symbolic, depiction shows a triumphant Christ (), clothed in robes, rather than stripped as for His execution, with arms raised, appearing to rise up from the cross, sometimes accompanied by "rays of light", or an aureole encircling His Body. He may be robed as a prophet, crowned as a king, and vested in a stole as Great High Priest. On some crucifixes a skull and crossbones are shown below the corpus, referring to Golgotha (Calvary), the site at which Jesus was crucified, which the Gospels say means in Hebrew "the place of the skull." Medieval tradition held that it was the burial-place of Adam and Eve, and that the cross of Christ was raised directly over Adam's skull, so many crucifixes manufactured in Catholic countries still show the skull and crossbones below the corpus. Very large crucifixes have been built, the largest being the Cross in the Woods in Michigan, with a high statue. Usage In the early Church, many Christians hung a cross on the eastern wall of their house in order to indicate the eastward direction of prayer. Prayer in front of a crucifix, which is seen as a sacramental, is often part of devotion for Christians, especially those worshipping in a church, also privately. The person may sit, stand, or kneel in front of the crucifix, sometimes looking at it in contemplation, or merely in front of it with head bowed or eyes closed. During the Middle Ages small crucifixes, generally hung on a wall, became normal in the personal cells or living quarters first of monks, then all clergy, followed by the homes of the laity, spreading down from the top of society as these became cheap enough for the average person to afford. Most towns had a large crucifix erected as a monument, or some other shrine at the crossroads of the town. Building on the ancient custom, many Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans hang a crucifix inside their homes and also use the crucifix as a focal point of a home altar. The wealthy erected proprietary chapels as they could afford to do this. Catholic (both Eastern and Western), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Moravian, Anglican and Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services. They believe use of the crucifix is in keeping with the statement by Saint Paul in Scripture, "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God". In the West altar crosses and processional crosses began to be crucifixes in the 11th century, which became general around the 14th century, as they became cheaper. The Roman Rite requires that "either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, a cross clearly visible to the assembled people. It is desirable that such a cross should remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations, so as to call to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord." The requirement of the altar cross was also mentioned in pre-1970 editions of the Roman Missal, though not in the original 1570 Roman Missal of Pope Pius V. The Rite of Funerals says that the Gospel Book, the Bible, or a cross (which will generally be in crucifix form) may be placed on the coffin for a Requiem Mass, but a second standing cross is not to be placed near the coffin if the altar cross can be easily seen from the body of the church. Eastern Christian liturgical processions called crucessions include a cross or crucifix at their head. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the crucifix is often placed above the iconostasis in the church. In the Russian Orthodox Church a large crucifix ("Golgotha") is placed behind the Holy Table (altar). During Matins of Good Friday, a large crucifix is taken in procession to the centre of the church, where it is venerated by the faithful. Sometimes the soma (corpus) is removable and is taken off the crucifix at Vespers that evening during the Gospel lesson describing the Descent from the Cross. The empty cross may then remain in the centre of the church until the Paschal vigil (local practices vary). The blessing cross which the priest uses to bless the faithful at the dismissal will often have the crucifix on one side and an icon of the Resurrection of Jesus on the other, the side with the Resurrection being used on Sundays and during Paschaltide, and the crucifix on other days. Exorcist Gabriele Amorth has stated that the crucifix is one of the most effective means of averting or opposing demons. In folklore, it is believed to ward off vampires, incubi, succubi, and other evils. Modern iconoclasts have used an inverted (upside-down) crucifix when showing disdain for Jesus Christ or the Catholic Church which believes in his divinity. According to Christian tradition, Saint Peter was martyred by being crucified upside-down. Controversies Protestant Reformation In the Moravian Church, Nicolaus Zinzendorf had an experience in which he believed he encountered Jesus. Seeing a painting of a crucifix, Zinzendorf fell on his knees vowing to glorify Jesus after contemplating on the wounds of Christ and an inscription that stated "This is what I have done for you, what will you do for me?” The Lutheran Churches retained the use of the crucifix, "justifying their continued use of medieval crucifixes with the same arguments employed since the Middle Ages, as is evident from the example of the altar of the Holy Cross in the Cistercian church of Doberan." Martin Luther did not object to them, and this was among his differences with Andreas Karlstadt as early as 1525. At the time of the Reformation, Luther retained the crucifix in the Lutheran Church and they remain the center of worship in Lutheran parishes across Europe. In the United States, however, Lutheranism came under the influence of Calvinism, and the plain cross came to be used in many churches. In contrast to the practice of the Moravian Church and Lutheran Churches, the early Reformed Churches rejected the use of the crucifix, and indeed the unadorned cross, along with other traditional religious imagery, as idolatrous. Calvin, considered to be the father of the Reformed Church, was violently opposed to both cross and crucifix. In England, the Royal Chapels of Elizabeth I were most unusual among local churches in retaining crucifixes, following the Queen's conservative tastes. These disappeared under her successor, James I, and their brief re-appearance in the early 1620s when James' heir was seeking a Spanish marriage was the subject of rumour and close observation by both Catholics and Protestants; when the match fell through they disappeared. Modern In 2005, a mother accused her daughter's school in Derby, England, of discriminating against Christians after the teenager was suspended for refusing to take off a crucifix necklace. A British prison ordered a multi-faith chapel to remove all crucifixes "in case it offends Muslims." In 2008 in Spain, a local judge ordered crucifixes removed from public schools to settle a decades-old dispute over whether crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings in a non-confessional state. On 18 March 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the Lautsi v. Italy case, that the requirement in Italian law that crucifixes be displayed in classrooms of state schools does not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. Crucifixes are common in most other Italian official buildings, including courts of law. On 24 March 2011, the Constitutional Court of Peru ruled that the presence of crucifixes in courts of law does not violate the secular nature of the state. Gallery See also Cloisters Cross Christian symbolism Cross necklace Crucifer Crucifix Decrees Crucifixion in the arts Feast of the Cross Holy Face of Lucca Jesus, King of the Jews Master of the Blue Crucifixes Papal ferula Rood Rosary References External links Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix The Cross and Crucifix in Liturgy Christian iconography Iconography of Jesus Sacramentals Christian religious objects Crosses by form Christian symbols Christian terminology Anglican liturgy Lutheran liturgy and worship Objects believed to protect from evil

The Latin , usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am", is the "first principle" of René Descartes's philosophy. He originally published it in French as , in his 1637 Discourse on the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have allowed. It later appeared in Latin in his Principles of Philosophy, and a similar phrase also featured prominently in his Meditations on First Philosophy. The dictum is also sometimes referred to as the cogito. As Descartes explained in a margin note, "we cannot doubt of our existence while we doubt." In the posthumously published The Search for Truth by Natural Light, he expressed this insight as ("I doubt, therefore I am — or what is the same — I think, therefore I am"). Antoine Léonard Thomas, in a 1765 essay in honor of Descartes presented it as ("I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"). Descartes's statement became a fundamental element of Western philosophy, as it purported to provide a certain foundation for knowledge in the face of radical doubt. While other knowledge could be a figment of imagination, deception, or mistake, Descartes asserted that the very act of doubting one's own existence served—at minimum—as proof of the reality of one's own mind; there must be a thinking entity—in this case the self—for there to be a thought. One critique of the dictum, first suggested by Pierre Gassendi, is that it presupposes that there is an "I" which must be doing the thinking. According to this line of criticism, the most that Descartes was entitled to say was that "thinking is occurring", not that "I am thinking". In Descartes's writings Descartes first wrote the phrase in French in his 1637 Discourse on the Method. He referred to it in Latin without explicitly stating the familiar form of the phrase in his 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy. The earliest written record of the phrase in Latin is in his 1644 Principles of Philosophy, where, in a margin note (see below), he provides a clear explanation of his intent: "[W]e cannot doubt of our existence while we doubt". Fuller forms of the phrase are attributable to other authors. Discourse on the Method The phrase first appeared (in French) in Descartes' 1637 Discourse on the Method in the first paragraph of its fourth part: Meditations on First Philosophy In 1641, Descartes published (in Latin) Meditations on first philosophy in which he referred to the proposition, though not explicitly as "cogito, ergo sum" in Meditation II: Principles of Philosophy In 1644, Descartes published (in Latin) his Principles of Philosophy where the phrase "ego cogito, ergo sum" appears in Part 1, article 7: Descartes's margin note for the above paragraph is: The Search for Truth by Natural Light Descartes, in a lesser-known posthumously published work dated as written ca. 1647 and titled (The Search for Truth by Natural Light), provides his only known phrasing of the cogito as and admits that his insight is also expressible as dubito, ergo sum: Other forms The proposition is sometimes given as . This form was penned by the French literary critic, Antoine Léonard Thomas, in an award-winning 1765 essay in praise of Descartes, where it appeared as "" ('Since I doubt, I think; since I think, I exist'). With rearrangement and compaction, the passage translates to "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am," or in Latin, "dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum." This aptly captures Descartes’s intent as expressed in his posthumously published La Recherche de la Vérité par La Lumiere Naturale as noted above: I doubt, therefore I am — or what is the same — I think, therefore I am’. A further expansion, ("…—a thinking thing") extends the cogito with Descartes's statement in the subsequent Meditation, ("I am a thinking [conscious] thing, that is, a being who doubts, affirms, denies, knows a few objects, and is ignorant of many…"). This has been referred to as "the expanded cogito." Translation "I am thinking" vs. "I think" While the Latin translation cōgitō may be translated rather easily as "I think/ponder/visualize", does not indicate whether the verb form corresponds to the English simple present or progressive aspect. Technically speaking, the French lemma pense by itself is actually the result of numerous different conjugations of the verb penser (to think) – it could mean "I think... (something)"/"He thinks... (something)", "I think."/"He thinks.", or even "You (must) think... (something).", thereby necessitating the use of the wider context, or a pronoun, to understand the meaning. In the case of je pense, a pronoun is already included, je or "I", but this still leaves the question of whether "I think..." or "I think." is intended. Therefore, translation needs a larger context to determine aspect. Following John Lyons (1982), Vladimir Žegarac notes, "The temptation to use the simple present is said to arise from the lack of progressive forms in Latin and French, and from a misinterpretation of the meaning of cogito as habitual or generic" (cf. gnomic aspect). Also following Lyons, Ann Banfield writes, "In order for the statement on which Descartes's argument depends to represent certain knowledge,… its tense must be a true present—in English, a progressive,… not as 'I think' but as 'I am thinking, in conformity with the general translation of the Latin or French present tense in such nongeneric, nonstative contexts." Or in the words of Simon Blackburn, "Descartes’s premise is not ‘I think’ in the sense of ‘I ski’, which can be true even if you are not at the moment skiing. It is supposed to be parallel to ‘I am skiing’." The similar translation “I am thinking, therefore I exist” of Descartes's correspondence in French (“, ”) appears in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes by Cottingham et al. (1988). The earliest known translation as "I am thinking, therefore I am" is from 1872 by Charles Porterfield Krauth. Fumitaka Suzuki writes "Taking consideration of Cartesian theory of continuous creation, which theory was developed especially in the Meditations and in the Principles, we would assure that 'I am thinking, therefore I am/exist' is the most appropriate English translation of 'ego cogito, ergo sum'." "I exist" vs. "I am" Alexis Deodato S. Itao notes that is "literally 'I think, therefore I am'." Others differ: 1) "[A] precise English translation will read as 'I am thinking, therefore I exist'.; and 2) "[S]ince Descartes … emphasized that existence is such an important 'notion,' a better translation is 'I am thinking, therefore I exist.'" Punctuation Descartes wrote this phrase as such only once, in the posthumously published lesser-known work noted above,The Search for Truth by Natural Light. It appeared there mid-sentence, uncapitalized, and with a comma. (Commas were not used in Classical Latin but were a regular feature of scholastic Latin, the Latin Descartes "had learned in a Jesuit college at La Flèche.") Most modern reference works show it with a comma, but it is often presented without a comma in academic work and in popular usage. In Descartes's Principia Philosophiae, the proposition appears as ego cogito, ergo sum'''. Interpretation As put succinctly by Krauth (1872), "That cannot doubt which does not think, and that cannot think which does not exist. I doubt, I think, I exist." The phrase cogito, ergo sum is not used in Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy but the term "the cogito" is used to refer to an argument from it. In the Meditations, Descartes phrases the conclusion of the argument as "that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind" (Meditation II). At the beginning of the second meditation, having reached what he considers to be the ultimate level of doubt—his argument from the existence of a deceiving god—Descartes examines his beliefs to see if any have survived the doubt. In his belief in his own existence, he finds that it is impossible to doubt that he exists. Even if there were a deceiving god (or an evil demon), one's belief in their own existence would be secure, for there is no way one could be deceived unless one existed in order to be deceived. But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I, too, do not exist? No. If I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all], then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who deliberately and constantly deceives me. In that case, I, too, undoubtedly exist, if he deceives me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind. (AT VII 25; CSM II 16–17) There are three important notes to keep in mind here. First, he claims only the certainty of his own existence from the first-person point of view — he has not proved the existence of other minds at this point. This is something that has to be thought through by each of us for ourselves, as we follow the course of the meditations. Second, he does not say that his existence is necessary; he says that if he thinks, then necessarily he exists (see the instantiation principle). Third, this proposition "I am, I exist" is held true not based on a deduction (as mentioned above) or on empirical induction but on the clarity and self-evidence of the proposition. Descartes does not use this first certainty, the cogito, as a foundation upon which to build further knowledge; rather, it is the firm ground upon which he can stand as he works to discover further truths. As he puts it: Archimedes used to demand just one firm and immovable point in order to shift the entire earth; so I too can hope for great things if I manage to find just one thing, however slight, that is certain and unshakable. (AT VII 24; CSM II 16) According to many Descartes specialists, including Étienne Gilson, the goal of Descartes in establishing this first truth is to demonstrate the capacity of his criterion — the immediate clarity and distinctiveness of self-evident propositions — to establish true and justified propositions despite having adopted a method of generalized doubt. As a consequence of this demonstration, Descartes considers science and mathematics to be justified to the extent that their proposals are established on a similarly immediate clarity, distinctiveness, and self-evidence that presents itself to the mind. The originality of Descartes's thinking, therefore, is not so much in expressing the cogito—a feat accomplished by other predecessors, as we shall see—but on using the cogito as demonstrating the most fundamental epistemological principle, that science and mathematics are justified by relying on clarity, distinctiveness, and self-evidence. Baruch Spinoza in "Principia philosophiae cartesianae" at its Prolegomenon identified "cogito ergo sum" the "ego sum cogitans" (I am a thinking being) as the thinking substance with his ontological interpretation. Predecessors Although the idea expressed in cogito, ergo sum is widely attributed to Descartes, he was not the first to mention it. Plato spoke about the "knowledge of knowledge" (Greek: νόησις νοήσεως, nóesis noéseos) and Aristotle explains the idea in full length: But if life itself is good and pleasant…and if one who sees is conscious that he sees, one who hears that he hears, one who walks that he walks and similarly for all the other human activities there is a faculty that is conscious of their exercise, so that whenever we perceive, we are conscious that we perceive, and whenever we think, we are conscious that we think, and to be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious that we exist... (Nicomachean Ethics, 1170a25 ff.) The Cartesio's statement was interpreted to be an Aristotelian syllogism where is not explicited the premise according to which all thinkers shall be also beings. In the late sixth or early fifth century BC, Parmenides is quoted as saying "For to be aware and to be are the same". (Fragment B3) In the early fifth century AD, Augustine of Hippo in De Civitate Dei (book XI, 26) affirmed his certain knowledge of his own existence, and added: "So far as these truths are concerned, I do not at all fear the arguments of the Academics when they say, What if you are mistaken? For if I am mistaken, I exist." This formulation () is sometimes called the Augustinian . In 1640, Descartes wrote to thank Andreas Colvius (a friend of Descartes's mentor, Isaac Beeckman) for drawing his attention to Augustine: I am obliged to you for drawing my attention to the passage of St Augustine relevant to my I am thinking, therefore I exist. I went today to the library of this town to read it, and I do indeed find that he does use it to prove the certainty of our existence. He goes on to show that there is a certain likeness of the Trinity in us, in that we exist, we know that we exist, and we love the existence and the knowledge we have. I, on the other hand, use the argument to show that this I which is thinking is an immaterial substance with no bodily element. These are two very different things. In itself it is such a simple and natural thing to infer that one exists from the fact that one is doubting that it could have occurred to any writer. But I am very glad to find myself in agreement with St Augustine, if only to hush the little minds who have tried to find fault with the principle. Another predecessor was Avicenna's "Floating Man" thought experiment on human self-awareness and self-consciousness. The 8th century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara wrote, in a similar fashion, that no one thinks 'I am not', arguing that one's existence cannot be doubted, as there must be someone there to doubt. The central idea of cogito, ergo sum is also the topic of Mandukya Upanishad. Spanish philosopher Gómez Pereira in his 1554 work De Inmortalitate Animae, published in 1749, wrote "nosco me aliquid noscere, & quidquid noscit, est, ergo ego sum" ('I know that I know something, anyone who knows exists, then I exist').López, Modesto Santos. 1986. "Gómez Pereira, médico y filósofo medinense." In Historia de Medina del Campo y su Tierra, volumen I: Nacimiento y expansión, edited by E. L. Sanz. Critique Use of "I" In Descartes, The Project of Pure Enquiry, Bernard Williams provides a history and full evaluation of this issue. The first to raise the "I" problem was Pierre Gassendi, who in his , as noted by Saul Fisher "points out that recognition that one has a set of thoughts does not imply that one is a particular thinker or another. …[T]he only claim that is indubitable here is the agent-independent claim that there is cognitive activity present." The objection, as presented by Georg Lichtenberg, is that rather than supposing an entity that is thinking, Descartes should have said: "thinking is occurring." That is, whatever the force of the cogito, Descartes draws too much from it; the existence of a thinking thing, the reference of the "I," is more than the cogito can justify. Friedrich Nietzsche criticized the phrase in that it presupposes that there is an "I", that there is such an activity as "thinking", and that "I" know what "thinking" is. He suggested a more appropriate phrase would be "it thinks" wherein the "it" could be an impersonal subject as in the sentence "It is raining." Kierkegaard The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard calls the phrase a tautology in his Concluding Unscientific Postscript. He argues that the cogito already presupposes the existence of "I", and therefore concluding with existence is logically trivial. Kierkegaard's argument can be made clearer if one extracts the premise "I think" into the premises "'x' thinks" and "I am that 'x'", where "x" is used as a placeholder in order to disambiguate the "I" from the thinking thing. Here, the cogito has already assumed the "I"'s existence as that which thinks. For Kierkegaard, Descartes is merely "developing the content of a concept", namely that the "I", which already exists, thinks. As Kierkegaard argues, the proper logical flow of argument is that existence is already assumed or presupposed in order for thinking to occur, not that existence is concluded from that thinking. Williams Bernard Williams claims that what we are dealing with when we talk of thought, or when we say "I am thinking," is something conceivable from a third-person perspective—namely objective "thought-events" in the former case, and an objective thinker in the latter. He argues, first, that it is impossible to make sense of "there is thinking" without relativizing it to something. However, this something cannot be Cartesian egos, because it is impossible to differentiate objectively between things just on the basis of the pure content of consciousness. The obvious problem is that, through introspection, or our experience of consciousness, we have no way of moving to conclude the existence of any third-personal fact, to conceive of which would require something above and beyond just the purely subjective contents of the mind. Heidegger As a critic of Cartesian subjectivity, Heidegger sought to ground human subjectivity in death as that certainty which individualizes and authenticates our being. As he wrote in 1925 in History of the Concept of Time:This certainty, that "I myself am in that I will die," is the basic certainty of Dasein itself. It is a genuine statement of Dasein, while cogito sum is only the semblance of such a statement. If such pointed formulations mean anything at all, then the appropriate statement pertaining to Dasein in its being would have to be sum moribundus [I am in dying], moribundus not as someone gravely ill or wounded, but insofar as I am, I am moribundus. The MORIBUNDUS first gives the SUM its sense. John Macmurray The Scottish philosopher John Macmurray rejects the cogito outright in order to place action at the center of a philosophical system he entitles the Form of the Personal. "We must reject this, both as standpoint and as method. If this be philosophy, then philosophy is a bubble floating in an atmosphere of unreality." The reliance on thought creates an irreconcilable dualism between thought and action in which the unity of experience is lost, thus dissolving the integrity of our selves, and destroying any connection with reality. In order to formulate a more adequate cogito, Macmurray proposes the substitution of "I do" for "I think," ultimately leading to a belief in God as an agent to whom all persons stand in relation. See also Cartesian doubt Floating man List of Latin phrases Solipsism Academic skepticism Brain in a vat I Am that I Am Notes References Further reading Abraham, W. E. 1974. "Disentangling the Cogito." Mind 83:329. Baird, Forrest E., and Walter Kaufmann. 2008. From Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. . Boufoy-Bastick, Z. 2005. "Introducing 'Applicable Knowledge' as a Challenge to the Attainment of Absolute Knowledge." Sophia Journal of Philosophy 8:39–52. Christofidou, A. 2013. Self, Reason, and Freedom: A New Light on Descartes' Metaphysics. Routledge. Hatfield, G. 2003. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Descartes and the Meditations. Routledge. . Kierkegaard, Søren. [1844] 1985. Philosophical Fragments. Princeton. . — [1846] 1985. Concluding Unscientific Postscript''. Princeton. . External links Rene Descartes Arguments in philosophy of mind Cartesianism Concepts in epistemology Concepts in metaphilosophy Concepts in metaphysics Concepts in the philosophy of mind Concepts in the philosophy of science Epistemological theories Latin philosophical phrases Latin quotations Latin words and phrases Metaphysical theories Metaphysics of mind Ontology Philosophical problems Psychological concepts Qualia Quotations from literature Quotations from philosophy Theory of mind Thought Western philosophy 17th-century neologisms

A CD or compact disc is a thin plastic silvery disc for audio recordings. CD or cd may also refer to: Science and technology Astronomy and cosmology Cordoba Durchmusterung, a star catalog of the southern sky Cosmological decade or CÐ, a unit of time Type-cD galaxy, a galaxy morphology classification Biology, ecology, and medicine Coeliac disease, long term autoimmune disorder causing intolerance to gluten Conduct disorder, a psychological disorder Conservation Dependent or LR/cd, an IUCN category Cluster of differentiation, a protocol used for the identification of cell surface molecules on white blood cells Crohn's disease Chlordane Communicable disease Computing CD-ROM, compact disc technology applied for use in computer data cd (command), a command line command to change the current working directory in operating systems continuous delivery, a software development design practice continuous deployment, a software development design practice collision detection, CSMA/CD Mathematics cd (elliptic function), one of Jacobi's elliptic functions Other uses in science and technology Cadmium or Cd, a chemical element Candela or cd, a unit of light intensity -CD, the North American call sign suffix for Class A low-power television stations operating with digital signals Circular dichroism, a form of spectroscopy Critical Dimension, the minimum feature size that a projection system can print in photolithography Drag coefficient or cd, a dimensionless quantity used to quantify the drag of an object in a fluid Businesses and organizations Government, military, and political Canadian Forces Decoration, by post-nominal letters Centre Democrats (Denmark), a Danish former political party Centre Democrats (Netherlands), a former political party of the Netherlands Civil defense, an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack and natural disasters Community of Democracies, an intergovernmental organization of democracies and democratizing countries Conference on Disarmament, an international forum that negotiates multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements Corps Diplomatique, the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body Centro Democratico, a political party in Italy Christian democracy, a political ideology Other business and organizations Certificate of deposit, a bank account in the United States with a fixed maturity date České dráhy or ČD, a railway operator of the Czech Republic Commander of the Order of Distinction, a rank in the Jamaican Orders of Societies of Honour Places Central District, Seattle, a district in Seattle Democratic Republic of the Congo, by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code .cd, the Internet domain of the Democratic Republic of the Congo cd., abbreviation for caddesi, street, in Turkish Other uses 400 (number), written CD in Roman numerals 205 (number), written CD in hexadecimal AD 400 (CD), a year of the Common Era "CD", a song by T2 (band) Geely CD, a coupe automobile made by Geely Automobile Cairo Damascus or Damascus Document, a text found among the Dead Sea Scrolls Committee Draft, a status in the International Organization for Standardization Companion dog (title), a title offered to dogs by the American Kennel Club for dog obedience Cross-dressing, the act of wearing clothing associated with the opposite sex Corendon Dutch Airlines (IATA code) Sega Mega-CD Sonic CD See also CDS (disambiguation)

Computer security, cybersecurity, or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from information disclosure, theft of or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide. The field is becoming increasingly significant due to the continuously expanding reliance on computer systems, the Internet and wireless network standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and due to the growth of "smart" devices, including smartphones, televisions, and the various devices that constitute the "Internet of things". Cybersecurity is also one of the significant challenges in the contemporary world, due to its complexity, both in terms of political usage and technology. Its primary goal is to ensure the system's dependability, integrity, and data privacy. History Since the Internet's arrival and with the digital transformation initiated in recent years, the notion of cybersecurity has become a familiar subject both in our professional and personal lives. Cybersecurity and cyber threats have been constant for the last 50 years of technological change. In the 1970s and 1980s, computer security was mainly limited to academia until the conception of the Internet, where, with increased connectivity, computer viruses and network intrusions began to take off. After the spread of viruses in the 1990s, the 2000s marked the institutionalization of cyber threats and cybersecurity. Finally, from the 2010s, large-scale attacks and government regulations started emerging. The April 1967 session organized by Willis Ware at the Spring Joint Computer Conference, and the later publication of the Ware Report, were foundational moments in the history of the field of computer security. Ware's work straddled the intersection of material, cultural, political, and social concerns. A 1977 NIST publication introduced the "CIA triad" of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability as a clear and simple way to describe key security goals. While still relevant, many more elaborate frameworks have since been proposed. However, the 1970s and 1980s didn't have any grave computer threats because computers and the internet were still developing, and security threats were easily identifiable. Most often, threats came from malicious insiders who gained unauthorized access to sensitive documents and files. Although malware and network breaches existed during the early years, they did not use them for financial gain. However, by the second half of the 1970s, established computer firms like IBM started offering commercial access control systems and computer security software products. It started with Creeper in 1971. Creeper was an experimental computer program written by Bob Thomas at BBN. It is considered the first computer worm. In 1972, the first anti-virus software was created, called Reaper. It was created by Ray Tomlinson to move across the ARPANET and delete the Creeper worm. Between September 1986 and June 1987, a group of German hackers performed the first documented case of cyber espionage. The group hacked into American defense contractors, universities, and military bases' networks and sold gathered information to the Soviet KGB. The group was led by Markus Hess, who was arrested on 29 June 1987. He was convicted of espionage (along with two co-conspirators) on 15 Feb 1990. In 1988, one of the first computer worms, called Morris worm was distributed via the Internet. It gained significant mainstream media attention. In 1993, Netscape started developing the protocol SSL, shortly after the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) launched Mosaic 1.0, the first web browser, in 1993. Netscape had SSL version 1.0 ready in 1994, but it was never released to the public due to many serious security vulnerabilities. These weaknesses included replay attacks and a vulnerability that allowed hackers to alter unencrypted communications sent by users. However, in February 1995, Netscape launched the Version 2.0. Failed offensive strategy The National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for both the protection of U.S. information systems and also for collecting foreign intelligence. These two duties are in conflict with each other. Protecting information systems includes evaluating software, identifying security flaws, and taking steps to correct the flaws, which is a defensive action. Collecting intelligence includes exploiting security flaws to extract information, which is an offensive action. Correcting security flaws makes the flaws unavailable for NSA exploitation. The agency analyzes commonly used software in order to find security flaws, which it reserves for offensive purposes against competitors of the United States. The agency seldom takes defensive action by reporting the flaws to software producers so they can eliminate the security flaws. The offensive strategy worked for a while, but eventually other nations, including Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China have acquired their own offensive capability, and tend to use it against the United States. NSA contractors created and sold "click-and-shoot" attack tools to U.S. agencies and close allies, but eventually the tools made their way to foreign adversaries. In 2016, NSAs own hacking tools were hacked and have been used by Russia and North Korea. NSAs employees and contractors have been recruited at high salaries by adversaries, anxious to compete in cyberwarfare. For example, in 2007, the United States and Israel began exploiting security flaws in the Microsoft Windows operating system to attack and damage equipment used in Iran to refine nuclear materials. Iran responded by heavily investing in their own cyberwarfare capability, which they began using against the United States. Vulnerabilities and attacks A vulnerability is a weakness in design, implementation, operation, or internal control. Most of the vulnerabilities that have been discovered are documented in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database. An exploitable vulnerability is one for which at least one working attack or "exploit" exists. Vulnerabilities can be researched, reverse-engineered, hunted, or exploited using automated tools or customized scripts. To secure a computer system, it is important to understand the attacks that can be made against it, and these threats can typically be classified into one of these categories below: Backdoor A backdoor in a computer system, a cryptosystem or an algorithm, is any secret method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. They may exist for many reasons, including by original design or from poor configuration. They may have been added by an authorized party to allow some legitimate access, or by an attacker for malicious reasons; but regardless of the motives for their existence, they create a vulnerability. Backdoors can be very hard to detect, and detection of backdoors are usually discovered by someone who has access to application source code or intimate knowledge of Operating System of the computer. Denial-of-service attack Denial of service attacks (DoS) are designed to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. Attackers can deny service to individual victims, such as by deliberately entering a wrong password enough consecutive times to cause the victim's account to be locked, or they may overload the capabilities of a machine or network and block all users at once. While a network attack from a single IP address can be blocked by adding a new firewall rule, many forms of Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are possible, where the attack comes from a large number of points – and defending is much more difficult. Such attacks can originate from the zombie computers of a botnet or from a range of other possible techniques, including reflection and amplification attacks, where innocent systems are fooled into sending traffic to the victim. Direct-access attacks An unauthorized user gaining physical access to a computer is most likely able to directly copy data from it. They may also compromise security by making operating system modifications, installing software worms, keyloggers, covert listening devices or using wireless microphone. Even when the system is protected by standard security measures, these may be bypassed by booting another operating system or tool from a CD-ROM or other bootable media. Disk encryption and Trusted Platform Module are designed to prevent these attacks. Eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of surreptitiously listening to a private computer "conversation" (communication), typically between hosts on a network. For instance, programs such as Carnivore and NarusInSight have been used by the FBI and NSA to eavesdrop on the systems of internet service providers. Even machines that operate as a closed system (i.e., with no contact to the outside world) can be eavesdropped upon via monitoring the faint electromagnetic transmissions generated by the hardware; TEMPEST is a specification by the NSA referring to these attacks. Multi-vector, polymorphic attacks Surfacing in 2017, a new class of multi-vector, polymorphic cyber threats combined several types of attacks and changed form to avoid cybersecurity controls as they spread. Phishing Phishing is the attempt of acquiring sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details directly from users by deceiving the users. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose "look" and "feel" are almost identical to the legitimate one. The fake website often asks for personal information, such as log-in details and passwords. This information can then be used to gain access to the individual's real account on the real website. Preying on a victim's trust, phishing can be classified as a form of social engineering. Attackers are using creative ways to gain access to real accounts. A common scam is for attackers to send fake electronic invoices to individuals showing that they recently purchased music, apps, or other, and instructing them to click on a link if the purchases were not authorized. Privilege escalation Privilege escalation describes a situation where an attacker with some level of restricted access is able to, without authorization, elevate their privileges or access level. For example, a standard computer user may be able to exploit a vulnerability in the system to gain access to restricted data; or even become "root" and have full unrestricted access to a system. Reverse engineering Reverse engineering is the process by which a man-made object is deconstructed to reveal its designs, code, architecture, or to extract knowledge from the object; similar to scientific research, the only difference being that scientific research is about a natural phenomenon. Side-channel attack Any computational system affects its environment in some form. This effect it has on its environment, includes a wide range of criteria, which can range from electromagnetic radiation, to residual effect on RAM cells which as a consequent make a Cold boot attack possible, to hardware implementation faults which allow for access and or guessing of other values that normally should be inaccessible. In Side-channel attack scenarios the attacker would gather such information about a system or network to guess its internal state, and as a result access the information which is assumed by the victim to be secure. Social engineering Social engineering, in the context of computer security, aims to convince a user to disclose secrets such as passwords, card numbers, etc. or grant physical access by, for example, impersonating a senior executive, bank, a contractor, or a customer. This generally involves exploiting peoples trust, and relying on their cognitive biases. A common scam involves emails sent to accounting and finance department personnel, impersonating their CEO and urgently requesting some action. In early 2016, the FBI reported that such "business email compromise" (BEC) scams had cost US businesses more than $2 billion in about two years. In May 2016, the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team was the victim of this type of cyber scam with a perpetrator impersonating the team's president Peter Feigin, resulting in the handover of all the team's employees' 2015 W-2 tax forms. Spoofing Spoofing is an act of masquerading as a valid entity through falsification of data (such as an IP address or username), in order to gain access to information or resources that one is otherwise unauthorized to obtain. There are several types of spoofing, including: Email spoofing, where an attacker forges the sending (From, or source) address of an email. IP address spoofing, where an attacker alters the source IP address in a network packet to hide their identity or impersonate another computing system. MAC spoofing, where an attacker modifies the Media Access Control (MAC) address of their network interface controller to obscure their identity, or to pose as another. Biometric spoofing, where an attacker produces a fake biometric sample to pose as another user. Tampering Tampering describes a malicious modification or alteration of data. So-called Evil Maid attacks and security services planting of surveillance capability into routers are examples. Malware Malicious software (malware) installed on a computer can leak personal information, can give control of the system to the attacker and can delete data permanently. Information security culture Employee behavior can have a big impact on information security in organizations. Cultural concepts can help different segments of the organization work effectively or work against effectiveness towards information security within an organization. Information security culture is the "...totality of patterns of behavior in an organization that contributes to the protection of information of all kinds." Andersson and Reimers (2014) found that employees often do not see themselves as part of their organization's information security effort and often take actions that impede organizational changes. Indeed, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2020, which examined 3,950 security breaches, discovered 30% of cyber security incidents involved internal actors within a company. Research shows information security culture needs to be improved continuously. In ″Information Security Culture from Analysis to Change″, authors commented, ″It's a never-ending process, a cycle of evaluation and change or maintenance.″ To manage the information security culture, five steps should be taken: pre-evaluation, strategic planning, operative planning, implementation, and post-evaluation. Pre-evaluation: To identify the awareness of information security within employees and to analyze the current security policies. Strategic planning: To come up with a better awareness program, clear targets need to be set. Assembling a team of skilled professionals is helpful to achieve it. Operative planning: A good security culture can be established based on internal communication, management-buy-in, security awareness and a training program. Implementation: Four stages should be used to implement the information security culture. They are: Commitment of the management Communication with organizational members Courses for all organizational members Commitment of the employees Post-evaluation: To assess the success of the planning and implementation, and to identify unresolved areas of concern. Systems at risk The growth in the number of computer systems and the increasing reliance upon them by individuals, businesses, industries, and governments means that there is an increasing number of systems at risk. Financial systems The computer systems of financial regulators and financial institutions like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SWIFT, investment banks, and commercial banks are prominent hacking targets for cybercriminals interested in manipulating markets and making illicit gains. Websites and apps that accept or store credit card numbers, brokerage accounts, and bank account information are also prominent hacking targets, because of the potential for immediate financial gain from transferring money, making purchases, or selling the information on the black market. In-store payment systems and ATMs have also been tampered with in order to gather customer account data and PINs. Utilities and industrial equipment Computers control functions at many utilities, including coordination of telecommunications, the power grid, nuclear power plants, and valve opening and closing in water and gas networks. The Internet is a potential attack vector for such machines if connected, but the Stuxnet worm demonstrated that even equipment controlled by computers not connected to the Internet can be vulnerable. In 2014, the Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, investigated 79 hacking incidents at energy companies. Aviation The aviation industry is very reliant on a series of complex systems which could be attacked. A simple power outage at one airport can cause repercussions worldwide, much of the system relies on radio transmissions which could be disrupted, and controlling aircraft over oceans is especially dangerous because radar surveillance only extends 175 to 225 miles offshore. There is also potential for attack from within an aircraft. In Europe, with the (Pan-European Network Service) and NewPENS, and in the US with the NextGen program, air navigation service providers are moving to create their own dedicated networks. The consequences of a successful attack range from loss of confidentiality to loss of system integrity, air traffic control outages, loss of aircraft, and even loss of life. Consumer devices Desktop computers and laptops are commonly targeted to gather passwords or financial account information, or to construct a botnet to attack another target. Smartphones, tablet computers, smart watches, and other mobile devices such as quantified self devices like activity trackers have sensors such as cameras, microphones, GPS receivers, compasses, and accelerometers which could be exploited, and may collect personal information, including sensitive health information. WiFi, Bluetooth, and cell phone networks on any of these devices could be used as attack vectors, and sensors might be remotely activated after a successful breach. The increasing number of home automation devices such as the Nest thermostat are also potential targets. Large corporations Large corporations are common targets. In many cases attacks are aimed at financial gain through identity theft and involve data breaches. Examples include loss of millions of clients' credit card details by Home Depot, Staples, Target Corporation, and the most recent breach of Equifax. Medical records have been targeted in general identify theft, health insurance fraud, and impersonating patients to obtain prescription drugs for recreational purposes or resale. Although cyber threats continue to increase, 62% of all organizations did not increase security training for their business in 2015. Not all attacks are financially motivated, however: security firm HBGary Federal suffered a serious series of attacks in 2011 from hacktivist group Anonymous in retaliation for the firm's CEO claiming to have infiltrated their group, and Sony Pictures was hacked in 2014 with the apparent dual motive of embarrassing the company through data leaks and crippling the company by wiping workstations and servers. Automobiles Vehicles are increasingly computerized, with engine timing, cruise control, anti-lock brakes, seat belt tensioners, door locks, airbags and advanced driver-assistance systems on many models. Additionally, connected cars may use WiFi and Bluetooth to communicate with onboard consumer devices and the cell phone network. Self-driving cars are expected to be even more complex. All of these systems carry some security risk, and such issues have gained wide attention. Simple examples of risk include a malicious compact disc being used as an attack vector, and the car's onboard microphones being used for eavesdropping. However, if access is gained to a car's internal controller area network, the danger is much greater – and in a widely publicized 2015 test, hackers remotely carjacked a vehicle from 10 miles away and drove it into a ditch. Manufacturers are reacting numerous ways, with Tesla in 2016 pushing out some security fixes "over the air" into its cars' computer systems. In the area of autonomous vehicles, in September 2016 the United States Department of Transportation announced some initial safety standards, and called for states to come up with uniform policies. Government Government and military computer systems are commonly attacked by activists and foreign powers. Local and regional government infrastructure such as traffic light controls, police and intelligence agency communications, personnel records, student records, and financial systems are also potential targets as they are now all largely computerized. Passports and government ID cards that control access to facilities which use RFID can be vulnerable to cloning. Internet of things and physical vulnerabilities The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical objects such as devices, vehicles, and buildings that are embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity that enables them to collect and exchange data. Concerns have been raised that this is being developed without appropriate consideration of the security challenges involved. While the IoT creates opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, it also provides opportunities for misuse. In particular, as the Internet of Things spreads widely, cyberattacks are likely to become an increasingly physical (rather than simply virtual) threat. If a front door's lock is connected to the Internet, and can be locked/unlocked from a phone, then a criminal could enter the home at the press of a button from a stolen or hacked phone. People could stand to lose much more than their credit card numbers in a world controlled by IoT-enabled devices. Thieves have also used electronic means to circumvent non-Internet-connected hotel door locks. An attack that targets physical infrastructure and/or human lives is sometimes referred to as a cyber-kinetic attack. As IoT devices and appliances gain currency, cyber-kinetic attacks can become pervasive and significantly damaging. Medical systems Medical devices have either been successfully attacked or had potentially deadly vulnerabilities demonstrated, including both in-hospital diagnostic equipment and implanted devices including pacemakers and insulin pumps. There are many reports of hospitals and hospital organizations getting hacked, including ransomware attacks, Windows XP exploits, viruses, and data breaches of sensitive data stored on hospital servers. On 28 December 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration released its recommendations for how medical device manufacturers should maintain the security of Internet-connected devices – but no structure for enforcement. Energy sector In distributed generation systems, the risk of a cyber attack is real, according to Daily Energy Insider. An attack could cause a loss of power in a large area for a long period of time, and such an attack could have just as severe consequences as a natural disaster. The District of Columbia is considering creating a Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Authority within the city, with the goal being for customers to have more insight into their own energy use and giving the local electric utility, Pepco, the chance to better estimate energy demand. The D.C. proposal, however, would "allow third-party vendors to create numerous points of energy distribution, which could potentially create more opportunities for cyber attackers to threaten the electric grid." Impact of security breaches Serious financial damage has been caused by security breaches, but because there is no standard model for estimating the cost of an incident, the only data available is that which is made public by the organizations involved. "Several computer security consulting firms produce estimates of total worldwide losses attributable to virus and worm attacks and to hostile digital acts in general. The 2003 loss estimates by these firms range from $13 billion (worms and viruses only) to $226 billion (for all forms of covert attacks). The reliability of these estimates is often challenged; the underlying methodology is basically anecdotal." However, reasonable estimates of the financial cost of security breaches can actually help organizations make rational investment decisions. According to the classic Gordon-Loeb Model analyzing the optimal investment level in information security, one can conclude that the amount a firm spends to protect information should generally be only a small fraction of the expected loss (i.e., the expected value of the loss resulting from a cyber/information security breach). Attacker motivation As with physical security, the motivations for breaches of computer security vary between attackers. Some are thrill-seekers or vandals, some are activists, others are criminals looking for financial gain. State-sponsored attackers are now common and well resourced but started with amateurs such as Markus Hess who hacked for the KGB, as recounted by Clifford Stoll in The Cuckoo's Egg. Additionally, recent attacker motivations can be traced back to extremist organizations seeking to gain political advantage or disrupt social agendas. The growth of the internet, mobile technologies, and inexpensive computing devices have led to a rise in capabilities but also to the risk to environments that are deemed as vital to operations. All critical targeted environments are susceptible to compromise and this has led to a series of proactive studies on how to migrate the risk by taking into consideration motivations by these types of actors. Several stark differences exist between the hacker motivation and that of nation state actors seeking to attack based an ideological preference. A standard part of threat modeling for any particular system is to identify what might motivate an attack on that system, and who might be motivated to breach it. The level and detail of precautions will vary depending on the system to be secured. A home personal computer, bank, and classified military network face very different threats, even when the underlying technologies in use are similar. Computer protection (countermeasures) In computer security, a countermeasure is an action, device, procedure or technique that reduces a threat, a vulnerability, or an attack by eliminating or preventing it, by minimizing the harm it can cause, or by discovering and reporting it so that corrective action can be taken. Some common countermeasures are listed in the following sections: Security by design Security by design, or alternately secure by design, means that the software has been designed from the ground up to be secure. In this case, security is considered as a main feature. Some of the techniques in this approach include: The principle of least privilege, where each part of the system has only the privileges that are needed for its function. That way, even if an attacker gains access to that part, they only have limited access to the whole system. Automated theorem proving to prove the correctness of crucial software subsystems. Code reviews and unit testing, approaches to make modules more secure where formal correctness proofs are not possible. Defense in depth, where the design is such that more than one subsystem needs to be violated to compromise the integrity of the system and the information it holds. Default secure settings, and design to "fail secure" rather than "fail insecure" (see fail-safe for the equivalent in safety engineering). Ideally, a secure system should require a deliberate, conscious, knowledgeable and free decision on the part of legitimate authorities in order to make it insecure. Audit trails tracking system activity, so that when a security breach occurs, the mechanism and extent of the breach can be determined. Storing audit trails remotely, where they can only be appended to, can keep intruders from covering their tracks. Full disclosure of all vulnerabilities, to ensure that the "window of vulnerability" is kept as short as possible when bugs are discovered. Security architecture The Open Security Architecture organization defines IT security architecture as "the design artifacts that describe how the security controls (security countermeasures) are positioned, and how they relate to the overall information technology architecture. These controls serve the purpose to maintain the system's quality attributes: confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability and assurance services". Techopedia defines security architecture as "a unified security design that addresses the necessities and potential risks involved in a certain scenario or environment. It also specifies when and where to apply security controls. The design process is generally reproducible." The key attributes of security architecture are: the relationship of different components and how they depend on each other. determination of controls based on risk assessment, good practices, finances, and legal matters. the standardization of controls. Practicing security architecture provides the right foundation to systematically address business, IT and security concerns in an organization. Security measures A state of computer "security" is the conceptual ideal, attained by the use of the three processes: threat prevention, detection, and response. These processes are based on various policies and system components, which include the following: User account access controls and cryptography can protect systems files and data, respectively. Firewalls are by far the most common prevention systems from a network security perspective as they can (if properly configured) shield access to internal network services, and block certain kinds of attacks through packet filtering. Firewalls can be both hardware- or software-based. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) products are designed to detect network attacks in-progress and assist in post-attack forensics, while audit trails and logs serve a similar function for individual systems. "Response" is necessarily defined by the assessed security requirements of an individual system and may cover the range from simple upgrade of protections to notification of legal authorities, counter-attacks, and the like. In some special cases, the complete destruction of the compromised system is favored, as it may happen that not all the compromised resources are detected. Today, computer security consists mainly of "preventive" measures, like firewalls or an exit procedure. A firewall can be defined as a way of filtering network data between a host or a network and another network, such as the Internet, and can be implemented as software running on the machine, hooking into the network stack (or, in the case of most UNIX-based operating systems such as Linux, built into the operating system kernel) to provide real-time filtering and blocking. Another implementation is a so-called "physical firewall", which consists of a separate machine filtering network traffic. Firewalls are common amongst machines that are permanently connected to the Internet. Some organizations are turning to big data platforms, such as Apache Hadoop, to extend data accessibility and machine learning to detect advanced persistent threats. However, relatively few organizations maintain computer systems with effective detection systems, and fewer still have organized response mechanisms in place. As a result, as Reuters points out: "Companies for the first time report they are losing more through electronic theft of data than physical stealing of assets". The primary obstacle to effective eradication of cybercrime could be traced to excessive reliance on firewalls and other automated "detection" systems. Yet it is basic evidence gathering by using packet capture appliances that puts criminals behind bars. In order to ensure adequate security, the confidentiality, integrity and availability of a network, better known as the CIA triad, must be protected and is considered the foundation to information security. To achieve those objectives, administrative, physical and technical security measures should be employed. The amount of security afforded to an asset can only be determined when its value is known. Vulnerability management Vulnerability management is the cycle of identifying, and remediating or mitigating vulnerabilities, especially in software and firmware. Vulnerability management is integral to computer security and network security. Vulnerabilities can be discovered with a vulnerability scanner, which analyzes a computer system in search of known vulnerabilities, such as open ports, insecure software configuration, and susceptibility to malware. In order for these tools to be effective, they must be kept up to date with every new update the vendors release. Typically, these updates will scan for the new vulnerabilities that were introduced recently. Beyond vulnerability scanning, many organizations contract outside security auditors to run regular penetration tests against their systems to identify vulnerabilities. In some sectors, this is a contractual requirement. Reducing vulnerabilities While formal verification of the correctness of computer systems is possible, it is not yet common. Operating systems formally verified include seL4, and SYSGO's PikeOS – but these make up a very small percentage of the market. Two factor authentication is a method for mitigating unauthorized access to a system or sensitive information. It requires "something you know"; a password or PIN, and "something you have"; a card, dongle, cellphone, or another piece of hardware. This increases security as an unauthorized person needs both of these to gain access. Social engineering and direct computer access (physical) attacks can only be prevented by non-computer means, which can be difficult to enforce, relative to the sensitivity of the information. Training is often involved to help mitigate this risk, but even in highly disciplined environments (e.g. military organizations), social engineering attacks can still be difficult to foresee and prevent. Inoculation, derived from inoculation theory, seeks to prevent social engineering and other fraudulent tricks or traps by instilling a resistance to persuasion attempts through exposure to similar or related attempts. It is possible to reduce an attacker's chances by keeping systems up to date with security patches and updates, using a security scanner and/or hiring people with expertise in security, though none of these guarantee the prevention of an attack. The effects of data loss/damage can be reduced by careful backing up and insurance. Hardware protection mechanisms While hardware may be a source of insecurity, such as with microchip vulnerabilities maliciously introduced during the manufacturing process, hardware-based or assisted computer security also offers an alternative to software-only computer security. Using devices and methods such as dongles, trusted platform modules, intrusion-aware cases, drive locks, disabling USB ports, and mobile-enabled access may be considered more secure due to the physical access (or sophisticated backdoor access) required in order to be compromised. Each of these is covered in more detail below. USB dongles are typically used in software licensing schemes to unlock software capabilities, but they can also be seen as a way to prevent unauthorized access to a computer or other device's software. The dongle, or key, essentially creates a secure encrypted tunnel between the software application and the key. The principle is that an encryption scheme on the dongle, such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) provides a stronger measure of security since it is harder to hack and replicate the dongle than to simply copy the native software to another machine and use it. Another security application for dongles is to use them for accessing web-based content such as cloud software or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). In addition, a USB dongle can be configured to lock or unlock a computer. Trusted platform modules (TPMs) secure devices by integrating cryptographic capabilities onto access devices, through the use of microprocessors, or so-called computers-on-a-chip. TPMs used in conjunction with server-side software offer a way to detect and authenticate hardware devices, preventing unauthorized network and data access. Computer case intrusion detection refers to a device, typically a push-button switch, which detects when a computer case is opened. The firmware or BIOS is programmed to show an alert to the operator when the computer is booted up the next time. Drive locks are essentially software tools to encrypt hard drives, making them inaccessible to thieves. Tools exist specifically for encrypting external drives as well. Disabling USB ports is a security option for preventing unauthorized and malicious access to an otherwise secure computer. Infected USB dongles connected to a network from a computer inside the firewall are considered by the magazine Network World as the most common hardware threat facing computer networks. Disconnecting or disabling peripheral devices ( like camera, GPS, removable storage etc.), that are not in use. Mobile-enabled access devices are growing in popularity due to the ubiquitous nature of cell phones. Built-in capabilities such as Bluetooth, the newer Bluetooth low energy (LE), Near field communication (NFC) on non-iOS devices and biometric validation such as thumb print readers, as well as QR code reader software designed for mobile devices, offer new, secure ways for mobile phones to connect to access control systems. These control systems provide computer security and can also be used for controlling access to secure buildings. Secure operating systems One use of the term "computer security" refers to technology that is used to implement secure operating systems. In the 1980s, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) used the "Orange Book" standards, but the current international standard ISO/IEC 15408, "Common Criteria" defines a number of progressively more stringent Evaluation Assurance Levels. Many common operating systems meet the EAL4 standard of being "Methodically Designed, Tested and Reviewed", but the formal verification required for the highest levels means that they are uncommon. An example of an EAL6 ("Semiformally Verified Design and Tested") system is INTEGRITY-178B, which is used in the Airbus A380 and several military jets. Secure coding In software engineering, secure coding aims to guard against the accidental introduction of security vulnerabilities. It is also possible to create software designed from the ground up to be secure. Such systems are "secure by design". Beyond this, formal verification aims to prove the correctness of the algorithms underlying a system; important for cryptographic protocols for example. Capabilities and access control lists Within computer systems, two of main security models capable of enforcing privilege separation are access control lists (ACLs) and role-based access control (RBAC). An access-control list (ACL), with respect to a computer file system, is a list of permissions associated with an object. An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects. Role-based access control is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users, used by the majority of enterprises with more than 500 employees, and can implement mandatory access control (MAC) or discretionary access control (DAC). A further approach, capability-based security has been mostly restricted to research operating systems. Capabilities can, however, also be implemented at the language level, leading to a style of programming that is essentially a refinement of standard object-oriented design. An open-source project in the area is the E language. End user security training The end-user is widely recognized as the weakest link in the security chain and it is estimated that more than 90% of security incidents and breaches involve some kind of human error. Among the most commonly recorded forms of errors and misjudgment are poor password management, sending emails containing sensitive data and attachments to the wrong recipient, the inability to recognize misleading URLs and to identify fake websites and dangerous email attachments. A common mistake that users make is saving their user id/password in their browsers to make it easier to log in to banking sites. This is a gift to attackers who have obtained access to a machine by some means. The risk may be mitigated by the use of two-factor authentication. As the human component of cyber risk is particularly relevant in determining the global cyber risk an organization is facing, security awareness training, at all levels, not only provides formal compliance with regulatory and industry mandates but is considered essential in reducing cyber risk and protecting individuals and companies from the great majority of cyber threats. The focus on the end-user represents a profound cultural change for many security practitioners, who have traditionally approached cybersecurity exclusively from a technical perspective, and moves along the lines suggested by major security centers to develop a culture of cyber awareness within the organization, recognizing that a security-aware user provides an important line of defense against cyber attacks. Digital hygiene Related to end-user training, digital hygiene or cyber hygiene is a fundamental principle relating to information security and, as the analogy with personal hygiene shows, is the equivalent of establishing simple routine measures to minimize the risks from cyber threats. The assumption is that good cyber hygiene practices can give networked users another layer of protection, reducing the risk that one vulnerable node will be used to either mount attacks or compromise another node or network, especially from common cyberattacks. Cyber hygiene should also not be mistaken for proactive cyber defence, a military term. As opposed to a purely technology-based defense against threats, cyber hygiene mostly regards routine measures that are technically simple to implement and mostly dependent on discipline or education. It can be thought of as an abstract list of tips or measures that have been demonstrated as having a positive effect on personal and/or collective digital security. As such, these measures can be performed by laypeople, not just security experts. Cyber hygiene relates to personal hygiene as computer viruses relate to biological viruses (or pathogens). However, while the term computer virus was coined almost simultaneously with the creation of the first working computer viruses, the term cyber hygiene is a much later invention, perhaps as late as 2000 by Internet pioneer Vint Cerf. It has since been adopted by the Congress and Senate of the United States, the FBI, EU institutions and heads of state. Response to breaches Responding to attempted security breaches is often very difficult for a variety of reasons, including: Identifying attackers is difficult, as they may operate through proxies, temporary anonymous dial-up accounts, wireless connections, and other anonymizing procedures which make back-tracing difficult - and are often located in another jurisdiction. If they successfully breach security, they have also often gained enough administrative access to enable them to delete logs to cover their tracks. The sheer number of attempted attacks, often by automated vulnerability scanners and computer worms, is so large that organizations cannot spend time pursuing each. Law enforcement officers often lack the skills, interest or budget to pursue attackers. In addition, the identification of attackers across a network may require logs from various points in the network and in many countries, which may be difficult or time-consuming to obtain. Where an attack succeeds and a breach occurs, many jurisdictions now have in place mandatory security breach notification laws. Types of security and privacy Access control Anti-keyloggers Anti-malware Anti-spyware Anti-subversion software Anti-tamper software Anti-theft Antivirus software Cryptographic software Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) Firewall Intrusion detection system (IDS) Intrusion prevention system (IPS) Log management software Parental control Records management Sandbox Security information management Security information and event management (SIEM) Software and operating system updating Vulnerability Management Incident response planning Incident response is an organized approach to addressing and managing the aftermath of a computer security incident or compromise with the goal of preventing a breach or thwarting a cyberattack. An incident that is not identified and managed at the time of intrusion typically escalates to a more damaging event such as a data breach or system failure. The intended outcome of a computer security incident response plan is to contain the incident, limit damage and assist recovery to business as usual. Responding to compromises quickly can mitigate exploited vulnerabilities, restore services and processes and minimize losses. Incident response planning allows an organization to establish a series of best practices to stop an intrusion before it causes damage. Typical incident response plans contain a set of written instructions that outline the organization's response to a cyberattack. Without a documented plan in place, an organization may not successfully detect an intrusion or compromise and stakeholders may not understand their roles, processes and procedures during an escalation, slowing the organization's response and resolution. There are four key components of a computer security incident response plan: Preparation: Preparing stakeholders on the procedures for handling computer security incidents or compromises Detection and analysis: Identifying and investigating suspicious activity to confirm a security incident, prioritizing the response based on impact and coordinating notification of the incident Containment, eradication and recovery: Isolating affected systems to prevent escalation and limit impact, pinpointing the genesis of the incident, removing malware, affected systems and bad actors from the environment and restoring systems and data when a threat no longer remains Post incident activity: Post mortem analysis of the incident, its root cause and the organization's response with the intent of improving the incident response plan and future response efforts. Notable attacks and breaches Some illustrative examples of different types of computer security breaches are given below. Robert Morris and the first computer worm In 1988, 60,000 computers were connected to the Internet, and most were mainframes, minicomputers and professional workstations. On 2 November 1988, many started to slow down, because they were running a malicious code that demanded processor time and that spread itself to other computers – the first internet "computer worm". The software was traced back to 23-year-old Cornell University graduate student Robert Tappan Morris who said "he wanted to count how many machines were connected to the Internet". Rome Laboratory In 1994, over a hundred intrusions were made by unidentified crackers into the Rome Laboratory, the US Air Force's main command and research facility. Using trojan horses, hackers were able to obtain unrestricted access to Rome's networking systems and remove traces of their activities. The intruders were able to obtain classified files, such as air tasking order systems data and furthermore able to penetrate connected networks of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, some Defense contractors, and other private sector organizations, by posing as a trusted Rome center user. TJX customer credit card details In early 2007, American apparel and home goods company TJX announced that it was the victim of an unauthorized computer systems intrusion and that the hackers had accessed a system that stored data on credit card, debit card, check, and merchandise return transactions. Stuxnet attack In 2010, the computer worm known as Stuxnet reportedly ruined almost one-fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges. It did so by disrupting industrial programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in a targeted attack. This is generally believed to have been launched by Israel and the United States to disrupt Iranian's nuclear program – although neither has publicly admitted this. Global surveillance disclosures In early 2013, documents provided by Edward Snowden were published by The Washington Post and The Guardian exposing the massive scale of NSA global surveillance. There were also indications that the NSA may have inserted a backdoor in a NIST standard for encryption. This standard was later withdrawn due to widespread criticism. The NSA additionally were revealed to have tapped the links between Google's data centers. Target and Home Depot breaches In 2013 and 2014, a Ukrainian hacker known as Rescator broke into Target Corporation computers in 2013, stealing roughly 40 million credit cards, and then Home Depot computers in 2014, stealing between 53 and 56 million credit card numbers. Warnings were delivered at both corporations, but ignored; physical security breaches using self checkout machines are believed to have played a large role. "The malware utilized is absolutely unsophisticated and uninteresting," says Jim Walter, director of threat intelligence operations at security technology company McAfee – meaning that the heists could have easily been stopped by existing antivirus software had administrators responded to the warnings. The size of the thefts has resulted in major attention from state and Federal United States authorities and the investigation is ongoing. Office of Personnel Management data breach In April 2015, the Office of Personnel Management discovered it had been hacked more than a year earlier in a data breach, resulting in the theft of approximately 21.5 million personnel records handled by the office. The Office of Personnel Management hack has been described by federal officials as among the largest breaches of government data in the history of the United States. Data targeted in the breach included personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, names, dates and places of birth, addresses, and fingerprints of current and former government employees as well as anyone who had undergone a government background check. It is believed the hack was perpetrated by Chinese hackers. Ashley Madison breach In July 2015, a hacker group known as "The Impact Team" successfully breached the extramarital relationship website Ashley Madison, created by Avid Life Media. The group claimed that they had taken not only company data but user data as well. After the breach, The Impact Team dumped emails from the company's CEO, to prove their point, and threatened to dump customer data unless the website was taken down permanently." When Avid Life Media did not take the site offline the group released two more compressed files, one 9.7GB and the second 20GB. After the second data dump, Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman resigned; but the website remained functioning. Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack In June 2021, the cyber attack took down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S. and led to shortages across the East Coast. Legal issues and global regulation International legal issues of cyber attacks are complicated in nature. There is no global base of common rules to judge, and eventually punish, cybercrimes and cybercriminals - and where security firms or agencies do locate the cybercriminal behind the creation of a particular piece of malware or form of cyber attack, often the local authorities cannot take action due to lack of laws under which to prosecute. Proving attribution for cybercrimes and cyberattacks is also a major problem for all law enforcement agencies. "Computer viruses switch from one country to another, from one jurisdiction to another – moving around the world, using the fact that we don't have the capability to globally police operations like this. So the Internet is as if someone [had] given free plane tickets to all the online criminals of the world." The use of techniques such as dynamic DNS, fast flux and bullet proof servers add to the difficulty of investigation and enforcement. Role of government The role of the government is to make regulations to force companies and organizations to protect their systems, infrastructure and information from any cyberattacks, but also to protect its own national infrastructure such as the national power-grid. The government's regulatory role in cyberspace is complicated. For some, cyberspace was seen as a virtual space that was to remain free of government intervention, as can be seen in many of today's libertarian blockchain and bitcoin discussions. Many government officials and experts think that the government should do more and that there is a crucial need for improved regulation, mainly due to the failure of the private sector to solve efficiently the cybersecurity problem. R. Clarke said during a panel discussion at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco, he believes that the "industry only responds when you threaten regulation. If the industry doesn't respond (to the threat), you have to follow through." On the other hand, executives from the private sector agree that improvements are necessary, but think that government intervention would affect their ability to innovate efficiently. Daniel R. McCarthy analyzed this public-private partnership in cybersecurity and reflected on the role of cybersecurity in the broader constitution of political order. On 22 May 2020, the UN Security Council held its second ever informal meeting on cybersecurity to focus on cyber challenges to international peace. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, new technologies are too often used to violate rights. International actions Many different teams and organizations exist, including: The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is the global association of CSIRTs. The US-CERT, AT&T, Apple, Cisco, McAfee, Microsoft are all members of this international team. The Council of Europe helps protect societies worldwide from the threat of cybercrime through the Convention on Cybercrime. The purpose of the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is to bring the messaging industry together to work collaboratively and to successfully address the various forms of messaging abuse, such as spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other messaging exploitations. France Telecom, Facebook, AT&T, Apple, Cisco, Sprint are some of the members of the MAAWG. ENISA : The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) is an agency of the European Union with the objective to improve network and information security in the European Union. Europe On 14 April 2016 the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679. GDPR, which became enforceable beginning 25 May 2018, provides for data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). GDPR requires that business processes that handle personal data be built with data protection by design and by default. GDPR also requires that certain organizations appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). National actions Computer emergency response teams Most countries have their own computer emergency response team to protect network security. Canada Since 2010, Canada has had a cybersecurity strategy. This functions as a counterpart document to the National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure. The strategy has three main pillars: securing government systems, securing vital private cyber systems, and helping Canadians to be secure online. There is also a Cyber Incident Management Framework to provide a coordinated response in the event of a cyber incident. The Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) is responsible for mitigating and responding to threats to Canada's critical infrastructure and cyber systems. It provides support to mitigate cyber threats, technical support to respond & recover from targeted cyber attacks, and provides online tools for members of Canada's critical infrastructure sectors. It posts regular cybersecurity bulletins & operates an online reporting tool where individuals and organizations can report a cyber incident. To inform the general public on how to protect themselves online, Public Safety Canada has partnered with STOP.THINK.CONNECT, a coalition of non-profit, private sector, and government organizations, and launched the Cyber Security Cooperation Program. They also run the GetCyberSafe portal for Canadian citizens, and Cyber Security Awareness Month during October. Public Safety Canada aims to begin an evaluation of Canada's cybersecurity strategy in early 2015. China China's Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization () was established on 27 February 2014. This Leading Small Group (LSG) of the Chinese Communist Party is headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping himself and is staffed with relevant Party and state decision-makers. The LSG was created to overcome the incoherent policies and overlapping responsibilities that characterized China's former cyberspace decision-making mechanisms. The LSG oversees policy-making in the economic, political, cultural, social and military fields as they relate to network security and IT strategy. This LSG also coordinates major policy initiatives in the international arena that promote norms and standards favored by the Chinese government and that emphasizes the principle of national sovereignty in cyberspace. Germany Berlin starts National Cyber Defense Initiative: On 16 June 2011, the German Minister for Home Affairs, officially opened the new German NCAZ (National Center for Cyber Defense) Nationales Cyber-Abwehrzentrum located in Bonn. The NCAZ closely cooperates with BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BKA (Federal Police Organisation) Bundeskriminalamt (Deutschland), BND (Federal Intelligence Service) Bundesnachrichtendienst, MAD (Military Intelligence Service) Amt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst and other national organizations in Germany taking care of national security aspects. According to the Minister, the primary task of the new organization founded on 23 February 2011, is to detect and prevent attacks against the national infrastructure and mentioned incidents like Stuxnet. Germany has also established the largest research institution for IT security in Europe, the Center for Research in Security and Privacy (CRISP) in Darmstadt. India Some provisions for cybersecurity have been incorporated into rules framed under the Information Technology Act 2000. The National Cyber Security Policy 2013 is a policy framework by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) which aims to protect the public and private infrastructure from cyberattacks, and safeguard "information, such as personal information (of web users), financial and banking information and sovereign data". CERT- In is the nodal agency which monitors the cyber threats in the country. The post of National Cyber Security Coordinator has also been created in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The Indian Companies Act 2013 has also introduced cyber law and cybersecurity obligations on the part of Indian directors. Some provisions for cybersecurity have been incorporated into rules framed under the Information Technology Act 2000 Update in 2013. South Korea Following cyber attacks in the first half of 2013, when the government, news media, television station, and bank websites were compromised, the national government committed to the training of 5,000 new cybersecurity experts by 2017. The South Korean government blamed its northern counterpart for these attacks, as well as incidents that occurred in 2009, 2011, and 2012, but Pyongyang denies the accusations. United States Legislation The 1986 , the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is the key legislation. It prohibits unauthorized access or damage of "protected computers" as defined in . Although various other measures have been proposed – none has succeeded. In 2013, executive order 13636 Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity was signed, which prompted the creation of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. In response to the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14028 on May 12, 2021, to increase software security standards for sales to the government, tighten detection and security on existing systems, improve information sharing and training, establish a Cyber Safety Review Board, and improve incident response. Standardized government testing services The General Services Administration (GSA) has standardized the "penetration test" service as a pre-vetted support service, to rapidly address potential vulnerabilities, and stop adversaries before they impact US federal, state and local governments. These services are commonly referred to as Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS). Agencies The Department of Homeland Security has a dedicated division responsible for the response system, risk management program and requirements for cybersecurity in the United States called the National Cyber Security Division. The division is home to US-CERT operations and the National Cyber Alert System. The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center brings together government organizations responsible for protecting computer networks and networked infrastructure. The third priority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to: "Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes", and they, along with the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) are part of the multi-agency task force, The Internet Crime Complaint Center, also known as IC3. In addition to its own specific duties, the FBI participates alongside non-profit organizations such as InfraGard. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) operates in the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division. The CCIPS is in charge of investigating computer crime and intellectual property crime and is specialized in the search and seizure of digital evidence in computers and networks. In 2017, CCIPS published A Framework for a Vulnerability Disclosure Program for Online Systems to help organizations "clearly describe authorized vulnerability disclosure and discovery conduct, thereby substantially reducing the likelihood that such described activities will result in a civil or criminal violation of law under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030)." The United States Cyber Command, also known as USCYBERCOM, "has the mission to direct, synchronize, and coordinate cyberspace planning and operations to defend and advance national interests in collaboration with domestic and international partners." It has no role in the protection of civilian networks. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's role in cybersecurity is to strengthen the protection of critical communications infrastructure, to assist in maintaining the reliability of networks during disasters, to aid in swift recovery after, and to ensure that first responders have access to effective communications services. The Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance for medical devices, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is concerned with automotive cybersecurity. After being criticized by the Government Accountability Office, and following successful attacks on airports and claimed attacks on airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration has devoted funding to securing systems on board the planes of private manufacturers, and the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System. Concerns have also been raised about the future Next Generation Air Transportation System. Computer emergency readiness team "Computer emergency response team" is a name given to expert groups that handle computer security incidents. In the US, two distinct organization exist, although they do work closely together. US-CERT: part of the National Cyber Security Division of the United States Department of Homeland Security. CERT/CC: created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and run by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Modern warfare There is growing concern that cyberspace will become the next theater of warfare. As Mark Clayton from The Christian Science Monitor wrote in a 2015 article titled "The New Cyber Arms Race": In the future, wars will not just be fought by soldiers with guns or with planes that drop bombs. They will also be fought with the click of a mouse a half a world away that unleashes carefully weaponized computer programs that disrupt or destroy critical industries like utilities, transportation, communications, and energy. Such attacks could also disable military networks that control the movement of troops, the path of jet fighters, the command and control of warships. This has led to new terms such as cyberwarfare and cyberterrorism. The United States Cyber Command was created in 2009 and many other countries have similar forces. There are a few critical voices that question whether cybersecurity is as significant a threat as it is made out to be. Careers Cybersecurity is a fast-growing field of IT concerned with reducing organizations' risk of hack or data breach. According to research from the Enterprise Strategy Group, 46% of organizations say that they have a "problematic shortage" of cybersecurity skills in 2016, up from 28% in 2015. Commercial, government and non-governmental organizations all employ cybersecurity professionals. The fastest increases in demand for cybersecurity workers are in industries managing increasing volumes of consumer data such as finance, health care, and retail. However, the use of the term "cybersecurity" is more prevalent in government job descriptions. Typical cybersecurity job titles and descriptions include: Security analyst Analyzes and assesses vulnerabilities in the infrastructure (software, hardware, networks), investigates using available tools and countermeasures to remedy the detected vulnerabilities and recommends solutions and best practices. Analyzes and assesses damage to the data/infrastructure as a result of security incidents, examines available recovery tools and processes, and recommends solutions. Tests for compliance with security policies and procedures. May assist in the creation, implementation, or management of security solutions. Security engineer Performs security monitoring, security and data/logs analysis, and forensic analysis, to detect security incidents, and mounts the incident response. Investigates and utilizes new technologies and processes to enhance security capabilities and implement improvements. May also review code or perform other security engineering methodologies. Security architect Designs a security system or major components of a security system, and may head a security design team building a new security system. Security administrator Installs and manages organization-wide security systems. This position may also include taking on some of the tasks of a security analyst in smaller organizations. Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) A high-level management position responsible for the entire information security division/staff. The position may include hands-on technical work. Chief Security Officer (CSO) A high-level management position responsible for the entire security division/staff. A newer position now deemed needed as security risks grow. Data Protection Officer (DPO) A DPO is tasked with monitoring compliance with the UK GDPR and other data protection laws, our data protection policies, awareness-raising, training, and audits. Security Consultant/Specialist/Intelligence Broad titles that encompass any one or all of the other roles or titles tasked with protecting computers, networks, software, data or information systems against viruses, worms, spyware, malware, intrusion detection, unauthorized access, denial-of-service attacks, and an ever-increasing list of attacks by hackers acting as individuals or as part of organized crime or foreign governments. Student programs are also available for people interested in beginning a career in cybersecurity. Meanwhile, a flexible and effective option for information security professionals of all experience levels to keep studying is online security training, including webcasts. A wide range of certified courses are also available. In the United Kingdom, a nationwide set of cybersecurity forums, known as the U.K Cyber Security Forum, were established supported by the Government's cybersecurity strategy in order to encourage start-ups and innovation and to address the skills gap identified by the U.K Government. In Singapore, the Cyber Security Agency has issued a Singapore Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Competency Framework (OTCCF). The framework defines emerging cybersecurity roles in Operational Technology. The OTCCF was endorsed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). It outlines the different OT cybersecurity job positions as well as the technical skills and core competencies necessary. It also depicts the many career paths available, including vertical and lateral advancement opportunities. Terminology The following terms used with regards to computer security are explained below: Access authorization restricts access to a computer to a group of users through the use of authentication systems. These systems can protect either the whole computer, such as through an interactive login screen, or individual services, such as a FTP server. There are many methods for identifying and authenticating users, such as passwords, identification cards, smart cards, and biometric systems. Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart, and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). Applications are executable code, so general practice is to disallow users the power to install them; to install only those which are known to be reputable – and to reduce the attack surface by installing as few as possible. They are typically run with least privilege, with a robust process in place to identify, test and install any released security patches or updates for them. Authentication techniques can be used to ensure that communication end-points are who they say they are. Automated theorem proving and other verification tools can be used to enable critical algorithms and code used in secure systems to be mathematically proven to meet their specifications. Backups are one or more copies kept of important computer files. Typically, multiple copies will be kept at different locations so that if a copy is stolen or damaged, other copies will still exist. Capability and access control list techniques can be used to ensure privilege separation and mandatory access control. Capabilities vs. ACLs discusses their use. Chain of trust techniques can be used to attempt to ensure that all software loaded has been certified as authentic by the system's designers. Confidentiality is the nondisclosure of information except to another authorized person. Cryptographic techniques can be used to defend data in transit between systems, reducing the probability that the data exchange between systems can be intercepted or modified. Cyberwarfare is an Internet-based conflict that involves politically motivated attacks on information and information systems. Such attacks can, for example, disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and cripple financial systems. Data integrity is the accuracy and consistency of stored data, indicated by an absence of any alteration in data between two updates of a data record. Encryption is used to protect the confidentiality of a message. Cryptographically secure ciphers are designed to make any practical attempt of breaking them infeasible. Symmetric-key ciphers are suitable for bulk encryption using shared keys, and public-key encryption using digital certificates can provide a practical solution for the problem of securely communicating when no key is shared in advance. Endpoint security software aids networks in preventing malware infection and data theft at network entry points made vulnerable by the prevalence of potentially infected devices such as laptops, mobile devices, and USB drives. Firewalls serve as a gatekeeper system between networks, allowing only traffic that matches defined rules. They often include detailed logging, and may include intrusion detection and intrusion prevention features. They are near-universal between company local area networks and the Internet, but can also be used internally to impose traffic rules between networks if network segmentation is configured. A hacker is someone who seeks to breach defenses and exploit weaknesses in a computer system or network. Honey pots are computers that are intentionally left vulnerable to attack by crackers. They can be used to catch crackers and to identify their techniques. Intrusion-detection systems are devices or software applications that monitor networks or systems for malicious activity or policy violations. A microkernel is an approach to operating system design which has only the near-minimum amount of code running at the most privileged level – and runs other elements of the operating system such as device drivers, protocol stacks and file systems, in the safer, less privileged user space. Pinging. The standard "ping" application can be used to test if an IP address is in use. If it is, attackers may then try a port scan to detect which services are exposed. A port scan is used to probe an IP address for open ports to identify accessible network services and applications. A key logger is spyware which silently captures and stores each keystroke that a user types on the computer's keyboard. Social engineering is the use of deception to manipulate individuals to breach security. Logic bombs is a type of malware added to a legitimate program that lies dormant until it is triggered by a specific event. Zero trust security means that no one is trusted by default from inside or outside the network, and verification is required from everyone trying to gain access to resources on the network. Notable scholars See also References Further reading Jeremy Bob, Yonah (2021) "Ex-IDF cyber intel. official reveals secrets behind cyber offense". The Jerusalem Post Branch, J. (2020). "What's in a Name? Metaphors and Cybersecurity." International Organization. Fuller, Christopher J. "The Roots of the United States’ Cyber (In)Security," Diplomatic History 43:1 (2019): 157–185. online Montagnani, Maria Lillà and Cavallo, Mirta Antonella (26 July 2018). "Cybersecurity and Liability in a Big Data World". SSRN. M. Shariati et al. / Procedia Computer Science 3 (2011) 537–543. Enterprise information security, a review of architectures and frameworks from interoperability perspective External links Computer security Cryptography Cyberwarfare Data protection Information governance Malware

Counter-Strike (also known as Half-Life: Counter-Strike or Counter-Strike 1.6) is a first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was initially developed and released as a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess Cliffe in 1999, before Le and Cliffe were hired and the game's intellectual property acquired. Counter-Strike was released by Valve for Microsoft Windows in 2000, and is the first installment in the Counter-Strike series. Several remakes and ports were released on Xbox, as well as OS X and Linux. Set in various locations around the globe, players assume the roles of counter-terrorist forces and terrorist militants opposing them. During each round of gameplay, the two teams are tasked with defeating the other by the means of either achieving the map's objectives or eliminating all of the enemy combatants. Each player may customize their arsenal of weapons and accessories at the beginning of every match, with currency being earned after the end of each round. Gameplay Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter game in which players join either the terrorist team, the counter-terrorist team, or become spectators. Each team attempts to complete their mission objective and/or eliminate the opposing team. Each round starts with the two teams spawning simultaneously. All players have only one life by default and start with a pistol as well as a knife. The objectives vary depending on the type of map, and these are the most usual ones: Bomb defusal: To win, the terrorists must carry a bomb, plant it on one of the designated spots and protect it from being disarmed by the counter-terrorists before it explodes. The counter-terrorists win if the time runs out with no conclusion. Hostage rescue: The counter-terrorists must rescue a group of hostages held by the terrorists to win. The terrorists win if the time runs out with no conclusion. Assassination: One of the counter-terrorists is chosen to act as a VIP and the team must escort this player to a designated spot on the map to win the game. The terrorists win if the VIP is killed or if the time runs out with no conclusion. A player can choose to play as one of eight different default character models (four for each side, although Counter-Strike: Condition Zero added two extra models, bringing the total to ten). Players are generally given a few seconds before the round begins (known as "freeze time") to prepare and buy equipment, during which they cannot attack or move. They can return to the buy area within a set amount of time to buy more equipment (some custom maps included neutral "buy zones" that could be used by both teams). Once the round has ended, surviving players retain their equipment for use in the next round; players who were killed begin the next round with the basic default starting equipment. Standard monetary bonuses are awarded for winning a round, losing a round, killing an enemy, being the first to instruct a hostage to follow, rescuing a hostage, planting the bomb (Terrorist) or defusing the bomb (Counter-Terrorist). The scoreboard displays team scores in addition to statistics for each player: name, kills, deaths, and ping (in milliseconds). The scoreboard also indicates whether a player is dead, carrying the bomb (on bomb maps), or is the VIP (on assassination maps), although information on players on the opposing team is hidden from a player until their death, as this information can be important. Killed players become "spectators" for the duration of the round; they cannot change their names before their next spawn, text chat cannot be sent to or received from live players, and voice chat can only be received from live players and not sent to them. Spectators are generally able to watch the rest of the round from multiple selectable views, although some servers disable some of these views to prevent dead players from relaying information about living players to their teammates through alternative media (most notably voice in the case of Internet cafes and Voice over IP programs such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo). This form of cheating is known as "ghosting." Development Counter-Strike began as a mod of Half-Lifes engine GoldSrc. Minh Le, the mod's co-creator, had started his last semester at university, and wanted to do something in game development to help give him better job prospects. Throughout university, Le had worked on mods with the Quake engine, and on looking for this latest project, wanted to try something new and opted for GoldSrc. At the onset, Valve had not yet released the software development kit (SDK) for GoldSrc but affirmed it would be available in a few months, allowing Le to work on the character models in the interim. Once the GoldSrc SDK was available, Le estimated it took him about a month and a half to complete the programming and integrate his models for "Beta One" of Counter-Strike. To assist, Le had help from Jess Cliffe who managed the game's website and community, and had contacts within level map making community to help build some of the levels for the game. The theme of countering terrorists was inspired by Le's own interest in guns and the military, and from games like Rainbow Six and Spec Ops. Le and Cliffe continued to release Betas on a frequent basis for feedback. The initial few Betas, released starting in June 1999, had limited audiences but by the fifth one, interest in the project dramatically grew. The interest in the game drew numerous players to the website, which helped Le and Cliffe to make revenue from ads hosted on the site. Around 2000 at the time of Beta 5's release, the two were approached by Valve, offering to buy the Counter-Strike intellectual property and offering both jobs to continue its development. Both accepted the offer, and by September 2000, Valve released the first non-beta version of the game. While Cliffe stayed with Valve, Le did some additional work towards a Counter-Strike 2.0 based on Valve's upcoming Source engine, but left to start his own studio after Valve opted to shelve the sequel. Counter-Strike itself is a mod, and it has developed its own community of script writers and mod creators. Some mods add bots, while others remove features of the game, and others create different modes of play. Some mods, often called "admin plugins", give server administrators more flexible and efficient control over their servers. There are some mods which affect gameplay heavily, such as Gun Game, where players start with a basic pistol and must score kills to receive better weapons, and Zombie Mod, where one team consists of zombies and must "spread the infection" by killing the other team (using only the knife). There are also Superhero mods which mix the first-person gameplay of Counter-Strike with an experience system, allowing a player to become more powerful as they continue to play. The game is highly customizable on the player's end, allowing the user to install or even create their own custom skins, HUDs, spray graphics, sprites, and sound effects, given the proper tools. Valve Anti-Cheat Counter-Strike has been a target for cheating in online games since its release. In-game, cheating is often referred to as "hacking" in reference to programs or "hacks" executed by the client. Valve has implemented an anti-cheat system called Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC). Players cheating on a VAC-enabled server risk having their account permanently banned from all VAC-secured servers. With the first version of VAC, a ban took hold almost instantly after being detected and the cheater had to wait two years to have the account unbanned. Since VAC's second version, cheaters are not banned automatically. With the second version, Valve instituted a policy of 'delayed bans,' the theory being that if a new hack is developed which circumvents the VAC system, it will spread amongst the 'cheating' community. By delaying the initial ban, Valve hopes to identify and ban as many cheaters as possible. Like any software detection system, some cheats are not detected by VAC. To remedy this, some servers implement a voting system, in which case players can call for a vote to kick or ban the accused cheater. VAC's success at identifying cheats and banning those who use them has also provided a boost in the purchasing of private cheats. These cheats are updated frequently to minimize the risk of detection, and are generally only available to a trusted list of recipients who collectively promise not to reveal the underlying design. Even with private cheats however, some servers have alternative anticheats to coincide with VAC itself. This can help with detecting some cheaters, but most paid for cheats are designed to bypass these alternative server-based anticheats. Release When Counter-Strike was published by Sierra Studios, it was bundled with Team Fortress Classic, Opposing Force multiplayer, and the Wanted, Half-Life: Absolute Redemption and Firearms mods. On March 24, 1999, Planet Half-Life opened its Counter-Strike section. Within two weeks, the site had received 10,000 hits. On June 19, 1999, the first public beta of Counter-Strike was released, followed by numerous further "beta" releases. On April 12, 2000, Valve announced that the Counter-Strike developers and Valve had teamed up. In January 2013, Valve began testing a version of Counter-Strike for OS X and Linux, eventually releasing the update to all users in April 2013. Reception Upon its retail release, Counter-Strike received highly favorable reviews. In 2003, Counter-Strike was inducted into GameSpot's list of the greatest games of all time. The New York Times reported that E-Sports Entertainment ESEA League started the first professional fantasy e-sports league in 2004 with the game Counter-Strike. Some credit the move into professional competitive team play with prizes as a major factor in Counter-Strike longevity and success. Global retail sales of Counter-Strike surpassed 250,000 units by July 2001. The game sold 1.5 million by February 2003 and generated $40 million in revenue. In the United States, its retail version sold 550,000 copies and earned $15.7 million by August 2006, after its release in November 2000. It was the country's 22nd best-selling PC game between January 2000 and August 2006. The Xbox version sold 1.5 million copies in total. Brazilian sale ban On January 17, 2008, a Brazilian federal court order prohibiting all sales of Counter-Strike and EverQuest began to be enforced. The federal Brazilian judge Carlos Alberto Simões de Tomaz ordered the ban in October 2007 because, as argued by the judge, the games "bring imminent stimulus to the subversion of the social order, attempting against the democratic state and the law and against public security." As of June 18, 2009, a regional federal court order lifting the prohibition on the sale of Counter-Strike was published. The game is now being sold again in Brazil. Competitive play The original Counter-Strike has been played in tournaments since 2000 with the first major being hosted in 2001 at the Cyberathlete Professional League Winter Championship. The first official sequel was Counter-Strike: Source, released on November 1, 2004. The game was criticized by the competitive community, who believed the game's skill ceiling was significantly lower than that of CS 1.6. This caused a divide in the competitive community as to which game to play competitively. Sequels Following the success of the first Counter-Strike, Valve went on to make multiple sequels to the game. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, a game using Counter-Strikes GoldSrc engine, was released in 2004. Counter-Strike: Source, a remake of the original Counter-Strike, was the first in the series to use Valve's Source engine and was also released in 2004, eight months after the release of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. The next game in the Counter-Strike series to be developed primarily by Valve was Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, released for Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2012. The game spawned multiple spin-offs for the Asian gaming market. The first, Counter-Strike Neo, was an arcade game developed by Namco and released in Japan in 2003. In 2008, Nexon Corporation released Counter-Strike Online, a free-to-play instalment in the series monetized via microtransactions. Counter-Strike Online was followed by Counter-Strike Online 2 in 2013. In 2014, Nexon released Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies worldwide via Steam. See also List of video games derived from modifications Notes References External links Counter-Strike at MobyGames 2000 video games Asymmetrical multiplayer video games Censored video games Counter-Strike Esports games First-person shooters GoldSrc games Linux games MacOS games Microsoft games Multiplayer online games Terrorism in fiction Valve Corporation games Video games about bomb disposal Video games about police officers Video games about the Special Air Service Video games about terrorism Video games about the United States Navy SEALs Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Cuba Video games set in Italy Video games set in Mexico War video games set in the United States Windows games Xbox games Sierra Entertainment games

A context menu (also called contextual, shortcut, and pop up or pop-up menu) is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears upon user interaction, such as a right-click mouse operation. A context menu offers a limited set of choices that are available in the current state, or context, of the operating system or application to which the menu belongs. Usually the available choices are actions related to the selected object. From a technical point of view, such a context menu is a graphical control element. History Context menus first appeared in the Smalltalk environment on the Xerox Alto computer, where they were called pop-up menus; they were invented by Dan Ingalls in the mid-1970s. Microsoft Office v3.0 introduced the context menu for copy and paste functionality in 1990. Borland demonstrated extensive use of the context menu in 1991 at the Second Paradox Conference in Phoenix Arizona. Lotus 1-2-3/G for OS/2 v1.0 added additional formatting options in 1991. Borland Quattro Pro for Windows v1.0 introduced the Properties context menu option in 1992. Implementation Context menus are opened via various forms of user interaction that target a region of the GUI that supports context menus. The specific form of user interaction and the means by which a region is targeted vary: On a computer running Microsoft Windows, macOS, or Unix running the X Window System, clicking the secondary mouse button (usually the right button) opens a context menu for the region that is under the mouse pointer. For quickness, implementations may additionally support hold-and-release selection, meaning the pointer is held down and dragged, and released at desirable menu entry. On systems that support one-button mice, context menus are typically opened by pressing and holding the primary mouse button (this works on the icons in the Dock on macOS) or by pressing a keyboard/mouse button combination (e.g. Ctrl-mouse click in Classic Mac OS and macOS). A keyboard alternative for macOS is to enable Mouse keys in Universal Access. Then, depending on whether a laptop or compact or extended keyboard type is used, the shortcut is ++5 or +5 (numeric keypad) or ++i (laptop). On systems with a multi-touch interface such as MacBook or Surface, the context menu can be opened by pressing or tapping with two fingers instead of just one. Some cameras on smartphones for example recognize a QR code when a picture is taken. Then a pop-up appears if you want to 'open' the QR content. This could be anything like a website or to configure your phone to connect to Wi-Fi. See image. On some user interfaces, context menu items are accompanied by icons for quicker recognition upon navigation. Context menus can also have a top row of icons only for quick access to most frequently used options. Windows mouse click behavior is such that the context menu doesn't open while the mouse button is pressed, but only opens the menu when the button is released, so the user has to click again to select a context menu item. This behavior differs from that of macOS and most free software GUIs. In Microsoft Windows, pressing the Application key or Shift+F10 opens a context menu for the region that has focus. Context menus are sometimes hierarchically organized, allowing navigation through different levels of the menu structure. The implementations differ: Microsoft Word was one of the first applications to only show sub-entries of some menu entries after clicking an arrow icon on the context menu, otherwise executing an action associated with the parent entry. This makes it possible to quickly repeat an action with the parameters of the previous execution, and to better separate options from actions. X Window Managers The following window managers provide context menu functionality: 9wm Awesome IceWM—middle-click and right-click context menus on desktop, menubar. titlebars, and titleicon olwm openbox sawfish Usability Context menus have received some criticism from usability analysts when improperly used, as some applications make certain features only available in context menus, which may confuse even experienced users (especially when the context menus can only be activated in a limited area of the application's client window). Context menus usually open in a fixed position under the pointer, but when the pointer is near a screen edge the menu will be displaced - thus reducing consistency and impeding use of muscle memory. If the context menu is being triggered by keyboard, such as by using Shift + F10, the context menu appears near the focused widget instead of the position of the pointer, to save recognition efforts. In documentation Microsoft's guidelines call for always using the term context menu, and explicitly deprecate shortcut menu. See also Menu key Pie menu Screen hotspot References External links Graphical control elements Graphical user interface elements Macintosh operating systems user interface Windows administration

Cobbler(s) may refer to: Places The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland Art, entertainment and media The Cobbler (1923 film), a short comedy by Hal Roach The Cobbler (2014 film), a comedy-drama starring Adam Sandler "Cobbler" (Better Call Saul), an episode of the TV series Better Call Saul "The Cunning Cobbler", a folk song, No. 174 in the Roud Folk Song Index, also called "The Cunning Cobbler Done Over" Animals Cobbler or river cobbler, a marketing name in the UK for Southeast Asian Pangasius bocourti and Pangasius pangasius (also marketed as "basa", "pangasius" and "panga") Cobbler, a common name for Cnidoglanis macrocephalus, a species of catfish found along the coasts of Australia Cobbler, a common name for the South Australian cobbler, a brown fish found in estuaries in southern Australia Cobbler (Condica sutor), a North American moth in the family Noctuidae Food and drink Cobbler (food), a type of pie Cobbler, a type of mixed drink made with wine or sherry, citrus juice and sugar Occupations Cobbler, a person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes Cobbler, a person who illegally forges passports and other documents Other uses Cobbler (software), a network-oriented install server for Linux , a United States Navy ship name , a former submarine in the United States Navy "The Cobblers", a nickname for the English association football club Northampton Town F.C. Cobblers, a slang term for nonsense; see Rhyming slang#Taboo terms See also The Thief and the Cobbler Heath Cobblers Cobble (disambiguation)

A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and recognized as such in law for certain purposes. Early incorporated entities were established by charter (i.e. by an ad hoc act granted by a monarch or passed by a parliament or legislature). Most jurisdictions now allow the creation of new corporations through registration. Corporations come in many different types but are usually divided by the law of the jurisdiction where they are chartered based on two aspects: by whether they can issue stock, or by whether they are formed to make a profit. Depending on the number of owners, a corporation can be classified as aggregate (the subject of this article) or sole (a legal entity consisting of a single incorporated office occupied by a single natural person). One of the most attractive early advantages business corporations offered to their investors, compared to earlier business entities like sole proprietorships and joint partnerships, was limited liability. Limited liability means that a passive shareholder in a corporation will not be personally liable either for contractually agreed obligations of the corporation, or for torts (involuntary harms) committed by the corporation against a third party. Limited liability in contract is uncontroversial because the parties to the contract could have agreed to it and could agree to waive it by contract. However, limited liability in tort remains controversial because third parties do not agree to waive the right to pursue shareholders. There is significant evidence that limited liability in tort may lead to excessive corporate risk taking and more harm by corporations to third parties. Where local law distinguishes corporations by their ability to issue stock, corporations allowed to do so are referred to as stock corporations; one type of investment in the corporation is through stock, and owners of stock are referred to as stockholders or shareholders. Corporations not allowed to issue stock are referred to as non-stock corporations; i.e. those who are considered the owners of a non-stock corporation are persons (or other entities) who have obtained membership in the corporation and are referred to as a member of the corporation. Corporations chartered in regions where they are distinguished by whether they are allowed to be for-profit are referred to as for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, respectively. There is some overlap between stock/non-stock and for-profit/not-for-profit in that not-for-profit corporations are always non-stock as well. A for-profit corporation is almost always a stock corporation, but some for-profit corporations may choose to be non-stock. To simplify the explanation, whenever "stockholder" or "shareholder" is used in the rest of this article to refer to a stock corporation, it is presumed to mean the same as "member" for a non-profit corporation or for a profit, non-stock corporation. Registered corporations have legal personality recognized by local authorities and their shares are owned by shareholders whose liability is generally limited to their investment. Shareholders do not typically actively manage a corporation; shareholders instead elect or appoint a board of directors to control the corporation in a fiduciary capacity. In most circumstances, a shareholder may also serve as a director or officer of a corporation. Countries with co-determination employ the practice of workers of an enterprise having the right to vote for representatives on the board of directors in a company. In American English, the word corporation is most often used to describe large business corporations. In British English and in the Commonwealth countries, the term company is more widely used to describe the same sort of entity while the word corporation encompasses all incorporated entities. In American English, the word company can include entities such as partnerships that would not be referred to as companies in British English as they are not a separate legal entity. Late in the 19th century, a new form of the company having the limited liability protections of a corporation, and the more favorable tax treatment of either a sole proprietorship or partnership was developed. While not a corporation, this new type of entity became very attractive as an alternative for corporations not needing to issue stock. In Germany, the organization was referred to as Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or GmbH. In the last quarter of the 20th century, this new form of non-corporate organization became available in the United States and other countries, and was known as the limited liability company or LLC. Since the GmbH and LLC forms of organization are technically not corporations (even though they have many of the same features), they will not be discussed in this article. History The word "corporation" derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a "body of people". By the time of Justinian (reigned 527–565), Roman law recognized a range of corporate entities under the names Universitas, corpus or collegium. Following the passage of the Lex Julia during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of Caesar Augustus as Princeps senatus and Imperator of the Roman Army (27 BC–14 AD), collegia required the approval of the Roman Senate or the Emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies. These included the state itself (the Populus Romanus), municipalities, and such private associations as sponsors of a religious cult, burial clubs, political groups, and guilds of craftsmen or traders. Such bodies commonly had the right to own property and make contracts, to receive gifts and legacies, to sue and be sued, and, in general, to perform legal acts through representatives. Private associations were granted designated privileges and liberties by the emperor. The concept of the corporation was revived in the Middle Ages with the recovery and annotation of Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis by the glossators and their successors the commentators in the 11th–13th centuries. Particularly important in this respect were the Italian jurists Bartolus de Saxoferrato and Baldus de Ubaldis, the latter of whom connected the corporation to the metaphor of the body politic to describe the state. Entities which carried on business and were the subjects of legal rights were found in ancient Rome, and the Maurya Empire in ancient India. In medieval Europe, churches became incorporated, as did local governments, such as the City of London Corporation. The point was that the incorporation would survive longer than the lives of any particular member, existing in perpetuity. The alleged oldest commercial corporation in the world, the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347. In medieval times, traders would do business through common law constructs, such as partnerships. Whenever people acted together with a view to profit, the law deemed that a partnership arose. Early guilds and livery companies were also often involved in the regulation of competition between traders. Mercantilism Dutch and English chartered companies, such as the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Hudson's Bay Company, were created to lead the colonial ventures of European nations in the 17th century. Acting under a charter sanctioned by the Dutch government, the Dutch East India Company defeated Portuguese forces and established itself in the Moluccan Islands in order to profit from the European demand for spices. Investors in the VOC were issued paper certificates as proof of share ownership, and were able to trade their shares on the original Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Shareholders were also explicitly granted limited liability in the company's royal charter. In England, the government created corporations under a royal charter or an Act of Parliament with the grant of a monopoly over a specified territory. The best-known example, established in 1600, was the East India Company of London. Queen Elizabeth I granted it the exclusive right to trade with all countries to the east of the Cape of Good Hope. Some corporations at this time would act on the government's behalf, bringing in revenue from its exploits abroad. Subsequently, the company became increasingly integrated with English and later British military and colonial policy, just as most corporations were essentially dependent on the Royal Navy's ability to control trade routes. Labeled by both contemporaries and historians as "the grandest society of merchants in the universe", the English East India Company would come to symbolize the dazzlingly rich potential of the corporation, as well as new methods of business that could be both brutal and exploitative. On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted the company a 15-year monopoly on trade to and from the East Indies and Africa. By 1711, shareholders in the East India Company were earning a return on their investment of almost 150 per cent. Subsequent stock offerings demonstrated just how lucrative the Company had become. Its first stock offering in 1713–1716 raised £418,000, its second in 1717–1722 raised £1.6 million. A similar chartered company, the South Sea Company, was established in 1711 to trade in the Spanish South American colonies, but met with less success. The South Sea Company's monopoly rights were supposedly backed by the Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1713 as a settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession, which gave Great Britain an asiento to trade in the region for thirty years. In fact, the Spanish remained hostile and let only one ship a year enter. Unaware of the problems, investors in Britain, enticed by extravagant promises of profit from company promoters bought thousands of shares. By 1717, the South Sea Company was so wealthy (still having done no real business) that it assumed the public debt of the British government. This accelerated the inflation of the share price further, as did the Bubble Act 1720, which (possibly with the motive of protecting the South Sea Company from competition) prohibited the establishment of any companies without a Royal Charter. The share price rose so rapidly that people began buying shares merely in order to sell them at a higher price, which in turn led to higher share prices. This was the first speculative bubble the country had seen, but by the end of 1720, the bubble had "burst", and the share price sank from £1000 to under £100. As bankruptcies and recriminations ricocheted through government and high society, the mood against corporations and errant directors was bitter. In the late 18th century, Stewart Kyd, the author of the first treatise on corporate law in English, defined a corporation as: Development of modern company law Due to the late 18th century abandonment of mercantilist economic theory and the rise of classical liberalism and laissez-faire economic theory due to a revolution in economics led by Adam Smith and other economists, corporations transitioned from being government or guild affiliated entities to being public and private economic entities free of governmental directions. Smith wrote in his 1776 work The Wealth of Nations that mass corporate activity could not match private entrepreneurship, because people in charge of others' money would not exercise as much care as they would with their own. Deregulation The British Bubble Act 1720s prohibition on establishing companies remained in force until its repeal in 1825. By this point, the Industrial Revolution had gathered pace, pressing for legal change to facilitate business activity. The repeal was the beginning of a gradual lifting on restrictions, though business ventures (such as those chronicled by Charles Dickens in Martin Chuzzlewit) under primitive companies legislation were often scams. Without cohesive regulation, proverbial operations like the "Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company" were undercapitalized ventures promising no hope of success except for richly paid promoters. The process of incorporation was possible only through a royal charter or a private act and was limited, owing to Parliament's jealous protection of the privileges and advantages thereby granted. As a result, many businesses came to be operated as unincorporated associations with possibly thousands of members. Any consequent litigation had to be carried out in the joint names of all the members and was almost impossibly cumbersome. Though Parliament would sometimes grant a private act to allow an individual to represent the whole in legal proceedings, this was a narrow and necessarily costly expedient, allowed only to established companies. Then, in 1843, William Gladstone became the chairman of a Parliamentary Committee on Joint Stock Companies, which led to the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844, regarded as the first modern piece of company law. The Act created the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, empowered to register companies by a two-stage process. The first, provisional, stage cost £5 and did not confer corporate status, which arose after completing the second stage for another £5. For the first time in history, it was possible for ordinary people through a simple registration procedure to incorporate. The advantage of establishing a company as a separate legal person was mainly administrative, as a unified entity under which the rights and duties of all investors and managers could be channeled. Limited liability However, there was still no limited liability and company members could still be held responsible for unlimited losses by the company. The next, crucial development, then, was the Limited Liability Act 1855, passed at the behest of the then Vice President of the Board of Trade, Robert Lowe. This allowed investors to limit their liability in the event of business failure to the amount they invested in the company – shareholders were still liable directly to creditors, but just for the unpaid portion of their shares. (The principle that shareholders are liable to the corporation had been introduced in the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844). The 1855 Act allowed limited liability to companies of more than 25 members (shareholders). Insurance companies were excluded from the act, though it was standard practice for insurance contracts to exclude action against individual members. Limited liability for insurance companies was allowed by the Companies Act 1862. This prompted the English periodical The Economist to write in 1855 that "never, perhaps, was a change so vehemently and generally demanded, of which the importance was so much overrated." The major error of this judgment was recognised by the same magazine more than 70 years later, when it claimed that, "[t]he economic historian of the future... may be inclined to assign to the nameless inventor of the principle of limited liability, as applied to trade corporations, a place of honour with Watt and Stephenson, and other pioneers of the Industrial Revolution. " These two features – a simple registration procedure and limited liability – were subsequently codified into the landmark 1856 Joint Stock Companies Act. This was subsequently consolidated with a number of other statutes in the Companies Act 1862, which remained in force for the rest of the century, up to and including the time of the decision in Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd. The legislation shortly gave way to a railway boom, and from then, the numbers of companies formed soared. In the later nineteenth century, depression took hold, and just as company numbers had boomed, many began to implode and fall into insolvency. Much strong academic, legislative and judicial opinion was opposed to the notion that businessmen could escape accountability for their role in the failing businesses. Further developments In 1892, Germany introduced the Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung with a separate legal personality and limited liability even if all the shares of the company were held by only one person. This inspired other countries to introduce corporations of this kind. The last significant development in the history of companies was the 1897 decision of the House of Lords in Salomon v. Salomon & Co. where the House of Lords confirmed the separate legal personality of the company, and that the liabilities of the company were separate and distinct from those of its owners. In the United States, forming a corporation usually required an act of legislation until the late 19th century. Many private firms, such as Carnegie's steel company and Rockefeller's Standard Oil, avoided the corporate model for this reason (as a trust). State governments began to adopt more permissive corporate laws from the early 19th century, although these were all restrictive in design, often with the intention of preventing corporations from gaining too much wealth and power. New Jersey was the first state to adopt an "enabling" corporate law, with the goal of attracting more business to the state, in 1896. In 1899, Delaware followed New Jersey's lead with the enactment of an enabling corporate statute, but Delaware only became the leading corporate state after the enabling provisions of the 1896 New Jersey corporate law were repealed in 1913. The end of the 19th century saw the emergence of holding companies and corporate mergers creating larger corporations with dispersed shareholders. Countries began enacting antitrust laws to prevent anti-competitive practices and corporations were granted more legal rights and protections. The 20th century saw a proliferation of laws allowing for the creation of corporations by registration across the world, which helped to drive economic booms in many countries before and after World War I. Another major post World War I shift was toward the development of conglomerates, in which large corporations purchased smaller corporations to expand their industrial base. Starting in the 1980s, many countries with large state-owned corporations moved toward privatization, the selling of publicly owned (or 'nationalised') services and enterprises to corporations. Deregulation (reducing the regulation of corporate activity) often accompanied privatization as part of a laissez-faire policy. Ownership and control A corporation is, at least in theory, owned and controlled by its members. In a joint-stock company the members are known as shareholders, and each of their shares in the ownership, control, and profits of the corporation is determined by the portion of shares in the company that they own. Thus a person who owns a quarter of the shares of a joint-stock company owns a quarter of the company, is entitled to a quarter of the profit (or at least a quarter of the profit given to shareholders as dividends) and has a quarter of the votes capable of being cast at general meetings. In another kind of corporation, the legal document which established the corporation or which contains its current rules will determine the requirements for membership in the corporation. What these requirements are depends on the kind of corporation involved. In a worker cooperative, the members are people who work for the cooperative. In a credit union, the members are people who have accounts with the credit union. The day-to-day activities of a corporation are typically controlled by individuals appointed by the members. In some cases, this will be a single individual but more commonly corporations are controlled by a committee or by committees. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of committee structure. A single committee known as a board of directors is the method favored in most common law countries. Under this model, the board of directors is composed of both executive and non-executive directors, the latter being meant to supervise the former's management of the company. A two-tiered committee structure with a supervisory board and a managing board is common in civil law countries. In countries with co-determination (such as Germany and Sweden), workers elect a fixed fraction of the corporation's board. Formation Historically, corporations were created by a charter granted by the government. Today, corporations are usually registered with the state, province, or national government and regulated by the laws enacted by that government. Registration is the main prerequisite to the corporation's assumption of limited liability. The law sometimes requires the corporation to designate its principal address, as well as a registered agent (a person or company designated to receive legal service of process). It may also be required to designate an agent or other legal representatives of the corporation. Generally, a corporation files articles of incorporation with the government, laying out the general nature of the corporation, the amount of stock it is authorized to issue, and the names and addresses of directors. Once the articles are approved, the corporation's directors meet to create bylaws that govern the internal functions of the corporation, such as meeting procedures and officer positions. The law of the jurisdiction in which a corporation operates will regulate most of its internal activities, as well as its finances. If a corporation operates outside its home state, it is often required to register with other governments as a foreign corporation, and is almost always subject to laws of its host state pertaining to employment, crimes, contracts, civil actions, and the like. Naming Corporations generally have a distinct name. Historically, some corporations were named after the members of their boards of directors: for example, the "President and Fellows of Harvard College" is the name of one of the two governing boards of Harvard University, but it is also the exact name under which Harvard was legally incorporated. Nowadays, corporations in most jurisdictions may have a distinct name that does not need to make reference to the members of their boards. In Canada, this possibility is taken to its logical extreme: many smaller Canadian corporations have no names at all, merely numbers based on a registration number (for example, "12345678 Ontario Limited"), which is assigned by the provincial or territorial government where the corporation incorporates. In most countries, corporate names include a term or an abbreviation that denotes the corporate status of the entity (for example, "Incorporated" or "Inc." in the United States) or the limited liability of its members (for example, "Limited" or "Ltd."). These terms vary by jurisdiction and language. In some jurisdictions, they are mandatory, and in others, such as California, they are not. Their use puts everybody on constructive notice that they are dealing with an entity whose liability is limited: one can only collect from whatever assets the entity still controls when one obtains a judgment against it. Some jurisdictions do not allow the use of the word "company" alone to denote corporate status, since the word "company" may refer to a partnership or some other form of collective ownership (in the United States it can be used by a sole proprietorship but this is not generally the case elsewhere). Personhood Despite not being human beings, corporations have been ruled legal persons in a few countries, and have many of the same rights as natural persons do. For example, a corporation can own property, and can sue or be sued for as long as it exists. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, and they can themselves be responsible for human rights violations. Corporations can be "dissolved" either by statutory operation, the order of the court, or voluntary action on the part of shareholders. Insolvency may result in a form of corporate failure, when creditors force the liquidation and dissolution of the corporation under court order, but it most often results in a restructuring of corporate holdings. Corporations can even be convicted of special criminal offenses in the UK, such as fraud and corporate manslaughter. However, corporations are not considered living entities in the way that humans are. Legal scholars and others, such as Joel Bakan, have observed that a business corporation created as a "legal person" has a psychopathic personality because it is required to elevate its own interests above those of others even when this inflicts major risks and grave harms on the public or on other third-parties. Such critics note that the legal mandate of the corporation to focus exclusively on corporate profits and self interest often victimizes employees, customers, the public at large, and/or the natural resources. The political theorist David Runciman notes that corporate personhood forms a fundamental part of the modern history of the idea of the state, and believes the idea of the corporation as legal person can help to clarify the role of citizens as political stakeholders, and to break down the sharp conceptual dichotomy between the state and the people or the individual, a distinction that, on his account, is "increasingly unable to meet the demands placed on the state in the modern world". See also Notes Further reading A Comparative Bibliography: Regulatory Competition on Corporate Law Bakan, Joel. The New Corporation: How "Good" Corporations Are Bad for Democracy. (2020) Blumberg, Phillip I., The Multinational Challenge to Corporation Law: The Search for a New Corporate Personality, (1993) Bromberg, Alan R. Crane and Bromberg on Partnership. 1968. Brown, Bruce. The History of the Corporation (2003) Cadman, John William. The Corporation in New Jersey: Business and Politics, , (1949) Conard, Alfred F. Corporations in Perspective. 1976. Cooke, C.A., Corporation, Trust and Company: A Legal History, (1950) Davis, John P. Corporations (1904) Davis, Joseph S. Essays in the Earlier History of American Corporations (1917) Alan Dignam, and John Lowry, (2020) Company Law, Oxford University Press Dodd, Edwin Merrick. American Business Corporations until 1860, With Special Reference to Massachusetts, (1954) DuBois, A.B. The English Business Company after the Bubble Act, , (1938) Freedman, Charles. Joint-stock Enterprise in France, : From Privileged Company to Modern Corporation (1979) Freund, Ernst. MCMaster.ca, The Legal Nature of the Corporation (1897) Hallis, Frederick. Corporate Personality: A Study in Jurisprudence (1930) Hessen, Robert. In Defense of the Corporation. Hoover Institute. 1979. Hunt, Bishop. The Development of the Business Corporation in England (1936) Klein and Coffee. Business Organization and Finance: Legal and Economic Principles. Foundation. 2002. Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra. Corporate Life in Ancient India, (1920) Means, Robert Charles. Underdevelopment and the Development of Law: Corporations and Corporation Law in Nineteenth-century Colombia, (1980) Micklethwait, John and Wooldridge, Adrian. The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea. New York: Modern Library. 2003. Owen, Thomas. The Corporation under Russian Law, : A Study in Tsarist Economic Policy (1991) Rungta, Radhe Shyam. The Rise of the Business Corporation in India, 1851–1900, (1970) Scott, W.R. Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720 (1912) Sobel, Robert. The Age of Giant Corporations: a Microeconomic History of American Business. (1984) PG Mahoney, 'Contract or Concession? An Essay on the History of Corporate Law' (2000) 34 Ga. Law Review 873 PI Blumberg, The Multinational Challenge to Corporation Law (1993) PL Davies and LCB Gower, Principles of Modern Company Law (6th edn Sweet and Maxwell 1997) chapters 2–4 RR Formoy, The Historical Foundations of Company Law (Sweet and Maxwell 1923) 21 P Frentrop, A History of Corporate Governance 1602–2002 (Brussels et al., 2003) S Kyd, A Treatise on the Law of Corporations (1793–1794) J Micklethwait and A Wooldridge, The company: A short history of a revolutionary idea (Modern Library 2003) W Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765) 455–473 Tooze, Adam, "Democracy and Its Discontents", The New York Review of Books, vol. LXVI, no. 10 (6 June 2019), pp. 52–53, 56–57. "Democracy has no clear answer for the mindless operation of bureaucratic and technological power. We may indeed be witnessing its extension in the form of artificial intelligence and robotics. Likewise, after decades of dire warning, the environmental problem remains fundamentally unaddressed.... Bureaucratic overreach and environmental catastrophe are precisely the kinds of slow-moving existential challenges that democracies deal with very badly.... Finally, there is the threat du jour: corporations and the technologies they promote." (pp. 56–57.) External links US Corporate Law at Wikibooks an Audio from a talk about the history of corporations and the English Law by Barrister Daniel Bennett Companies Business law Corporate law Legal entities Types of business entity

A chronicle (, from Greek chroniká, from , chrónos – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler. A chronicle which traces world history is a universal chronicle. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, in which an author chooses events to interpret and analyze and excludes those the author does not consider important or relevant. The information sources for chronicles vary. Some are written from the chronicler's direct knowledge, others from witnesses or participants in events, still others are accounts passed down from generation to generation by oral tradition. Some used written material, such as charters, letters, and earlier chronicles. Still others are tales of unknown origin that have mythical status. Copyists also changed chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original chronicler. Determining the reliability of particular chronicles is important to historians. Many newspapers and other periodical literature have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories. Subgroups Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author assembles a list of events up to the time of their writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, over dead ones. The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. The earliest medieval chronicle to combine both retrospective (dead) and contemporary (live) entries, is the Chronicle of Ireland, which spans the years 431 to 911. Chronicles are the predecessors of modern "time lines" rather than analytical histories. They represent accounts, in prose or verse, of local or distant events over a considerable period of time, both the lifetime of the individual chronicler and often those of several subsequent continuators. If the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, and made little attempt to separate fact from legend. The point of view of most chroniclers is highly localised, to the extent that many anonymous chroniclers can be sited in individual abbeys. It is impossible to say how many chronicles exist, as the many ambiguities in the definition of the genre make it impossible to draw clear distinctions of what should or should not be included. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists some 2,500 items written between 300 and 1500 AD. Citation of entries Entries in chronicles are often cited using the abbreviation s.a., meaning sub anno (under the year), according to the year under which they are listed. For example, "ASC MS A, s.a. 855" means the entry for the year 855 in manuscript A of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The same event may be recorded under a different year in another manuscript of the chronicle, and may be cited for example as "ASC MS D, s.a. 857". English chronicles The most important English chronicles are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, started under the patronage of King Alfred in the 9th century and continued until the 12th century, and the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577–87) by Raphael Holinshed and other writers; the latter documents were important sources of materials for Elizabethan drama. Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints. Alphabetical list of notable chronicles History of Alam Aray Abbasi – Safavid dynasty Alamgirnama – Mughal Empire Altan Tobchi - Mongol Empire Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – England Annales Bertiniani – West Francia Annales Cambriae – Wales Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae – Poland Annals of Inisfallen – Ireland Annals of Lough Cé – Ireland Annals of the Four Masters – Ireland Annals of Spring and Autumn – China Annals of Thutmose III – Ancient Egypt The Annals of the Choson Dynasty – Korea Babylonian Chronicles – Mesopotamia Anonymous Bulgarian Chronicle – Bulgaria Bodhi Vamsa – Sri Lanka Books of Chronicles attributed to Ezra – Israel Buranji – Ahoms, Assam, India Cāmadevivaṃsa – Northern Thailand Culavamsa – Sri Lanka (Chronica Polonorum): see Gesta principum Polonorum Cheitharol Kumbaba – Manipur, India Chronica Gentis Scotorum Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae – Poland Chronicon of Eusebius Chronicon Scotorum – Ireland Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg Chronicle (Crònica) by Ramon Muntaner – 13th/14th-century Crown of Aragon. Third and longest of the Grand Catalan Chronicles. Chronicle of Finland (Chronicon Finlandiae) by Johannes Messenius – Finland Dioclean Priest's Chronicle – Europe Chronicle of the Slavs – Europe Chronicle of Greater Poland – Poland Chronica Hungarorum – History of Hungary Chronicle of Jean de Venette – France Chronicle of the Bishops of England (De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum) by William of Malmesbury Chronicle of the Kings of England (De Gestis Regum Anglorum) by William of Malmesbury Chronographia – 11th century History of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) by Michael Psellos Comentarios Reales de los Incas Conversion of Kartli – Georgia Cronaca- Chronicle of Cyprus from the 4th up to the 15th century by Cypriot chronicler Leontios Machairas Cronaca fiorentina – Chronicle of Florence up to the end of the 14th Century by Baldassarre Bonaiuti Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum – Poland Croyland Chronicle – England Dawn-Breakers (Nabil's Narrative) – Baháʼí Faith and Middle East Dipavamsa – Sri Lanka Divan of the Abkhazian Kings – Georgia Eric Chronicles – Sweden Eusebius Chronicle – Mediterranean and Middle East Fragmentary Annals of Ireland – Ireland Froissart's Chronicles – France and Western Europe Galician-Volhynian Chronicle – Ukraine Georgian Chronicles – Georgia Gesta Normannorum Ducum – Normandy Gesta principum Polonorum Grandes Chroniques de France – France General Estoria by Alfonso X – c. 1275-1284 Castile, Spain. Henry of Livona Chronicle – Eastern Europe Historia Ecclesiastica – Norman England Historia Scholastica by Petrus Comestor - 12th century France The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie History of the Prophets and Kings – Middle East and Mediterranean Hustyn Chronicle – Eastern Europe Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani - Universal history Jans der Enikel – Europe and Mediterranean Jerome's Chronicle – Mediterranean and Middle East Jinakalamali – Northern Thailand Joannis de Czarnkow chronicon Polonorum – Poland Kaiserchronik – Central and southern Europe, Germany Kano Chronicle – Nigeria Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh by Sujan Rai - History of India Khwaday-Namag - History of Persia Kojiki - Japan Lethrense Chronicle – Denmark Libre dels Feyts – Book of the Deeds by James I of Aragon, first of the Grand Catalan Chronicles Madala Panji – Chronicle of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, India, related to the History of Odisha Mahavamsa – Sri Lanka Manx Chronicle – Isle of Man Nabonidus Chronicle – Mesopotamia Nihon Shoki - Japan Nuova Cronica – Florence Nuremberg Chronicle Paschale Chronicle – Mediterranean Primary Chronicle – Eastern Europe Puranas – India Rajatarangini – Kashmir Roit and Quheil of Tyme – Scotland, Adam Abell Roskildense Chronicle – Denmark Royal Frankish Annals – Frankish Empire Scotichronicon – by the Scottish historian Walter Bower Shahnama-yi-Al-i Osman by Fethullah Arifi Çelebi – Ottoman empire (1300 ac – the end of Sultan Suleyman I's reign) which is the fifth volume of it Süleymanname Skibby Chronicle – Danish Latin chronicle from the 1530s Swiss illustrated chronicles – Switzerland Timbuktu Chronicles – Mali Zizhi Tongjian – China See also Books of Chronicles Chronicles of Nepal List of English chronicles Medieval Chronicle Society References Medieval literature Works about history

A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk singer Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop/jazz singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the invention of progressive rock and rock opera. Since then, many concept albums have been released across numerous musical genres. Definitions There is no clear definition of what constitutes a "concept album". Fiona Sturges of The Independent stated that the concept album "was originally defined as a long-player where the songs were based on one dramatic idea – but the term is subjective." A precursor to this type of album can be found in the 19th-century song cycle which ran into similar difficulties in classification. The extremely broad definitions of a "concept album" could potentially encompass all soundtracks, compilations, cast recordings, greatest hits albums, tribute albums, Christmas albums, and live albums. The most common definitions refer to an expanded approach to a rock album (as a story, play, or opus), or a project that either revolves around a specific theme or a collection of related materials. AllMusic writes, "A concept album could be a collection of songs by an individual songwriter or a particular theme – these are the concept LPs that reigned in the '50s ... the phrase 'concept album' is inextricably tied to the late 1960s, when rock & rollers began stretching the limits of their art form." Author Jim Cullen describes it as "a collection of discrete but thematically unified songs whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts ... sometimes [erroneously] assumed to be a product of the rock era." Author Roy Shuker defines concept albums and rock operas as albums that are "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical. ... In this form, the album changed from a collection of heterogeneous songs into a narrative work with a single theme, in which individual songs segue into one another." Speaking of concepts in albums during the 1970s, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), because "overall impression" of an album matters, "concept intensifies the impact" of certain albums "in more or less the way Sgt. Pepper intended", as well as "a species of concept that pushes a rhythmically unrelenting album like The Wild Magnolias or a vocally irresistible one like Shirley Brown's Woman to Woman, to a deeper level of significance." History 1940s–50s: Origins In the 2016 documentary When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album, narrated by Rick Wakeman, it is suggested that the first concept album is Woody Guthrie's 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads. The Independent regards it as "perhaps" one of the first concept albums, consisting exclusively of semi-autobiographical songs about the hardships of American migrant labourers during the 1930s. In the late 1940s, the LP record was introduced, with space age pop composers producing concept albums soon after. Themes included exploring wild life and dealing with emotions, with some albums meant to be played while dining or relaxing. This was accompanied in the mid 1950s with the invention of the gatefold, which allowed room for liner notes to explain the concept. Singer Frank Sinatra recorded several concept albums prior to the 1960s rock era, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958). Sinatra is occasionally credited as the inventor of the concept album, beginning with The Voice of Frank Sinatra (1946), which led to similar work by Bing Crosby. According to biographer Will Friedwald, Sinatra "sequenced the songs so that the lyrics created a flow from track to track, affording an impression of a narrative, as in musical comedy or opera. ... [He was the] first pop singer to bring a consciously artistic attitude to recording." Singer/pianist Nat "King" Cole (who, along with Sinatra, often collaborated with arranger Nelson Riddle during this era) was also an early pioneer of concept albums, as with his Wild Is Love (1960), a suite of original songs about a man's search for love. 1960s: Rock and country music In the early 1960s, concept albums began featuring highly in American country music, however the fact went largely unacknowledged by rock/pop fans and critics who would only begin noting "concept albums" as a phenomenon later in the decade, when albums became closely aligned with countercultural ideology, resulting in a recognised "album era" and the introduction of the rock concept album. The author Carys Wyn Jones writes that the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966), the Beatles' Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and the Who's Tommy (1969) are variously cited as "the first concept album", usually for their "uniform excellence rather than some lyrical theme or underlying musical motif". Other records have been claimed as "early" or "first" concept albums. The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time (2015) states that the Ventures "pioneered the idea of the rock concept album years before the genre is generally acknowledged to have been born" with their 1964 album The Ventures in Space. Another is the Beach Boys' Little Deuce Coupe (1963). Writing in 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music, Chris Smith commented: "Though albums such as Frank Sinatra's 1955 In the Wee Small Hours and Marty Robbins' 1959 Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs had already introduced concept albums, Little Deuce Coupe was the first to comprise almost all original material rather than standard covers." Writing in his Concise Dictionary of Popular Culture, Marcel Danesi identifies the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1965) and the Who's The Who Sell Out (1967) as other examples of early concept albums. Brian Boyd of The Irish Times names the Kinks' Face to Face (1966) as the first concept album: "Written entirely by Ray Davies, the songs were supposed to be linked by pieces of music, so that the album would play without gaps, but the record company baulked at such radicalism. It’s not one of the band’s finest works, but it did have an impact." "Popular consensus" for the first rock concept album, according to AllMusic, favours Sgt. Pepper. According to music critic Tim Riley, "Strictly speaking, the Mothers of Invention's Freak Out! [1966] has claims as the first 'concept album', but Sgt. Pepper was the record that made that idea convincing to most ears." Musicologist Allan Moore says that "Even though previous albums had set a unified mood (notably Sinatra's Songs for Swinging Lovers), it was on the basis of the influence of Sgt. Pepper that the penchant for the concept album was born." Adding to Sgt. Peppers claim, the artwork reinforced its central theme by depicting the four Beatles in uniform as members of the Sgt. Pepper band, while the record omitted the gaps that usually separated album tracks. Music critic and journalist Neil Slaven stated that Frank Zappa's Absolutely Free, released the same day as Sgt. Pepper, was "very much a concept album, but The Beatles effortlessly stole his thunder", and subsequently Sgt. Pepper was hailed as "perhaps the first 'concept album' even though the songs were unrelated" 1960s–70s: Rock operas and progressive rock Author Bill Martin relates the assumed concept albums of the 1960s to progressive rock: Popmatters Sarah Zupko notes that while the Who's Tommy is "popularly thought of as the first rock opera, an extra-long concept album with characters, a consistent storyline, and a slight bit of pomposity", it is preceded by the shorter concept albums Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (Small Faces, 1968) and S.F. Sorrow (The Pretty Things, 1968). Author Jim Cullen states: "The concept album reached its apogee in the 1970s in ambitious records like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and the Eagles' Hotel California (1976)." In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Dark Side of the Moon at number one among the 50 greatest progressive rock albums of all-time, also noting the LP's stature as the second best-selling album of all time. Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979), a semi-autobiographical story modeled after the band's Roger Waters and Syd Barrett, is one of the most famous concept albums by any artist. In addition to The Wall, Danesi highlights Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) and Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage (1979) as other culturally significant concept albums. According to author Edward Macan, concept albums as a recurrent theme in progressive rock was directly inspired by the counterculture associated with "the proto-progressive bands of the 1960s", observing: "the consistent use of lengthy forms such as the programmatic song cycle of the concept album and the multimovement suite underscores the hippies' new, drug-induced conception of time." Progressive soul musicians inspired by this approach conceived concept albums during this era reflecting themes and concerns of the African-American experience, including Marvin Gaye (1971's What's Going On) and George Clinton (the 1975 Parliament album Mothership Connection). 1980s–present: Decline and return to popularity With the emergence of MTV as a music video network which valued singles over albums, concept albums became less dominant in the 1980s. Some artists, however, still released concept albums and experienced success in the 1990s and 2000s. NMEs Emily Barker cites Green Day's American Idiot (2004) as one of the "more notable" examples, having brought the concept album back to high-charting positions. Dorian Lynskey, writing for GQ, noted a resurgence of concept albums in the 2010s due to streaming: "This is happening not in spite of the rise of streaming and playlists, but because of it. Threatened with redundancy in the digital era, albums have fought back by becoming more album-like." Cucchiara argues that "concept albums" should also describe "this new generation of concept albums, for one key reason. This is because the unison between the songs on a particular album has now been expanded into a broader field of visual and artistic design and marketing strategies that play into the themes and stories that form the album." In the 21st century, the field of classical music has adopted the idea of the "concept album", citing such historical examples as Schubert's Die Winterreise and Schumann's Liederkreis as prototypes for contemporary composers and musicians. Classical composers and performers increasingly adopt production and marketing strategies that unify otherwise disparate works into concept albums or concerts. The classical music magazine Gramophone includes a special category for "concept album" in its annual "Recordings of the Year Awards", to celebrate "albums where a creative mind has curated something visionary, a programme whose whole speaks more powerfully than its parts. A thought-through journey, which compels to be heard in one sitting." In a year-ending essay on the album in 2019, Ann Powers wrote for Slate that the year found the medium in a state of flux. In her observation, many recording artists revitalized the concept album around autobiographical narratives and personal themes, such as intimacy, intersectionality, African-American life, boundaries among women, and grief associated with death. She cited such albums as Brittany Howard's Jaime, Raphael Saadiq's Jimmy Lee, Jamila Woods' LEGACY! LEGACY!, Rapsody's Eve, Jenny Lewis' On the Line, Julia Jacklin's Crushing, Joe Henry's The Gospel According to Water, and Nick Cave's Ghosteen. See also Album era List of concept albums References Notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Album types

A cadence is a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution. Cadence may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Cadence (vocal group), a Canadian a cappella quartet Drum cadence, played exclusively by the percussion section of a marching band Military cadence, a marching chant Cadence, the high school band of Chris Daughtry Record labels Cadence Jazz Records, a record label associated with Cadence magazine Cadence Records, a 1940s/1950s American record label during the Cadence Music Group, formerly MapleMusic Recordings, a Canadian record label Other uses in arts and entertainment Cadence (film), a 1990 film by Martin Sheen Cadence (magazine), a quarterly review of jazz, blues and improvised music Cadence (poetry), the fall in pitch of the intonation of the voice Businesses Cadence Bank, an American bank Cadence Biomedical, an American medical device company Cadence Design Systems, an American company Cadence Industries, an American conglomerate People Cadence (given name) Other uses Cadence (cycling), a measure of cycling speed Cadence (gait), a measure of athletic performance See also Cadenza (disambiguation) Cadence-lypso, a fusion of cadence and calypso dance music Cadence rampa, a dance music

The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the Bureaus and Offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the Department of State, are "to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community". In addition, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs states as some of its jurisdictional goals: "export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware; measures to foster commercial interaction with foreign nations and to safeguard American business abroad; international commodity agreements; international education; and protection of American citizens abroad and expulsion". U.S. foreign policy and foreign aid have been the subject of much debate, praise, and criticism, both domestically and abroad. Powers of the President The President sets the tone for all foreign policy. The State Department and all members design and implement all details to the President's policy. The Treaty Clause in Article Two of the United States Constitution dictates that the President of the United States negotiates treaties with other countries or political entities, and signs them. Signed treaties enter into force only if ratified by at least two-thirds (67 members) of the United States Senate. (Technically, the Senate itself does not ratify treaties, it only approves or rejects resolutions of ratification submitted by the Committee on Foreign Relations; if approved, the United States exchanges the instruments of ratification with the foreign power(s)). Between 1789 and 1990, the Senate approved more than 1,500 treaties, rejected 21, and 85 treaties were withdrawn because the Senate did not act on them. As of December 2014, 36 treaties signed by the President were awaiting action by the Senate. The Congress approves the President's picks for ambassadors and as a secondary function, can declare war. The President is also Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and as such has broad authority over the armed forces. The Secretary of State and ambassadors are appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary of State acts similarly to a foreign minister and under the President's leadership, is the primary conductor of state-to-state diplomacy. Historical overview The main trend regarding the history of U.S. foreign policy since the American Revolution is the shift from non-interventionism before and after World War I, to its growth as a world power and global hegemony during and since World War II and the end of the Cold War in the 20th century. Since the 19th century, U.S. foreign policy also has been characterized by a shift from the realist school to the idealistic or Wilsonian school of international relations. Foreign policy themes were expressed considerably in George Washington's farewell address; these included, among other things, observing good faith and justice towards all nations and cultivating peace and harmony with all, excluding both "inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others", "steer[ing] clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world", and advocating trade with all nations. These policies became the basis of the Federalist Party in the 1790s, but the rival Jeffersonians feared Britain and favored France in the 1790s, declaring the War of 1812 on Britain. After the 1778 alliance with France, the U.S. did not sign another permanent treaty until the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Over time, other themes, key goals, attitudes, or stances have been variously expressed by Presidential 'doctrines', named for them. Initially these were uncommon events, but since WWII, these have been made by most presidents. Jeffersonians vigorously opposed a large standing army and any navy until attacks against American shipping by Barbary corsairs spurred the country into developing a naval force projection capability, resulting in the First Barbary War in 1801. Despite two wars with European Powers—the War of 1812 and the Spanish–American War in 1898—American foreign policy was mostly peaceful and marked by steady expansion of its foreign trade during the 19th century. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 doubled the nation's geographical area; Spain ceded the territory of Florida in 1819; annexation brought in the independent Texas Republic in 1845; a war with Mexico added California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico in 1848. The U.S. bought Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867, and it annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898. Victory over Spain in 1898 brought the Philippines and Puerto Rico, as well as oversight of Cuba. The short experiment in imperialism ended by 1908, as the U.S. turned its attention to the Panama Canal and the stabilization of regions to its south, including Mexico. 20th century World War I The 20th century was marked by two world wars in which Allied powers, along with the United States, defeated their enemies, and through this participation the United States increased its international reputation. Entry into the First World War was a hotly debated issue in the 1916 presidential election. President Wilson's Fourteen Points was developed from his idealistic Wilsonianism program of spreading democracy and fighting militarism to prevent future wars. It became the basis of the German Armistice (which amounted to a military surrender) and the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The resulting Treaty of Versailles, due to European allies' punitive and territorial designs, showed insufficient conformity with these points, and the U.S. signed separate treaties with each of its adversaries; due to Senate objections also, the U.S. never joined the League of Nations, which was established as a result of Wilson's initiative. In the 1920s, the United States followed an independent course, and succeeded in a program of naval disarmament, and refunding the German economy. Operating outside the League it became a dominant player in diplomatic affairs. New York became the financial capital of the world, but the Wall Street Crash of 1929 hurled the Western industrialized world into the Great Depression. American trade policy relied on high tariffs under the Republicans, and reciprocal trade agreements under the Democrats, but in any case exports were at very low levels in the 1930s. World War II The United States adopted a non-interventionist foreign policy from 1932 to 1938, but then President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved toward strong support of the Allies in their wars against Germany and Japan. As a result of intense internal debate, the national policy was one of becoming the Arsenal of Democracy, that is financing and equipping the Allied armies without sending American combat soldiers. Roosevelt mentioned four fundamental freedoms, which ought to be enjoyed by people "everywhere in the world"; these included the freedom of speech and religion, as well as freedom from want and fear. Roosevelt helped establish terms for a post-war world among potential allies at the Atlantic Conference; specific points were included to correct earlier failures, which became a step toward the United Nations. American policy was to threaten Japan, to force it out of China, and to prevent its attacking the Soviet Union. However, Japan reacted by an attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the United States was at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy. Instead of the loans given to allies in World War I, the United States provided Lend-Lease grants of $50,000,000,000. Working closely with Winston Churchill of Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, Roosevelt sent his forces into the Pacific against Japan, then into North Africa against Italy and Germany, and finally into Europe starting with France and Italy in 1944 against the Germans. The American economy roared forward, doubling industrial production, and building vast quantities of airplanes, ships, tanks, munitions, and, finally, the atomic bomb. Much of the American war effort went to strategic bombers, which flattened the cities of Japan and Germany. Cold War After the war, the U.S. rose to become the dominant economic power with broad influence in much of the world, with the key policies of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. Almost immediately, however, the world witnessed division into broad two camps during the Cold War; one side was led by the U.S. and the other by the Soviet Union, but this situation also led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement. This period lasted until almost the end of the 20th century and is thought to be both an ideological and power struggle between the two superpowers. Policies of linkage and containment were adopted to limit Soviet expansion, and a series of proxy wars were fought with mixed results. In 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into separate nations, and the Cold War formally ended as the United States gave separate diplomatic recognition to the Russian Federation and other former Soviet states. In domestic politics, foreign policy is not usually a central issue. In 1945–1970 the Democratic Party took a strong anti-Communist line and supported wars in Korea and Vietnam. Then the party split with a strong, "dovish", pacifist element (typified by 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern). Many "hawks", advocates for war, joined the Neoconservative movement and started supporting the Republicans—especially Reagan—based on foreign policy. Meanwhile, down to 1952 the Republican Party was split between an isolationist wing, based in the Midwest and led by Senator Robert A. Taft, and an internationalist wing based in the East and led by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower defeated Taft for the 1952 nomination largely on foreign policy grounds. Since then the Republicans have been characterized by a hawkish and intense American nationalism, strong opposition to Communism, and strong support for Israel. 21st century In the 21st century, U.S. influence remains strong but, in relative terms, is declining in terms of economic output compared to rising nations such as China, India, Russia, and the newly consolidated European Union. Substantial problems remain, such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, and the specter of nuclear terrorism. Foreign policy analysts Hachigian and Sutphen in their book The Next American Century suggest all five powers have similar vested interests in stability and terrorism prevention and trade; if they can find common ground, then the next decades may be marked by peaceful growth and prosperity. In 2017 diplomats from other countries developed new tactics to engage with President Donald Trump's brand of American nationalism. The New York Times reported on the eve of his first foreign trip as president: For foreign leaders trying to figure out the best way to approach an American president unlike any they have known, it is a time of experimentation. Embassies in Washington trade tips and ambassadors send cables to presidents and ministers back home suggesting how to handle a mercurial, strong-willed leader with no real experience on the world stage, a preference for personal diplomacy and a taste for glitz...certain rules have emerged: Keep it short — no 30-minute monologue for a 30-second attention span. Do not assume he knows the history of the country or its major points of contention. Compliment him on his Electoral College victory. Contrast him favorably with President Barack Obama. Do not get hung up on whatever was said during the campaign. Stay in regular touch. Do not go in with a shopping list but bring some sort of deal he can call a victory. Trump had numerous aides giving advice on foreign policy. The chief diplomat was Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. His major foreign policy positions were often at odds with Trump, including: urging the United States to stay in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate accord, taking a hard line on Russia, advocating negotiations and dialogue to defuse the mounting crisis with North Korea, advocating for continued U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear deal, taking a neutral position in the dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and reassuring jittery allies, from South Korea and Japan to our NATO partners, that America still has their back. Before the Trump presidency, foreign policy in the U.S. was the result of bipartisan consensus on an agenda of strengthening its position as the number one power. However, since then that consensus has fractured—with Republican and Democratic politicians increasingly calling for a more restrained approach. Law In the United States, there are three types of treaty-related law: Treaties are formal written agreements specified by the Treaty Clause of the Constitution. The President makes a treaty with foreign powers, but then the proposed treaty must be ratified by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. For example, President Wilson proposed the Treaty of Versailles after World War I after consulting with allied powers, but this treaty was rejected by the Senate; as a result, the U.S. subsequently made separate agreements with different nations. While most international law has a broader interpretation of the term treaty, the U.S. sense of the term is more restricted. In Missouri v. Holland, the Supreme Court ruled that the power to make treaties under the U.S. Constitution is a power separate from the other enumerated powers of the federal government, and hence the federal government can use treaties to legislate in areas which would otherwise fall within the exclusive authority of the states. Executive agreements are made by the President—in the exercise of his Constitutional executive powers—alone. Congressional-executive agreements are made by the President and Congress. A majority of both houses makes it binding much like regular legislation after it is signed by the president. The Constitution does not expressly state that these agreements are allowed, and constitutional scholars such as Laurence Tribe think they are unconstitutional. In contrast to most other nations, the United States considers the three types of agreements as distinct. Further, the United States incorporates treaty law into the body of U.S. federal law. As a result, Congress can modify or repeal treaties afterward. It can overrule an agreed-upon treaty obligation even if that is seen as a violation of the treaty under international law. Several U.S. court rulings confirmed this understanding, including Supreme Court decisions in Paquete Habana v. the United States (1900), and Reid v. Covert (1957), as well as a lower court ruling in Garcia-Mir v. Meese (1986). The State Department has taken the position that the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties represents established law. Generally, when the U.S. signs a treaty, it is binding. However, as a result of the Reid v. Covert decision, the U.S. adds a reservation to the text of every treaty that says in effect that the U.S. intends to abide by the treaty but that if the treaty is found to be in violation of the Constitution, the U.S. legally is then unable to abide by the treaty since the U.S. signature would be ultra vires. International agreements The United States has ratified and participates in many other multilateral treaties, including arms control treaties (especially with the Soviet Union), human rights treaties, environmental protocols, and free trade agreements. Economic and general government The United States is a founding member of the United Nations and most of its specialized agencies, notably the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund. The U.S. has at times withheld payment of dues, owing to disagreements with the UN. The United States is also member of: Organization of American States Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) USMCA, the regional trade bloc with Canada and Mexico World Trade Organization Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Group of Seven (G7) World Customs Organization Freely Associated States After it captured the islands from Japan during World War II, the United States administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947 to 1986 (1994 for Palau). The Northern Mariana Islands became a U.S. territory (part of the United States), while Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau became independent countries. Each has signed a Compact of Free Association that gives the United States exclusive military access in return for U.S. defense protection and conduct of military foreign affairs (except the declaration of war) and a few billion dollars of aid. These agreements also generally allow citizens of these countries to live and work in the United States with their spouses (and vice versa), and provide for largely free trade. The federal government also grants access to services from domestic agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service, the United States Postal Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and U.S. representation to the International Frequency Registration Board of the International Telecommunication Union. Non-participation in multi-lateral agreements The United States notably does not participate in various international agreements adhered to by almost all other industrialized countries, by almost all the countries of the Americas, or by almost all other countries in the world. With a large population and economy, on a practical level this can undermine the effect of certain agreements, or give other countries a precedent to cite for non-participation in various agreements. In some cases the arguments against participation include that the United States should maximize its sovereignty and freedom of action, or that ratification would create a basis for lawsuits that would treat American citizens unfairly. In other cases, the debate became involved in domestic political issues, such as gun control, climate change, and the death penalty. Examples include: Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations covenant (in force 1920–45, signed but not ratified) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (took effect in 1976, ratified with substantial reservations) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (took effect in 1976, signed but not ratified) American Convention on Human Rights (took effect in 1978) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (took effect in 1981, signed but not ratified) Convention on the Rights of the Child (took effect in 1990, signed but not ratified) United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (took effect in 1994) Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (signed in 1996 but never ratified and never took effect) Mine Ban Treaty (took effect in 1999) International Criminal Court (took effect in 2002) Kyoto Protocol (in force 2005–12, signed but not ratified) Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (took effect in 2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (took effect in 2008, signed but not ratified) Convention on Cluster Munitions (took effect in 2010) International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (took effect in 2010) Arms Trade Treaty (took effect in 2014) Other human rights treaties Hub and spoke vs multilateral While America's relationships with Europe have tended to be in terms of multilateral frameworks, such as NATO, America's relations with Asia have tended to be based on a "hub and spoke" model using a series of bilateral relationships where states coordinate with the United States and do not collaborate with each other. On May 30, 2009, at the Shangri-La Dialogue Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged the nations of Asia to build on this hub and spoke model as they established and grew multilateral institutions such as ASEAN, APEC and the ad hoc arrangements in the area. However, in 2011 Gates said that the United States must serve as the "indispensable nation," for building multilateral cooperation. Oil Persian Gulf As of 2014, the U.S. currently produces about 66% of the oil that it consumed. By 2020, total U.S. annual petroleum production was greater than total petroleum consumption and exports. While its imports have exceeded domestic production since the early 1990s, new hydraulic fracturing techniques and discovery of shale oil deposits in Canada and the American Dakotas offer the potential for increased energy independence from oil exporting countries such as OPEC. Former U.S. President George W. Bush identified dependence on imported oil as an urgent "national security concern". Two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves are estimated to be found in the Persian Gulf. Despite its distance, the Persian Gulf region was first proclaimed to be of national interest to the United States during World War II. Petroleum is of central importance to modern armies, and the United States—as the world's leading oil producer at that time—supplied most of the oil for the Allied armies. Many U.S. strategists were concerned that the war would dangerously reduce the U.S. oil supply, and so they sought to establish good relations with Saudi Arabia, a kingdom with large oil reserves. The Persian Gulf region continued to be regarded as an area of vital importance to the United States during the Cold War. Three Cold War United States Presidential doctrines—the Truman Doctrine, the Eisenhower Doctrine, and the Nixon Doctrine—played roles in the formulation of the Carter Doctrine, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its "national interests" in the Persian Gulf region. Carter's successor, President Ronald Reagan, extended the policy in October 1981 with what is sometimes called the "Reagan Corollary to the Carter Doctrine", which proclaimed that the United States would intervene to protect Saudi Arabia, whose security was threatened after the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War. Some analysts have argued that the implementation of the Carter Doctrine and the Reagan Corollary also played a role in the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq War. Canada Almost all of Canada's energy exports go to the United States, making it the largest foreign source of U.S. energy imports: Canada is consistently among the top sources for U.S. oil imports, and it is the largest source of U.S. natural gas and electricity imports. Africa In 2007 the U.S. was Sub-Saharan Africa's largest single export market accounting for 28% of exports (second in total to the EU at 31%). 81% of U.S. imports from this region were petroleum products. Foreign aid Foreign assistance is a core component of the State Department's international affairs budget, which is $49 billion in all for 2014. Aid is considered an essential instrument of U.S. foreign policy. There are four major categories of non-military foreign assistance: bilateral development aid, economic assistance supporting U.S. political and security goals, humanitarian aid, and multilateral economic contributions (for example, contributions to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund). In absolute dollar terms, the United States government is the largest international aid donor ($23 billion in 2014). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) manages the bulk of bilateral economic assistance; the Treasury Department handles most multilateral aid. In addition many private agencies, churches and philanthropies provide aid. Foreign aid is a highly partisan issue in the United States, with liberals, on average, supporting foreign aid much more than conservatives do. Military As of 2016, the United States is actively conducting military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Qaeda under the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001, including in areas of fighting in the Syrian Civil War and Yemeni Civil War. The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base holds what the federal government considers unlawful combatants from these ongoing activities, and has been a controversial issue in foreign relations, domestic politics, and Cuba–United States relations. Other major U.S. military concerns include stability in Afghanistan and Iraq after the recent U.S.–led invasions of those countries, Russian military activity in Ukraine and Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. President Joe Biden has announced the end of military operations in Afghanistan by September 2021. Debate is ongoing regarding other reductions in peacekeeping roles. Mutual defense agreements The United States is a founding member of NATO, an alliance of 29 North American and European nations formed to defend Western Europe against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Under the NATO charter, the United States is compelled to defend any NATO state that is attacked by a foreign power. The United States itself was the first country to invoke the mutual defense provisions of the alliance, in response to the September 11 attacks. The United States also has mutual military defense treaties with: Australia and New Zealand Japan South Korea Philippines Thailand, with other states formerly in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Most countries in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, through the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance The United States has responsibility for the defense of the three Compact of Free Association states: Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. Other allies and multilateral organizations In 1989, the United States also granted five nations the major non-NATO ally status (MNNA), and additions by later presidents have brought the list to 30 nations. Each such state has a unique relationship with the United States, involving various military and economic partnerships and alliances. and lesser agreements with: Taiwan Israel Saudi Arabia The U.S. participates in various military-related multi-lateral organizations, including: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons International Atomic Energy Agency The U.S. also operates hundreds of military bases around the world. Unilateral vs. multilateral military actions The United States has undertaken unilateral and multilateral military operations throughout its history (see Timeline of United States military operations). In the post-World War II era, the country has had permanent membership and veto power in the United Nations Security Council, allowing it to undertake any military action without formal Security Council opposition. With vast military expenditures, the United States is known as the sole remaining superpower after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The U.S. contributes a relatively small number of personnel for United Nations peacekeeping operations. It sometimes acts through NATO, as with the NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and ISAF in Afghanistan, but often acts unilaterally or in ad hoc coalitions as with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United Nations Charter requires that military operations be either for self-defense or affirmatively approved by the Security Council. Though many of their operations have followed these rules, the United States and NATO have been accused of committing crimes against peace in international law, for example in the 1999 Yugoslavia and 2003 Iraq operations. Aid The U.S. provides military aid through many channels. Counting the items that appear in the budget as 'Foreign Military Financing' and 'Plan Colombia', the U.S. spent approximately $4.5 billion in military aid in 2001, of which $2 billion went to Israel, $1.3 billion went to Egypt, and $1 billion went to Colombia. Since 9/11, Pakistan has received approximately $11.5 billion in direct military aid. As of 2004, according to Fox News, the U.S. had more than 700 military bases in 130 countries. Estimated U.S. foreign military financing and aid by recipient for 2010: According to a 2016 report by the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. topped the market in global weapon sales for 2015, with $40 billion sold. The largest buyers were Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Pakistan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. Missile defense The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposal by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles, later dubbed "Star Wars". The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic offense doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD). Though it was never fully developed or deployed, the research and technologies of SDI paved the way for some anti-ballistic missile systems of today. In February 2007, the U.S. started formal negotiations with Poland and Czech Republic concerning construction of missile shield installations in those countries for a Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system (in April 2007, 57% of Poles opposed the plan). According to press reports, the government of the Czech Republic agreed (while 67% Czechs disagree) to host a missile defense radar on its territory while a base of missile interceptors is supposed to be built in Poland. Russia threatened to place short-range nuclear missiles on the Russia's border with NATO if the United States refuses to abandon plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles and a radar in Poland and the Czech Republic. In April 2007, Putin warned of a new Cold War if the Americans deployed the shield in Central Europe. Putin also said that Russia is prepared to abandon its obligations under an Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 with the United States. On August 14, 2008, the United States and Poland announced a deal to implement the missile defense system in Polish territory, with a tracking system placed in the Czech Republic. "The fact that this was signed in a period of very difficult crisis in the relations between Russia and the United States over the situation in Georgia shows that, of course, the missile defense system will be deployed not against Iran but against the strategic potential of Russia", Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's NATO envoy, said. Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G. Press, argue in Foreign Affairs that U.S. missile defenses are designed to secure Washington's nuclear primacy and are chiefly directed at potential rivals, such as Russia and China. The authors note that Washington continues to eschew nuclear first strike and contend that deploying missile defenses "would be valuable primarily in an offensive context, not a defensive one; as an adjunct to a US First Strike capability, not as a stand-alone shield": If the United States launched a nuclear attack against Russia (or China), the targeted country would be left with only a tiny surviving arsenal, if any at all. At that point, even a relatively modest or inefficient missile defense system might well be enough to protect against any retaliatory strikes. This analysis is corroborated by the Pentagon's 1992 Defense Planning Guidance (DPG), prepared by then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney and his deputies. The DPG declares that the United States should use its power to "prevent the reemergence of a new rival" either on former Soviet territory or elsewhere. The authors of the Guidance determined that the United States had to "Field a missile defense system as a shield against accidental missile launches or limited missile strikes by 'international outlaws'" and also must "Find ways to integrate the 'new democracies' of the former Soviet bloc into the U.S.-led system". The National Archive notes that Document 10 of the DPG includes wording about "disarming capabilities to destroy" which is followed by several blacked out words. "This suggests that some of the heavily excised pages in the still-classified DPG drafts may include some discussion of preventive action against threatening nuclear and other WMD programs." Finally, Robert David English, writing in Foreign Affairs, observes that in addition to the deployment U.S. missile defenses, the DPG's second recommendation has also been proceeding on course. "Washington has pursued policies that have ignored Russian interests (and sometimes international law as well) in order to encircle Moscow with military alliances and trade blocs conducive to U.S. interests." Exporting democracy Studies have been devoted to the historical success rate of the U.S. in exporting democracy abroad. Some studies of American intervention have been pessimistic about the overall effectiveness of U.S. efforts to encourage democracy in foreign nations. Until recently, scholars have generally agreed with international relations professor Abraham Lowenthal that U.S. attempts to export democracy have been "negligible, often counterproductive, and only occasionally positive". Other studies find U.S. intervention has had mixed results, and another by Hermann and Kegley has found that military interventions have improved democracy in other countries. Global opinion International opinion about the US has often changed with different executive administrations. For example, in 2009, the French public favored the United States when President Barack Obama (75% favorable) replaced President George W. Bush (42%). After President Donald Trump took the helm in 2017, French public opinion about the US fell from 63% to 46%. These trends were also seen in other European countries. Covert actions United States foreign policy also includes covert actions to topple foreign governments that have been opposed to the United States. According to J. Dana Stuster, writing in Foreign Policy, there are seven "confirmed cases" where the U.S.—acting principally through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), but sometimes with the support of other parts of the U.S. government, including the Navy and State Department—covertly assisted in the overthrow of a foreign government: Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, Congo in 1960, the Dominican Republic in 1961, South Vietnam in 1963, Brazil in 1964, and Chile in 1973. Stuster states that this list excludes "U.S.-supported insurgencies and failed assassination attempts" such as those directed against Cuba's Fidel Castro, as well as instances where U.S. involvement has been alleged but not proven (such as Syria in 1949). In 1953 the CIA, working with the British government, initiated Operation Ajax against the Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadegh who had attempted to nationalize Iran's oil, threatening the interests of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. This had the effect of restoring and strengthening the authoritarian monarchical reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1957, the CIA and Israeli Mossad aided the Iranian government in establishing its intelligence service, SAVAK, later blamed for the torture and execution of the regime's opponents. A year later, in Operation PBSuccess, the CIA assisted the local military in toppling the democratically elected left-wing government of Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala and installing the military dictator Carlos Castillo Armas. The United Fruit Company lobbied for Árbenz overthrow as his land reforms jeopardized their land holdings in Guatemala, and painted these reforms as a communist threat. The coup triggered a decades long civil war which claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 people (42,275 individual cases have been documented), mostly through 626 massacres against the Maya population perpetrated by the U.S.-backed Guatemalan military. An independent Historical Clarification Commission found that U.S. corporations and government officials "exercised pressure to maintain the country's archaic and unjust socio-economic structure," and that U.S. military assistance had a "significant bearing on human rights violations during the armed confrontation". During the massacre of at least 500,000 alleged communists in 1960s Indonesia, U.S. government officials encouraged and applauded the mass killings while providing covert assistance to the Indonesian military which helped facilitate them. This included the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta supplying Indonesian forces with lists of up to 5,000 names of suspected members of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), who were subsequently killed in the massacres. In 2001, the CIA attempted to prevent the publication of the State Department volume Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, which documents the U.S. role in providing covert assistance to the Indonesian military for the express purpose of the extirpation of the PKI. In July 2016, an international panel of judges ruled the killings constitute crimes against humanity, and that the US, along with other Western governments, were complicit in these crimes. In 1970, the CIA worked with coup-plotters in Chile in the attempted kidnapping of General René Schneider, who was targeted for refusing to participate in a military coup upon the election of Salvador Allende. Schneider was shot in the botched attempt and died three days later. The CIA later paid the group $35,000 for the failed kidnapping. Influencing foreign elections According to one peer-reviewed study, the U.S. intervened in 81 foreign elections between 1946 and 2000, while the Soviet Union or Russia intervened in 36. Human rights Since the 1970s, issues of human rights have become increasingly important in American foreign policy. Congress took the lead in the 1970s. Following the Vietnam War, the feeling that U.S. foreign policy had grown apart from traditional American values was seized upon by Representative Donald M. Fraser (D, MN), leading the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements, in criticizing Republican Foreign Policy under the Nixon administration. In the early 1970s, Congress concluded the Vietnam War and passed the War Powers Act. As "part of a growing assertiveness by Congress about many aspects of Foreign Policy," Human Rights concerns became a battleground between the Legislative and the Executive branches in the formulation of foreign policy. David Forsythe points to three specific, early examples of Congress interjecting its own thoughts on foreign policy: Subsection (a) of the International Financial Assistance Act of 1977: ensured assistance through international financial institutions would be limited to countries "other than those whose governments engage in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights". Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended in 1984: reads in part, "No assistance may be provided under this part to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended in 1978: "No security assistance may be provided to any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." These measures were repeatedly used by Congress, with varying success, to affect U.S. foreign policy towards the inclusion of Human Rights concerns. Specific examples include El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and South Africa. The Executive (from Nixon to Reagan) argued that the Cold War required placing regional security in favor of U.S. interests over any behavioral concerns of national allies. Congress argued the opposite, in favor of distancing the United States from oppressive regimes. Nevertheless, according to historian Daniel Goldhagen, during the last two decades of the Cold War, the number of American client states practicing mass murder outnumbered those of the Soviet Union. John Henry Coatsworth, a historian of Latin America and the provost of Columbia University, suggests the number of repression victims in Latin America alone far surpassed that of the USSR and its East European satellites during the period 1960 to 1990. W. John Green contends that the United States was an "essential enabler" of "Latin America's political murder habit, bringing out and allowing to flourish some of the region's worst tendencies". On December 6, 2011, Obama instructed agencies to consider LGBT rights when issuing financial aid to foreign countries. He also criticized Russia's law discriminating against gays, joining other western leaders in the boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. In June 2014, a Chilean court ruled that the United States played a key role in the murders of Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, both American citizens, shortly after the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. War on Drugs United States foreign policy is influenced by the efforts of the U.S. government to control imports of illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and cannabis. This is especially true in Latin America, a focus for the U.S. War on Drugs. Those efforts date back to at least 1880, when the U.S. and China completed an agreement that prohibited the shipment of opium between the two countries. Over a century later, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act requires the President to identify the major drug transit or major illicit drug-producing countries. In September 2005, the following countries were identified: Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Two of these, Burma and Venezuela are countries that the U.S. considers to have failed to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements during the previous 12 months. Notably absent from the 2005 list were Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China and Vietnam; Canada was also omitted in spite of evidence that criminal groups there are increasingly involved in the production of MDMA destined for the United States and that large-scale cross-border trafficking of Canadian-grown cannabis continues. The U.S. believes that the Netherlands are successfully countering the production and flow of MDMA to the U.S. Criticism Critics from the left cite episodes that undercut leftist governments or showed support for Israel. Others cite human rights abuses and violations of international law. Critics have charged that the U.S. presidents have used democracy to justify military intervention abroad. Critics also point to declassified records which indicate that the CIA under Allen Dulles and the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover aggressively recruited more than 1,000 Nazis, including those responsible for war crimes, to use as spies and informants against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The U.S. has faced criticism for backing right-wing dictators that systematically violated human rights, such as Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay, Efraín Ríos Montt of Guatemala, Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina, Hissène Habré of Chad Yahya Khan of Pakistan and Suharto of Indonesia. Critics have also accused the United States of facilitating and supporting state terrorism in the Global South during the Cold War, such as Operation Condor, an international campaign of political assassination and state terror organized by right-wing military dictatorships in the Southern Cone of South America. Journalists and human rights organizations have been critical of US-led airstrikes and targeted killings by drones which have in some cases resulted in collateral damage of civilian populations. In early 2017, the U.S. faced criticism from some scholars, activists and media outlets for dropping 26,171 bombs on seven countries throughout 2016: Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. The U.S. has been accused of complicity in war crimes for backing the Saudi Arabian-led intervention into the Yemeni Civil War, which has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe, including a cholera outbreak and millions facing starvation. Studies have been devoted to the historical success rate of the U.S. in exporting democracy abroad. Some studies of American intervention have been pessimistic about the overall effectiveness of U.S. efforts to encourage democracy in foreign nations. Some scholars have generally agreed with international relations professor Abraham Lowenthal that U.S. attempts to export democracy have been "negligible, often counterproductive, and only occasionally positive". Other studies find U.S. intervention has had mixed results, and another by Hermann and Kegley has found that military interventions have improved democracy in other countries. A 2013 global poll in 68 countries with 66,000 respondents by Win/Gallup found that the U.S. is perceived as the biggest threat to world peace. America's history of non-intervention has been criticized as well. In his World Policy Journal review of Bill Kauffman's 1995 book America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics, Benjamin Schwartz described America's history of isolationism as a "tragedy" and being rooted in Puritan thinking. Support Regarding support for certain anti-Communist dictatorships during the Cold War, a response is that they were seen as a necessary evil, with the alternatives even worse Communist or fundamentalist dictatorships. David Schmitz says this policy did not serve U.S. interests. Friendly tyrants resisted necessary reforms and destroyed the political center (though not in South Korea), while the 'realist' policy of coddling dictators brought a backlash among foreign populations with long memories. Many democracies have voluntary military ties with the United States. See NATO, ANZUS, Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, Mutual Defense Treaty with South Korea, and Major non-NATO ally. Those nations with military alliances with the U.S. can spend less on the military since they can count on U.S. protection. This may give a false impression that the U.S. is less peaceful than those nations. Research on the democratic peace theory has generally found that democracies, including the United States, have not made war on one another. There have been U.S. support for coups against some democracies, but for example Spencer R. Weart argues that part of the explanation was the perception, correct or not, that these states were turning into Communist dictatorships. Also important was the role of rarely transparent United States government agencies, who sometimes mislead or did not fully implement the decisions of elected civilian leaders. Empirical studies (see democide) have found that democracies, including the United States, have killed much fewer civilians than dictatorships. Media may be biased against the U.S. regarding reporting human rights violations. Studies have found that The New York Times coverage of worldwide human rights violations predominantly focuses on the human rights violations in nations where there is clear U.S. involvement, while having relatively little coverage of the human rights violations in other nations. For example, the bloodiest war in recent time, involving eight nations and killing millions of civilians, was the Second Congo War, which was almost completely ignored by the media. Niall Ferguson argues that the U.S. is incorrectly blamed for all the human rights violations in nations they have supported. He writes that it is generally agreed that Guatemala was the worst of the US-backed regimes during the Cold War. However, the U.S. cannot credibly be blamed for all the 200,000 deaths during the long Guatemalan Civil War. The U.S. Intelligence Oversight Board writes that military aid was cut for long periods because of such violations, that the U.S. helped stop a coup in 1993, and that efforts were made to improve the conduct of the security services. Today the U.S. states that democratic nations best support U.S. national interests. According to the U.S. State Department, "Democracy is the one national interest that helps to secure all the others. Democratically governed nations are more likely to secure the peace, deter aggression, expand open markets, promote economic development, protect American citizens, combat international terrorism and crime, uphold human and worker rights, avoid humanitarian crises and refugee flows, improve the global environment, and protect human health." According to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, "Ultimately, the best strategy to ensure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere. Democracies don't attack each other." In one view mentioned by the U.S. State Department, democracy is also good for business. Countries that embrace political reforms are also more likely to pursue economic reforms that improve the productivity of businesses. Accordingly, since the mid-1980s, under President Ronald Reagan, there has been an increase in levels of foreign direct investment going to emerging market democracies relative to countries that have not undertaken political reforms. Leaked cables in 2010 suggested that the "dark shadow of terrorism still dominates the United States' relations with the world". The United States officially maintains that it supports democracy and human rights through several tools Examples of these tools are as follows: A published yearly report by the State Department entitled "Advancing Freedom and Democracy", issued in compliance with ADVANCE Democracy Act of 2007 (earlier the report was known as "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record" and was issued in compliance with a 2002 law). A yearly published "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices". In 2006 (under President George W. Bush), the United States created a "Human Rights Defenders Fund" and "Freedom Awards". The "Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award" recognizes the exceptional achievement of officers of foreign affairs agencies posted abroad. The "Ambassadorial Roundtable Series", created in 2006, are informal discussions between newly confirmed U.S. Ambassadors and human rights and democracy non-governmental organizations. The National Endowment for Democracy, a private non-profit created by Congress in 1983 (and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan), which is mostly funded by the U.S. Government and gives cash grants to strengthen democratic institutions around the world. See also American entry into World War I Diplomatic history of World War I Diplomatic history of World War II International relations, 1648–1814 International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919) International relations (1919–1939) United States foreign policy in the Middle East United States and state-sponsored terrorism United States involvement in regime change Perceptions of the United States sanctions Constitutional and international law Advice and consent List of United States treaties Diplomacy Cowboy diplomacy George Washington's Farewell Address List of diplomatic missions in the United States List of diplomatic missions of the United States United States Agency for International Development United States and the United Nations United States foreign aid Intelligence Extraordinary rendition Special Activities Division Torture and the United States Policy and doctrine Anti-Americanism American exceptionalism American imperialism Bush Doctrine China containment policy Détente Foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration Foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration Human rights in the United States Human Rights Record of the United States (Chinese publication) Kirkpatrick Doctrine Monroe Doctrine Powell Doctrine Reagan Doctrine Roosevelt Corollary Special Relationship References Further reading Bailey, Thomas. A Diplomatic History of the American People (10th ed. Prentice Hall, 1980) Bokat-Lindell, Spencer. "Is the United States Done Being the World’s Cop? The New York Times July 20, 2021 Borgwardt, Elizabeth. "A New Deal for the World" (Harvard UP, 2005) Chomsky, Noam. Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (Metropolitan Books, 2003) Cohen, Warren I. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: Volume 4, America in the Age of Soviet Power, 1945–1991 (Cambridge UP, 1995) Congressional Research Service. Canada-U.S. Relations (Congressional Research Service, 2021) 2021 Report, by an agency of the U.S. government; not copyright; Updated February 10, 2021. Crothers, Lane. "The cultural roots of isolationism and internationalism in American foreign policy." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 9.1 (2011): 21–34. online Dueck, Colin. Hard Line: The Republican Party and U.S. Foreign Policy since World War II (2010). Fawcett, Louise, ed. International Relations of the Middle East (3rd ed. Oxford U.P. 2013) Foot, Rosemary, and Amy King. "Assessing the deterioration in China–US relations: US governmental perspectives on the economic-security nexus." China International Strategy Review 1.1 (2019): 39-50 online Freedman, Lawrence. A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East (PublicAffairs, 2009) Gries, Peter Hays. The Politics of American Foreign Policy: How Ideology Divides Liberals and Conservatives over Foreign Affairs (Stanford University Press, 2014) Hastedt, Glenn P. Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy (2004) online free to borrow Hastedt, Glenn P. American foreign policy (4th ed. 2000) online free to borrow Herring, George C. From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (Oxford History of the United States) (2008) Hixson, Walter L. The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy. Yale University Press, 2009. Hook, Steven W. and John Spanier. American Foreign Policy Since WWII (19th ed. 2012) Ikenberry, G. John, ed. American Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays (6th ed. Wadsworth, 2010), 640pp; essays by scholars Iriye, Akira. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: Volume 3, The Globalizing of America, 1913–1945 (Cambridge UP, 1995) Jentleson, Bruce W. American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century (4th ed. W. W. Norton, 2010) Jentleson, Bruce W. and Thomas G. Paterson, eds. Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (4 vol 1997), long historical articles by scholars LaFeber, Walter. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: The American Search for Opportunity, 1865–1913, vol. 2 (Cambridge UP, 1995) McCormick, James M. et al. The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence (2012) McDougall, Walter. "Promised Land, Crusader State" (2004) Mead, Walter Russell, and Richard C. Leone. Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (2002) Nichols, Christopher McKnight. "Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age" (2011) Paterson, Thomas G. and others. American Foreign Relations (6th ed. 2 vol, Wadsworth, 2004), a detailed history Perkins, Bradford. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: Volume 1, The Creation of a Republican Empire, 1776–1865 (Cambridge UP, 1995) Power, Samantha. "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide (2002) covers Bosnia, Kosovo, Srebenica, and Rwanda; Pulitzer Prize.online free to borrow Sergent, Daniel J. A Superpower Transformed: The Remaking of American Foreign Relations in the 1970s (2015) Schulzinger, Robert. U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 (6th ed. 2008) Schulzinger, Robert. A Companion to American Foreign Relations (Wiley Blackwell Companions to American History) (2006). 26 essays by scholars; emphasis on historiography Watry, David M. Diplomacy at the Brink: Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2014. Wittkopf, Eugene R. et al. American Foreign Policy: Pattern and Process (2007) Primary sources Engel, Jeffrey A. et al. eds. America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror (2014) State.gov—official departmental website and current policy External links History of the United States' relations with the countries of the world Milestones of U.S. diplomatic history Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS): Official Documentary History of U.S. Foreign Relations Foreign Relations and International Aid from ''UCB Libraries G U.S. Political Parties and Foreign Policy, a background Q&A by Council on Foreign Relations U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress Congressional Research Service Foreign Relations of the United States 1861–1960 (full text from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries) Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index Tracking survey of American public attitudes on foreign policy, conducted by Public Agenda with Foreign Affairs magazine. United States United States diplomacy United States law

Commodore is a senior naval rank used in many navies which is equivalent to brigadier and air commodore. It is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. It is either regarded as the most junior of the flag officers rank or may not hold the jurisdiction of a flag officer at all depending on the officer's appointment. Non-English-speaking nations commonly use the rank of flotilla admiral, counter admiral, or senior captain as an equivalent, although counter admiral may also correspond to rear admiral lower half abbreviated as RDML. Traditionally, "commodore" is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship, even temporarily, much as "captain" is the traditional title for the commanding officer of a single ship even if the officer's official title in the service is a lower rank. As an official rank, a commodore typically commands a flotilla or squadron of ships as part of a larger task force or naval fleet commanded by an admiral. A commodore's ship is typically designated by the flying of a broad pennant, as compared to an admiral's flag. "Commodore" is typically regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, known in the U.S. as "rear admiral (lower half)", but whether it is regarded as a flag rank varies among countries. It is sometimes abbreviated as "Cdre" in British Royal Navy, "CDRE" in the US Navy, "Cmdre" in the Royal Canadian Navy, "COMO" in the Spanish Navy and in some navies speaking the Spanish language, or "CMDE" as used in the Indian Navy and in navies of several other countries. Etymology The rank of commodore derives from the French commandeur, which was one of the highest ranks in the orders of knighthood, and in military orders the title of the knight in charge of a commande (a local part of the order's territorial possessions). History The Dutch Navy also used the rank of commandeur from the end of the 16th century for a variety of temporary positions, until it became a conventional permanent rank in 1955. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has adopted the English spelling of "commodore" for an equivalent rank. In the Royal Navy, the position was introduced in the 17th Century to combat the cost of appointing more admirals—a costly business with a fleet as large as the Royal Navy's at that time. The rank of commodore was at first a position created as a temporary title to be bestowed upon captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel. In many navies, the rank of commodore was merely viewed as a senior captain position, whereas other naval services bestowed upon the rank of commodore the prestige of flag officer status. United States In 1899, the substantive rank of commodore was discontinued in the United States Navy, but revived during World War II in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It was discontinued as a rank in these services during the postwar period, but as an appointment, the title "commodore" was then used to identify senior U.S. Navy captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel or functional air wings or air groups that were not part of a carrier air wing or carrier air group. Concurrently, until the early 1980s, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard captains selected for promotion to the rank of rear admiral (lower half), would wear the same insignia as rear admiral (upper half), i.e., two silver stars for collar insignia or sleeve braid of one wide and one narrow gold stripe, even though they were actually only equivalent to one-star officers and paid at the one-star rate. To correct this inequity, the rank of commodore as a single star flag officer was reinstated by both services in the early 1980s. This immediately caused confusion with those senior U.S. Navy captains commanding destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, functional air wings and air groups, and so on, who held the temporary "title" of commodore while in their major command billet. As a result of this confusion, the services soon renamed the new one-star rank as commodore admiral (CADM) within the first six months following the rank's reintroduction. However, this was considered an awkward title and the one-star flag rank was renamed a few months later to its current title of rear admiral (lower half), later abbreviated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard as RDML. The "title" of commodore continues to be used in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard for those senior captains in command of organizations consisting of groups of ships or submarines organized into squadrons; air wings or air groups of multiple aviation squadrons other than carrier air wings (the latter whose commanders still use the title "CAG"); explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), mine warfare and special warfare (SEAL) groups; Mobile Inshore Underwater Warfare (MIUW) groups; and construction (SeaBee) regiments. Although not flag officers, modern day commodores in the U.S. Navy rate a blue and white command pennant, also known as a broad pennant, that is normally flown at their headquarters facilities ashore or from ships that they are embarked aboard when they are the senior officer present afloat (SOPA). Argentina In the Argentine Navy, the position of commodore was created in the late 1990s, and is usually, but not always, issued to senior captains holding rear-admirals' positions. It is not a rank but a distinction and, as such, can be issued by the chief of staff without congressional approval. Its equivalents are colonel-major in the Army and commodore-major in the Air Force. It is usually—but incorrectly—referred to as "navy commodore", to avoid confusion with the "air force commodore", which is equivalent to the navy's captain and army's colonel. The sleeve lace is identical to that of the Royal Navy, and wears one star on the epaulette. Naval rank The following articles deal with the rank of commodore (or its equivalent) as it is employed OF-6 one-star flag officer rank in various countries. Air force ranks Commodore, in Spanish comodoro, is a rank in the Argentine Air Force. This rank is the equivalent of a colonel in the Argentine Army, and a colonel or group captain in other air forces of the world. The Argentine rank below commodore is the rank of vice-commodore (Spanish vicecomodoro) equivalent to a lieutenant-colonel in the Argentine Army, and a lieutenant-colonel or wing commander in other air forces. Commodore is a rank in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. It is a one-star rank and has essentially the same rank insignia as the British air commodore. Many air forces use the rank of air commodore. This rank was first used by the Royal Air Force and is now used in many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Greece, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand and Zimbabwe. It is the equivalent rank to the navy rank of "commodore", and the army ranks of brigadier and brigadier general. The German air force used the concept of a unit commodore for the commander of a wing, usually in the rank of colonel (OF-5). Merchant Service (Merchant Marine) rank and Yacht Club chief directors Commodore is also a title held by many captains as recognition of exceptional navigation ability and seagoing seniority in the Merchant Service, and by the directors of a few yacht clubs and boating associations. Commodores 'in command' as Master aboard Merchant Marine ships wear distinctive rank and cap insignia denoting their honorific high rank position. Traditionally, commodore is the title of the president of a yacht club. Convoy commodore During wartime, a shipping convoy will have a ranking officer—sometimes an active-duty naval officer, at other times a civilian master or retired naval officer—designated as the convoy commodore. This title is not related to the individuals military rank (if any), but instead is the title of the senior individual responsible for the overall operation of the merchant ships and naval auxiliary ships that make up the convoy. The convoy commodore does not command the convoy escort forces (if any), which are commanded by a naval officer who serves as escort commander. Civilian use Commodore in Yachting Leadership Civilian yacht clubs, yachting associations and fellowships with formal hierarchical structures, began to use the title "commodore" in countries around the world for their presidents in the early twentieth century along with "vice commodore" in the same manner as "vice president,"and "rear-commodore" and "port captain' or "international bridge member" in the same manner as board members. Commodores, vice-commodores and rear-commodores are also known as civilian flag officers because they have an epaulettes, regalia and maritime flags with designated symbols and number of stars for their ranks. Many of the clubs that are more than a century old, such as the Los Angeles Yacht Club have formal ceremonies, where commodores from more than 100 surrounding yacht clubs, flag officers of the US Navy and Coast Guard attend a ceremony at the beginning of the year. The ceremony includes a bagpipe entrance, a presentation of the country flag by commissioned officers of the country's navy and a cannon shot upon the raising of each individual officer's flags on a flag staff, (also known as flagpoles) for each flag officer (commodore, vice commodore, rear commodore) as their term of office officially begins. Sometimes a trumpet fanfare is also include for special occasions like ribbon cutting in 2019 for the 50th Transpacific Yacht Race. Salutes are given to commodores for special ceremonies, including opening days of the racing season. Other uses The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary also employs variants of the title of commodore. Members of the Auxiliary serve in the Coast Guard's uniformed auxiliary service and they do not have military rank, but who do wear modified U.S. Coast Guard uniforms and U.S. military-style officer rank insignia to indicate office. Auxiliary members who have been elected or appointed to positions in the highest levels of the organization, similar in nature to active and reserve rear admirals and vice admirals use the term commodore (e.g., district commodore, assistant national commodore, deputy national commodore, national commodore, etc.). These Coast Guard auxiliarists may permanently append the title commodore, sometimes abbreviated COMO, to their names (e.g., Commodore James A. Smith, National Commodore; or COMO Jim Smith, (NACO)). In the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary—PCGA—each of the directors in command of the ten Coast Guard Auxiliary districts are commodores, as well as most of the Deputy National Directors (some may be rear admirals). Commodore is abbreviated to COMMO in the PCGA. Vanderbilt University's intercollegiate athletics teams are nicknamed the "Commodores", a reference to Cornelius Vanderbilt's self-appointed title (he was the master of a large shipping fleet). In the U.S. Sea Scouting program (which is part of the Boy Scouts of America), all National, Regional, Area, and Council committee chairs are titled as commodore, while senior committee members are addressed as vice commodore. Ship committee chairs do not hold this recognition. See also Commodore-in-Chief Comparative military ranks References Naval ranks One-star officers

Processor design is a subfield of computer engineering and electronics engineering (fabrication) that deals with creating a processor, a key component of computer hardware. The design process involves choosing an instruction set and a certain execution paradigm (e.g. VLIW or RISC) and results in a microarchitecture, which might be described in e.g. VHDL or Verilog. For microprocessor design, this description is then manufactured employing some of the various semiconductor device fabrication processes, resulting in a die which is bonded onto a chip carrier. This chip carrier is then soldered onto, or inserted into a socket on, a printed circuit board (PCB). The mode of operation of any processor is the execution of lists of instructions. Instructions typically include those to compute or manipulate data values using registers, change or retrieve values in read/write memory, perform relational tests between data values and to control program flow. Processor designs are often tested and validated on one or several FPGAs before sending the design of the processor to a foundry for semiconductor fabrication. Details Basics CPU design is divided into design of the following components: Datapaths (such as ALUs and pipelines) Control unit: logic which controls the datapaths Memory components such as register files, caches Clock circuitry such as clock drivers, PLLs, clock distribution networks Pad transceiver circuitry Logic gate cell library which is used to implement the logic CPUs designed for high-performance markets might require custom (optimized or application specific (see below)) designs for each of these items to achieve frequency, power-dissipation, and chip-area goals whereas CPUs designed for lower performance markets might lessen the implementation burden by acquiring some of these items by purchasing them as intellectual property. Control logic implementation techniques (logic synthesis using CAD tools) can be used to implement datapaths, register files, and clocks. Common logic styles used in CPU design include unstructured random logic, finite-state machines, microprogramming (common from 1965 to 1985), and Programmable logic arrays (common in the 1980s, no longer common). Implementation logic Device types used to implement the logic include: Transistor-transistor logic Small Scale Integration logic chips - no longer used for CPUs Programmable Array Logic and Programmable logic devices - no longer used for CPUs Emitter-coupled logic (ECL) gate arrays - no longer common CMOS gate arrays - no longer used for CPUs CMOS mass-produced ICs - the vast majority of CPUs by volume CMOS ASICs - only for a minority of special applications due to expense Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) - common for soft microprocessors, and more or less required for reconfigurable computing A CPU design project generally has these major tasks: Programmer-visible instruction set architecture, which can be implemented by a variety of microarchitectures Architectural study and performance modeling in ANSI C/C++ or SystemC High-level synthesis (HLS) or register transfer level (RTL, e.g. logic) implementation RTL verification Circuit design of speed critical components (caches, registers, ALUs) Logic synthesis or logic-gate-level design Timing analysis to confirm that all logic and circuits will run at the specified operating frequency Physical design including floorplanning, place and route of logic gates Checking that RTL, gate-level, transistor-level and physical-level representations are equivalent Checks for signal integrity, chip manufacturability Re-designing a CPU core to a smaller die-area helps to shrink everything (a "photomask shrink"), resulting in the same number of transistors on a smaller die. It improves performance (smaller transistors switch faster), reduces power (smaller wires have less parasitic capacitance) and reduces cost (more CPUs fit on the same wafer of silicon). Releasing a CPU on the same size die, but with a smaller CPU core, keeps the cost about the same but allows higher levels of integration within one very-large-scale integration chip (additional cache, multiple CPUs or other components), improving performance and reducing overall system cost. As with most complex electronic designs, the logic verification effort (proving that the design does not have bugs) now dominates the project schedule of a CPU. Key CPU architectural innovations include index register, cache, virtual memory, instruction pipelining, superscalar, CISC, RISC, virtual machine, emulators, microprogram, and stack. Micro-architectural concepts Research topics A variety of new CPU design ideas have been proposed, including reconfigurable logic, clockless CPUs, computational RAM, and optical computing. Performance analysis and benchmarking Benchmarking is a way of testing CPU speed. Examples include SPECint and SPECfp, developed by Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation, and ConsumerMark developed by the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium EEMBC. Some of the commonly used metrics include: Instructions per second - Most consumers pick a computer architecture (normally Intel IA32 architecture) to be able to run a large base of pre-existing pre-compiled software. Being relatively uninformed on computer benchmarks, some of them pick a particular CPU based on operating frequency (see Megahertz Myth). FLOPS - The number of floating point operations per second is often important in selecting computers for scientific computations. Performance per watt - System designers building parallel computers, such as Google, pick CPUs based on their speed per watt of power, because the cost of powering the CPU outweighs the cost of the CPU itself. Some system designers building parallel computers pick CPUs based on the speed per dollar. System designers building real-time computing systems want to guarantee worst-case response. That is easier to do when the CPU has low interrupt latency and when it has deterministic response. (DSP) Computer programmers who program directly in assembly language want a CPU to support a full featured instruction set. Low power - For systems with limited power sources (e.g. solar, batteries, human power). Small size or low weight - for portable embedded systems, systems for spacecraft. Environmental impact - Minimizing environmental impact of computers during manufacturing and recycling as well during use. Reducing waste, reducing hazardous materials. (see Green computing). There may be tradeoffs in optimizing some of these metrics. In particular, many design techniques that make a CPU run faster make the "performance per watt", "performance per dollar", and "deterministic response" much worse, and vice versa. Markets There are several different markets in which CPUs are used. Since each of these markets differ in their requirements for CPUs, the devices designed for one market are in most cases inappropriate for the other markets. General purpose computing The vast majority of revenues generated from CPU sales is for general purpose computing, that is, desktop, laptop, and server computers commonly used in businesses and homes. In this market, the Intel IA-32 and the 64-bit version x86-64 architecture dominate the market, with its rivals PowerPC and SPARC maintaining much smaller customer bases. Yearly, hundreds of millions of IA-32 architecture CPUs are used by this market. A growing percentage of these processors are for mobile implementations such as netbooks and laptops. Since these devices are used to run countless different types of programs, these CPU designs are not specifically targeted at one type of application or one function. The demands of being able to run a wide range of programs efficiently has made these CPU designs among the more advanced technically, along with some disadvantages of being relatively costly, and having high power consumption. High-end processor economics In 1984, most high-performance CPUs required four to five years to develop. Scientific computing Scientific computing is a much smaller niche market (in revenue and units shipped). It is used in government research labs and universities. Before 1990, CPU design was often done for this market, but mass market CPUs organized into large clusters have proven to be more affordable. The main remaining area of active hardware design and research for scientific computing is for high-speed data transmission systems to connect mass market CPUs. Embedded design As measured by units shipped, most CPUs are embedded in other machinery, such as telephones, clocks, appliances, vehicles, and infrastructure. Embedded processors sell in the volume of many billions of units per year, however, mostly at much lower price points than that of the general purpose processors. These single-function devices differ from the more familiar general-purpose CPUs in several ways: Low cost is of high importance. It is important to maintain a low power dissipation as embedded devices often have a limited battery life and it is often impractical to include cooling fans. To give lower system cost, peripherals are integrated with the processor on the same silicon chip. Keeping peripherals on-chip also reduces power consumption as external GPIO ports typically require buffering so that they can source or sink the relatively high current loads that are required to maintain a strong signal outside of the chip. Many embedded applications have a limited amount of physical space for circuitry; keeping peripherals on-chip will reduce the space required for the circuit board. The program and data memories are often integrated on the same chip. When the only allowed program memory is ROM, the device is known as a microcontroller. For many embedded applications, interrupt latency will be more critical than in some general-purpose processors. Embedded processor economics The embedded CPU family with the largest number of total units shipped is the 8051, averaging nearly a billion units per year. The 8051 is widely used because it is very inexpensive. The design time is now roughly zero, because it is widely available as commercial intellectual property. It is now often embedded as a small part of a larger system on a chip. The silicon cost of an 8051 is now as low as US$0.001, because some implementations use as few as 2,200 logic gates and take 0.4730 square millimeters of silicon. As of 2009, more CPUs are produced using the ARM architecture instruction set than any other 32-bit instruction set. The ARM architecture and the first ARM chip were designed in about one and a half years and 5 human years of work time. The 32-bit Parallax Propeller microcontroller architecture and the first chip were designed by two people in about 10 human years of work time. The 8-bit AVR architecture and first AVR microcontroller was conceived and designed by two students at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. The 8-bit 6502 architecture and the first MOS Technology 6502 chip were designed in 13 months by a group of about 9 people. Research and educational CPU design The 32 bit Berkeley RISC I and RISC II processors were mostly designed by a series of students as part of a four quarter sequence of graduate courses. This design became the basis of the commercial SPARC processor design. For about a decade, every student taking the 6.004 class at MIT was part of a team—each team had one semester to design and build a simple 8 bit CPU out of 7400 series integrated circuits. One team of 4 students designed and built a simple 32 bit CPU during that semester. Some undergraduate courses require a team of 2 to 5 students to design, implement, and test a simple CPU in a FPGA in a single 15-week semester. The MultiTitan CPU was designed with 2.5 man years of effort, which was considered "relatively little design effort" at the time. 24 people contributed to the 3.5 year MultiTitan research project, which included designing and building a prototype CPU. Soft microprocessor cores For embedded systems, the highest performance levels are often not needed or desired due to the power consumption requirements. This allows for the use of processors which can be totally implemented by logic synthesis techniques. These synthesized processors can be implemented in a much shorter amount of time, giving quicker time-to-market. See also Amdahl's law Central processing unit Comparison of instruction set architectures Complex instruction set computer Electronic design automation High-level synthesis History of general-purpose CPUs Integrated circuit design Microarchitecture Microprocessor Minimal instruction set computer Moore's law Reduced instruction set computer System-on-a-chip Process design kit - a set of documents created or accumulated for a semiconductor device production process References General references Processor Design: An Introduction Central processing unit Computer engineering Design engineering

The word catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the Greek adjective katholikos 'universal') comes from the Greek phrase katholou 'on the whole, according to the whole, in general', and is a combination of the Greek words 'about' and 'whole'. The first use of "Catholic" was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (circa 110 AD). In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. The word in English can mean either "of the Catholic faith" or "relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church". "Catholicos", the title used for the head of some churches in Eastern Christian traditions, is derived from the same linguistic origin. In non-ecclesiastical use, it derives its English meaning directly from its root, and is currently used to mean the following: including a wide variety of things, or all-embracing; universal or of general interest; having broad interests, or wide sympathies; inclusive, inviting. The term has been incorporated into the name of the largest Christian communion, the Roman Catholic Church. All of the three main branches of Christianity in the East – Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and Church of the East – had always identified themselves as Catholic in accordance with apostolic traditions and the Nicene Creed. Lutherans, Reformed, Anglicans and Methodists also believe that their churches are "Catholic" in the sense that they too are in continuity with the original universal church founded by the Apostles. However, each church defines the scope of the "Catholic Church" differently. For instance, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox churches, and Church of the East, each maintain that their own denomination is identical with the original universal church, from which all other denominations broke away. Distinguishing beliefs of Catholicity, the beliefs of most Christians who call themselves "Catholic", include the episcopal polity, that bishops are considered the highest order of ministers within the Christian religion, as well as the Nicene Creed of AD 381. In particular, along with unity, sanctity, and apostolicity, catholicity is considered one of Four Marks of the Church, found in the line of the Nicene Creed: "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church." During the medieval and modern times, additional distinctions arose regarding the use of the terms Western Catholic and Eastern Catholic. Before the East–West Schism of 1054, those terms had just the basic geographical meanings, since only one undivided Catholicity existed, uniting the Latin-speaking Christians of West and the Greek-speaking Christians of the East. After the Schism, terminology became much more complicated, resulting in the creation of parallel and conflicting terminological systems. Etymology The Greek adjective katholikos, the origin of the term catholic, means 'universal'. Directly from the Greek, or via Late Latin catholicus, the term catholic entered many other languages, becoming the base for the creation of various theological terms such as catholicism and catholicity (Late Latin catholicismus, catholicitas). The term catholicism is the English form of Late Latin catholicismus, an abstract noun based on the adjective catholic. The Modern Greek equivalent is back-formed and usually refers to the Catholic Church. The terms catholic, catholicism, and catholicity are closely related to the use of the term Catholic Church. (See Catholic Church (disambiguation) for more uses.) The earliest evidence of the use of that term is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." From the second half of the second century, the word "catholic" began to be used to mean "orthodox" (non-heretical), "because Catholics claimed to teach the whole truth, and to represent the whole Church, while heresy arose out of the exaggeration of some one truth and was essentially partial and local". In 380, Emperor Theodosius I limited use of the term "Catholic Christian" exclusively to those who followed the same faith as Pope Damasus I of Rome and Pope Peter of Alexandria. Numerous other early writers including Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315–386), Augustine of Hippo (354–430) further developed the use of the term "catholic" in relation to Christianity. Historical use Ignatius of Antioch The earliest recorded evidence of the use of the term "Catholic Church" is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Of the meaning for Ignatius of this phrase J.H. Srawley wrote: This is the earliest occurrence in Christian literature of the phrase 'the Catholic Church' (ἡ καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία). The original sense of the word is 'universal'. Thus Justin Martyr (Dial. 82) speaks of the 'universal or general resurrection', using the words ἡ καθολικὴ ἀνάστασις. Similarly here the Church universal is contrasted with the particular Church of Smyrna. Ignatius means by the Catholic Church 'the aggregate of all the Christian congregations' (Swete, Apostles Creed, p. 76). So too the letter of the Church of Smyrna is addressed to all the congregations of the Holy Catholic Church in every place. And this primitive sense of 'universal' the word has never lost, although in the latter part of the second century it began to receive the secondary sense of 'orthodox' as opposed to 'heretical'. Thus it is used in an early Canon of Scripture, the Muratorian fragment (circa 170 A.D.), which refers to certain heretical writings as 'not received in the Catholic Church'. So too Cyril of Jerusalem, in the fourth century, says that the Church is called Catholic not only 'because it is spread throughout the world', but also 'because it teaches completely and without defect all the doctrines which ought to come to the knowledge of men'. This secondary sense arose out of the original meaning because Catholics claimed to teach the whole truth, and to represent the whole Church, while heresy arose out of the exaggeration of some one truth and was essentially partial and local.another edition, p.97 By Catholic Church Ignatius designated the universal church. Ignatius considered that certain heretics of his time, who disavowed that Jesus was a material being who actually suffered and died, saying instead that "he only seemed to suffer" (Smyrnaeans, 2), were not really Christians. Other second-century uses The term is also used in the Martyrdom of Polycarp (155) and in the Muratorian fragment (about 177). Tertullian The term is found in Tertullian (AD 200): "Where was Marcion then, that shipmaster of Pontus, the zealous student of Stoicism? Where was Valentinus then, the disciple of Platonism? For it is evident that those men lived not so long ago — in the reign of Antoninus for the most part, — and that they at first were believers in the doctrine of the Catholic Church, in the church of Rome under the episcopate of the blessed Eleutherus, until on account of their ever restless curiosity, with which they even infected the brethren, they were more than once expelled." Clement of Alexandria Clement of Alexandria (AD 202) mentions: "Therefore in substance and idea, in origin, in pre-eminence, we say that the ancient and Catholic Church is alone, collecting as it does into the unity of the one faith." Cyril of Jerusalem As mentioned in the above quotation from J.H. Srawley, Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315–386), who is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion, distinguished what he called the "Catholic Church" from other groups who could also refer to themselves as an ἐκκλησία (assembly or church): Since the word Ecclesia is applied to different things (as also it is written of the multitude in the theatre of the Ephesians, And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the Assembly (Acts 19:41), and since one might properly and truly say that there is a Church of evil doers, I mean the meetings of the heretics, the Marcionists and Manichees, and the rest, for this cause the Faith has securely delivered to you now the Article, "And in one Holy Catholic Church"; that you may avoid their wretched meetings, and ever abide with the Holy Church Catholic in which you were regenerated. And if ever you are sojourning in cities, inquire not simply where the Lord's House is (for the other sects of the profane also attempt to call their own dens houses of the Lord), nor merely where the Church is, but where is the Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God(Catechetical Lectures, XVIII, 26). Theodosius I Theodosius I, Emperor from 379 to 395, declared "Catholic" Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, declaring in the Edict of Thessalonica of 27 February 380: It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our clemency and moderation, should continue the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one Deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation, and in the second the punishment which our authority, in accordance with the will of heaven, will decide to inflict. Theodosian Code XVI.i.2 Jerome Jerome wrote to Augustine of Hippo in 418: "You are known throughout the world; Catholics honour and esteem you as the one who has established anew the ancient Faith" Augustine of Hippo Only slightly later, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) also used the term "Catholic" to distinguish the "true" church from heretical groups: In the Catholic Church, there are many other things which most justly keep me in her bosom. The consent of peoples and nations keeps me in the Church; so does her authority, inaugurated by miracles, nourished by hope, enlarged by love, established by age. The succession of priests keeps me, beginning from the very seat of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, gave it in charge to feed His sheep (Jn 21:15–19), down to the present episcopate. And so, lastly, does the very name of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house. Such then in number and importance are the precious ties belonging to the Christian name which keep a believer in the Catholic Church, as it is right they should ... With you, where there is none of these things to attract or keep me... No one shall move me from the faith which binds my mind with ties so many and so strong to the Christian religion... For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church. —St. Augustine (354–430): Against the Epistle of Manichaeus called Fundamental, chapter 4: Proofs of the Catholic Faith. — St. Augustine (354–430): Against the Epistle of Manichaeus called Fundamental, chapter 4: Proofs of the Catholic Faith. St Vincent of Lerins A contemporary of Augustine, St. Vincent of Lerins, wrote in 434 (under the pseudonym Peregrinus) a work known as the Commonitoria ("Memoranda"). While insisting that, like the human body, church doctrine develops while truly keeping its identity (sections 54–59, chapter XXIII), he stated: Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church During early centuries of Christian history, majority of Christians who followed doctrines represented in Nicene Creed were bound by one common and undivided Catholicity that was uniting the Latin-speaking Christians of West and the Greek-speaking Christians of the East. In those days, terms "eastern Catholic" and "western Catholic" had their basic geographical meanings, generally corresponding to existing linguistic distinctions between Greek East and Latin West. In spite of various and quite frequent theological and ecclesiastical disagreements between major Christian sees, common Catholicity was preserved until the great disputes that arose between 9th and 11th century. After the East–West Schism, the notion of common Catholicity was broken and each side started to develop its own terminological practice. All major theological and ecclesiastical disputes in the Christian East or West have been commonly accompanied by attempts of arguing sides to deny each other the right to use the word "Catholic" as term of self-designation. After the acceptance of Filioque clause into the Nicene Creed by the Rome, Orthodox Christians in the East started to refer to adherents of Filioquism in the West just as "Latins" considering them no longer to be "Catholics". The dominant view in the Eastern Orthodox Church, that all Western Christians who accepted Filioque interpolation and unorthodox Pneumatology ceased to be Catholics, was held and promoted by famous Eastern Orthodox canonist Theodore Balsamon who was patriarch of Antioch. He wrote in 1190: On the other side of the widening rift, Eastern Orthodox were considered by western theologians to be Schismatics. Relations between East and West were further estranged by the tragic events of the Massacre of the Latins in 1182 and Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Those bloody events were followed by several failed attempts to reach reconciliation (see: Second Council of Lyon, Council of Florence, Union of Brest, Union of Uzhhorod). During the late medieval and early modern period, terminology became much more complicated, resulting in the creation of parallel and confronting terminological systems that exist today in all of their complexity. During the Early Modern period, a special term "Acatholic" was widely used in the West to mark all those who were considered to hold heretical theological views and irregular ecclesiastical practices. In the time of Counter-Reformation the term Acatholic was used by zealous members of the Catholic Church to designate Protestants as well as Eastern Orthodox Christians. The term was considered to be so insulting that the Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, held in Temeswar in 1790, decided to send an official plea to emperor Leopold II, begging him to ban the use of the term "Acatholic". Lutheranism The Augsburg Confession found within the Book of Concord, a compendium of belief of the Lutheranism, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church". When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1530, they believe to have "showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils". See also Anglo-Catholicism Anglican Catholic Church Anglican Use Christianity Liberal Catholic Church List of popes Notes and references Notes References External links Christian terminology Religious identity

Cetaceans (from , from , sea monster) are aquatic mammals constituting the infraorder Cetacea (), including whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel themselves through the water with powerful up-and-down movement of their tail which ends in a paddle-like fluke, using their flipper-shaped forelimbs to maneuver. While the majority of Cetaceans live in marine environments, a small number exclusively reside in brackish water or freshwater. Having a cosmopolitan distribution, they can be found in some rivers and all of earth's oceans and many species inhabit vast ranges where they migrate with the changing of the seasons. Cetaceans are famous for their high intelligence and complex social behaviour as well as the enormous size of some of its members, like the blue whale reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 feet) and weight of 173 tonnes (190 short tons), making it the largest animal known to have ever existed. There are approximately 86 living species split into two parvorders: Odontoceti or toothed whales (containing porpoises, dolphins, other predatory whales like the beluga and the sperm whale, and the poorly understood beaked whales) and the filter feeding Mysticeti or baleen whales (which includes species like the blue whale, the humpback whale and the bowhead whale). Cetaceans have been extensively hunted for their meat, blubber and oil by commercial operations. Although the International Whaling Commission has agreed on putting a halt to commercial whaling, some nations continue to do so. They also face environmental hazards such as underwater noise pollution, plastic buildup and ongoing climate change, but how much they are affected varies widely from species to species, from minimally in the case of the southern bottlenose whale to the baiji (or Chinese river dolphin) which is considered to be functionally extinct due to human activity. Baleen whales and toothed whales The two parvorders, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have diverged around thirty-four million years ago. Baleen whales have bristles made of keratin instead of teeth. The bristles filter krill and other small invertebrates from seawater. Grey whales feed on bottom-dwelling mollusks. Rorqual family (balaenopterids) use throat pleats to expand their mouths to take in food and sieve out the water. Balaenids (right whales and bowhead whales) have massive heads that can make up 40% of their body mass. Most mysticetes prefer the food-rich colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, migrating to the Equator to give birth. During this process, they are capable of fasting for several months, relying on their fat reserves. The parvorder of Odontocetes – the toothed whales – include sperm whales, beaked whales, killer whales, dolphins and porpoises. Generally the teeth are designed for catching fish, squid or other marine invertebrates, not for chewing them, so prey is swallowed whole. Teeth are shaped like cones (dolphins and sperm whales), spades (porpoises), pegs (belugas), tusks (narwhals) or variable (beaked whale males). Female beaked whales' teeth are hidden in the gums and are not visible, and most male beaked whales have only two short tusks. Narwhals have vestigial teeth other than their tusk, which is present on males and 15% of females and has millions of nerves to sense water temperature, pressure and salinity. A few toothed whales, such as some killer whales, feed on mammals, such as pinnipeds and other whales. Toothed whales have well-developed senses – their eyesight and hearing are adapted for both air and water, and they have advanced sonar capabilities using their melon. Their hearing is so well-adapted for both air and water that some blind specimens can survive. Some species, such as sperm whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths. Several species of toothed whales show sexual dimorphism, in which the males differ from the females, usually for purposes of sexual display or aggression. Anatomy Cetacean bodies are generally similar to that of fish, which can be attributed to their lifestyle and the habitat conditions. Their body is well-adapted to their habitat, although they share essential characteristics with other higher mammals (Eutheria). They have a streamlined shape, and their forelimbs are flippers. Almost all have a dorsal fin on their backs that can take on many forms depending on the species. A few species, such as the beluga whale, lack them. Both the flipper and the fin are for stabilization and steering in the water. The male genitals and mammary glands of females are sunken into the body. The body is wrapped in a thick layer of fat, known as blubber, used for thermal insulation and gives cetaceans their smooth, streamlined body shape. In larger species, it can reach a thickness up to half a meter (1.6 ft). Sexual dimorphism evolved in many toothed whales. Sperm whales, narwhals, many members of the beaked whale family, several species of the porpoise family, killer whales, pilot whales, eastern spinner dolphins and northern right whale dolphins show this characteristic. Males in these species developed external features absent in females that are advantageous in combat or display. For example, male sperm whales are up to 63% percent larger than females, and many beaked whales possess tusks used in competition among males. Hind legs are not present in cetaceans, nor are any other external body attachments such as a pinna and hair. Head Whales have an elongated head, especially baleen whales, due to the wide overhanging jaw. Bowhead whale plates can be long. Their nostril(s) make up the blowhole, with one in toothed whales and two in baleen whales. The nostrils are located on top of the head above the eyes so that the rest of the body can remain submerged while surfacing for air. The back of the skull is significantly shortened and deformed. By shifting the nostrils to the top of the head, the nasal passages extend perpendicularly through the skull. The teeth or baleen in the upper jaw sit exclusively on the maxilla. The braincase is concentrated through the nasal passage to the front and is correspondingly higher, with individual cranial bones that overlap. In toothed whales, connective tissue exists in the melon as a head buckle. This is filled with air sacs and fat that aid in buoyancy and biosonar. The sperm whale has a particularly pronounced melon; this is called the spermaceti organ and contains the eponymous spermaceti, hence the name "sperm whale". Even the long tusk of the narwhal is a vice-formed tooth. In many toothed whales, the depression in their skull is due to the formation of a large melon and multiple, asymmetric air bags. River dolphins, unlike most other cetaceans, can turn their head 90°. Most other cetaceans have fused neck vertebrae and are unable to turn their head at all. The baleen of baleen whales consists of long, fibrous strands of keratin. Located in place of the teeth, it has the appearance of a huge fringe and is used to sieve the water for plankton and krill. Brain The neocortex of many cetaceans is home to elongated spindle neurons that, prior to 2019, were known only in hominids. In humans, these cells are thought to be involved in social conduct, emotions, judgment and theory of mind. Cetacean spindle neurons are found in areas of the brain homologous to where they are found in humans, suggesting they perform a similar function. Brain size was previously considered a major indicator of intelligence. Since most of the brain is used for maintaining bodily functions, greater ratios of brain to body mass may increase the amount of brain mass available for cognitive tasks. Allometric analysis indicates that mammalian brain size scales at approximately two-thirds or three-quarter exponent of the body mass. Comparison of a particular animal's brain size with the expected brain size based on such an analysis provides an encephalization quotient that can be used as an indication of animal intelligence. Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on earth, averaging and in mature males. The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans. In some whales, however, it is less than half that of humans: 0.9% versus 2.1%. Skeleton The cetacean skeleton is largely made up of cortical bone, which stabilizes the animal in the water. For this reason, the usual terrestrial compact bones, which are finely woven cancellous bone, are replaced with lighter and more elastic material. In many places, bone elements are replaced by cartilage and even fat, thereby improving their hydrostatic qualities. The ear and the muzzle contain a bone shape that is exclusive to cetaceans with a high density, resembling porcelain. This conducts sound better than other bones, thus aiding biosonar. The number of vertebrae that make up the spine varies by species, ranging from forty to ninety-three. The cervical spine, found in all mammals, consists of seven vertebrae which, however, are reduced or fused. This fusion provides stability during swimming at the expense of mobility. The fins are carried by the thoracic vertebrae, ranging from nine to seventeen individual vertebrae. The sternum is cartilaginous. The last two to three pairs of ribs are not connected and hang freely in the body wall. The stable lumbar and tail include the other vertebrae. Below the caudal vertebrae is the chevron bone. The front limbs are paddle-shaped with shortened arms and elongated finger bones, to support movement. They are connected by cartilage. The second and third fingers display a proliferation of the finger members, a so-called hyperphalangy. The shoulder joint is the only functional joint in all cetaceans except for the Amazon river dolphin. The collarbone is completely absent. Fluke Cetaceans have a cartilaginous fluke at the end of their tails that is used for propulsion. The fluke is set horizontally on the body, unlike fish, which have vertical tails. Physiology Circulation Cetaceans have powerful hearts. Blood oxygen is distributed effectively throughout the body. They are warm-blooded, i.e., they hold a nearly constant body temperature. Respiration Cetaceans have lungs, meaning they breathe air. An individual can last without a breath from a few minutes to over two hours depending on the species. Cetacea are deliberate breathers who must be awake to inhale and exhale. When stale air, warmed from the lungs, is exhaled, it condenses as it meets colder external air. As with a terrestrial mammal breathing out on a cold day, a small cloud of 'steam' appears. This is called the 'spout' and varies across species in shape, angle and height. Species can be identified at a distance using this characteristic. The structure of the respiratory and circulatory systems is of particular importance for the life of marine mammals. The oxygen balance is effective. Each breath can replace up to 90% of the total lung volume. For land mammals, in comparison, this value is usually about 15%. During inhalation, about twice as much oxygen is absorbed by the lung tissue as in a land mammal. As with all mammals, the oxygen is stored in the blood and the lungs, but in cetaceans, it is also stored in various tissues, mainly in the muscles. The muscle pigment, myoglobin, provides an effective bond. This additional oxygen storage is vital for deep diving, since beyond a depth around , the lung tissue is almost completely compressed by the water pressure. Organs The stomach consists of three chambers. The first region is formed by a loose gland and a muscular forestomach (missing in beaked whales), which is then followed by the main stomach and the pylorus. Both are equipped with glands to help digestion. A bowel adjoins the stomachs, whose individual sections can only be distinguished histologically. The liver is large and separate from the gall bladder. The kidneys are long and flattened. The salt concentration in cetacean blood is lower than that in seawater, requiring kidneys to excrete salt. This allows the animals to drink seawater. Senses Cetacean eyes are set on the sides rather than the front of the head. This means only species with pointed 'beaks' (such as dolphins) have good binocular vision forward and downward. Tear glands secrete greasy tears, which protect the eyes from the salt in the water. The lens is almost spherical, which is most efficient at focusing the minimal light that reaches deep water. Odontocetes have little to no ability to taste or smell, while mysticetes are believed to have some ability to smell because of their reduced, but functional olfactory system. Cetaceans are known to possess excellent hearing. At least one species, the tucuxi or Guiana dolphin, is able to use electroreception to sense prey. Ears The external ear has lost the pinna (visible ear), but still retains a narrow external auditory meatus. To register sounds, instead, the posterior part of the mandible has a thin lateral wall (the pan bone) fronting a concavity that houses a fat pad. The pad passes anteriorly into the greatly enlarged mandibular foramen to reach in under the teeth and posteriorly to reach the thin lateral wall of the ectotympanic. The ectotympanic offers a reduced attachment area for the tympanic membrane. The connection between this auditory complex and the rest of the skull is reduced—to a single, small cartilage in oceanic dolphins. In odontocetes, the complex is surrounded by spongy tissue filled with air spaces, while in mysticetes, it is integrated into the skull as with land mammals. In odontocetes, the tympanic membrane (or ligament) has the shape of a folded-in umbrella that stretches from the ectotympanic ring and narrows off to the malleus (quite unlike the flat, circular membrane found in land mammals.) In mysticetes, it also forms a large protrusion (known as the "glove finger"), which stretches into the external meatus and the stapes are larger than in odontocetes. In some small sperm whales, the malleus is fused with the ectotympanic. The ear ossicles are pachyosteosclerotic (dense and compact) and differently shaped from land mammals (other aquatic mammals, such as sirenians and earless seals, have also lost their pinnae). T semicircular canals are much smaller relative to body size than in other mammals. The auditory bulla is separated from the skull and composed of two compact and dense bones (the periotic and tympanic) referred to as the tympanoperiotic complex. This complex is located in a cavity in the middle ear, which, in the Mysticeti, is divided by a bony projection and compressed between the exoccipital and squamosal, but in the odontoceti, is large and completely surrounds the bulla (hence called "peribullar"), which is, therefore, not connected to the skull except in physeterids. In the Odontoceti, the cavity is filled with a dense foam in which the bulla hangs suspended in five or more sets of ligaments. The pterygoid and peribullar sinuses that form the cavity tend to be more developed in shallow water and riverine species than in pelagic Mysticeti. In Odontoceti, the composite auditory structure is thought to serve as an acoustic isolator, analogous to the lamellar construction found in the temporal bone in bats. Cetaceans use sound to communicate, using groans, moans, whistles, clicks or the 'singing' of the humpback whale. Echolocation Odontoceti are generally capable of echolocation. They can discern the size, shape, surface characteristics, distance and movement of an object. They can search for, chase and catch fast-swimming prey in total darkness. Most Odontoceti can distinguish between prey and nonprey (such as humans or boats); captive Odontoceti can be trained to distinguish between, for example, balls of different sizes or shapes. Echolocation clicks also contain characteristic details unique to each animal, which may suggest that toothed whales can discern between their own click and that of others. Mysticeti have exceptionally thin, wide basilar membranes in their cochleae without stiffening agents, making their ears adapted for processing low to infrasonic frequencies. Chromosomes The initial karyotype includes a set of chromosomes from 2n = 44. They have four pairs of telocentric chromosomes (whose centromeres sit at one of the telomeres), two to four pairs of subtelocentric and one or two large pairs of submetacentric chromosomes. The remaining chromosomes are metacentric—the centromere is approximately in the middle—and are rather small. Sperm whales, beaked whales and right whales converge to a reduction in the number of chromosomes to 2n = 42. Ecology Range and habitat Cetaceans are found in many aquatic habitats. While many marine species, such as the blue whale, the humpback whale and the killer whale, have a distribution area that includes nearly the entire ocean, some species occur only locally or in broken populations. These include the vaquita, which inhabits a small part of the Gulf of California and Hector's dolphin, which lives in some coastal waters in New Zealand. River dolphin species live exclusively in fresh water. Many species inhabit specific latitudes, often in tropical or subtropical waters, such as Bryde's whale or Risso's dolphin. Others are found only in a specific body of water. The southern right whale dolphin and the hourglass dolphin live only in the Southern Ocean. The narwhal and the beluga live only in the Arctic Ocean. Sowerby's beaked whale and the Clymene dolphin exist only in the Atlantic and the Pacific white-sided dolphin and the northern straight dolphin live only in the North Pacific. Cosmopolitan species may be found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. However, northern and southern populations become genetically separated over time. In some species, this separation leads eventually to a divergence of the species, such as produced the southern right whale, North Pacific right whale and North Atlantic right whale. Migratory species' reproductive sites often lie in the tropics and their feeding grounds in polar regions. Thirty-two species are found in European waters, including twenty-five toothed and seven baleen species. Whale migration Many species of whales migrate on a latitudinal basis to move between seasonal habitats. For example, the gray whale migrates round trip. The journey begins at winter birthing grounds in warm lagoons along Baja California, and traverses of coastline to summer feeding grounds in the Bering, Chuckchi and Beaufort seas off the coast of Alaska. Behaviour Sleep Conscious breathing cetaceans sleep but cannot afford to be unconscious for long, because they may drown. While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited, toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to exhibit unihemispheric slow-wave sleep (USWS), which means they sleep with one side of their brain at a time, so that they may swim, breathe consciously and avoid both predators and social contact during their period of rest. A 2008 study found that sperm whales sleep in vertical postures just under the surface in passive shallow 'drift-dives', generally during the day, during which whales do not respond to passing vessels unless they are in contact, leading to the suggestion that whales possibly sleep during such dives. Diving While diving, the animals reduce their oxygen consumption by lowering the heart activity and blood circulation; individual organs receive no oxygen during this time. Some rorquals can dive for up to 40 minutes, sperm whales between 60 and 90 minutes and bottlenose whales for two hours. Diving depths average about . Species such as sperm whales can dive to , although more commonly . Social relations Most cetaceans are social animals, although a few species live in pairs or are solitary. A group, known as a pod, usually consists of ten to fifty animals, but on occasion, such as mass availability of food or during mating season, groups may encompass more than one thousand individuals. Inter-species socialization can occur. Pods have a fixed hierarchy, with the priority positions determined by biting, pushing or ramming. The behavior in the group is aggressive only in situations of stress such as lack of food, but usually it is peaceful. Contact swimming, mutual fondling and nudging are common. The playful behavior of the animals, which is manifested in air jumps, somersaults, surfing, or fin hitting, occurs more often than not in smaller cetaceans, such as dolphins and porpoises. Whale song Males in some baleen species communicate via whale song, sequences of high pitched sounds. These "songs" can be heard for hundreds of kilometers. Each population generally shares a distinct song, which evolves over time. Sometimes, an individual can be identified by its distinctive vocals, such as the 52-hertz whale that sings at a higher frequency than other whales. Some individuals are capable of generating over 600 distinct sounds. In baleen species such as humpbacks, blues and fins, male-specific song is believed to be used to attract and display fitness to females. Hunting Pod groups also hunt, often with other species. Many species of dolphins accompany large tunas on hunting expeditions, following large schools of fish. The killer whale hunts in pods and targets belugas and even larger whales. Humpback whales, among others, form in collaboration bubble carpets to herd krill or plankton into bait balls before lunging at them. Intelligence Cetacea are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme and grieve. Smaller cetaceans, such as dolphins and porpoises, engage in complex play behavior, including such things as producing stable underwater toroidal air-core vortex rings or "bubble rings". The two main methods of bubble ring production are rapid puffing of air into the water and allowing it to rise to the surface, forming a ring, or swimming repeatedly in a circle and then stopping to inject air into the helical vortex currents thus formed. They also appear to enjoy biting the vortex rings, so that they burst into many separate bubbles and then rise quickly to the surface. Whales produce bubble nets to aid in herding prey. Larger whales are also thought to engage in play. The southern right whale elevates its tail fluke above the water, remaining in the same position for a considerable time. This is known as "sailing". It appears to be a form of play and is most commonly seen off the coast of Argentina and South Africa. Humpback whales also display this behaviour. Self-awareness appears to be a sign of abstract thinking. Self-awareness, although not well-defined, is believed to be a precursor to more advanced processes such as metacognitive reasoning (thinking about thinking) that humans exploit. Cetaceans appear to possess self-awareness. The most widely used test for self-awareness in animals is the mirror test, in which a temporary dye is placed on an animal's body and the animal is then presented with a mirror. Researchers then explore whether the animal shows signs of self-recognition. Critics claim that the results of these tests are susceptible to the Clever Hans effect. This test is much less definitive than when used for primates. Primates can touch the mark or the mirror, while cetaceans cannot, making their alleged self-recognition behavior less certain. Skeptics argue that behaviors said to identify self-awareness resemble existing social behaviors, so researchers could be misinterpreting self-awareness for social responses. Advocates counter that the behaviors are different from normal responses to another individual. Cetaceans show less definitive behavior of self-awareness, because they have no pointing ability. In 1995, Marten and Psarakos used video to test dolphin self-awareness. They showed dolphins real-time footage of themselves, recorded footage and another dolphin. They concluded that their evidence suggested self-awareness rather than social behavior. While this particular study has not been replicated, dolphins later "passed" the mirror test. Life history Reproduction and brooding Most cetaceans sexually mature at seven to 10 years. An exception to this is the La Plata dolphin, which is sexually mature at two years, but lives only to about 20. The sperm whale reaches sexual maturity within about 20 years and has a lifespan between 50 and 100 years. For most species, reproduction is seasonal. Ovulation coincides with male fertility. This cycle is usually coupled with seasonal movements that can be observed in many species. Most toothed whales have no fixed bonds. In many species, females choose several partners during a season. Baleen whales are largely monogamous within each reproductive period. Gestation ranges from 9 to 16 months. Duration is not necessarily a function of size. Porpoises and blue whales gestate for about 11 months. As with all mammals other than marsupials and monotremes, the embryo is fed by the placenta, an organ that draws nutrients from the mother's bloodstream. Mammals without placentas either lay minuscule eggs (monotremes) or bear minuscule offspring (marsupials). Cetaceans usually bear one calf. In the case of twins, one usually dies, because the mother cannot produce sufficient milk for both. The fetus is positioned for a tail-first delivery, so that the risk of drowning during delivery is minimal. After birth, the mother carries the infant to the surface for its first breath. At birth, they are about one-third of their adult length and tend to be independently active, comparable to terrestrial mammals. Suckling Like other placental mammals, cetaceans give birth to well-developed calves and nurse them with milk from their mammary glands. When suckling, the mother actively splashes milk into the mouth of the calf, using the muscles of her mammary glands, as the calf has no lips. This milk usually has a high-fat content, ranging from 16 to 46%, causing the calf to increase rapidly in size and weight. In many small cetaceans, suckling lasts for about four months. In large species, it lasts for over a year and involves a strong bond between mother and offspring. The mother is solely responsible for brooding. In some species, so-called "aunts" occasionally suckle the young. This reproductive strategy provides a few offspring that have a high survival rate. Lifespan Among cetaceans, whales are distinguished by an unusual longevity compared to other higher mammals. Some species, such as the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), can reach over 200 years. Based on the annual rings of the bony otic capsule, the age of the oldest known specimen is a male determined to be 211 years at the time of death. Death Upon death, whale carcasses fall to the deep ocean and provide a substantial habitat for marine life. Evidence of whale falls in present-day and fossil records shows that deep-sea whale falls support a rich assemblage of creatures, with a global diversity of 407 species, comparable to other neritic biodiversity hotspots, such as cold seeps and hydrothermal vents. Deterioration of whale carcasses happens through three stages. Initially, organisms such as sharks and hagfish scavenge the soft tissues at a rapid rate over a period of months and as long as two years. This is followed by the colonization of bones and surrounding sediments (which contain organic matter) by enrichment opportunists, such as crustaceans and polychaetes, throughout a period of years. Finally, sulfophilic bacteria reduce the bones releasing hydrogen sulfide enabling the growth of chemoautotrophic organisms, which in turn, support organisms such as mussels, clams, limpets and sea snails. This stage may last for decades and supports a rich assemblage of species, averaging 185 per site. Disease Brucellosis affects almost all mammals. It is distributed worldwide, while fishing and pollution have caused porpoise population density pockets, which risks further infection and disease spreading. Brucella ceti, most prevalent in dolphins, has been shown to cause chronic disease, increasing the chance of failed birth and miscarriages, male infertility, neurobrucellosis, cardiopathies, bone and skin lesions, strandings and death. Until 2008, no case had ever been reported in porpoises, but isolated populations have an increased risk and consequentially a high mortality rate. Evolution Phylogenetics Molecular biology and immunology show that cetaceans are phylogenetically closely related with the even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Whales' direct lineage began in the early Eocene, around 55.8 million years ago, with early artiodactyls. Fossil discoveries at the beginning of the 21st century confirmed this. Most molecular biological evidence suggests that hippos are the closest living relatives. Common anatomical features include similarities in the morphology of the posterior molars, and the bony ring on the temporal bone (bulla) and the involucre, a skull feature that was previously associated only with cetaceans. The fossil record, however, does not support this relationship, because the hippo lineage dates back only about 15 million years. The most striking common feature is the talus, a bone in the upper ankle. Early cetaceans, archaeocetes, show double castors, which occur only in even-toed ungulates. Corresponding findings are from Tethys Sea deposits in northern India and Pakistan. The Tethys Sea was a shallow sea between the Asian continent and northward-bound Indian plate. Mysticetes evolved baleen around 25 million years ago and lost their teeth. Development Ancestors The direct ancestors of today's cetaceans are probably found within the Dorudontidae whose most famous member, Dorudon, lived at the same time as Basilosaurus. Both groups had already developed the typical anatomical features of today's whales, such as hearing. Life in the water for a formerly terrestrial creature required significant adjustments such as the fixed bulla, which replaces the mammalian eardrum, as well as sound-conducting elements for submerged directional hearing. Their wrists were stiffened and probably contributed to the typical build of flippers. The hind legs existed, however, but were significantly reduced in size and with a vestigial pelvis connection. Transition from land to sea The fossil record traces the gradual transition from terrestrial to aquatic life. The regression of the hind limbs allowed greater flexibility of the spine. This made it possible for whales to move around with the vertical tail hitting the water. The front legs transformed into flippers, costing them their mobility on land. One of the oldest members of ancient cetaceans (Archaeoceti) is Pakicetus from the Middle Eocene. This is an animal the size of a wolf, whose skeleton is known only partially. It had functioning legs and lived near the shore. This suggests the animal could still move on land. The long snout had carnivorous dentition. The transition from land to sea dates to about 49 million years ago, with the Ambulocetus ("running whale"), discovered in Pakistan. It was up to long. The limbs of this archaeocete were leg-like, but it was already fully aquatic, indicating that a switch to a lifestyle independent from land happened extraordinarily quickly. The snout was elongated with overhead nostrils and eyes. The tail was strong and supported movement through water. Ambulocetus probably lived in mangroves in brackish water and fed in the riparian zone as a predator of fish and other vertebrates. Dating from about 45 million years ago are species such as Indocetus, Kutchicetus, Rodhocetus and Andrewsiphius, all of which were adapted to life in water. The hind limbs of these species were regressed and their body shapes resemble modern whales. Protocetidae family member Rodhocetus is considered the first to be fully aquatic. The body was streamlined and delicate with extended hand and foot bones. The merged pelvic lumbar spine was present, making it possible to support the floating movement of the tail. It was likely a good swimmer, but could probably move only clumsily on land, much like a modern seal. Marine animals Since the late Eocene, about 40 million years ago, cetaceans populated the subtropical oceans and no longer emerged on land. An example is the 18-m-long Basilosaurus, sometimes referred to as Zeuglodon. The transition from land to water was completed in about 10 million years. The Wadi Al-Hitan ("Whale Valley") in Egypt contains numerous skeletons of Basilosaurus, as well as other marine vertebrates. Taxonomy Molecular findings and morphological indications suggest that artiodactyls as traditionally defined are paraphyletic with respect to cetaceans. Cetaceans are deeply nested within the former; the two groups together form a monophyletic taxon, for which the name Cetartiodactyla is sometimes used. Modern nomenclature divides Artiodactyla (or Cetartiodactyla) in four subordinate taxa: camelids (Tylopoda), pigs and peccaries (Suina), ruminants (Ruminantia), and hippos plus whales (Whippomorpha). Cetacea's presumed location within Artiodactyla can be represented in the following cladogram: Within Cetacea, the two parvorders are baleen whales (Mysticeti) which owe their name to their baleen, and toothed whales (Odontoceti), which have teeth shaped like cones, spades, pegs or tusks, and can perceive their environment through biosonar. The terms whale and dolphin are informal: Mysticeti: Whales, with four families: Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Cetotheriidae (pygmy right whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (grey whales) Odontoceti: Whales: with four families: Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Physeteridae (sperm whales), Kogiidae (dwarf and pygmy sperm whales), and Ziphiidae (beaked whales) Dolphins, with five families: Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (South Asian river dolphins), Lipotidae (old world river dolphins) Iniidae (new world river dolphins), and Pontoporiidae (La Plata dolphins) Porpoises, with one family: Phocoenidae The term 'great whales' covers those currently regulated by the International Whaling Commission: the Odontoceti families Physeteridae (sperm whales), Ziphiidae (beaked whales), and Kogiidae (pygmy and dwarf sperm whales); and all the Mysticeti families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Cetotheriidae (pygmy right whales), Eschrichtiidae (grey whales), and some of the Balaenopteridae (minke, Bryde's, sei, blue and fin; not Eden's and Omura's whales). Status Threats The primary threats to cetaceans come from people, both directly from whaling or drive hunting and indirect threats from fishing and pollution. Whaling Whaling is the practice of hunting whales, mainly baleen and sperm whales. This activity has gone on since the Stone Age. In the Middle Ages, reasons for whaling included their meat, oil usable as fuel and the jawbone, which was used in house construction. At the end of the Middle Ages, early whaling fleets aimed at baleen whales, such as bowheads. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch fleet had about 300 whaling ships with 18,000 crewmen. In the 18th and 19th centuries, baleen whales especially were hunted for their baleen, which was used as a replacement for wood, or in products requiring strength and flexibility such as corsets and crinoline skirts. In addition, the spermaceti found in the sperm whale was used as a machine lubricant and the ambergris as a material for pharmaceutical and perfume industries. In the second half of the 19th century, the explosive harpoon was invented, leading to a massive increase in the catch size. Large ships were used as "mother" ships for the whale handlers. In the first half of the 20th century, whales were of great importance as a supplier of raw materials. Whales were intensively hunted during this time; in the 1930s, 30,000 whales were killed. This increased to over 40,000 animals per year up to the 1960s, when stocks of large baleen whales collapsed. Most hunted whales are now threatened, with some great whale populations exploited to the brink of extinction. Atlantic and Korean gray whale populations were completely eradicated and the North Atlantic right whale population fell to some 300–600. The blue whale population is estimated to be around 14,000. The first efforts to protect whales came in 1931. Some particularly endangered species, such as the humpback whale (which then numbered about 100 animals), were placed under international protection and the first protected areas were established. In 1946, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established, to monitor and secure whale stocks. Whaling of 14 large species for commercial purposes was prohibited worldwide by this organization from 1985 to 2005, though some countries do not honor the prohibition. The stocks of species such as humpback and blue whales have recovered, though they are still threatened. The United States Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 sustain the marine mammal population. It prohibits the taking of marine mammals except for several hundred per year taken in Alaska. Japanese whaling ships are allowed to hunt whales of different species for ostensibly scientific purposes. Aboriginal whaling is still permitted. About 1,200 pilot whales were taken in the Faroe Islands in 2017, and about 900 narwhals and 800 belugas per year are taken in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia. About 150 minke are taken in Greenland per year, 120 gray whales in Siberia and 50 bowheads in Alaska, as aboriginal whaling, besides the 600 minke taken commercially by Norway, 300 minke and 100 sei taken by Japan and up to 100 fin whales taken by Iceland. Iceland and Norway do not recognize the ban and operate commercial whaling. Norway and Japan are committed to ending the ban. Dolphins and other smaller cetaceans are sometimes hunted in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. This is accomplished by driving a pod together with boats, usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the ocean with other boats or nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world, including the Solomon Islands, the Faroe Islands, Peru and Japan (the most well-known practitioner). Dolphins are mostly hunted for their meat, though some end up in dolphinaria. Despite the controversy thousands of dolphins are caught in drive hunts each year. Fishing Dolphin pods often reside near large tuna shoals. This is known to fishermen, who look for dolphins to catch tuna. Dolphins are much easier to spot from a distance than tuna, since they regularly breathe. The fishermen pull their nets hundreds of meters wide in a circle around the dolphin groups, in the expectation that they will net a tuna shoal. When the nets are pulled together, the dolphins become entangled under water and drown. Line fisheries in larger rivers are threats to river dolphins. A greater threat than by-catch for small cetaceans is targeted hunting. In Southeast Asia, they are sold as fish-replacement to locals, since the region's edible fish promise higher revenues from exports. In the Mediterranean, small cetaceans are targeted to ease pressure on edible fish. Strandings A stranding is when a cetacean leaves the water to lie on a beach. In some cases, groups of whales strand together. The best known are mass strandings of pilot whales and sperm whales. Stranded cetaceans usually die, because their as much as body weight compresses their lungs or breaks their ribs. Smaller whales can die of heatstroke because of their thermal insulation. The causes are not clear. Possible reasons for mass beachings are: toxic contaminants debilitating parasites (in the respiratory tract, brain or middle ear) infections (bacterial or viral) flight from predators (including humans) social bonds within a group, so that the pod follows a stranded animal disturbance of their magnetic senses by natural anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field injuries noise pollution by shipping traffic, seismic surveys and military sonar experiments Since 2000, whale strandings frequently occurred following military sonar testing. In December 2001, the US Navy admitted partial responsibility for the beaching and the deaths of several marine mammals in March 2000. The coauthor of the interim report stated that animals killed by active sonar of some Navy ships were injured. Generally, underwater noise, which is still on the increase, is increasingly tied to strandings; because it impairs communication and sense of direction. Climate change influences the major wind systems and ocean currents, which also lead to cetacean strandings. Researchers studying strandings on the Tasmanian coast from 1920 to 2002 found that greater strandings occurred at certain time intervals. Years with increased strandings were associated with severe storms, which initiated cold water flows close to the coast. In nutrient-rich, cold water, cetaceans expect large prey animals, so they follow the cold water currents into shallower waters, where the risk is higher for strandings. Whales and dolphins who live in pods may accompany sick or debilitated pod members into shallow water, stranding them at low tide. Environmental hazards Heavy metals, residues of many plant and insect venoms and plastic waste flotsam are not biodegradable. Sometimes, cetaceans consume these hazardous materials, mistaking them for food items. As a result, the animals are more susceptible to disease and have fewer offspring. Damage to the ozone layer reduces plankton reproduction because of its resulting radiation. This shrinks the food supply for many marine animals, but the filter-feeding baleen whales are most impacted. Even the Nekton is, in addition to intensive exploitation, damaged by the radiation. Food supplies are also reduced long-term by ocean acidification due to increased absorption of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. The CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid, which reduces the construction of the calcium carbonate skeletons of food supplies for zooplankton that baleen whales depend on. The military and resource extraction industries operate strong sonar and blasting operations. Marine seismic surveys use loud, low-frequency sound that show what is lying underneath the Earth's surface. Vessel traffic also increases noise in the oceans. Such noise can disrupt cetacean behavior such as their use of biosonar for orientation and communication. Severe instances can panic them, driving them to the surface. This leads to bubbles in blood gases and can cause decompression sickness. Naval exercises with sonar regularly results in fallen cetaceans that wash up with fatal decompression. Sounds can be disruptive at distances of more than . Damage varies across frequency and species. Relationship to humans Research history In Aristotle's time, the 4th century BCE, whales were regarded as fish due to their superficial similarity. Aristotle, however, observed many physiological and anatomical similarities with the terrestrial vertebrates, such as blood (circulation), lungs, uterus and fin anatomy. His detailed descriptions were assimilated by the Romans, but mixed with a more accurate knowledge of the dolphins, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Natural history. In the art of this and subsequent periods, dolphins are portrayed with a high-arched head (typical of porpoises) and a long snout. The harbour porpoise was one of the most accessible species for early cetologists; because it could be seen close to land, inhabiting shallow coastal areas of Europe. Much of the findings that apply to all cetaceans were first discovered in porpoises. One of the first anatomical descriptions of the airways of a harbor porpoise dates from 1671 by John Ray. It nevertheless referred to the porpoise as a fish. In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758), Swedish biologist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus asserted that cetaceans were mammals and not fish. His groundbreaking binomial system formed the basis of modern whale classification. Culture Cetaceans have played a role in human culture through history. Prehistoric Stone Age petroglyphs, such as those in Roddoy and Reppa (Norway), and the Bangudae Petroglyphs in South Korea, depict them. Whale bones were used for many purposes. In the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae on Orkney sauce pans were made from whale vertebrae. Antiquity The whale was first mentioned in ancient Greece by Homer. There, it is called Ketos, a term that initially included all large marine animals. From this was derived the Roman word for whale, Cetus. Other names were phálaina (Aristotle, Latin form of ballaena) for the female and, with an ironic characteristic style, musculus (Mouse) for the male. North Sea whales were called Physeter, which was meant for the sperm whale Physter macrocephalus. Whales are described in particular by Aristotle, Pliny and Ambrose. All mention both live birth and suckling. Pliny describes the problems associated with the lungs with spray tubes and Ambrose claimed that large whales would take their young into their mouth to protect them. In the Bible especially, the leviathan plays a role as a sea monster. The essence, which features a giant crocodile or a dragon and a whale, was created according to the Bible by God and should again be destroyed by him. In the Book of Job, the leviathan is described in more detail. In Jonah there is a more recognizable description of a whale alongside the prophet Jonah, who, on his flight from the city of Nineveh is swallowed by a whale. Dolphins are mentioned far more often than whales. Aristotle discusses the sacred animals of the Greeks in his Historia Animalium and gives details of their role as aquatic animals. The Greeks admired the dolphin as a "king of the aquatic animals" and referred to them erroneously as fish. Its intelligence was apparent both in its ability to escape from fishnets and in its collaboration with fishermen. River dolphins are known from the Ganges and – erroneously – the Nile. In the latter case it was equated with sharks and catfish. Supposedly they attacked even crocodiles. Dolphins appear in Greek mythology. Because of their intelligence, they rescued multiple people from drowning. They were said to love music – probably not least because of their own song – they saved, in the legends, famous musicians such as Arion of Lesbos from Methymna or Kairanos from Miletus. Because of their mental faculties, dolphins were considered for the god Dionysus. Dolphins belong to the domain of Poseidon and led him to his wife Amphitrite. Dolphins are associated with other gods, such as Apollo, Dionysus and Aphrodite. The Greeks paid tribute to both whales and dolphins with their own constellation. The constellation of the Whale (Ketos, lat. Cetus) is located south of the Dolphin (Delphi, lat. Delphinus) north of the zodiac. Ancient art often included dolphin representations, including the Cretan Minoans. Later they appeared on reliefs, gems, lamps, coins, mosaics and gravestones. A particularly popular representation is that of Arion or the Taras (mythology) riding on a dolphin. In early Christian art, the dolphin is a popular motif, at times used as a symbol of Christ. Middle Ages to the 19th century St. Brendan described in his travel story Navigatio Sancti Brendani an encounter with a whale, between the years 565–573. He described how he and his companions entered a treeless island, which turned out to be a giant whale, which he called Jasconicus. He met this whale seven years later and rested on his back. Most descriptions of large whales from this time until the whaling era, beginning in the 17th century, were of beached whales, which resembled no other animal. This was particularly true for the sperm whale, the most frequently stranded in larger groups. Raymond Gilmore documented seventeen sperm whales in the estuary of the Elbe from 1723 to 1959 and thirty-one animals on the coast of Great Britain in 1784. In 1827, a blue whale beached itself off the coast of Ostend. Whales were used as attractions in museums and traveling exhibitions. Whalers from the 17th to 19th centuries depicted whales in drawings and recounted tales of their occupation. Although they knew that whales were harmless giants, they described battles with harpooned animals. These included descriptions of sea monsters, including huge whales, sharks, sea snakes, giant squid and octopuses. Among the first whalers who described their experiences on whaling trips was Captain William Scoresby from Great Britain, who published the book Northern Whale Fishery, describing the hunt for northern baleen whales. This was followed by Thomas Beale, a British surgeon, in his book Some observations on the natural history of the sperm whale in 1835; and Frederick Debell Bennett's The tale of a whale hunt in 1840. Whales were described in narrative literature and paintings, most famously in the novels Moby Dick by Herman Melville and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Baleen was used to make vessel components such as the bottom of a bucket in the Scottish National Museum. The Norsemen crafted ornamented plates from baleen, sometimes interpreted as ironing boards. In the Canadian Arctic (east coast) in Punuk and Thule culture (1000–1600 C.E.), baleen was used to construct houses in place of wood as roof support for winter houses, with half of the building buried under the ground. The actual roof was probably made of animal skins that were covered with soil and moss. Modern culture In the 20th century perceptions of cetaceans changed. They transformed from monsters into creatures of wonder, as science revealed them to be intelligent and peaceful animals. Hunting was replaced by whale and dolphin tourism. This change is reflected in films and novels. For example, the protagonist of the series Flipper was a bottle-nose dolphin. The TV series SeaQuest DSV (1993–1996), the movies Free Willy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams are examples. The study of whale song also produced a popular album, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Captivity Whales and dolphins have been kept in captivity for use in education, research and entertainment since the 19th century. Belugas Beluga whales were the first whales to be kept in captivity. Other species were too rare, too shy or too big. The first was shown at Barnum's Museum in New York City in 1861. For most of the 20th century, Canada was the predominant source. They were taken from the St. Lawrence River estuary until the late 1960s, after which they were predominantly taken from the Churchill River estuary until capture was banned in 1992. Russia then became the largest provider. Belugas are caught in the Amur Darya delta and their eastern coast and are transported domestically to aquaria or dolphinaria in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi, or exported to countries such as Canada. They have not been domesticated. As of 2006, 30 belugas lived in Canada and 28 in the United States. 42 deaths in captivity had been reported. A single specimen can reportedly fetch up to US$100,000 (GB£64,160). The beluga's popularity is due to its unique color and its facial expressions. The latter is possible because while most cetacean "smiles" are fixed, the extra movement afforded by the beluga's unfused cervical vertebrae allows a greater range of apparent expression. Killer whales The killer whale's intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity and sheer size have made it a popular exhibit at aquaria and aquatic theme parks. From 1976 to 1997, fifty-five whales were taken from the wild in Iceland, nineteen from Japan and three from Argentina. These figures exclude animals that died during capture. Live captures fell dramatically in the 1990s and by 1999, about 40% of the forty-eight animals on display in the world were captive-born. Organizations such as World Animal Protection and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation campaign against the practice of keeping them in captivity. In captivity, they often develop pathologies, such as the dorsal fin collapse seen in 60–90% of captive males. Captives have reduced life expectancy, on average only living into their 20s, although some live longer, including several over 30 years old and two, Corky II and Lolita, in their mid-40s. In the wild, females who survive infancy live 46 years on average and up to 70–80 years. Wild males who survive infancy live 31 years on average and can reach 50–60 years. Captivity usually bears little resemblance to wild habitat and captive whales' social groups are foreign to those found in the wild. Critics claim captive life is stressful due to these factors and the requirement to perform circus tricks that are not part of wild killer whale behavior. Wild killer whales may travel up to in a day and critics say the animals are too big and intelligent to be suitable for captivity. Captives occasionally act aggressively towards themselves, their tankmates, or humans, which critics say is a result of stress. Killer whales are well known for their performances in shows, but the number of orcas kept in captivity is small, especially when compared to the number of bottlenose dolphins, with only forty-four captive orcas being held in aquaria as of 2012. Each country has its own tank requirements; in the US, the minimum enclosure size is set by the Code of Federal Regulations, 9 CFR E § 3.104, under the Specifications for the Humane Handling, Care, Treatment and Transportation of Marine Mammals. Aggression among captive killer whales is common. They attack each other and their trainers as well. In 2013, SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales in captivity was the basis of the movie Blackfish, which documents the history of Tilikum, a killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando, who had been involved in the deaths of three people. The film led to proposals by some lawmakers to ban captivity of cetaceans, and led SeaWorld to announce in 2016 that it would phase out its killer whale program after various unsuccessful attempts to restore its revenues, reputation, and stock price. Others Dolphins and porpoises are kept in captivity. Bottlenose dolphins are the most common, as they are relatively easy to train, have a long lifespan in captivity and have a friendly appearance. Bottlenose dolphins live in captivity across the world, though exact numbers are hard to determine. Other species kept in captivity are spotted dolphins, false killer whales and common dolphins, Commerson's dolphins, as well as rough-toothed dolphins, but all in much lower numbers. There are also fewer than ten pilot whales, Amazon river dolphins, Risso's dolphins, spinner dolphins, or tucuxi in captivity. Two unusual and rare hybrid dolphins, known as wolphins, are kept at Sea Life Park in Hawaii, which is a cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. Also, two common/bottlenose hybrids reside in captivity at Discovery Cove and SeaWorld San Diego. In repeated attempts in the 1960s and 1970s, narwhals kept in captivity died within months. A breeding pair of pygmy right whales were retained in a netted area. They were eventually released in South Africa. In 1971, SeaWorld captured a California gray whale calf in Mexico at Scammon's Lagoon. The calf, later named Gigi, was separated from her mother using a form of lasso attached to her flukes. Gigi was displayed at SeaWorld San Diego for a year. She was then released with a radio beacon affixed to her back; however, contact was lost after three weeks. Gigi was the first captive baleen whale. JJ, another gray whale calf, was kept at SeaWorld San Diego. JJ was an orphaned calf that beached itself in April 1997 and was transported two miles to SeaWorld. The calf was a popular attraction and behaved normally, despite separation from his mother. A year later, the then whale though smaller than average, was too big to keep in captivity, and was released on April 1, 1998. A captive Amazon river dolphin housed at Acuario de Valencia is the only trained river dolphin in captivity. Here is a list of all the cetaceans that have been taken into captivity for either conservation, research or human entertainment and education purposes currently or in the past, temporarily or permanently. Killer whale Vaquita False killer whale Pygmy killer whale Long-finned pilot whale Short-finned pilot whale Bottlenose dolphin Beluga whale Pacific white-sided dolphin Risso's dolphin Atlantic white-sided dolphin Narwhal Spotted dolphin Spinner dolphin Common dolphin Harbour porpoise Finless porpoise Commerson's dolphin Rough-toothed dolphin Boto Tucuxi Wholphin Gray whale Pygmy sperm whale Irrawaddy dolphin Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Baiji Melon-headed whale South Asian river dolphin Minke whale References External links Scottish Cetacean Research & Rescue – see page on Taxonomy EIA Cetacean campaign: Reports and latest info. EIA in USA: reports etc. Extant Ypresian first appearances Mammal infraorders Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson sq:Balena

The Cyclone programming language is intended to be a safe dialect of the C language. Cyclone is designed to avoid buffer overflows and other vulnerabilities that are possible in C programs, without losing the power and convenience of C as a tool for system programming. Cyclone development was started as a joint project of AT&T Labs Research and Greg Morrisett's group at Cornell in 2001. Version 1.0 was released on May 8, 2006. Language features Cyclone attempts to avoid some of the common pitfalls of C, while still maintaining its look and performance. To this end, Cyclone places the following limits on programs: NULL checks are inserted to prevent segmentation faults Pointer arithmetic is limited Pointers must be initialized before use (this is enforced by definite assignment analysis) Dangling pointers are prevented through region analysis and limits on free() Only "safe" casts and unions are allowed goto into scopes is disallowed switch labels in different scopes are disallowed Pointer-returning functions must execute return setjmp and longjmp are not supported To maintain the tool set that C programmers are used to, Cyclone provides the following extensions: Never-NULL pointers do not require NULL checks "Fat" pointers support pointer arithmetic with run-time bounds checking Growable regions support a form of safe manual memory management Garbage collection for heap-allocated values Tagged unions support type-varying arguments Injections help automate the use of tagged unions for programmers Polymorphism replaces some uses of void * varargs are implemented as fat pointers Exceptions replace some uses of setjmp and longjmp For a better high-level introduction to Cyclone, the reasoning behind Cyclone and the source of these lists, see this paper. Cyclone looks, in general, much like C, but it should be viewed as a C-like language. Pointer types Cyclone implements three kinds of pointer: * (the normal type) @ (the never-NULL pointer), and ? (the only type with pointer arithmetic allowed, "fat" pointers). The purpose of introducing these new pointer types is to avoid common problems when using pointers. Take for instance a function, called foo that takes a pointer to an int: int foo(int *); Although the person who wrote the function foo could have inserted NULL checks, let us assume that for performance reasons they did not. Calling foo(NULL); will result in undefined behavior (typically, although not necessarily, a SIGSEGV signal being sent to the application). To avoid such problems, Cyclone introduces the @ pointer type, which can never be NULL. Thus, the "safe" version of foo would be: int foo(int @); This tells the Cyclone compiler that the argument to foo should never be NULL, avoiding the aforementioned undefined behavior. The simple change of * to @ saves the programmer from having to write NULL checks and the operating system from having to trap NULL pointer dereferences. This extra limit, however, can be a rather large stumbling block for most C programmers, who are used to being able to manipulate their pointers directly with arithmetic. Although this is desirable, it can lead to buffer overflows and other "off-by-one"-style mistakes. To avoid this, the ? pointer type is delimited by a known bound, the size of the array. Although this adds overhead due to the extra information stored about the pointer, it improves safety and security. Take for instance a simple (and naïve) strlen function, written in C: int strlen(const char *s) { int iter = 0; if (s == NULL) return 0; while (s[iter] != '\0') { iter++; } return iter; } This function assumes that the string being passed in is terminated by NULL ('\0'). However, what would happen if char buf[6] = {'h','e','l','l','o','!'}; were passed to this string? This is perfectly legal in C, yet would cause strlen to iterate through memory not necessarily associated with the string s. There are functions, such as strnlen which can be used to avoid such problems, but these functions are not standard with every implementation of ANSI C. The Cyclone version of strlen is not so different from the C version: int strlen(const char ? s) { int iter, n = s.size; if (s == NULL) return 0; for (iter = 0; iter < n; iter++, s++) { if (*s == '\0') return iter; } return n; } Here, strlen bounds itself by the length of the array passed to it, thus not going over the actual length. Each of the kinds of pointer type can be safely cast to each of the others, and arrays and strings are automatically cast to ? by the compiler. (Casting from ? to * invokes a bounds check, and casting from ? to @ invokes both a NULL check and a bounds check. Casting from * to ? results in no checks whatsoever; the resulting ? pointer has a size of 1.) Dangling pointers and region analysis Consider the following code, in C: char *itoa(int i) { char buf[20]; sprintf(buf,"%d",i); return buf; } Function itoa allocates an array of chars buf on the stack and returns a pointer to the start of buf. However the memory used on the stack for buf is deallocated when the function returns, so the returned value cannot be used safely outside of the function. While gcc and other compilers will warn about such code, the following will typically compile without warnings: char *itoa(int i) { char buf[20], *z; sprintf(buf,"%d",i); z = buf; return z; } gcc can produce warnings for such code as a side-effect of option -O2 or -O3, but there are no guarantees that all such errors will be detected. Cyclone does regional analysis of each segment of code, preventing dangling pointers, such as the one returned from this version of itoa. All of the local variables in a given scope are considered to be part of the same region, separate from the heap or any other local region. Thus, when analyzing itoa, the Cyclone compiler would see that z is a pointer into the local stack, and would report an error. See also C ML Rust References Cyclone User Manual Cyclone: a Type-safe Dialect of C by Dan Grossman, Michael Hicks, Trevor Jim, and Greg Morrisett - published January 2005 External links Cyclone Homepage Old web site since official web site is not available. Cyclone - Source code repositories Cyclone - FAQ Cyclone for C programmers Presentations: Cyclone: A Type-Safe Dialect of C Cyclone: A Memory-Safe C-Level Programming Language C programming language family

The Canadian Unitarian Council () (CUC) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada. It was formed on May 14, 1961, initially to be the national organization for Canadians belonging to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) which formed a day later on May 15, 1961. Between 1961 and 2002, almost all member congregations of the CUC were also members of the UUA and most services to congregations in Canada were provided by the UUA. However, in 2002, the CUC formally became a separate entity from the UUA, although the UUA continues to provide ministerial settlement services. Some Canadian congregations have continued to be members of both the CUC and the UUA, while most congregations are only members of the CUC. The Canadian Unitarian Council is the only national body for Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada and is a member of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. Organization The CUC is made up of 46 member congregations and emerging groups, who are the legal owners of the organization, and who are, for governance and service delivery, divided into four regions: "BC" (British Columbia), "Western" (Alberta to Thunder Bay), "Central" (between Thunder Bay and Kingston), and "Eastern" (Kingston, Ottawa and everything east of that). However, for youth ministry, the "Central" and "Eastern" regions are combined to form a youth region known as "QuOM" (Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes), giving the youth only three regions for their activities. The organization as a whole is governed by the CUC Board of Trusties (Board), whose mandate it is to govern in the best interests of the CUC's owners. The Board is made up of 8 members who are elected by congregational delegates at the CUC's Annual General Meeting. This consists of two Trustees from each region, who are eligible to serve a maximum of two three-year terms. Board meetings also include Official Observers to the Board, who participate without a vote and represent UU Youth and Ministers. Service delivery As members of the CUC, congregations and emerging groups are served by volunteer Service Consultants, Congregational Networks, and a series of other committees. There are two directors of regional services, one for the Western two regions, and one for the Eastern two regions. The Director of Lifespan Learning oversees development of religious exploration programming and youth and young adults are served by a Youth and Young Adult Ministry Development staff person. Annual conference and meeting Policies and business of the CUC are determined at the Annual Conference and Meeting (ACM), consisting of the Annual Conference, in which workshops are held, and the Annual General Meeting, in which business matters and plenary meetings are performed. The ACM features two addresses, a Keynote and a Confluence Lecture. The Confluence Lecture is comparable to the UUA's Ware Lecture in prestige. In early days this event simply consisted of the Annual General Meeting component as the Annual Conference component was not added to much later. And starting in 2017 the conference portion will only take place every second year. Past ACMs have been held in the following locations: ^Not an ACM, but an "Annual General Meeting" and "Symposium", and unlike ACMs it was organized by the CUC and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada instead of a local congregation. #Not a keynote presenter or lecturer, rather a symposium "provocateur". *Upcoming locations Principles and sources The CUC does not have a central creed in which members are required to believe, but they have found it useful to articulate their common values in what has become known as The Principles and Sources of our Religious Faith, which are currently based on the UUA's Principles and Purposes. The CUC had a task force whose mandate was to consider revising them. The principles and sources as published in church literature and on the CUC website Formation and relationship to the Unitarian Universalist Association The CUC formed on May 14, 1961 to be the national organization for Canadians within the about-to-form UUA (it formed a day later on May 15, 1961). And until 2002, almost all member congregations of the CUC were also members of the UUA and most services to CUC member congregations were provided by the UUA. However, after an agreement between the UUA and the CUC, since 2002 most services have been provided by the CUC to its own member congregations, with the UUA continuing to provide ministerial settlement services. And also since 2002, some Canadian congregations have continued to be members of both the UUA and CUC while others are members of only the CUC. The Canadian Unitarian Universalist youth of the day disapproved of the 2002 change in relationship between the CUC and UUA. It is quite evident in the words of this statement, which was adopted by the attendees of the 2001 youth conference held at the Unitarian Church of Montreal: We the youth of Canada are deeply concerned about the direction the CUC seems to be taking. As stewards of our faith, adults have a responsibility to take into consideration the concerns of youth. We are opposed to making this massive jump in our evolutionary progress. Canadian Unitarian Universalist Women's Association The Canadian Unitarian Universalist Women's Association (CUUWA), established in May 2011, is a women's rights organization associated with the CUC. The CUUWA gained initial support from Prairie Women's Gathering and the Vancouver Island Women's retreat, and has since become a nationally-recognized organization. Mission Originally called the Canadian Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation, the organization aims to raise awareness for women's education, rights, and equality of income. The association also aims to change societal attitudes about women and inform society of the issues women have faced locally and internationally. As a part of their mission, the CUUWA circulates educational materials that highlight women's contributions to society. The organization hosts an annual general meeting during the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference. Name of CUC and playful abbreviation of Unitarian Universalist While the name of the organization is the Canadian Unitarian Council, the CUC includes congregations with Unitarian, Universalist, Unitarian Universalist, and Universalist Unitarian in their names. Changing the name of the CUC has occasionally been debated, but there have been no successful motions. To recognize this diversity, some members of the CUC abbreviate Unitarian Universalist as U*U (and playfully read it as "You star, you"). Note, not all CUC members like this playful reading and so when these people write the abbreviation they leave out the star (*), just writing UU instead. See also First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto Lotta Hitschmanova References External links Official Website of The Canadian Unitarian Council Official Facebook Page of The Canadian Unitarian Council Unitarian Service Committee of Canada The CUC: From Colony to Nation, 1961–2002 Unitarian Universalist Congregations in Canada 1961 establishments in Ontario Congregational denominations established in the 20th century Congregationalism in Canada Religious organizations based in Canada Religious organizations established in 1961 Supraorganizations Unitarian Universalism in Canada Unitarian Universalist organizations

ClearType is Microsoft's implementation of subpixel rendering technology in rendering text in a font system. ClearType attempts to improve the appearance of text on certain types of computer display screens by sacrificing color fidelity for additional intensity variation. This trade-off is asserted to work well on LCD flat panel monitors. ClearType was first announced at the November 1998 COMDEX exhibition. The technology was first introduced in software in January 2000 as an always-on feature of Microsoft Reader, which was released to the public in August 2000. ClearType was significantly changed with the introduction of DirectWrite in Windows 7. Background Computer displays where the positions of individual pixels are permanently fixed such as most modern flat panel displays can show saw-tooth edges when displaying small, high-contrast graphic elements, such as text. ClearType uses spatial anti-aliasing at the subpixel level to reduce visible artifacts on such displays when text is rendered, making the text appear "smoother" and less jagged. ClearType also uses very heavy font hinting to force the font to fit into the pixel grid. This increases edge contrast and readability of small fonts at the expense of font rendering fidelity and has been criticized by graphic designers for making different fonts look similar. Like most other types of subpixel rendering, ClearType involves a compromise, sacrificing one aspect of image quality (color or chrominance detail) for another (light and dark or luminance detail). The compromise can improve text appearance when luminance detail is more important than chrominance. Only user and system applications render the application of ClearType. ClearType does not alter other graphic display elements (including text already in bitmaps). For example, ClearType enhancement renders text on the screen in Microsoft Word, but text placed in a bitmapped image in a program such as Adobe Photoshop is not. In theory, the method (called "RGB Decimation" internally) can enhance the anti-aliasing of any digital image. ClearType was invented in the Microsoft e-Books team by Bert Keely and Greg Hitchcock. It was then analyzed by researchers in the company, and signal processing expert John Platt designed an improved version of the algorithm. Dick Brass, a Vice President at Microsoft from 1997 to 2004, complained that the company was slow in moving ClearType to market in the portable computing field. How ClearType works Normally, the software in a computer treats the computer’s display screen as a rectangular array of square, indivisible pixels, each of which has an intensity and color that are determined by the blending of three primary colors: red, green, and blue. However, actual display hardware usually implements each pixel as a group of three adjacent, independent subpixels, each of which displays a different primary color. Thus, on a real computer display, each pixel is actually composed of separate red, green, and blue subpixels. For example, if a flat-panel display is examined under a magnifying glass, the pixels may appear as follows: In the illustration above, there are nine pixels but 27 subpixels. If the computer controlling the display knows the exact position and color of all the subpixels on the screen, it can take advantage of this to improve the apparent resolution in certain situations. If each pixel on the display actually contains three rectangular subpixels of red, green, and blue, in that fixed order, then things on the screen that are smaller than one full pixel in size can be rendered by lighting only one or two of the subpixels. For example, if a diagonal line with a width smaller than a full pixel must be rendered, then this can be done by lighting only the subpixels that the line actually touches. If the line passes through the leftmost portion of the pixel, only the red subpixel is lit; if it passes through the rightmost portion of the pixel, only the blue subpixel is lit. This effectively triples the horizontal resolution of the image at normal viewing distances; the drawback is that the line thus drawn will show color fringes (at some points it might look green, at other points it might look red or blue). ClearType uses this method to improve the smoothness of text. When the elements of a type character are smaller than a full pixel, ClearType lights only the appropriate subpixels of each full pixel in order to more closely follow the outlines of that character. Text rendered with ClearType looks “smoother” than text rendered without it, provided that the pixel layout of the display screen exactly matches what ClearType expects. The following picture shows a 4× enlargement of the word Wikipedia rendered using ClearType. The word was originally rendered using a Times New Roman 12 pt font. In this magnified view, it becomes clear that, while the overall smoothness of the text seems to improve, there is also color fringing of the text. An extreme close-up of a color display shows (a) text rendered without ClearType and (b) text rendered with ClearType. Note the changes in subpixel intensity that are used to increase effective resolution when ClearType is enabled without ClearType, all sub-pixels of a given pixel have the same intensity. In the above lines of text, when the orange circle is shown, all the text in the frame is rendered using ClearType (RGB subpixel rendering); when the orange circle is absent all the text is rendered using normal (full pixel greyscale) anti-aliasing. Human vision and cognition ClearType and similar technologies work on the theory that variations in intensity are more noticeable than variations in color. Expert opinion In a MSDN article, Microsoft acknowledges that "[te]xt that is rendered with ClearType can also appear significantly different when viewed by individuals with varying levels of color sensitivity. Some individuals can detect slight differences in color better than others." This opinion is shared by font designer Thomas Phinney (former CEO of FontLab, also formerly with Adobe Systems): "There is also considerable variation between individuals in their sensitivity to color fringing. Some people just notice it and are bothered by it a lot more than others." Software developer Melissa Elliott has written about finding ClearType rendering uncomfortable to read, saying that "instead of seeing black text, I see blue text, and rendered over it but offset by a pixel or two, I see orange text, and someone reached into a bag of purple pixel glitter and just tossed it on...I’m not the only person in the world with this problem, and yet, every time it comes up, people are quick to assure me it works for them as if that’s supposed to make me feel better." Hinting expert Beat Stamm, who worked on ClearType at Microsoft, agrees that ClearType may look blurry at 96 dpi, which was a typical resolution for LCDs in 2008, but adds that higher resolution displays improve on this aspect: "WPF [Windows Presentation Foundation] uses method C [ClearType with fractional pixel positioning], but few display devices have a sufficiently high resolution to make the potential blur a moot point for everybody. . . . Some people are ok with the blur in Method C, some aren’t. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some people are fine with Method C when reading continuous text at 96 dpi (e.g. Times Reader, etc.) but not in UI scenarios. Many people are fine with the colors of ClearType, even at 96 dpi, but a few aren’t… To my eyes and at 96 dpi, Method C doesn’t read as well as Method A. It reads “blurrily” to me. Conversely, at 144 dpi, I don’t see a problem with Method C. It looks and reads just fine to me." One illustration of the potential problem is the following image: In the above block of text, the same portion of text is shown in the upper half without and in the lower half with ClearType rendering (as opposed to Standard and ClearType in the previous image). This and the previous example with the orange circle demonstrate the blurring introduced. Empirical studies A 2001 study, conducted by researchers from Clemson University and The University of Pennsylvania on "18 users who spent 60 minutes reading fiction from each of three different displays" found that "When reading from an LCD display, users preferred text rendered with ClearType™. ClearType also yielded higher readability judgments and lower ratings of mental fatigue." A 2002 study on 24 users conducted by the same researchers from Clemson University also found that "Participants were significantly more accurate at identifying words with ClearType™ than without ClearType™." According to a 2006 study, at the University of Texas at Austin by Dillon et al., ClearType "may not be universally beneficial". The study notes that maximum benefit may be seen when the information worker is spending large proportions of their time reading text (which is not necessarily the case for the majority of computer users today). Additionally, over one third of the study participants experienced some disadvantage when using ClearType. Whether ClearType, or other rendering, should be used is very subjective and it must be the choice of the individual, with the report recommending "to allow users to disable [ClearType] if they find it produces effects other than improved performance". Another 2007 empirical study, found that "while ClearType rendering does not improve text legibility, reading speed or comfort compared to perceptually-tuned grayscale rendering, subjects prefer text with moderate ClearType rendering to text with grayscale or higher-level ClearType contrast." A 2007 survey, of the literature by Microsoft researcher Kevin Larson presented a different picture: "Peer-reviewed studies have consistently found that using ClearType boosts reading performance compared with other text-rendering systems. In a 2004 study, for instance, Lee Gugerty, a psychology professor at Clemson University, in South Carolina, measured a 17 percent improvement in word recognition accuracy with ClearType. Gugerty’s group also showed, in a sentence comprehension study, that ClearType boosted reading speed by 5 percent and comprehension by 2 percent. Similarly, in a study published in 2007, psychologist Andrew Dillon at the University of Texas at Austin found that when subjects were asked to scan a spreadsheet and pick out certain information, they did those tasks 7 percent faster with ClearType." Display requirements ClearType and allied technologies require display hardware with fixed pixels and subpixels. More precisely, the positions of the pixels and subpixels on the screen must be exactly known to the computer to which it is connected. This is the case for flat-panel displays, on which the positions of the pixels are permanently fixed by the design of the screen itself. Almost all flat panels have a perfectly rectangular array of square pixels, each of which contains three rectangular subpixels in the three primary colors, with the normal ordering being red, green, and blue, arranged in vertical bands. ClearType assumes this arrangement of pixels when rendering text. ClearType does not work properly with flat-panel displays that are operated at resolutions other than their “native” resolutions, since only the native resolution corresponds exactly to the actual positions of pixels on the screen of the display. If a display does not have the type of fixed pixels that ClearType expects, text rendered with ClearType enabled actually looks worse than type rendered without it. Some flat panels have unusual pixel arrangements, with the colors in a different order, or with the subpixels positioned differently (in three horizontal bands, or in other ways). ClearType needs to be manually tuned for use with such displays (see below). ClearType will not work as intended on displays that have no fixed pixel positions, such as CRT displays, however it will still have some antialiasing effect and may be preferable to some users as compared to non-anti-aliased type. Sensitivity to display orientation Because ClearType utilizes the physical layout of the red, green and blue pigments of the LCD screen, it is sensitive to the orientation of the display. ClearType in Windows XP supports the RGB and BGR sub pixel structures; rotated displays, in which the subpixels are stacked vertically rather than arranged horizontally, are not supported. Using ClearType on these display configurations will actually reduce the display quality. The best option for users of Windows XP having rotated LCD displays (Tablet PCs or swivel-stand LCD displays) is using regular anti-aliasing, or switching off font-smoothing altogether. The software developer documentation for Windows CE states that ClearType for rotated screens is supported on that platform. Implementations Windows XP (off by default) Windows Vista (on by default) Windows 7 (on by default) Windows 8: Only used in Windows 8 Desktop and all desktop apps Windows 10: Only used in Win32 apps and Win32 system features, not Universal Windows Platform. Internet Explorer 7 and later (on by default) Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 (on by default) Windows Live Messenger (on by default) Microsoft Reader ClearType is also an integrated component of the Windows Presentation Foundation text-rendering engine. ClearType Font Collection As part of the Vista release, Microsoft released a set of fonts, known as the ClearType Font Collection, thought to work well with the ClearType system: Calibri Cambria Candara Cariadings Consolas Constantia Corbel ClearType in GDI ClearType can be globally enabled or disabled for GDI applications. A control panel applet is available to let the users tune the GDI ClearType settings. The GDI implementation of ClearType does not support sub-pixel positioning. ClearType tuning Some versions of Microsoft Windows, as supplied, allow ClearType to be turned on or off, with no adjustment; other versions allow tuning of the ClearType parameters. A Microsoft ClearType tuner utility is available for free download for Windows versions lacking this facility. If ClearType is disabled in the operating system, applications with their own ClearType controls can still support it. Microsoft Reader (for e-books) has its own ClearType tuner. ClearType in WPF All text in Windows Presentation Foundation is anti-aliased and rendered using ClearType. There are separate ClearType registry settings for GDI and WPF applications, but by default the WPF entries are absent, and the GDI values are used in their absence. WPF registry entries can be tuned using the instructions from the MSDN WPF Text Blog. ClearType in WPF supports sub-pixel positioning, natural advance widths, Y-direction anti-aliasing and hardware acceleration. WPF supports aggressive caching of pre-rendered ClearType text in video memory. The extent to which this is supported is dependent on the video card. DirectX 10 cards will be able to cache the font glyphs in video memory, then perform the composition (assembling of character glyphs in the correct order, with the correct spacing), alpha blending (application of anti-aliasing), and RGB blending (ClearType's sub-pixel color calculations), entirely in hardware. This means that only the original glyphs need to be stored in video memory once per font (Microsoft estimates that this would require 2 MB of video memory per font), and other operations such as the display of anti-aliased text on top of other graphics including video can also be done with no computation effort on the part of the CPU. DirectX 9 cards will only be able to cache the alpha-blended glyphs in memory, thus requiring the CPU to handle glyph composition and alpha-blending before passing this to the video card. Caching these partially rendered glyphs requires significantly more memory (Microsoft estimates 5 MB per process). Cards that don't support DirectX 9 have no hardware-accelerated text rendering capabilities. ClearType in DirectWrite As pixel densities of displays improved and more high DPI screens became available, colored subpixel rendering became less of a necessity according to Microsoft. Also Windows tablet user interfaces evolved to support vertical screen orientations where the LCD color stripes would run horizontally. The original colored ClearType subpixel rendering was tuned to work optimally with horizontal orientation LCD displays where RGB or BGR stripes run vertically. For these reasons, DirectWrite which is the next-generation text rendering API from Microsoft moved away from color-aware ClearType. The font rendering engine in DirectWrite supports a different version of ClearType with only greyscale anti-aliasing, not color subpixel rendering, as demonstrated at PDC 2008. This version is sometimes called Natural ClearType but is often referred to simply as DirectWrite rendering (with the term "ClearType" being designated to only the RGB/BGR color subpixel rendering version). The improvements have been confirmed by independent sources, such as Firefox developers; they were particularly noticeable for OpenType fonts in Compact Font Format (CFF). Many Office 2013 apps including Word 2013, Excel 2013, parts of Outlook 2013 stopped using ClearType and switched to this DirectWrite greyscale antialiasing. The reasons invoked are, in the words of Murray Sargent: "There is a problem with ClearType: it depends critically on the color of the background pixels. This isn’t a problem if you know a priori that those pixels are white, which is usually the case for text. But the general case involves calculating what the colors should be for an arbitrary background and that takes time. Meanwhile, Word 2013 enjoys cool animations and smooth zooming. Nothing jumps any more. Even the caret (the blinking vertical line at the text insertion point) glides from one position to the next as you type. Jerking movement just isn’t considered cool any more. Well animations and zooms have to be faster than human response times in order to appear smooth. And that rules out ClearType in animated scenarios at least with present generation hardware. And in future scenarios, screens will have sufficiently high resolution that gray-scale anti-aliasing should suffice." For the same reasons related to animation performance and vertical screen orientations where the colored RGB/BGR ClearType antialiasing would be a problem, the color-aware version of ClearType was abandoned in Metro-style apps platform of Windows 8 (and Universal Windows Platform of Windows 10)., including the Start menu and everything not using classic Win32 APIs (GDI/GDI+). Patents ClearType is a registered trademark and Microsoft claims protection under the following U.S. patents, all expired: Subpixel rendering: – Method and apparatus for displaying images such as text – Mapping image data samples to pixel sub-components on a striped display device – Weighted mapping of image data samples to pixel sub-components on a display device – Methods and apparatus for performing image rendering and rasterization operations Complex color filtering: – Mapping samples of foreground/background color image data to pixel sub-components – Method and apparatus for detecting and reducing color artifacts in images – Methods apparatus and data structures for enhancing the resolution of images to be rendered on patterned display devices – Filtering image data to obtain samples mapped to pixel sub-components of a display device – Filtering image data to obtain samples mapped to pixel sub-components of a display device Subpixel font hinting and layout: – Methods and apparatus for performing grid fitting and hinting operations – Maintaining advance widths of existing characters that have been resolution enhanced ClearType tuning: – Method and apparatus for improving the quality of displayed images through the use of user reference information Other uses of the ClearType brand The ClearType name was also used to refer to the screens of Microsoft Surface tablets. ClearType HD Display indicates a 1366×768 screen, while ClearType Full HD Display indicates a 1920×1080 screen. See also Font rasterization FreeType CoolType – a similar technology by Adobe Quartz (graphics layer) Retina Display References External links Explanation of ClearType at Microsoft Typography Technical Overview of ClearType Filtering from Microsoft Research The Raster Tragedy at Low-Resolution Revisited – Beat Stamm's online book about rasterization, with an emphasis on ClearType Ron Feigenblatt's remarks on Microsoft ClearType John Markoff, "Microsoft's Cleartype Sets Off Debate on Originality", New York Times, December 7, 1998 Betrisey, C., Blinn, J. F., Dresevic, B., Hill, B., Hitchcock, G., Keely, B., Mitchell, D. P., Platt, J. C., Whitted, T., "Displaced Filtering for Patterned Displays", Proc. Society for Information Display Symposium, pp. 296–299, (2000). http://scien.stanford.edu/jfsite/Papers/ImageRendering/Displays/Farrell_et_al_SID2009.pdf Xu, J., Farrell, J., Matskewich, T., and Wandell, B. “Prediction of preferred Cleartype filters using the S-CIELAB metric”, IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, October 2008.ClearType Steven Sinofsky (23 June 2009) Engineering Changes to ClearType in Windows 7 Windows components Digital typography ClearType Font Collection Computer graphics algorithms

The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The CMC reports directly to the secretary of the Navy and is responsible for ensuring the organization, policy, plans, and programs for the Marine Corps as well as advising the president, the secretary of defense, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of the Navy on matters involving the Marine Corps. Under the authority of the secretary of the Navy, the CMC designates Marine personnel and resources to the commanders of Unified Combatant Commands. The commandant performs all other functions prescribed in Section 8043 in Title 10 of the United States Code or delegates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in his administration in his name. As with the other joint chiefs, the commandant is an administrative position and has no operational command authority over United States Marine Corps forces. The commandant is nominated for appointment by the president, for a four-year term of office, and must be confirmed by the Senate. The commandant can be reappointed to serve one additional term, but only during times of war or national emergency declared by Congress. By statute, the commandant is appointed as a four-star general while serving in office. "The commandant is directly responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the total performance of the Marine Corps. This includes the administration, discipline, internal organization, training, requirements, efficiency, and readiness of the service. The Commandant is also responsible for the operation of the Marine Corps material support system." Since 1806, the official residence of the commandant has been located in the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., and his main offices are in Arlington County, Virginia. Responsibilities The responsibilities of the commandant are outlined in Title 10, Section 5043, the United States Code and the position is "subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of the Navy". As stated in the U.S. Code, the commandant "shall preside over the Headquarters, Marine Corps, transmit the plans and recommendations of the Headquarters, Marine Corps, to the Secretary and advise the Secretary with regard to such plans and recommendations, after approval of the plans or recommendations of the Headquarters, Marine Corps, by the Secretary, act as the agent of the Secretary in carrying them into effect, exercise supervision, consistent with the authority assigned to commanders of unified or specified combatant commands under chapter 6 of this title, over such of the members and organizations of the Marine Corps and the Navy as the Secretary determines, perform the duties prescribed for him by section 171 of this title and other provisions of law and perform such other military duties, not otherwise assigned by law, as are assigned to him by the President, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of the Navy". List of commandants 38 men have served as the commandant of the Marine Corps. The first commandant was Samuel Nicholas, who took office as a captain, though there was no office titled "Commandant" at the time, and the Second Continental Congress had authorized that the senior-most Marine could take a rank up to Colonel. The longest-serving was Archibald Henderson, sometimes referred to as the "Grand old man of the Marine Corps" due to his thirty-nine-year tenure. In the history of the United States Marine Corps, only one Commandant has ever been fired from the job: Anthony Gale, as a result of a court-martial in 1820. |} Timeline See also Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Military Secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps References Notes General External links Joint Chiefs of Staff United States Marine Corps leadership United States Marine Corps lists

Claude Piron, also known by the pseudonym Johán Valano, was a Swiss psychologist, Esperantist, translator, and writer. He worked as a translator for the United Nations from 1956 to 1961 and then for the World Health Organization. He was a prolific author of Esperanto works. He spoke Esperanto from childhood and used it in Japan, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, in Africa and Latin America, and in nearly all the countries of Europe. Life Piron was a psychotherapist and taught from 1973 to 1994 in the psychology department at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. His French-language book Le défi des langues — Du gâchis au bon sens (The Language Challenge: From Chaos to Common Sense, 1994) is a kind of psychoanalysis of international communication. A Portuguese version, O desafio das linguas, was published in 2002 (Campinas, São Paulo, Pontes). In a lecture on the current system of international communication Piron argued that "Esperanto relies entirely on innate reflexes" and "differs from all other languages in that you can always trust your natural tendency to generalize patterns... The same neuropsychological law...—called by Jean Piaget generalizing assimilation—applies to word formation as well as to grammar." His diverse Esperanto writings include instructional books, books for beginners, novels, short stories, poems, articles and non-fiction books. His most famous works are Gerda malaperis! and La Bona Lingvo (The Good Language). Gerda malaperis! is a novella which uses basic grammar and vocabulary in the first chapter and builds up to expert Esperanto by the end, including word lists so that beginners may easily follow along. In La Bona Lingvo, Piron captured the basic linguistic and social aspects of Esperanto. He argued strongly for imaginative use of the basic Esperanto morpheme inventory and word-formation techniques, and against perceived unnecessary importation of neologisms from European languages. He also presented the idea that, once one has learned enough vocabulary to express himself, it is easier to think clearly in Esperanto than in many other languages. This book has influenced some speakers to form a clique using a variety of Esperanto which, according to Standard Esperantology, is a misinterpretation of the Fundamento de Esperanto: Piron is the author of a book in French, Le bonheur clés en main (The Keys to Happiness), which distinguishes among pleasure, happiness and joy. He showed how one may avoid contributing to his own "anti-happiness" (l'anti-bonheur) and how one may expand the areas of happiness in his life. Piron's view was that, while one may desire happiness, desire is not enough. He said that just as people must do certain things in order to become physically stronger, they must do certain things in order to become happier. See also Esperanto Machine translation References Claude Piron, Le défi des langues — Du gâchis au bon sens (The Language Challenge: From Chaos to Common Sense), Paris, L'Harmattan, 1994. Claude Piron, "Le bonheur clés en main" (The Keys to Happiness), Saint-Maurice, Saint Augustin, 1998. External links Articles and texts in many languages by Claude Piron Articles in English by Claude Piron --------- Writers of Esperanto literature 1931 births 2008 deaths Swiss Esperantists

Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers, being the second company after Columbia Data Products to legally reverse engineer the IBM Personal Computer. It rose to become the largest supplier of PC systems during the 1990s before being overtaken by HP in 2001. Struggling to keep up in the price wars against Dell, as well as with a risky acquisition of DEC, Compaq was acquired for US$25 billion by HP in 2002. The Compaq brand remained in use by HP for lower-end systems until 2013 when it was discontinued. The company was formed by Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto, all former Texas Instruments senior managers. Murto (SVP of sales) departed Compaq in 1987, while Canion (president and CEO) and Harris (SVP of engineering) left under a shakeup in 1991, which saw Eckhard Pfeiffer appointed president and CEO. Pfeiffer served through the 1990s. Ben Rosen provided the venture capital financing for the fledgling company and served as chairman of the board for 17 years from 1983 until September 28, 2000, when he retired and was succeeded by Michael Capellas, who served as the last chairman and CEO until its merger with HP. Prior to its takeover the company was headquartered in northwest unincorporated Harris County, Texas, that now continues as HP's largest United States facility. History Founding Compaq was founded in February 1982 by Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto, three senior managers from semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments. The three of them had left due to lack of faith and loss of confidence in TI's management, and initially considered but ultimately decided against starting a chain of Mexican restaurants. Each invested $1,000 to form the company, which was founded with the temporary name Gateway Technology. The name "COMPAQ" was said to be derived from "Compatibility and Quality" but this explanation was an afterthought. The name was chosen from many suggested by Ogilvy & Mather, it being the name least rejected. The first Compaq PC was sketched out on a placemat by Ted Papajohn while dining with the founders in a pie shop, (named House of Pies in Houston). Their first venture capital came from Benjamin M. Rosen and Sevin Rosen Funds, who helped the fledgling company secure $1.5 million to produce their initial computer. Overall, the founders managed to raise $25 million from venture capitalists, as this gave stability to the new company as well as providing assurances to the dealers or middlemen. Unlike many startups, Compaq differentiated its offerings from the many other IBM clones by not focusing mainly on price, but instead concentrating on new features, such as portability and better graphics displays as well as performance—and all at prices comparable to those of IBM's PCs. In contrast to Dell Computer and Gateway 2000, Compaq hired veteran engineers with an average of 15 years experience, which lent credibility to Compaq's reputation of reliability among customers. Due to its partnership with Intel, Compaq was able to maintain a technological lead in the market place as it was the first one to come out with computers containing the next generation of each Intel processor. Under Canion's direction, Compaq sold computers only through dealers to avoid potential competition that a direct sales channel would foster, which helped foster loyalty among resellers. By giving dealers considerable leeway in pricing Compaq's offerings, either a significant markup for more profits or discount for more sales, dealers had a major incentive to advertise Compaq. During its first year of sales (second year of operation), the company sold 53,000 PCs for sales of $111 million, the first start-up to hit the $100 million mark that fast. Compaq went public in 1983 on the NYSE and raised $67 million. In 1986, it enjoyed record sales of $329 million from 150,000 PCs, and became the youngest-ever firm to make the Fortune 500. In 1987, Compaq hit the $1 billion revenue mark, taking the least amount of time to reach that milestone. By 1991, Compaq held the fifth place spot in the PC market with $3 billion in sales that year. Two key marketing executives in Compaq's early years, Jim D'Arezzo and Sparky Sparks, had come from IBM's PC Group. Other key executives responsible for the company's meteoric growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s were Ross A. Cooley, another former IBM associate, who served for many years as SVP of GM North America; Michael Swavely, who was the company's chief marketing officer in the early years, and eventually ran the North America organization, later passing along that responsibility to Cooley when Swavely retired. In the United States, Brendan A. "Mac" McLoughlin (another long time IBM executive) led the company's field sales organization after starting up the Western U.S. Area of Operations. These executives, along with other key contributors, including Kevin Ellington, Douglas Johns, Steven Flannigan, and Gary Stimac, helped the company compete against the IBM Corporation in all personal computer sales categories, after many predicted that none could compete with the behemoth. The soft-spoken Canion was popular with employees and the culture that he built helped Compaq to attract the best talent. Instead of headquartering the company in a downtown Houston skyscraper, Canion chose a West Coast-style campus surrounded by forests, where every employee had similar offices and no-one (not even the CEO) had a reserved parking spot. At semi-annual meetings, turnout was high as any employee could ask questions to senior managers. In 1987, company co-founder Bill Murto resigned to study at a religious education program at the University of St. Thomas. Murto had helped to organize the company's marketing and authorized-dealer distribution strategy, and held the post of senior vice president of sales since June 1985. Murto was succeeded by Ross A. Cooley, director of corporate sales. Cooley would report to Michael S. Swavely, vice president for marketing, who was given increased responsibility and the title of vice president for sales and marketing. Introduction of Compaq Portable In November 1982, Compaq announced their first product, the Compaq Portable, a portable IBM PC compatible personal computer. It was released in March 1983 at $2995. The Compaq Portable was one of the progenitors of today's laptop; some called it a "suitcase computer" for its size and the look of its case. It was the second IBM PC compatible, being capable of running all software that would run on an IBM PC. It was a commercial success, selling 53,000 units in its first year and generating $111 million in sales revenue. The Compaq Portable was the first in the range of the Compaq Portable series. Compaq was able to market a legal IBM clone because IBM mostly used "off the shelf" parts for their PC. Furthermore, Microsoft had kept the right to license MS-DOS, the most popular and de facto standard operating system for the IBM PC, to other computer manufacturers. The only part which had to be duplicated was the BIOS, which Compaq did legally by using clean room design at a cost of $1 million. Unlike other companies, Compaq did not bundle application software with its computers. Vice President of Sales and Service H. L. Sparks said in early 1984: Compaq instead emphasized PC compatibility, of which Future Computing in May 1983 ranked Compaq as among the "Best" examples. "Many industry observers think [Compaq] is poised for meteoric growth", The New York Times reported in March of that year. By October, when the company announced the Compaq Plus with a 10 MB hard drive, PC Magazine wrote of "the reputation for compatibility it built with its highly regarded floppy disk portable". Compaq computers remained the most compatible PC clones into 1984, and maintained its reputation for compatibility for years, even as clone BIOSes became available from Phoenix Technologies and other companies that also reverse engineered IBM's design, then sold their version to clone manufacturers. Compaq Deskpro On June 28, 1984, Compaq released the Compaq Deskpro, a 16-bit desktop computer using an Intel 8086 microprocessor running at 7.14 MHz. It was considerably faster than an IBM PC and was, like the original Compaq Portable, also capable of running IBM software. It was Compaq's first non-portable computer and began the Deskpro line of computers. Compaq DeskPro 386 Compaq introduced the first PC based on Intel's new 80386 microprocessor, the Compaq Deskpro 386, in 1986. Bill Gates of Microsoft later said The Compaq 386 computer marked the first CPU change to the PC platform that was not initiated by IBM. An IBM-made 386 machine reached the market almost a year later, but by that time Compaq was the 386 supplier of choice and IBM had lost some of its prestige. For the first three months after announcement, the Deskpro 386 shipped with Windows/386. This was a version of Windows 2.1 adapted for the 80386 processor. Support for the virtual 8086 mode was added by Compaq engineers. (Windows, running on top of the MS-DOS operating system, would not become a popular "operating environment" until at least the release of Windows 3.0 in 1990.) Compaq SystemPro Compaq's technical leadership and the rivalry with IBM was emphasized when the SystemPro server was launched in late 1989 – this was a true server product with standard support for a second CPU and RAID, but also the first product to feature the EISA bus, designed in reaction to IBM's MCA (MicroChannel Architecture) which was incompatible with the original AT bus. Although Compaq had become successful by being 100 percent IBM-compatible, it decided to continue with the original AT bus—which it renamed ISA—instead of licensing IBM's MCA. Prior to developing EISA Compaq had invested significant resources into reverse engineering MCA, but its executives correctly calculated that the $80 billion already spent by corporations on IBM-compatible technology would make it difficult for even IBM to force manufacturers to adopt the new MCA design. Instead of cloning MCA, Compaq formed an alliance with Hewlett Packard and seven other major manufacturers, known collectively as the "Gang of Nine", to develop EISA. 1990s By 1989, The New York Times wrote that being the first to release a 80386-based personal computer made Compaq the leader of the industry and "hurt no company more - in prestige as well as dollars - than" IBM. The company was so influential that observers and its executives spoke of "Compaq compatible". InfoWorld reported that "In the [ISA market] Compaq is already IBM's equal in being seen as a safe bet", quoting a sell-side analyst describing it as "now the safe choice in personal computers". Even rival Tandy Corporation acknowledged Compaq's leadership, stating that within the Gang of Nine "when you have 10 people sit down before a table to write a letter to the president, someone has to write the letter. Compaq is sitting down at the typewriter". Ouster of co-founders Michael S. Swavely, president of Compaq's North American division since May 1989, took a six-month sabbatical in January 1991 (which would eventually become retirement effective on July 12, 1991). Eckhard Pfeiffer, then president of Compaq International, was named to succeed him. Pfeiffer also received the title of chief operating officer, with responsibility for the company's operations on a worldwide basis, so that Canion could devote more time to strategy. Swavely's abrupt departure in January led to rumors of turmoil in Compaq's executive suite, including friction between Canion and Swavely, likely as Swavely's rival Pfeiffer had received the number two leadership position. Swavely's U.S. marketing organization was losing ground with only 4% growth for Compaq versus 7% in the market, likely due to short supplies of the LTE 386s from component shortages, rivals that undercut Compaq's prices by as much as 35%, and large customers who did not like Compaq's dealer-only policy. Pfeiffer became president and CEO of Compaq later that year, as a result of a boardroom coup led by board chairman Ben Rosen that forced co-founder Rod Canion to resign as president and CEO. Pfeiffer had joined Compaq from Texas Instruments, and established operations from scratch in both Europe and Asia. Pfeiffer was given US$20,000 to start up Compaq Europe He started up Compaq's first overseas office in Munich in 1984. By 1990, Compaq Europe was a $2 billion business and number two behind IBM in that region, and foreign sales contributed 54 percent of Compaq's revenues. Pfeiffer, while transplanting Compaq's U.S. strategy of dealer-only distribution to Europe, was more selective in signing up dealers than Compaq had been in the U. S. such that European dealers were more qualified to handle its increasingly complex products. During the 1980s, under Canion's direction Compaq had focused on engineering, research, and quality control, producing high-end, high-performance machines with high profit margins that allowed Compaq to continue investing in engineering and next-generation technology. This strategy was successful as Compaq was considered a trusted brand, while many other IBM clones were untrusted due to being plagued by poor reliability. However, by the end of the eighties many manufacturers had improved their quality and were able to produce inexpensive PCs with off-the-shelf components, incurring none of the R&D costs which allowed them to undercut Compaq's expensive computers. Faced with lower-cost rivals such as Dell Computer, AST Research, and Gateway 2000, Compaq suffered a $71 million loss for that quarter, their first loss as a company, while the stock had dropped by over two-thirds. An analyst stated that "Compaq has made a lot of tactical errors in the last year and a half. They were trend-setters, now they are lagging". Canion initially believed that the 1990s recession was responsible for Compaq's declining sales but insisted that they would recover once the economy improved, however Pfeiffer's observation of the European market noted that it was competition as rivals could match Compaq at a fraction of the cost. Under pressure from Compaq's board to control costs as staff was ballooning at their Houston headquarters despite falling U.S. sales, while the number of non-U.S. employees had stayed constant, Compaq made its first-ever layoffs (1400 employees which was 12% of its workforce) while Pfeiffer was promoted to EVP and COO. Rosen and Canion had disagreed about how to counter the cheaper Asian PC imports, as Canion wanted Compaq to build lower cost PCs with components developed in-house in order to preserve Compaq's reputation for engineering and quality, while Rosen believed that Compaq needed to buy standard components from suppliers and reach the market faster. While Canion developed an 18-month plan to create a line of low-priced computers, Rosen sent his own Compaq engineering team to Comdex without Canion's knowledge and discovered that a low-priced PC could be made in half the time and at lower cost than Canion's initiative. It was also believed that Canion's consensus-style management slowed the company's ability to react in the market, whereas Pfeiffer's autocratic style would be suited to price and product competition. Rosen initiated a 14-hour board meeting, and the directors also interviewed Pfeiffer for several hours without informing Canion. At the conclusion, the board was unanimous in picking Pfeiffer over Canion. As Canion was popular with company workers, 150 employees staged an impromptu protest with signs stating "We love you, Rod." and taking out a newspaper ad saying "Rod, you are the wind beneath our wings. We love you." Canion declined an offer to remain on Compaq's board and was bitter about his ouster as he didn't speak to Rosen for years, although their relationship became cordial again. In 1999, Canion admitted that his ouster was justified, saying "I was burned out. I needed to leave. He [Rosen] felt I didn't have a strong sense of urgency". Two weeks after Canion's ouster, five other senior executives resigned, including remaining company founder James Harris as SVP of Engineering. These departures were motivated by an enhanced severance or early retirement, as well as an imminent demotion as their functions were to be shifted to vice presidents. Market ascension Under Pfeiffer's tenure as chief executive, Compaq entered the retail computer market with the Compaq Presario as one of the first manufacturers in the mid-1990s to market a sub-$1000 PC. In order to maintain the prices it wanted, Compaq became the first first-tier computer manufacturer to utilize CPUs from AMD and Cyrix. The two price wars resulting from Compaq's actions ultimately drove numerous competitors from the market, such as Packard Bell and AST Research. From third place in 1993, Compaq had overtaken Apple Computer and even surpassed IBM as the top PC manufacturer in 1994, as both IBM and Apple were struggling considerably during that time. Compaq's inventory and gross margins were better than that of its rivals which enabled it to wage the price wars. Compaq had decided to make a foray into printers in 1989, and the first models were released to positive reviews in 1992. However, Pfeiffer saw that the prospects of taking on market leader Hewlett Packard (who had 60% market share) was tough, as that would force Compaq to devote more funds and people to that project than originally budgeted. Compaq ended up selling the printer business to Xerox and took a charge of $50 million. On June 26, 1995, Compaq reached an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. in order to get into networking, including digital modems, routers, and switches favored by small businesses and corporate departments, which was now a $4 billion business and the fastest-growing part of the computer hardware market. Compaq also built up a network engineering and marketing staff. Management shuffle In 1996, despite record sales and profits at Compaq, Pfeiffer initiated a major management shakeup in the senior ranks. John T. Rose, who previously ran Compaq's desktop PC division, took over the corporate server business from SVP Gary Stimac who had resigned. Rose had joined Compaq in 1993 from Digital Equipment Corporation where he oversaw the personal computer division and worldwide engineering, while Stimac had been with Compaq since 1982 and was one of the longest-serving executives. Senior Vice-president for North America Ross Cooley announced his resignation effective at the end of 1996. CFO Daryl J. White, who joined the company in January, 1983 resigned in May, 1996 after 8 years as CFO. Michael Winkler, who joined Compaq in 1995 to run its portable computer division, was promoted to general manager of the new PC products group. Earl Mason, hired from Inland Steel effective in May 1996, immediately made an impact as the new CFO. Under Mason's guidance, Compaq utilized its assets more efficiently instead of focusing just on income and profits, which increased Compaq's cash from $700 million to nearly $5 billion in one year. Additionally, Compaq's return on invested capital (after-tax operating profit divided by operating assets) doubled to 50 percent from 25 percent in that period. Compaq had been producing the PC chassis at its plant in Shenzhen, China to cut costs. In 1996, instead of expanding its own plant, Compaq asked a Taiwanese supplier to set up a new factory nearby to produce the mechanicals, with the Taiwanese supplier owning the inventory until it reached Compaq in Houston. Pfeiffer also introduced a new distribution strategy, to build PCs made-to-order which would eliminate the stockpile of computers in warehouses and cut the components inventory down to two weeks, with the supply chain from supplier to dealer linked by complex software. Vice-president for Corporate Development Kenneth E. Kurtzman assembled five teams to examine Compaq's businesses and assess each unit's strategy and that of key rivals. Kurtzman's teams recommended to Pfeiffer that each business unit had to be first or second in its market within three years—or else Compaq should exit that line. Also, the company should no longer use profits from high-margin businesses to carry marginally profitable ones, as instead each unit must show a return on investment. Pfeiffer's vision was to make Compaq a full-fledged computer company, moving beyond its main business of manufacturing retail PCs and into the more lucrative business services and solutions that IBM did well at, such as computer servers which would also require more "customer handholding" from either the dealers or Compaq staff themselves. Unlike IBM and HP, Compaq would not build up field technicians and programmers in-house as those could be costly assets, instead Compaq would leverage its partnerships (including those with Andersen Consulting and software maker SAP) to install and maintain corporate systems. This allowed Compaq to compete in the "big-iron market" without incurring the costs of running its own services or software businesses. In January 1998, Compaq was at its height. CEO Pfeiffer boldly predicted that the Microsoft/Intel "Wintel" duopoly would be replaced by "Wintelpaq". Acquisitions Pfeiffer also made several major (and some minor) acquisitions. In 1997, Compaq bought Tandem Computers, known for their NonStop server line. This acquisition instantly gave Compaq a presence in the higher end business computing market. Minor acquisitions centered around building a networking arm and included NetWorth (1998) based in Irving, Texas and Thomas-Conrad (1998) based in Austin, Texas. In 1997 Microcom was also acquired, based in Norwood, MA, which brought a line of modems, Remote Access Servers (RAS) and the popular Carbon Copy software. In 1998, Compaq acquired Digital Equipment Corporation for a then-industry record of US$9 billion. The merger made Compaq, at the time, the world's second largest computer maker in the world in terms of revenue behind IBM. Digital Equipment, which had nearly twice as many employees as Compaq while generating half the revenue, had been a leading computer company during the 1970s and early 1980s. However, Digital had struggled during the 1990s, with high operating costs. For nine years the company had lost money or barely broke even, and had recently refocused itself as a "network solutions company". In 1995, Compaq had considered a bid for Digital but only became seriously interested in 1997 after Digital's major divestments and refocusing on the Internet. At the time of the acquisition, services accounted for 45 percent of Digital's revenues (about $6 billion) and their gross margins on services averaged 34 percent, considerably higher than Compaq's 25% margins on PC sales and also satisfying customers who had demanded more services from Compaq for years. Compaq had originally wanted to purchase only Digital's services business but that was turned down. When the announcement was made, it was initially viewed as a master stroke as it immediately gave Compaq a 22,000 person global service operation to help corporations handle major technological purchases (by 2001 services made up over 20% of Compaq's revenues, largely due to the Digital employees inherited from the merger), in order to compete with IBM. However it was also risky merger, as the combined company would have to lay off 2,000 employees from Compaq and 15,000 from Digital which would potentially hurt morale. Furthermore, Compaq fell behind schedule in integrating Digital's operations, which also distracted the company from its strength in low-end PCs where it used to lead the market in rolling out next-generation systems which let rival Dell grab market share. Reportedly Compaq had three consulting firms working to integrate Digital alone. However, Pfeiffer had little vision for what the combined companies should do, or indeed how the three dramatically different cultures could work as a single entity, and Compaq struggled from strategy indecisiveness and lost focus, as a result being caught in between the low end and high end of the market. Mark Anderson, president of Strategic News Service, a research firm based in Friday Harbor, Wash. was quoted as saying, "The kind of goals he had sounded good to shareholders – like being a $50 billion company by the year 2000, or to beat I.B.M. – but they didn't have anything to do with customers. The new C.E.O. should look at everything Eckhard acquired and ask: did the customer benefit from that. If the answer isn't yes, they should get rid of it." On one hand, Compaq had previously dominated the PC market with its price war but was now struggling against Dell, which sold directly to buyers, avoiding the dealer channel and its markup, and built each machine to order to keep inventories and costs at a minimum. At the same time, Compaq, through its acquisitions of the Digital Equipment Corporation last year and Tandem Computer in 1997, had tried to become a major systems company, like IBM and Hewlett-Packard. While IBM and HP were able generate repeat business from corporate customers to drive sales of their different divisions, Compaq had not yet managed to make its newly acquired sales and services organizations work as seamlessly. Ouster of Pfeiffer In early 1998, Compaq had the problem of bloated PC inventories. By summer 1998, Compaq was suffering from product-quality problems. Robert W. Stearns, SVP of Business Development, said "In [Pfeiffer's] quest for bigness, he lost an understanding of the customer and built what I call empty market share--large but not profitable", while Jim Moore, a technology strategy consultant with GeoPartners Research in Cambridge, Mass., says Pfeiffer "raced to scale without having economies of scale." The "colossus" that Pfeiffer built up was not nimble enough to adapt to the fast-changing computer industry. That year Compaq forecast demand poorly and overshipped too many PCs, causing resellers to dump them at fire sale prices, and since Compaq protected resellers from heavy losses it cost them two quarters of operating profits. Pfeiffer also refused to develop a potential successor, rebuffing Rosen's suggestion to recruit a few executives to create the separate position of Compaq president. The board complained that Pfeiffer was too removed from management and the rank-and-file, as he surrounded himself with a "clique" of Chief Financial Officer Earl Mason, Senior Vice-President John T. Rose, and Senior Vice-President of Human Resources Hans Gutsch. Current and former Compaq employees complained that Gutsch was part of a group of senior executives, dubbed the "A team", who controlled access to Pfeiffer. Gutsch was said to be a "master of corporate politics, pitting senior vice presidents against each other and inserting himself into parts of the company that normally would not be under his purview". Gutsch, who oversaw security, had an extensive security system and guard station installed on the eight floor of CCA-11, where the company's senior vice presidents worked. There were accusations that Gutsch and others sought to divide top management, although this was regarded by others as sour grapes on the part of executives who were shut out of planning that involved the acquisitions of Tandem and Digital Equipment Corp. Pfeiffer reduced the size of the group working on the deal due to news leaks, saying "We cut the team down to the minimum number of people - those who would have to be directly involved, and not one person more". Robert W. Stearns, Compaq's senior vice president for business development, with responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, had opposed the acquisition of Digital as the cultural differences between both companies were too great, and complained that he was placed on the "B team" as a result. Compaq entered 1999 with strong expectations. Fourth-quarter 1998 earnings reported in January 1999 beat expectations by six cents a share with record 48 percent growth. The company launched Compaq.com as the key for its new direct sales strategy, and planned an IPO for AltaVista toward the end of 1999 in order to capitalize on the dotcom bubble. However, by February 1999, analysts were sceptical of Compaq's plan to sell both direct and to resellers. Compaq was hit with two class-action lawsuits, as a result of CFO Earl Mason, SVP John Rose, and other executives selling US$50 million of stock before a conference call with analysts, where they noted that demand for PCs was slowing down. On April 17, 1999, just nine days after Compaq reported first-quarter profit being at half of what analysts had expected, the latest in a string of earnings disappointments, Pfeiffer was forced to resign as CEO in a coup led by board chairman Ben Rosen. Reportedly, at the special board meeting held on April 15, 1999, the directors were unanimous in dismissing Pfeiffer. The company's stock had fallen 50 percent since its all-time high in January 1999. Compaq shares, which traded as high as $51.25 early in 1999, dropped 23 percent on April 12, 1999, the first day of trading after the first-quarter announcement and closed the following Friday at $23.62. During three out of the last six quarters of Pfeiffer's tenure, the company's revenues or earnings had missed expectations. While rival Dell Computer had 55% growth in U.S. PC sales in the first quarter of 1999, Compaq could only manage 10%. Rosen suggested that the accelerating change brought about by the Internet had overtaken Compaq's management team, saying "As a company engaged in transforming its industry for the Internet era, we must have the organizational flexibility necessary to move at Internet speed." In a statement, Pfeiffer said "Compaq has come a long way since I joined the company in 1983" and "under Ben's guidance, I know this company will realize its potential." Rosen's priority was to have Compaq catchup as an E-commerce competitor, and he also moved to streamline operations and reduce the indecision that plagued the company. Roger Kay, an analyst at International Data Corporation, observed that Compaq's behavior at times seemed like a personal vendetta, noting that "Eckhard has been so obsessed with staying ahead of Dell that they focused too hard on market share and stopped paying attention to profitability and liquidity. They got whacked in a price war that they started." Subsequent earnings releases from Compaq's rivals, Dell, Gateway, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard suggested that the problems were not affecting the whole PC industry as Pfeiffer had suggested. Dell and Gateway sold direct, which helped them to avoid Compaq's inventory problems and compete on price without dealer markups, plus Gateway sold web access and a broad range of software tailored to small businesses. Hewlett-Packard's PC business had similar challenges like Compaq but this was offset by HP's extremely lucrative printer business, while IBM sold PCs at a loss but used them to lock in multi-year services contracts with customers. After Pfeiffer's resignation, the board established an office of the CEO with a triumvirate of directors; Rosen as interim CEO and vice chairmen Frank P. Doyle and Robert Ted Enloe III. They began "cleaning house", as shortly afterward many of Pfeiffer's top executives resigned or were pushed out, including John J. Rando, Earl L. Mason, and John T. Rose. Rando, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq Services, was a key player during the merger discussions and the most senior executive from Digital to remain with Compaq after the acquisition closed and had been touted by some as the heir-apparent to Pfeiffer. Rando's division had performed strongly as it had sales of $1.6 billion for the first quarter compared to $113 million in 1998, which met expectations and was anticipated to post accelerated and profitable growth going forward. At the time of Rando's departure, Compaq Services ranked third behind those of IBM and EDS, while slightly ahead of Hewlett-Packard's and Andersen Consulting, however customers switched from Digital and Tandem technology-based workstations to those of HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Mason, senior vice president and chief financial officer, had previously been offered the job of chief executive of Alliant Foodservice, Inc., a foodservice distributor based in Chicago, and he informed Compaq's board that he accepted the offer. Rose, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq's Enterprise Computing group, resigned effective as of June 3 and was succeeded by Tandem veteran Enrico Pesatori. Rose was reportedly upset that he was not considered for the CEO vacancy, which became apparent once Michael Capellas was named COO. While Enterprise Computing, responsible for engineering and marketing of network servers, workstations and data-storage products, reportedly accounted for one third of Compaq's revenues and likely the largest part of its profits, it was responsible for the earnings shortfall in Q1 of 1999. In addition, Rose was part of the "old guard" close to former CEO Pfeiffer, and he and other Compaq executives had been criticized at the company's annual meeting for selling stock before reporting the sales slowdown. Rose was succeeded by SVP Enrico Pesatori, who had previously worked as a senior executive at Olivetti, Zenith Data Systems, Digital Equipment Corp. and Tandem Computers. Capellas was appointed COO after pressure mounted on Rosen to find a permanent CEO, however it was reported that potential candidates did not want to work under Rosen as chairman. Around the same time Pesatori was placed in charge of the newly created Enterprise Solutions and Services Group, making him Compaq's second most powerful executive in operational responsibility after Capellas. Pfeiffer's permanent replacement was Michael Capellas, who had been serving as Compaq's SVP and CIO for under a year. A couple months after Pfeiffer's ouster, Capellas was elevated to interim chief operating officer on June 2, 2000, and was soon appointed president and CEO. Capellas also assumed the title of chairman on September 28, 2000, when Rosen stepped down from the board of directors. At his retirement, Rosen proclaimed "These are great achievements—to create 65,000 jobs, $40 billion in sales and $40 billion in market value, all starting with a sketch and a dream". Late 1990s–2000s Struggles Capellas was able to restore some of the luster lost in the latter part of the Pfeiffer era and he repaired the relationship with Microsoft which had deteriorated under his predecessor's tenure. However Compaq still struggled against lower-cost competitors with direct sales channels such as Dell who took over the top spot of PC manufacturer from Compaq in 2001. Compaq relied significantly on reseller channels, so their criticism caused Compaq to retreat from its proposed direct sales plan, although Capellas maintained that he would use the middlemen to provide value-added services. Despite falling to No. 2 among PC manufacturers, Capellas proclaimed "We are No. 2 in the traditional PC market, but we're focused on industry leadership in the next generation of Internet access devices and wireless mobility. That's where the growth and the profitability will be." The company's longer-term strategy involved extending its services to servers and storage products, as well as handheld computers such as the iPAQ PocketPC which accounted for 11 percent of total unit volume. During November 1999, Compaq began to work with Microsoft to create the first in a line of small-scale, web-based computer systems called MSN Companions. In 1998, Compaq also signed new sales and equipment alliance with NaviSite. Under the pact, Compaq agreed to promote and sell NaviSite Web hosting services. In return, NaviSite took Compaq as a preferred provider for its storage and Intel-based servers. Compaq struggled as a result of the collapse of the Dot-com bubble, which hurt sales of their high-end systems in 2001 and 2002, and they managed only a small profit in a few quarters during these years. They also accumulated $1.7 billion in short-term debt around this time. The stock price of Compaq, which was around $25 when Capellas became CEO, was trading at half that by 2002. Acquisition by Hewlett-Packard In 2002, Compaq signed a merger agreement with Hewlett-Packard for $24.2 billion, including $14.45 billion for goodwill, where each Compaq share would be exchanged for 0.6325 of a Hewlett-Packard share. There would be a termination fee of US$675 million that either company would have to pay the other to break the merger. Compaq shareholders would own 36% of the combined company while HP's would have 64%. Hewlett-Packard had reported yearly revenues of $47 billion, while Compaq's was $40 billion, and the combined company would have been close to IBM's $90 billion revenues. It was projected to have $2.5 billion in annual cost savings by mid-2004. The expected layoffs at Compaq and HP, 8500 and 9000 jobs, respectively, would leave the combined company with a workforce of 145,000. The companies would dole out a combined $634.5 million in bonuses to prevent key employees from leaving if shareholders approve the proposed merger, with $370.1 million for HP employees and $264.4 million for Compaq employees. Both companies had to seek approval from their shareholders through separate special meetings. While Compaq shareholders unanimously approved the deal, there was a public proxy battle within HP as the deal was strongly opposed by numerous large HP shareholders, including the sons of the company founders, Walter Hewlett and David W. Packard, as well as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. Walter Hewlett only reluctantly approved the merger, in his duty as a member of the board of directors, since the merger agreement "called for unanimous board approval in order to ensure the best possible shareholder reception". While supporters of the merger argued that there would be economies of scale and that the sales of PCs would drive sales of printers and cameras, Walter Hewlett was convinced that PCs were a low-margin but risky business that would not contribute and would likely dilute the old HP's traditionally profitable Imaging and Printing division. David W. Packard in his opposition to the deal "[cited] massive layoffs as an example of this departure from HP’s core values...[arguing] that although the founders never guaranteed job security, 'Bill and Dave never developed a premeditated business strategy that treated HP employees as expendable.'" Packard further stated that "[Carly] Fiorina’s high-handed management and her efforts to reinvent the company ran counter to the company’s core values as established by the founders". The founders' families who controlled a significant amount of HP shares were further irked because Fiorina had made no attempt to reach out to them and consult about the merger, instead they received the same standard roadshow presentation as other investors. Analysts on Wall Street were generally critical of the merger, as both companies had been struggling before the announcement, and the stock prices of both companies dropped in the months after the merger agreement was made public. Particularly rival Dell made gains from defecting HP and Compaq customers who were wary of the merger. Carly Fiorina, initially seen as HP's savior when she was hired as CEO back in 1999, had seen the company's stock price drop to less than half since she assumed the position, and her job was said to be on shaky ground before the merger announcement. HP's offer was regarded by analysts to be overvaluing Compaq, due to Compaq's shaky financial performance in the past recent years (there were rumors that it could run out of money in 12 months and be forced to cease business operations had it stayed independent), as well as Compaq's own more conservative valuation of its assets. Detractors of the deal noted that buying Compaq was a "distraction" that would not directly help HP take on IBM's breadth or Dell Computer's direct sales model. Plus there were significant cultural differences between HP and Compaq; which made decisions by consensus and rapid autocratic styles, respectively. One of Compaq's few bright spots was its services business, which was outperforming HP's own services division. The merger was approved by HP shareholders only after the narrowest of margins, and allegations of vote buying (primarily involving an alleged last-second back-room deal with Deutsche Bank) haunted the new company. It was subsequently disclosed that HP had retained Deutsche Bank's investment banking division in January 2002 to assist in the merger. HP had agreed to pay Deutsche Bank $1 million guaranteed, and another $1 million contingent upon approval of the merger. On August 19, 2003, the U.S. SEC charged Deutsche Bank with failing to disclose a material conflict of interest in its voting of client proxies for the merger and imposed a civil penalty of $750,000. Deutsche Bank consented without admitting or denying the findings. Compaq's pre-merger ticker symbol was CPQ. This was combined with Hewlett-Packard's ticker symbol (HWP) to create the current ticker symbol (HPQ). Post-merger Capellas, Compaq's last chairman and CEO, became president of the post-merger Hewlett-Packard, under chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina, to ease the integration of the two companies. However, Capellas was reported not to be happy with his role, being said not to be utilized and being unlikely to become CEO as the board supported Fiorina. Capellas stepped down as HP president on November 12, 2002, after just six months on the job, to become CEO of MCI Worldcom where he would lead its acquisition by Verizon. Capellas' former role of president was not filled as the executives who reported to him then reported directly to the CEO. Fiorina helmed the post-merger HP for nearly three years after Capellas left. HP laid off thousands of former Compaq, DEC, HP, and Tandem employees, its stock price generally declined and profits did not perk up. Several senior executives from the Compaq side including Jeff Clarke and Peter Blackmore would resign or be ousted from the post-merger HP. Though the combination of both companies' PC manufacturing capacity initially made the post-merger HP number one, it soon lost the lead and further market share to Dell which squeezed HP on low end PCs. HP was also unable to compete effectively with IBM in the high-end server market. In addition, the merging of the stagnant Compaq computer assembly business with HP's lucrative printing and imaging division was criticized for obstructing the profitability of the printing/imaging segment. Overall, it has been suggested that the purchase of Compaq was not a good move for HP, due to the narrow profit margins in the commoditized PC business, especially in light of IBM's 2004 announcement to sell its PC division to Lenovo. The Inquirer noted that the continued low return on investment and small margins of HP's personal computer manufacturing business, now named the Personal Systems Group, "continues to be what it was in the individual companies, not much more than a job creation scheme for its employees". One of the few positives was Compaq's sales approach and enterprise focus that influenced the newly combined company's strategy and philosophy. In February 2005, the board of directors ousted Fiorina, with CFO Robert Wayman being named interim CEO. Former Compaq CEO Capellas was mentioned by some as a potential successor, but several months afterwards, Mark Hurd was hired as president and CEO of HP. Hurd separated the PC division from the imaging and printing division and renamed it the Personal Systems Group, placing it under the leadership of EVP Todd R. Bradley. Hewlett Packard's PC business has since been reinvigorated by Hurd's restructuring and now generates more revenue than the traditionally more profitable printers. By late 2006, HP had retaken the #1 sales position of PCs from Dell, which struggled with missed estimates and poor quality, and held that rank until supplanted in the mid-2010s by Lenovo. Most Compaq products have been re-branded with the HP nameplate, such as the company's market leading ProLiant server line (now owned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which spun off from HP in 2015), while the Compaq brand was repurposed for some of HP's consumer-oriented and budget products, notably Compaq Presario PCs. HP's business computers line was discontinued in favour of the Compaq Evo line, which was rebranded HP Compaq. HP's Jornada PDAs were replaced by Compaq iPAQ PDAs, which were renamed HP iPAQ. Following the merger, all Compaq computers were shipped with HP software. In May 2007, HP announced in a press release a new logo for their Compaq Division to be placed on the new model Compaq Presarios. In 2008, HP reshuffled its business line notebooks. The "Compaq" name from its "HP Compaq" series was originally used for all of HP's business and budget notebooks. However, the HP EliteBook line became the top of the business notebook lineup while the HP Compaq B series became its middle business line. As of early 2009, the "HP ProBook" filled out HP's low end business lineup. In 2009, HP sold part of Compaq's former headquarters to the Lone Star College System. On August 18, 2011, then-CEO of HP Leo Apotheker announced plans for a partial or full spinoff of the Personal Systems Group. The PC unit had the lowest profit margin although it accounted for nearly a third of HP's overall revenues in 2010. HP was still selling more PCs than any other vendor, shipping 14.9 million PCs in the second quarter of 2011 (17.5% of the market according to Gartner), while Dell and Lenovo were tied for second place, each with more than a 12% share of the market and shipments of over 10 million units. However, the announcement of the PC spinoff (concurrent with the discontinuation of WebOS, and the purchase of Autonomy Corp. for $10 billion) was poorly received by the market, and after Apotheker's ouster, plans for a divestiture were cancelled. In March 2012, the printing and imaging division was merged into the PC unit. In October 2012, according to Gartner, Lenovo took the lead as the number one PC manufacturer from HP, while IDC ranked Lenovo just right behind HP. In Q2 2013, Forbes reported that Lenovo ranked ahead of HP as the world's number-one PC supplier. HP discontinued the Compaq brand name in the United States in 2013. In 2015, the Argentine company Grupo Newsan acquired the brand's license, along with a $3 million investment, and developed two new lines of Presario notebooks for the local market over the course of the year. By March 2019, Compaq's Argentine web site went offline, with the last archived copy dated October 2018, featuring the same models introduced in 2016. Around 2013, Globalk (a Brazilian-based retailer and licensing management firm) started at partnership with HP, to re-introduce the brand with a new line of desktop and laptop computers. and in 2018, Ossify Industries (an Indian-based company) entered a licensing agreement with HP, to use the Compaq brand name for the distribution and manufacturing of Smart TV sets Headquarters Compaq World Headquarters (now HP United States) campus consisted of of land which contained 15 office buildings, 7 manufacturing buildings, a product conference center, an employee cafeteria, mechanical laboratories, warehouses, and chemical handling facilities. Instead of headquartering the company in a downtown Houston skyscraper, then-CEO Rod Canion chose a West Coast-style campus surrounded by forests, where every employee had similar offices and no-one (not even the CEO) had a reserved parking spot. As it grew, Compaq became so important to Houston that it negotiated the expansion of Highway 249 in the late 1980s, and many other technology companies appeared in what became known as the "249 Corridor". After Canion's ouster, senior vice-president of human resources, Hans W. Gutsch, oversaw the company's facilities and security. Gutsch had an extensive security system and guard station installed on the eight floor of CCA-1, where the company's senior vice presidents had their offices. Eckhard Pfeiffer, president and CEO, introduced a whole series of executive perks to a company that had always had an egalitarian culture; for instance, he oversaw the construction of an executive parking garage, previously parking places had never been reserved. On August 31, 1998, the Compaq Commons was opened in the headquarters campus, which featured a conference center, an employee convenience store, a wellness center, and an employee cafeteria. In 2009, HP sold part of Compaq's former headquarters to the Lone Star College System. Hewlett Packard Buildings #7 & #8, two eight-story reinforced concrete buildings totaling 450,000 square feet, plus a 1,200-car parking garage and a central chiller plant, were all deemed by the college to be too robust and costly to maintain so they were demolished by implosion on September 18, 2011. the site is one of HP's largest campuses, with 7,000 employees in all six of HP's divisions.. In 2018 HP announced the sale of the entire former Compaq HQ campus. Competitors Compaq originally competed directly against IBM, manufacturing computer systems equivalent with the IBM PC, as well as Apple Computer. In the 1990s, as IBM's own PC division declined, Compaq faced other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers like Dell Computer, Packard Bell, AST Research, and Gateway 2000. By the mid-1990s, Compaq's price war had enabled it to overtake IBM and Apple, while other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers such as Packard Bell and AST were driven from the market. Dell became the number-one supplier of PCs in 2001. At the time of their 2002 merger, Compaq and HP were the second and third largest PC manufacturers, so their combination made them number one. However, the combined HP-Compaq struggled and fell to second place behind Dell from 2003 to 2006. Due to Dell's struggles in late 2006, HP has led all PC vendors from 2007 to 2012. During its existence as a division of HP, Compaq primarily competed against other budget-oriented personal computer series from manufacturers including Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba. Most of Compaq's competitors except Dell were later acquired by bigger rivals like Acer (Gateway 2000 and Packard Bell) and Lenovo absorbing IBM's PC division. Lenovo has been the PC world leader from 2013 onwards. Sponsorship Before its merger with HP, Compaq sponsored the Williams Formula One team when it was still powered by BMW engines. HP inherited and continued the sponsorship deal for a few years. Compaq sponsored Queens Park Rangers F.C. for the 1994–5 and 1995–96 seasons. See also Compaq Portable series List of computer system manufacturers Market share of personal computer vendors Notes References External links Silicon Cowboys (2016) Documentary – How Compaq Ended IBM's PC Domination and Helped Invent Modern Computing book Compaq Alumni Group 1982 establishments in Texas 2002 disestablishments in Texas American companies established in 1982 American companies disestablished in 2002 Computer companies established in 1982 Computer companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct companies based in Texas Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Display technology companies Hewlett-Packard acquisitions Manufacturing companies based in Houston 2002 mergers and acquisitions Texas Instruments spinoffs

The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of the Sea Knight, which was originally designated by the firm as the Vertol Model 107, commenced during 1956. It was envisioned as a successor to the first generation of rotorcraft, such as the H-21 "Flying Banana", that had been powered by piston engines; in its place, the V-107 made use of the emergent turboshaft engine. On 22 April 1958, the V-107 prototype performed its maiden flight. During June 1958, the US Army awarded a contract for the construction of ten production-standard aircraft, designated as the YHC-1A, based on the V-107; this initial order was later cut down to three YHC-1As though. During 1961, the US Marine Corps (USMC), which had been studying its requirements for a medium-lift, twin-turbine cargo/troop assault helicopter, selected Boeing Vertol's Model 107M as the basis from which to manufacture a suitable rotorcraft to meet their needs. Known colloquially as the "Phrog" and formally as the "Sea Knight", it was operated across all US Marine Corps' operational environments between its introduction during the Vietnam War and its frontline retirement during 2014. The Sea Knight was operated by the USMC to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment until it was replaced by the MV-22 Osprey during the 2010s. The USMC also used the helicopter for combat support, search and rescue (SAR), casualty evacuation and Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP). The Sea Knight also functioned as the US Navy's standard medium-lift utility helicopter prior to the type being phased out of service in favor of the MH-60S Knighthawk during the early 2000s. Several overseas operators acquired the rotorcraft as well. Canada operated the Sea Knight, designated as CH-113; the type was used predominantly in the SAR role until 2004. Other export customers for the type included Japan, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. The commercial version of the rotorcraft is the BV 107-II, commonly referred to simply as the "Vertol". Development Origins During the 1940s and 1950s, American rotorcraft manufacturer Piasecki Helicopter emerged as a pioneering developer of tandem-rotor helicopters; perhaps the most famous of these being the piston-powered H-21 "Flying Banana", an early utility and transport helicopter. During 1955, Piasecki was officially renamed as Vertol Corporation (standing for vertical take-off and landing); it was around this time that work commenced on the development of a new generation of tandem rotor helicopter. During 1956, the new design received the internal company designation of Vertol Model 107, or simply V-107; this rotorcraft differed from its predecessors by harnessing the newly developed turboshaft engine instead of piston-based counterparts. During that year, construction of a prototype, powered by a pair of Lycoming T53 turboshaft engines, each one being capable of producing 877 shp (640 kW), commenced. On 22 April 1958, the V-107 prototype performed its maiden flight. In order to garner publicity for the newly developed rotorcraft, it was decided to use the prototype to conduct a series of publicised flight demonstrations during a tour across the United States and several overseas nations. During June 1958, it was announced that the U.S. Army had awarded a contract to Vertol for the construction of ten production-standard aircraft based on the V-107, which were designated YHC-1A. However, this order was later decreased to three helicopters; according to aviation author Jay P. Spenser, the cutback had been enacted in order that the U.S. Army would be able to divert funds for the development of the rival V-114 helicopter, which was also a turbine-powered tandem rotor design but substantially larger than the V-107. All of the U.S. Army's three YHC-1As were powered by pairs of GE-T-58 engines. During August 1959, the first YHC-1A-model rotorcraft conducted its first flight; independently, it was shortly followed by the maiden flight of an improved model intended for the commercial and export markets, designated 107-II. During 1960, the U.S. Marine Corps evolved a requirement for a medium-lift, twin-turbine troop/cargo assault helicopter to replace the various piston-engined types that were then in widespread use with the service. That same year, American aviation company Boeing acquired Vertol, after which the group was consequently renamed Boeing Vertol. Following a competition between several competing designs, during early 1961, it was announced that Boeing Vertol had been selected to manufacture its model 107M for the U.S. Marine Corps, where it was designated HRB-1. During 1962, the U.S. Air Force placed its own order for 12 XCH-46B Sea Knight helicopters, which used the XH-49A designation; however, the service later decided to cancel the order due to delays in its delivery; instead, the U.S. Air Force opted to procure the rival Sikorsky S-61R in its place. Following the Sea Knight's first flight in August 1962, the military designation was changed to CH-46A. During November 1964, the introduction of the Marines' CH-46A and the Navy's UH-46As commenced. The UH-46A variant was a modified version of the rotorcraft to perform the vertical replenishment mission. The CH-46A was equipped with a pair of T58-GE8-8B turboshaft engines, each being rated at 1,250 shp (930 kW); these allowed the Sea Knight to carry up to 17 passengers or a maximum of 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg) of cargo. Further developments During 1966, production of the improved CH-46D commenced with deliveries following shortly thereafter. This model featured various improvements, including modified rotor blades and the adoption of more powerful T58-GE-10 turboshaft engines, rated at each. The increased power of these new engines allowed the CH-46D to carry an increased payload, such as up to 25 troops or a maximum of of cargo. During late 1967, the improved model was introduced to the Vietnam theater, where it supplemented the U.S. Marine Corps' existing CH-46A fleet, which had proven to be relatively unreliable and problematic in service. Along with the USMC's CH-46Ds, the U.S. Navy also acquired a small number of UH-46Ds for ship resupply purposes. In addition, approximately 33 CH-46As were progressively re-manufactured to the CH-46D standard. Between 1968 and 1971, the U.S. Marine Corps received a number of CH-46F standard rotorcraft. This model retained the T58-GE-10 engines used on the CH-46D while featuring revised avionics and featured a number of other modifications. The CH-46F was the final production model of the type. During its service life, the Sea Knight received a variety of upgrades and modifications. Over time, the majority of the U.S. Marine Corps' Sea Knights were upgraded to the improved CH-46E standard. This model featured fiberglass rotor blades, reinforcement measures throughout the airframe, along with the refitting of further uprated T58-GE-16 engines, capable of producing each; in addition, several CH-46Es were modified to double their maximum fuel capacity. Starting in the mid-1990s, the Dynamic Component Upgrade (DCU) programmes was enacted, focusing on the implementation of strengthened drive systems and modified rotor controls. The commercial variant, the BV 107-II, was first ordered by New York Airways during 1960. During July 1962, they took delivery of their first three aircraft, which was configured to seat up to 25 passengers. During 1965, Boeing Vertol sold the manufacturing rights of the 107 to Japanese conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Under this arrangement, all Model 107 civilian and military aircraft built in Japan were referred to by the KV 107 designation. On 15 December 2006, Columbia Helicopters, Inc acquired the type certificate for the BV 107-II; at the time, the company was reportedly in the process of acquiring a Production Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Plans for actual production of the aircraft were not announced. Design The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter, furnished with a set of counter-rotating main rotors in a tandem-rotor configuration. It was typically powered by a pair of General Electric T58 turboshaft engines, which were mounted on each side of the rear rotor pedestal; power to the forward rotor was transferred from the rear-mounted engines via a drive shaft. For redundancy, both engines are coupled so that either one would be capable of powering both of the main rotors in the event of a single engine failure or a similar emergency situation. Each of the rotors feature three blades, which can be folded to better facilitate storage and naval operations. The CH-46 features a fixed tricycle landing gear, complete with twin wheels on all three legs of the landing gear; this configuration results in a nose-up stance, helping to facilitate cargo loading and unloading. Two of the main landing gear were installed within protruding rear sponsons; the free interior space of the sponsons are also used to house fuel tanks, possessing a total capacity of 350 US gallons (1,438 L). The interior of the CH-46 was largely taken up by its cargo bay, complete with a rear loading ramp that could be removed or left open in flight for the carriage of extended cargoes or for parachute drops. Various furnishings were normally provided to aid in its use as a utility rotorcraft, such as an internal winch mounted within the forward cabin, which can be used to assisting loading by pulling external cargo on pallets into the aircraft via the ramp and rollers, and an optionally-attached belly-mounted cargo hook, which would be usually rated at for carrying cargoes externally underneath the Sea Knight; despite the hook having been rated at , this was safety restricted to less payload as they got older. When operated in a typical configuration, the CH-46 would usually be operated by a crew of three; a larger crew could be accommodated when required, which would be dependent upon mission specifics. For example, a search and rescue (SAR) variant would usually carry a crew of five (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Crew Chief, Swimmer, and Medic) to facilitate all aspects of such operations. For self-defense, a pintle-mounted 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun could be mounted on each side of the helicopter. Service in southeast Asia resulted in the addition of armor along with the machine guns. Operational history United States Known colloquially as the "Phrog", the Sea Knight was used in all U.S. Marine operational environments between its introduction during the Vietnam War and its frontline retirement in 2014. The type's longevity and reputation for reliability led to mantras such as "phrogs phorever" and "never trust a helicopter under 30". CH-46s transported personnel, evacuated wounded, supplied forward arming and refueling points (FARP), performed vertical replenishment, search and rescue, recovered downed aircraft and crews and other tasks. Vietnam War During the Vietnam War, the CH-46 was one of the prime US Marine troop transport helicopters in the theater, slotting between the smaller Bell UH-1 Iroquois and larger Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion. CH-46 operations were plagued by major technical problems; the engines, being prone to foreign object damage (FOD) from debris being ingested when hovering close to the ground and subsequently suffering a compressor stall, had a lifespan as low as 85 flight hours; on 21 July 1966, all CH-46s were grounded until more efficient filters had been fitted. On 3 May 1967, a CH-46D at Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana crashed, killing all four members of the crew. Within three days the accident investigators had determined that the mounting brackets of the main transmission had failed, allowing the front and rear overlapping rotors to intermesh. All CH-46s were temporarily grounded for inspection. On 13 May, a CH-46A crashed off the coast of Vietnam when the tail pylon containing the engines, main transmission and aft rotors broke off in flight. All four crew members were killed. On 20 June, another CH-46A crashed, though two of the four-man crew survived. Once again, even though the aircraft was not recovered from the water, failure of some sort in the rear pylon was suspected. On 30 June a CH-46D at Santa Ana crashed when a rotor blade separated from the aircraft, all three of the crew survived. As a result of this latest accident, all CH-46Ds were immediately grounded, but the CH-46As continued flying. On 3 July another CH-46A crashed in Vietnam, killing all four Marines of its crew. The cause of the crash again was traced to failure of the main transmission. On 31 August 1967, a CH-46A on a medical evacuation mission to disintegrated in midair killing all its occupants. The following day another CH-46A experienced a similar incident at Marble Mountain Air Facility leading to the type being grounded for all except emergency situations and cutting Marine airlift capacity in half. An investigation conducted by a joint Naval Air Systems Command/Boeing Vertol accident investigation team revealed that structural failures were occurring in the area of the rear pylon resulting in the rear rotor tearing off in flight and may have been the cause of several earlier losses. The team recommended structural and systems modifications to reinforce the rear rotor mount as well as installation of an indicator to detect excessive strain on critical parts of the aircraft. 80 CH-46As were shipped to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa where they received the necessary modifications by a combined force of Marine and Boeing Vertol personnel. The modified CH-46As began returning to service in December 1967 and all had been returned to service by February 1968. During the 1972 Easter Offensive, Sea Knights saw heavy use to convey US and South Vietnamese ground forces to and around the front lines. By the end of US military operations in Vietnam, over a hundred Sea Knights had been lost to enemy fire. Post-Vietnam In February 1968 the Marine Corps Development and Education Command obtained several CH-46s to perform herbicide dissemination tests using HIDAL (Helicopter, Insecticide Dispersal Apparatus, Liquid) systems; testing indicated the need for redesign and further study. Tandem-rotor helicopters were often used to transport nuclear warheads; the CH-46A was evaluated to deploy Naval Special Forces with the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM). Nuclear Weapon Accident Exercise 1983 (NUWAX-83), simulating the crash of a Navy CH-46E carrying 3 nuclear warheads, was conducted at the Nevada Test Site on behalf of several federal agencies; the exercise, which used real radiological agents, was depicted in a Defense Nuclear Agency-produced documentary. U.S. Marine CH-46s were used to deploy the 8th Marine Regiment into Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury, evacuated the surviving crewmember of a downed AH-1 Cobra, and then carried infantry from the 75th Ranger Regiment to secure and evacuate U.S. students at the Grand Anse campus of St. George's University, though one crashed after colliding with a palm tree. CH-46E Sea Knights were also used by the U.S. Marine Corps during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In one incident on 1 April 2003, Marine CH-46Es and CH-53Es carried U.S. Army Rangers and Special Operations troops on an extraction mission for captured Army Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. During the subsequent occupation of Iraq and counter-insurgency operations, the CH-46E was heavily used in the CASEVAC role, being required to maintain 24/7 availability regardless of conditions. According to authors Williamson Murray and Robert H Scales, the Sea Knight displayed serious reliability and maintenance problems during its deployment to Iraq, as well as "limited lift capabilities". Following the loss of numerous US helicopters in the Iraqi theatre, the Marines opted to equip their CH-46s with more advanced anti-missile countermeasures. The U.S. Navy retired the type on 24 September 2004, replacing it with the MH-60S Seahawk; the Marine Corps maintained its fleet as the MV-22 Osprey was fielded. In March 2006 Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 (HMM-263) was deactivated and redesignated VMM-263 to serve as the first MV-22 squadron. The replacement process continued through the other medium helicopter squadrons into 2014. On 5 October 2014, the Sea Knight performed its final service flight with the U.S. Marine Corps at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. HMM-364 was the last squadron to use it outside the United States, landing it aboard on her maiden transit. On 9 April 2015, the CH-46 was retired by the Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron 164, the last Marine Corps squadron to transition to the MV-22. The USMC retired the CH-46 on 1 August 2015 in a ceremony at the Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington DC. Beginning in April 2011 the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center East began refurbishing retired USMC CH-46Es for service with the United States Department of State Air Wing. A number of CH-46s from HMX-1 were transferred to the Air Wing in late 2014. In Afghanistan the CH-46s were used by Embassy Air for secure transport of State Department personnel. The CH-46s were equipped with missile warning sensors and flare dispensers and could be armed with M240D or M2 Browning machine guns. A report in September 2019 by the State Department Inspector General found that a seat on a CH-46 for a seven-minute flight cost US$1,500. Seven of the CH-46s were rendered unusable and abandoned at Kabul Airport following the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan. Canada The Royal Canadian Air Force procured six CH-113 Labrador helicopters for the SAR role and the Canadian Army acquired 12 of the similar CH-113A Voyageur for the medium-lift transport role. The RCAF Labradors were delivered first with the first one entering service on 11 October 1963. When the larger CH-147 Chinook was procured by the Canadian Forces in the mid-1970s, the Voyageur fleet was converted to Labrador specifications to undertake SAR missions. The refurbished Voyageurs were re-designated as CH-113A Labradors, thus a total of 15 Labradors were ultimately in service. The Labrador was fitted with a watertight hull for marine landings, a 5,000 kilogram cargo hook and an external rescue hoist mounted over the right front door. It featured a 1,110 kilometer flying range, emergency medical equipment and an 18-person passenger capacity. By the 1990s, heavy use and hostile weather conditions had taken their toll on the Labrador fleet, resulting in increasing maintenance costs and the need for prompt replacement. In 1981, a mid-life upgrade of the fleet was carried out by Boeing Canada in Arnprior, Ontario. Known as the SAR-CUP (Search and Rescue Capability Upgrade Program), the refit scheme included new instrumentation, a nose-mounted weather radar, a tail-mounted auxiliary power unit, a new high-speed rescue hoist mounted over the side door and front-mounted searchlights. A total of six CH-113s and five CH-113As were upgraded with the last delivered in 1984. In 1992, it was announced that the Labradors were to be replaced by 15 new helicopters, a variant of the AgustaWestland EH101, designated CH-149 Chimo. The order was subsequently cancelled by the Jean Chrétien Liberal government in 1993, resulting in cancellation penalties, as well as extending the service life of the Labrador fleet. However, in 1998, a CH-113 from CFB Greenwood crashed on Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula while returning from a SAR mission, resulting in the deaths of all crewmembers on board. The crash placed pressure upon the government to procure a replacement, thus an order was placed with the manufacturers of the EH101 for 15 aircraft to perform the search-and-rescue mission, designated CH-149 Cormorant. CH-149 deliveries began in 2003, allowing the last CH-113 to be retired in 2004. In October 2005 Columbia Helicopters of Aurora, Oregon purchased eight of the retired CH-113 Labradors to add to their fleet of 15 Vertol 107-II helicopters. Sweden In 1963, Sweden procured ten UH-46Bs from the US as a transport and anti-submarine helicopter for the Swedish Armed Forces, designated Hkp 4A. In 1973, a further eight Kawasaki-built KV-107s, which were accordingly designated Hkp 4B, were acquired to replace the older Piasecki H-21. During the Cold War, the fleet's primary missions were anti-submarine warfare and troop transportation. They were also frequently employed in the search and rescue role, most famously during the rescue operation of the MS Estonia after it sank in the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1994. In the 1980s, the Hkp 4A was phased out, having been replaced by the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma; the later Kawasaki-built Sea Knights continued in operational service until 2011, they were replaced by the UH-60 Black Hawk and NH90. Civilian and others The civilian version, designated as the BV 107-II Vertol, was developed prior to the military CH-46. It was operated commercially by New York Airways, Pan American World Airways and later on by Columbia Helicopters. Among the diversity of tasks was pulling a hover barge, and constructing transmission towers for overhead power lines. In December 2006, Columbia Helicopters purchased the type certificate of the Model 107 from Boeing, with the aim of eventually producing new-build aircraft themselves. Variants American versions Model 107 Company model number for basic prototype, one built. Model 107-II Commercial airline helicopter. All subsequent commercial aircraft were produced as BV 107-II-2, two built as Boeing Vertol prototypes, five sold to New York Airways, ten supplied to Kawasaki as sub-assemblies or as parts. The second prototype was later rebuilt into a Sea Knight replacement for a lost unit in the Swedish navy she was named Y64 in Swedish service. Model 107M Company model number for military transport of BV-107/II-2 for the U.S. Marine Corps. YHC-1A Vertol Model 107 for test and evaluation by the United States Army. Adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps as the HRB-1. Later redesignated YCH-46C, three built. HRB-1 Original designation before being renamed as CH-46A before delivery under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system. CH-46A Medium-lift assault and cargo transport and SAR helicopter for the USMC, fitted with two 1,250 shp (935 kW) General Electric T58-GE-8 turboshaft engines. Previously designated HRB-1. 160 built for USMC, one static airframe. UH-46A Medium-lift utility transport helicopter for the United States Navy. Similar to the CH-46A. 14 built. HH-46A Approximately 50 CH-46As were converted into SAR helicopters for the United States Navy base rescue role. RH-46A Planned conversion of CH-46As into minesweeping helicopters for the US Navy, none converted. Nine SH-3As were converted to the RH-3A configuration instead. UH-46B Development of the CH-46A to specification HX/H2 for the United States Air Force; 12 ordered in 1962, cancelled and Sikorsky S-61R / CH-3C ordered instead. YCH-46C YHC-1A redesignated in 1962. United States Army retained two, NASA used one for vertical autonomous landing trials (VALT). CH-46D Medium-lift assault and cargo transport helicopter for the USMC, fitted with two 1,400 shp (1,044 kW) General Electric T58-GE-10 turboshaft engines. 266 built. HH-46D Surviving HH-46A were upgraded and a small number of UH-46Ds were converted into SAR helicopters. SAR upgrades included the addition of an external rescue hoist near the front crew door and an 18-inch X 18-inch Doppler RADAR system located behind the nose landing gear, which provided for automatic, day/night, over-water hovering capability for at sea rescue. Additionally a "Loud Hailer" was installed opposite the crew entrance door for communicating with downed aviators on the ground or in the water. UH-46D Medium-lift utility transport helicopter for the US Navy combat supply role. Similar to the CH-46D. Ten built and one conversion from CH-46D. CH-46E Approximately 275 -A, -D, and -F airframes were updated to CH-46E standards with improved avionics, hydraulics, drive train and upgraded T58-GE-16 and T58-GE-16/A engines. HH-46E Three CH-46Es were converted into SAR helicopters for Marine Transport Squadron One (VMR-1) at MCAS Cherry Point. CH-46F Improved version of CH-46D, electrical distribution, com/nav update BUNO 154845-157726. Last production model in the United States. 174 built, later reverted to CH-46E. VH-46F Unofficial designation of standard CH-46F used by HMX-1 as VIP support transport helicopter. CH-46X Replacement helicopter based on the Boeing Model 360, this Advance Technology Demonstrator from the 1980s never entered production. The aircraft relied heavily on composites for its construction and had a beefier drive train to handle the twin Avco-Lycoming AL5512 engines (4,200 shp). XH-49 Original designation of UH-46B. Canadian versions CH-113 Labrador Search and rescue version of the Model 107-II-9 for the Royal Canadian Air Force. CH-113A Voyageur Assault and utility transport version of the Model 107-II-28 for the Canadian Army. Later converted to CH-113A Labrador when the Canadian Forces acquired the CH-47 Chinook. Japanese versions KV-107II-1 (CT58-110-1) Utility transport version, one built from Boeing-supplied kits. KV-107II-2 (CT58-110-1) Commercial airline version, nine built from Boeing-supplied kits. KV-107IIA-2 (CT58-140-1) Improved version of the KV-107/II-2, three built. KV-107II-3 (CT58-110-1) Minesweeping version for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), two built. KV-107IIA-3 (CT58-IHI-10-M1) Uprated version of the KV-107/II-3, seven built. KV-107II-4 (CT58-IHI-110-1) Assault and utility transport version for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), 41 built. KV-107II-4A (CT58-IHI-110-1) VIP version of the KV-107/II-4, one built. KV-107IIA-4 (CT58-IHI-140-1) Uprated version of the KV-107/II-4, 18 built. KV-107II-5 (CT58-IHI-110-1) Long-range SAR version for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), 17 built. KV-107IIA-5 (CT58-IHI-104-1) Uprated version of the KV-107II-5, 35 built. KV-107II-7 (CT58-110-1) VIP transport version, one built. KV-107II-16 HKP 4C for Swedish Navy. Powered by Rolls-Royce Gnome H.1200 turboshaft engines, eight built. KV-107IIA-17 (CT58-140-1) Long-range transport version for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, one built. KV-107IIA-SM-1 (CT58-IHI-140-1M1) Firefighting helicopter for Saudi Arabia, seven built. KV-107IIA-SM-2 (CT58-IHI-140-1M1) Aeromedical and rescue helicopter for Saudi Arabia, four built. KV-107IIA-SM-3 (CT58-IHI-140-1M1) VIP transport helicopter for Saudi Arabia, two built. KV-107IIA-SM-4 (CT58-IHI-140-1M1) Air ambulance helicopter for Saudi Arabia, three built. Swedish versions HKP 4A Boeing Vertol 107-II-14, used originally by Air Force for search and rescue, ten built. HKP 4B Boeing Vertol 107-II-15, mine-layer/antisubmarine warfare/search and rescue helicopter for Navy, three built and one conversion from Boeing-Vertol civil prototype. HKP 4C Kawasaki KV-107-II-16, advanced mine-layer/ASW/SAR helicopter for Navy, eight built. HKP 4D Rebuilt HKP 4A for Navy as SAR/ASW helicopter, four conversions. Source: Operators Military and government United States Department of State Civil Helifor Canada Columbia Helicopters Sky Aviation Corp Former operators Canadian Land Force Command - Voyageur variant (later as CH-113A) Royal Canadian Air Force - both CH-113 and CH-113A 103 Search and Rescue Squadron 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron 102 Composite Unit / 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron 450 Transport Helicopter Squadron Japan Air Self-Defense Force Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Ministry of Interior Swedish Air Force Swedish Navy Royal Thai Army New York Airways Pan American Airways United States Marine Corps HMX-1 HMM-262 HMM-265 HMM-268 HMM-364 HMM-764 HMM-774 HMMT-164 VMR-1 United States Navy Notable accidents and incidents On 14 October 1963 New York Airways Flight 600, a Boeing Vertol 107, registration N6673D, crashed shortly after takeoff from Idlewild Airport (now JFK) en route to Newark via Wall Street. All three passengers and all three crew members died. The accident was caused by mechanical failure due to contaminated lubricants. On 15 July 1966 during Operation Hastings, two CH-46As BuNo 151930 and BuNo 151936 of HMM-164 collided at Landing Zone Crow while another, BuNo 151961, crashed into a tree avoiding the first two, resulting in 2 Marines killed. Another CH-46 BuNo 152500 of HMM-265 was shot down at the LZ later that day resulting in 13 Marines killed. On 4 June 1968, CH-46D BuNo 152533 of HMM-165 was hit by anti-aircraft fire at Landing Zone Loon and crashed killing 13 Marines. On 14 March 1969, CH-46D BuNo 154841 of HMM-161 was hit by a B-40 rocket as it conducted a resupply and medevac mission at Landing Zone Sierra, killing 12 Marines and 1 Navy corpsman. On 10 May 1996, a CH-46E collided in mid-air with an AH-1W, killing a combined fourteen troops (twelve Marines, one Navy sailor, and one Army soldier) aboard the two helicopters. The pilots of the CH-46E were injured. Both helicopters, of HMM-266, were operating from USS Saipan and were participating in Operation Purple Star, a joint exercise involving troops from the U.S. and the UK at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. On 2 October 1998, a CH-113 Labrador crashed near Marsoui, Quebec, after an inflight fire. All 6 crewmembers were killed. On 9 December 1999, a CH-46D Sea Knight BuNo 154790 of HMM-166 crashed during a boarding exercise off the coast of San Diego, California, killing seven U.S. Marines. The pilot landed the CH-46 short on the deck of the USNS Pecos, causing the left rear tire and strut to become entangled in the safety netting at the back of the ship, which caused it to plunge into the ocean. Aircraft on display Canada Canada Aviation and Space Museum – Labrador 11301 Comox Air Force Museum – Labrador 11310 National Air Force Museum of Canada – Labrador 11315 Greenwood Military Aviation Museum – Labrador 11308 Japan Japan Air Self Defense Force Hamamatsu Air Base Publication Center, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum, Kakamigahara, Gifu, Japan Kawasaki Vertol 107-II – Kawasaki Good Times World, within Kobe Maritime Museum, Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan. Sweden Aeroseum, Gothenburg, Sweden – Boeing Vertol/Kawasaki KV-107-II (CH-46), Hkp 4C, c/n 4093, Fv 04072 "72" Swedish Air Force Museum, Linköping Sweden. Prototype BV-107-II N6679D Bought used from Boeing in 1970. United States 150954 – USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California displays HH-46A (c/n 2040) as U.S. Navy SA-46 of HC-3 on one side and VR-46 of HC-11 on the other. 151952 – National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL displays HH-46D (c/n 2102) as U.S Navy HW-00 of HC-6. 153389 – Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, has Raymond Clausen's Medal of Honor mission CH-46E (c/n 2287) as HMM-263 EG-16. The rear fuselage of BuNo 153335 was used in restoration. 153986 – National Museum of the Marine Corps Quantico, Virginia has a walk-through exhibit containing the rear half of a CH-46D displayed as the former BuNo 153986 (c/n 2337) YK-13 from HMM-364 with their logo, The Purple Fox. The front half of the aircraft was used as a training aid display for HMX-1. 153402 – New River Aviation Memorial at the front gate of Marine Corps Air Station New River, (part of Camp Lejeune) in Jacksonville, North Carolina – CH-46E (c/n 2300) as YS-02 of HMM-162 on one side and HMM-261 on the other. 154009 – Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, has CH-46E (c/n 2360) of HMM-164. 154803 – Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, San Diego, California, USA has CH-46E (c/n 2410) as YS-09 Lady Ace 09 of HMM-165. The CH-46 took part in Operation Frequent Wind and was used to evacuate Ambassador Graham Martin, the last United States Ambassador to South Vietnam from the United States Embassy, Saigon on 30 April 1975. 156427 – Veterans Museum Dyersburg Army Air Base in Halls, Tennessee has YP-05, a CH-46E wearing the Evileyes of HMM-163. 153369 – National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia has CH-46D (c/n 2265) displayed as MQ-400 of HMM-774. This aircraft is on loan from National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, Virginia. The aircraft was last flown on 1 August 2015 at the Marine Corps' formal sunset ceremony for the type which was the last public showing of an airworthy Marine Corps CH-46. 157688 – Classic Rotors Rotorcraft Museum in Ramona, CA. displays HH-46E '02' from VMR-1 Cherry Point MCAS N.C. Specifications (CH-46E) See also References Citations Bibliography Andrade, John U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications, 1979. . Andrade, John. Militair 1982. London: Aviation Press Limited, 1982. . Dunstan, Simon. Vietnam Choppers: Helicopters in Battle 1950–1975, Osprey Publishing, 2003. . Murray, Williamson and Robert H. Scales. The Iraq War. Harvard University Press, 2005. . Rottman, Gordon and Adam Hook. Vietnam Airmobile Warfare Tactics. Osprey Publishing, 2007. . External links CH-46D/E Sea Knight and CH-46 history pages on U.S. Navy site; CH-46 page on USMC site CH-46 product page and CH-46 history page on Boeing.com Columbia Helicopters — Largest Civilian Operator of BV/KV Model 107 Boeing Vertol 107 & H-46 Sea Knight on Airliners.net Detail List of CH-113 Labradors & Voyageurs Kawasaki Helicopter Services (S.A.) Ltd. Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight Tandem rotor helicopters 1950s United States military transport aircraft Boeing aircraft Kawasaki Aerospace Company 1960s United States helicopters Twin-turbine helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1958

Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981) was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army by early 1941. In July 1941 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Theatre, but after initial successes, the war in North Africa turned against the British, and he was relieved of the post in 1942 during the crucial Alamein campaign. In June 1943, he was once again appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, where his support through the organisation of supply, maintenance and training for William Slim's Fourteenth Army played an important role in its success. He served as Commander-in-Chief, India until the Partition in 1947, when he assumed the role of Supreme Commander of all British forces in India and Pakistan until late 1948. Early life and career Born at 89 Victoria Road in Aldershot, the son of Colonel John Claud Alexander Auchinleck and Mary Eleanor (Eyre) Auchinleck, Auchinleck attended Eagle House School at Crowthorne and then Wellington College on scholarships. After attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Auchinleck was commissioned as an unattached second lieutenant in the Indian Army on 21 January 1903 and joined to the 62nd Punjabis in April 1904. He soon learned several Indian languages and, able to speak fluently with his soldiers, he absorbed a knowledge of local dialects and customs: this familiarity engendered a lasting mutual respect, enhanced by his own personality. He was promoted to lieutenant on 21 April 1905 and then spent the next two years in Tibet and Sikkim before moving to Benares in 1907 where he caught diphtheria. After briefly serving with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at Aldershot he returned to Benares in 1909 and became adjutant of the 62nd Punjabis with promotion to captain on 21 January 1912. Auchinleck was an active freemason. Auchinleck saw active service in the First World War and was deployed with his regiment to defend the Suez Canal: in February 1915 he was in action against the Turks at Ismaïlia. His regiment moved into Aden to counter the Turkish threat there in July 1915. The 6th Indian Division, of which the 62nd Punjabis were a part, was landed at Basra on 31 December 1915 for the Mesopotamian campaign. In July 1916 Auchinleck was promoted acting major and made second in command of his battalion. He took part in a series of fruitless attacks on the Turks at the Battle of Hanna in January 1916 and was one of the few British officers in his regiment to survive these actions. He became acting commanding officer of his battalion in February 1917 and led his regiment at the Second Battle of Kut in February 1917 and the Fall of Baghdad in March 1917. Having been mentioned in despatches and having received the Distinguished Service Order in 1917 for his service in Mesopotamia, he was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 21 January 1918, to temporary lieutenant-colonel on 23 May 1919 and to brevet lieutenant-colonel on 15 November 1919 for his "distinguished service in Southern and Central Kurdistan" on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force. Between the world wars Auchinleck attended the Staff College, Quetta, between 1920 and 1921. He married Jessie Stewart in 1921. Jessie had been born in 1900 in Tacoma, Washington, to Alexander Stewart, head of the Blue Funnel Line that plied the west coast of the United States. When he died about 1919, their mother took her, her twin brother Alan and her younger brother Hepburne back to Bun Rannoch, the family estate at Innerhadden in Perthshire. Holidaying at Grasse on the French Riviera, Auchinleck, who was on leave from India at the time, met Jessie on the tennis courts. She was a high-spirited, blue-eyed beauty. Things moved quickly, and they were married within five months. Sixteen years younger than Auchinleck, Jessie became known as 'the little American girl' in India, but adapted readily to life there. They had no children. Auchinleck became temporary Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General at Army Headquarters in February 1923 and then second-in-command of his regiment, which in the 1923 reorganisation of the Indian Army had become the 1st Punjab Regiment, in September 1925. He attended the Imperial Defence College in 1927 and, having been promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 21 January 1929 he was appointed to command his regiment. Promoted to full colonel on 1 February 1930 with seniority from 15 November 1923, he became an instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in February 1930 where he remained until April 1933. He was promoted to temporary brigadier on 1 July 1933 and given command of the Peshawar Brigade, which was active in the pacification of the adjacent tribal areas during the Mohmand and Bajaur Operations between July and October 1933: during his period of command he was mentioned in despatches. He led a second punitive expedition during the Second Mohmand Campaign in August 1935 for which he was again mentioned in despatches, promoted to major-general on 30 November 1935 and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Star of India on 8 May 1936. On leaving his brigade command in April 1936, Auchinleck was on the unemployed list (on half pay) until September 1936 when he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Director of Staff Duties in Delhi. He was then appointed to command the Meerut District in India in July 1938. In 1938 Auchinleck was appointed to chair a committee to consider the modernisation, composition and re-equipment of the British Indian Army: the committee's recommendations formed the basis of the 1939 Chatfield Report which outlined the transformation of the Indian Army – it grew from 183,000 in 1939 to over 2,250,000 men by the end of the war. Second World War Norway 1940 On the outbreak of war, Auchinleck was appointed to command the Indian 3rd Infantry Division, but in January 1940 was summoned to the United Kingdom to command IV Corps, the only time in the war that a wholly British corps was commanded by an Indian Army officer. He received promotion to acting Lieutenant-General on 1 February 1940 and to the substantive rank of Lieutenant-General on 16 March 1940. In May 1940 Auchinleck took over command of the Anglo-French ground forces during the Norwegian campaign, a military operation that was doomed to fail. After the fall of Norway, in June 1940 he briefly commanded V Corps before becoming General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, in July 1940, where he had an uneasy relationship with his subordinate Bernard Montgomery, the new V Corps commander. Montgomery later wrote: "In the 5th Corps I first served under Auchinleck... I cannot recall that we ever agreed on anything." India and Iraq January–May 1941 Promoted to full general on 26 December 1940, Auchinleck was recalled to India in January 1941 to become Commander-in-Chief, India, in which position he also was appointed to the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India and appointed ADC General to the King, which ceremonial position he held until after the end of the War. In April 1941, RAF Habbaniya was threatened by the new pro-Axis regime of Rashid Ali. This large Royal Air Force station was west of Baghdad in Iraq and General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command, was reluctant to intervene, despite the urgings of Winston Churchill, because of his pressing commitments in the Western Desert and Greece. Auchinleck, however, acted decisively, sending a battalion of the King's Own Royal Regiment by air to Habbaniya and shipping the Indian 10th Infantry Division by sea to Basra. Wavell was prevailed upon by London to send Habforce, a relief column, from the British Mandate of Palestine but by the time it arrived in Habbaniya on 18 May the Anglo-Iraqi War was virtually over. North Africa July 1941 – August 1942 Following the see-saw of Allied and Axis successes and reverses in North Africa, Auchinleck was appointed to succeed General Sir Archibald Wavell as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command in July 1941; Wavell took up Auchinleck's post as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, swapping jobs with him. As Commander-in-Chief Middle East, Auchinleck, based in Cairo, held responsibility not just for North Africa but also for Persia and the Middle East. He launched an offensive in the Western Desert, Operation Crusader, in November 1941: despite some tactical reverses during the fighting which resulted in Auchinleck replacing the Eighth Army commander Alan Cunningham with Neil Ritchie, by the end of December the besieged garrison of Tobruk had been relieved and Rommel obliged to withdraw to El Agheila. Auchinleck appears to have believed that the enemy had been defeated, writing on 12 January 1942 that the Axis forces were "beginning to feel the strain" and were "hard pressed". In fact the Axis forces had managed to withdraw in good order and a few days after Auchinleck's optimistic appreciation, having reorganised and been reinforced, struck at the dispersed and weakened British forces, driving them back to the Gazala positions near Tobruk. The British Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), General Sir Alan Brooke, wrote in his diary that it was "nothing less than bad generalship on the part of Auchinleck. He has been overconfident and has believed everything his overoptimistic [DMI] Shearer has told him". Brooke commented that Auchinleck "could have been one of the finest of commanders" but lacked the ability to select the men to serve him. Brooke sent him one of his best armoured division commanders Richard McCreery, whose advice was ignored in favour of Dorman-Smith's. Rommel's attack at the Battle of Gazala of 26 May 1942 resulted in a significant defeat for the British. Auchinleck's appreciation of the situation written to Ritchie on 20 May had suggested that the armoured reserves be concentrated in a position suitable to meet both a flanking attack around the south of the front or a direct attack through the centre (which was the likelihood more favoured by Auchinleck). In the event, Ritchie chose a more dispersed and rearward positioning of his two armoured divisions and when the attack in the centre came, it proved to be a diversion and the main attack, by Rommel's armoured formations, came round the southern flank. Poor initial positioning and subsequent handling and coordination of Allied formations by Ritchie and his corps commanders resulted in their heavy defeat and the Eighth Army retreating into Egypt; Tobruk fell to the Axis on 21 June 1942. On 24 June Auchinleck stepped in to take direct command of the Eighth Army, having lost confidence in Neil Ritchie's ability to control and direct his forces. Auchinleck discarded Ritchie's plan to stand at Mersa Matruh, deciding to fight only a delaying action there, while withdrawing to the more easily defendable position at El Alamein. Here Auchinleck tailored a defence that took advantage of the terrain and the fresh troops at his disposal, stopping the exhausted German/Italian advance in the First Battle of El Alamein. Enjoying a considerable superiority of material and men over the weak German/Italian forces, Auchinleck organised a series of counter-attacks. Poorly conceived and badly coordinated, these attacks achieved little. "The Auk", as he was known, appointed a number of senior commanders who proved to be unsuitable for their positions, and command arrangements were often characterised by bitter personality clashes. Auchinleck was an Indian Army officer and was criticised for apparently having little direct experience or understanding of British and Dominion troops. His controversial chief of operations, Major-General Dorman-Smith, was regarded with considerable distrust by many of the senior commanders in Eighth Army. By July 1942 Auchinleck had lost the confidence of Dominion commanders and relations with his British commanders had become strained. Like his foe Rommel (and his predecessor Wavell and successor Montgomery), Auchinleck was subjected to constant political interference, having to weather a barrage of hectoring telegrams and instructions from Prime Minister Churchill throughout late 1941 and the spring and summer of 1942. Churchill constantly sought an offensive from Auchinleck, and was downcast at the military reverses in Egypt and Cyrenaica. Churchill was desperate for some sort of British victory before the planned Allied landings in North Africa, Operation Torch, scheduled for November 1942. He badgered Auchinleck immediately after the Eighth Army had all but exhausted itself after the first battle of El Alamein. Churchill and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Alan Brooke, flew to Cairo in early August 1942 to meet Auchinleck, where it emerged he had lost the confidence of both men. He was replaced as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command by General Sir Harold Alexander (later Field Marshal The Earl Alexander of Tunis). Joseph M. Horodyski and Maurice Remy both praise Auchinleck as an underrated military leader who contributed the most to the successful defence of El Alamein and consequently the final defeat of Rommel in Africa. The two historians also criticize Churchill for the unreasonable decision to put the blame on Auchinleck and to relieve him. India 1942–1945 Churchill offered Auchinleck command of the newly created Persia and Iraq Command (this having been separated from Alexander's command), but Auchinleck declined this post, as he believed that separating the area from the Middle East Command was not good policy and the new arrangements would not be workable. He set his reasons out in his letter to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff dated 14 August 1942. Instead he returned to India, where he spent almost a year "unemployed" before in June 1943 being again appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, General Wavell meanwhile having been appointed Viceroy, on this appointment it was announced that responsibility for the prosecution of the war with Japan would move from the Commander-in-Chief India to a newly created South East Asia Command. However, the appointment of the new command's Supreme Commander, Acting Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, was not announced until August 1943 and until Mountbatten could set up his headquarters and assume control (in November), Auchinleck retained responsibility for operations in India and Burma while conducting a review and revision of Allied plans based on the decisions taken by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff at the Quadrant Conference, which ended in August. Following Mountbatten's arrival, Auchinleck's India Command (which had equal status with South East Asia Command in the military hierarchy) was responsible for the internal security of India, the defence of the North West Frontier and the buildup of India as a base, including most importantly the reorganisation of the Indian Army, the training of forces destined for SEAC and the lines of communication carrying men and material to the forward areas and to China. Auchinleck made the supply of Fourteenth Army, with probably the worst lines of communication of the war, his immediate priority; as Sir William Slim, commander of the Fourteenth Army, was later to write: Divorce Auchinleck suffered a personal disappointment when his wife Jessie left him for his friend, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse. Peirse and Auchinleck had been students together at the Imperial Defence College, but that was long before. Peirse was now Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, South-East Asia, and also based in India. The affair became known to Mountbatten in early 1944, and he passed the information to the Chief of the RAF, Sir Charles Portal, hoping that Peirse would be recalled. The affair was common knowledge by September 1944, and Peirse was neglecting his duties. Mountbatten sent Peirse and Lady Auchinleck back to England on 28 November 1944, where they lived together at a Brighton hotel. Peirse had his marriage dissolved, and Auchinleck obtained a divorce in 1946. Auchinleck was reportedly very badly affected. According to his sister, he was never the same after the break-up. He always carried a photograph of Jessie in his wallet even after the divorce. There is scholarly dispute whether Auchinleck was homosexual. His biographer, Philip Warner, addressed the rumours but dismissed them; however historian Ronald Hyam has alleged that "sexually based moral-revulsion" was the reason for Montgomery's inability to get on with Auchinleck, and further, that Auchinleck was "let off with a high-level warning" over his relationships with Indian boys. Partition of India and later years Auchinleck continued as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army after the end of the war helping, though much against his own convictions, to prepare the future Indian and Pakistani armies for the Partition of India: in November 1945 he was forced to commute the more serious judicial sentences awarded against officers of the Indian National Army in face of growing unease and unrest both within the Indian population, and the British Indian Army. On 1 June 1946 he was promoted to field marshal, but he refused to accept a peerage, lest he be thought associated with a policy (i.e. Partition) that he thought fundamentally dishonourable. Sending a report to the British Government on 28 September 1947, Field Marshal Auchinleck wrote: "I have no hesitation, whatever, in affirming that the present Indian Cabinet are implacably determined to do all in their power to prevent the establishment of the Dominion of Pakistan on firm basis." He stated in the second, political part of his assessment, "Since 15th August, the situation has steadily deteriorated and the Indian leaders, cabinet ministers, civil officials and others have persistently tried to obstruct the work of partition of the armed forces." When partition was effected in August 1947, Auchinleck was appointed Supreme Commander of all British forces remaining in India and Pakistan and remained in this role until the winding up and closure of the Supreme H.Q. at the end of November 1947. This marked his effective retirement from the army (although technically field marshals in the British Army never retire, remaining on the active list on half pay). He left India on 1 December. After a brief period in Italy in connection with an unsuccessful business project, Auchinleck retired to London, where he occupied himself with a number of charitable and business interests and became a respectably skilled watercolour painter. In 1960 he settled in Beccles in the county of Suffolk, remaining there for seven years until, at the age of eighty-four, he decided to emigrate and set up home in Marrakesh, where he died on 23 March 1981. Memorials Auchinleck is buried in Ben M'Sik European Cemetery, Casablanca, in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot in the cemetery, next to the grave of Raymond Steed who was the second youngest non-civilian Commonwealth casualty of the Second World War. A memorial plaque was erected in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. A bronze statue of Auchinleck can be seen on Broad Street adjacent to Auchinleck House, Five Ways, Birmingham. Awards and decorations Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1 January 1945) Companion of the Order of the Bath (3 July 1934) Mohmand operations 7 October 1933 Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (20 December 1940) Companion of the Order of the Star of India (8 May 1936) Mohmand operations 8 October 1935 Distinguished Service Order (3 June 1917) Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (3 June 1919) Mention in Despatches, twice (World War I and 3 July 1934 – Mohmand operations) Croix de Guerre with Palm (France, 1918 and 1949) Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States, 23 July 1948) Virtuti Militari, 5th class (Poland, 15 May 1942) Member First Class Order of the Star of Nepal (Nepal) War Cross (Czechoslovakia, 1944) Order of the Star of Nepal (Nepal, 1945) Knight Grand Cross of Order of St Olav (Norway, 19 March 1948) Publications . (Auchinleck's Official Middle East Despatch published after the war in ) . (Auchinleck's Official Middle East Despatch published after the war in ) . (Auchinleck's Official Indo-Burma Despatch published after the war in ) References Notes Citations Sources Further reading External links Auchinleck Papers at John Rylands Library, Manchester 1884 births 1981 deaths People from Aldershot People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Indian Army generals of World War II British Commanders-in-Chief of India Indian Army personnel of World War I British field marshals Indian National Army trials Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Recipients of the Order of the Star of Nepal Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Ulster Scots people British military personnel of the Second Mohmand Campaign Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Burials at Ben M'Sik European Cemetery British Indian Army generals Military personnel from Hampshire

In Gallo-Roman religion, Cernunnos was a deity depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs, bulls, and rats. He is usually holding or wearing a torc and has been seen holding a bag of coins (or grain) and a cornucopia. Believed to have originally been a Celtic deity, over 50 examples have been found from this time believed to be associated with him, concentrating in the north-eastern region of what was called Gaul by the ancient Romans. Cernunnos is also associated with the Wiccan Horned God in the modern religious tradition of Wicca. Name and etymology In Gaulish, the name Cernunnos is rooted in the word karnon which means "horn" or "antler". Karnon is cognate with Latin cornu and Germanic *hurnaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European . The etymon karn- "horn" appears in both Gaulish and Galatian branches of Continental Celtic. Hesychius of Alexandria glosses the Galatian word karnon (κάρνον) as "Gallic trumpet", that is, the Celtic military horn listed as the carnyx (κάρνυξ) by Eustathius of Thessalonica, who notes the instrument's animal-shaped bell. The root also appears in the names of Celtic polities, most prominent among them the Carnutes, meaning something like "the Horned Ones," and in several personal names found in inscriptions. The Proto-Celtic form of the theonym is reconstructed as either *Cerno-on-os or *Carno-on-os. The augmentative -on- is characteristic of theonyms, as in Maponos, Epona, Matronae, and Sirona. Maier (2010) states that the etymology of Cernunnos is unclear, but seems to be rooted in the Celtic word for "horn" or "antler" (as in Carnonos). "Cernunnos" is believed by some Celticists to be an obscure epithet of a better attested Gaulish deity; perhaps the God described in the interpretatio Romana as Mercury or Dis Pater, which are considered to share Cernunnos's psychopomp or chthonic associations. The name has only appeared once with an image, when it was inscribed on the Nautae Parisiaci (the sailors of the Parisii, who were a tribe of Gauls). Otherwise, variations of the name Cernunnos has also been found in a Celtic inscription written in Greek characters at Montagnac, Hérault (as καρνονου, karnonou, in the dative case). A Gallo-Latin adjective carnuātus, "horned", is also found. Epigraphic evidence Due to the lack of surviving Gaulish literature regarding mythologies about Cernunnos, stories with various possible epithets he might have had, or information regarding religious practices and followers, his overall significance in Gaulish religious traditions is unknown. Interpretations of his role within Gaulish culture vary from seeing him as a god of animals, nature and fertility to a god of travel, commerce and bi-directionality. The only evidence that has survived are inscriptions found on various artifacts. The Nautae Parisiaci monument was probably constructed by Gaulish sailors in 14 CE. It was discovered in 1710 within the foundations of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, site of ancient Lutetia, the civitas capital of the Celtic Parisii. It is now displayed in the Musée National du Moyen Age in Paris. The distinctive stone pillar is an important monument of Gallo-Roman religion. Its low reliefs depict and label by name several Roman deities such as Jupiter, Vulcan, and Castor and Pollux, along with Gallic deities such as Esus, Smertrios, and Tarvos Trigaranus. The name Cernunnos can be read clearly on 18th century drawings of the inscriptions, but the initial letter has been obscured since, so that today only a reading "[_]ernunnos" can be verified. Additional evidence is given by one inscription on a metal plaque from Steinsel-Rëlent in Luxembourg, in the territory of the Celtic Treveri. This inscription read Deo Ceruninco, "to the God Cerunincos", assumed to be the same deity. The Gaulish inscription from Montagnac reads αλλετ[ει]νος καρνονου αλ[ι]σο[ντ]εας (Alletinos [dedicated this] to Carnonos of Alisontea), with the last word possibly a place name based on Alisia, "service-tree" or "rock" (compare Alesia, Gaulish Alisiia). Iconography On the Pillar of the Boatmen, we find an image depicted with stag's antlers, both having torcs hanging from them with the inscription of [C]ernunnos with it. The lower part of the relief is lost, but the dimensions suggest that the god was sitting cross-legged, in the depiction traditionally called "Buddhic posture", providing a direct parallel to the antlered figure on the Gundestrup cauldron. Iconography associated with Cernunnos is often portrayed with a stag and the ram-horned serpent. Less frequently, there are bulls (at Rheims), dogs and rats. Because of the image of him on the Gundestrup Cauldron, some scholars describe Cernunnos as the Lord of the Animals or the Lord of Wild Things, and Miranda Green describes him as a "peaceful god of nature and fruitfulness" who seems to be seated in a manner that suggests traditional shamans who were often depicted surrounded by animals. Other academics such as Ceisiwr Serith describes Cernunnos as a god of bi-directionality and mediator between opposites, seeing the animal symbolism in the artwork reflecting this idea. The Pilier des nautes links him with sailors and with commerce, suggesting that he was also associated with material wealth as does the coin pouch from the Cernunnos of Rheims (Marne, Champagne, France)—in antiquity, Durocortorum, the civitas capital of the Remi tribe—and the stag vomiting coins from Niedercorn-Turbelslach (Luxembourg) in the lands of the Treveri. The god may have symbolized the fecundity of the stag-inhabited forest. Other examples of Cernunnos imagery include a petroglyph in Val Camonica in Cisalpine Gaul. The antlered human figure has been dated as early as the 7th century BCE or as late as the 4th. Two goddesses with antlers appear at Besançon and Clermont-Ferrand, France. An antlered god appears on a relief in Cirencester, Britain dated to Roman times and appears depicted on a coin from Petersfield, Hampshire. An antlered child appears on a relief from Vendeuvres, flanked by serpents and holding a purse and a torc. The best known image appears on the Gundestrup cauldron found on Jutland, dating to the 1st century BCE, thought to depict Celtic subject matter though usually regarded as of Thracian workmanship. Among the Celtiberians, horned or antlered figures of the Cernunnos type include a "Janus-like" god from Candelario (Salamanca) with two faces and two small horns; a horned god from the hills of Ríotinto (Huelva); and a possible representation of the deity Vestius Aloniecus near his altars in Lourizán (Pontevedra). The horns are taken to represent "aggressive power, genetic vigor and fecundity." Divine representations of the Cernunnos type are exceptions to the often-expressed view that the Celts only began to picture their gods in human form after the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Celtic "horned god", while well attested in iconography, cannot be identified in description of Celtic religion in Roman ethnography and does not appear to have been given any interpretatio romana, perhaps due to being too distinctive to be translatable into the Roman pantheon. While Cernunnos was never assimilated, scholars have sometimes compared him functionally to Greek and Roman divine figures such as Mercury, Actaeon, specialized forms of Jupiter, and Dis Pater, the latter of whom Julius Caesar said was considered the ancestor of the Gauls. Possible reflexes in Insular Celtic There have been attempts to find the cern root in the name of Conall Cernach, the foster brother of the Irish hero Cuchulainn in the Ulster Cycle. In this line of interpretation, Cernach is taken as an epithet with a wide semantic field—"angular; victorious; prominent," though there is little evidence that the figures of Conall and Cernunnos are related. A brief passage involving Conall in an eighth-century story entitled Táin Bó Fraích ("The Cattle Raid on Fraech") has been taken as evidence that Conall bore attributes of a "master of beasts." In this passage Conall Cernach is portrayed as a hero and mighty warrior who assists the protagonist Fraech in rescuing his wife and son, and reclaiming his cattle. The fort that Conall must penetrate is guarded by a mighty serpent. The supposed anti-climax of this tale is when the fearsome serpent, instead of attacking Conall, darts to Conall's waist and girdles him as a belt. Rather than killing the serpent, Conall allows it to live, and then proceeds to attack and rob the fort of its great treasures the serpent previously protected. The figure of Conall Cernach is not associated with animals or forestry elsewhere; and the epithet "Cernach" has historically been explained as a description of Conall's impenetrable "horn-like" skin which protected him from injury. Possible connection to Saint Ciarán Some see the qualities of Cernunnos subsumed into the life of Saint Ciarán of Saighir, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. When he was building his first tiny cell, as his hagiography goes, his first disciple and monk was a boar that had been rendered gentle by God. This was followed by a fox, a badger, a wolf and a stag. Neopaganism and Wicca Within Neopaganism, specifically the Wiccan tradition, The Horned God is a deity that is believed to be the consort of the Great Goddess and syncretizes various horned or antlered gods from various cultures. The name Cernunnos became associated with the Wiccan Horned God through the adoption of the writings of Margaret Murray, an Egyptologist and folklorist of the early 20th century. Murray, through her Witch-cult hypothesis, believed that the various horned deities found in Europe were expressions of a "proto-horned god" and in 1931 published her theory in "The God of the Witches". Her work was considered highly controversial at the time, but was adopted by Gerald Gardner in his development of the religious movement of Wicca. Within the Wiccan tradition, The Horned God reflects the seasons of the year in an annual cycle of life, death and rebirth and his imagery is a blend of the Gaulish god Cernunnos, the Greek god Pan, The Green Man motif, and various other horned spirit imagery. In popular culture Featured in Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and features in Smite as a hunter. See also Abbots Bromley Horn Dance Celtic polytheism Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism Green Man Herne the Hunter Horned God References Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) volume 13, number 03026 Delmarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (2nd ed.). Paris: Editions Errance. . Lejeune, Michel (1995). Recueil des inscriptions gauloises (RIG) volume 1, Textes gallo-grecs. Paris: Editions du CNRS. Nussbaum, Alan J. (1986). Head and Horn in Indo-European. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. . Porkorny, Julius (1959). Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Berlin: Franke Verlag. Notes External links "Is the Gundestrup Cauldron an Authentic Celtic Artifact?": A possibly ancient depiction of the Horned God Animal gods Commerce gods Fertility gods Gaulish gods Horned deities Hunting gods Nature gods New religious movement deities Wicca

Covenant-breaker is a term used by Baháʼís to refer to a person who has been excommunicated from the Baháʼí community for breaking the 'Covenant': actively promoting schism in the religion or otherwise opposing the legitimacy of the chain of succession of leadership. Excommunication among Baháʼís is rare and not used for transgressions of community standards, intellectual dissent, or conversion to other religions. Instead, it is the most severe punishment, reserved for suppressing organized dissent that threatens the unity of believers. Currently, the Universal House of Justice has the sole authority to declare a person a Covenant-breaker, and once identified, all Baháʼís are expected to shun them, even if they are family members. According to 'Abdu'l Baha Covenant-breaking is a contagious disease. The Baháʼí writings forbid association with Covenant-breakers and Baháʼís are urged to avoid their literature, thus providing an exception to the Baháʼí principle of independent investigation of truth. Most Baháʼís are unaware of the small Baháʼí divisions that exist. Dr. Mikhail Sergeev wrote about the Baháʼí practice of excommunication, The three largest attempts at alternative leadership—whose followers are considered Covenant-breakers—were from Subh-i-Azal, Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí, and Charles Mason Remey. Others were declared Covenant-breakers for actively opposing or disobeying the head of the religion, or maliciously attacking the Baháʼí Administration after leaving it. Definition Covenant-breaking does not refer to attacks from non-Baháʼís or former Baha'is. Rather, it is in reference to internal campaigns of opposition where the Covenant-breaker is seen as challenging the unity of the Baháʼí Faith, causing internal division, or by claiming or supporting an alternate succession of authority or administrative structure. The central purpose of the covenant is to prevent schism and dissension. In a letter to an individual dated 23 March 1975, the Universal House of Justice wrote: The term Covenant-breaker was first used by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to describe the partisans of his half-brother Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí, who challenged his leadership. In ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament, he appointed Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian of the religion and called for the eventual election of the Universal House of Justice, and defined in the same manner opposition to these two institutions as Covenant-breaking. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá advised all Baháʼís to shun anyone opposing the Covenant: "...one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past." Categorization Included categories of people Most Covenant-breakers are involved in schismatic groups, but not always. For example, a Baháʼí who refuses to follow guidance on treatment of Covenant-breakers is at risk of being named one. One article originally written for the Baháʼí Encyclopedia, characterized Covenant-breakers that have emerged in the course of Baháʼí history as belonging to one of four categories: Leadership challenge: These are persons who dispute the authority and legitimacy of the head of the religion and advance claims either for themselves or for another. The main examples of these are Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí and Charles Mason Remey. Dissidence: Those who actively disagree with the policies and actions of the head of the faith without, however, advancing an alternative claim for leadership. This group consisted mostly of opponents of the Baháʼí administration such as Ruth White, Julia Lynch Olin and Mirza Ahmad Sohrab. Disobedience: Those who disobey certain direct instructions from the head of the religion. Mostly the instruction in question is to cease to associate with a Covenant-breaker. Examples of this type include most of the descendants of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá during Shoghi Effendi's time. Apostates who maliciously attack the Baháʼí Faith. Examples include Ávárih, Sobhi and Níkú. Excluded categories of people Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada in 1957: Beyond this, many other relationships to the Baháʼí Faith exist, both positive and negative. Covenant-breaking does not apply to most of them. The following is a partial list of those who could not rightly be termed Covenant-breakers: Members of other religions or no religion—with or without any particular relationship to the Baháʼí Faith. Baháʼís who simply leave the religion. (see above) Baháʼís who, in the estimation of the head of the religion have insufficiently understood the nature of the covenant from the start. These are sometimes "disenrolled" and are considered to have never actually been Baháʼís, given their fundamental diversion from this core Baháʼí doctrine. Bábís Bábís are generally regarded as another religion altogether. Since Covenant-breaking presumes that one has submitted oneself to a covenant and then broken it, and Bábís never recognized or swore allegiance to Baháʼu'lláh, they are not Covenant-breakers. Followers of Subh-i-Azal, Baháʼu'lláh's half-brother who tried to poison him, engaged in active opposition to Baháʼís, and Shoghi Effendi did inform Baháʼís that they should avoid contact with his descendants, writing that "No intelligent and loyal Baha'i would associate with a descendant of Azal, if he traced the slightest breath of criticism of our Faith, in any aspect, from that person. In fact these people should be strenuously avoided as having an inherited spiritual disease -- the disease of Covenant-breaking!". Shoghi Effendi's immediate family Through the influence of Bahíyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of Baháʼu'lláh, everyone in the household initially rallied around Shoghi Effendi after the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. For several years his brother Husayn and several cousins served him as secretaries. The only ones publicly opposing him were Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí and his followers, who were declared Covenant-breakers by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. Contrary to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's specific instruction, certain family members established illicit links with those whom ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had declared Covenant-breakers. After Bahíyyih Khánum died in 1932, Shoghi Effendi's eldest sister – Ruhangiz – married Nayyer Effendi Afnan, a son of Siyyid Ali Afnan, son of Baháʼu'lláh though Furughiyyih. The children of Furughiyyih sided with Muhammad ʻAlí and opposed ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, leaving only ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's own children as faithful among the descendants of Baháʼu'lláh. Nayyer, in particular, was one of the greatest enemies of Shoghi Effendi throughout his time as Guardian. The marriage of Ruhangiz and Nayyer caused convulsions in the family, and it was followed by another sister of Shoghi Effendi – Mehrangiz – marrying another son of Siyyid Ali. A third son of Siyyid Ali – Faydi – also married Thurayyá, a granddaughter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá through Túbá. These marriages caused Ruhangiz, Mehrangiz, and Thurayyá to be declared Covenant-breakers by Shoghi Effendi, though there was some delay and concealment initially in order to avoid public degradation of the family. On 2 November 1941 Shoghi Effendi sent two cables announcing the expulsion of Túbá and her children Ruhi, Suhayl, and Fu'ad for consenting to the marriage of Thurayyá to Faydi. There was also mention that Ruhi's visit to America and Fu'ad's visit to England were without approval. In December 1941 he announced the expulsion of his sister Mehrangiz. Presumably being faced with a choice between shunning their disobedient family members and being themselves disobedient to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, his cousins, aunts and uncles chose the latter. Expulsions In 1944 Shoghi Effendi announced the expulsion of Munib Shahid, the grandson of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's through Ruha, for marrying into the family of an enemy of the Baháʼís. In April 1945, he announced the expulsion of Husayn Ali, his brother, for joining the other Covenant-breakers. In a 1950 Shoghi Effendi sent another cable expelling the family of Ruha, another daughter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá for showing "open defiance", and in December 1951 he announced a "fourth alliance" of members of the family of Siyyid Ali marrying into Ruha's family, and that his brother Riaz was included among the Covenant-breakers. In 1953 he cabled about Ruhi Afnan corresponding with Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, selling property of Baháʼu'lláh, and publicly "misrepresenting the teachings and deliberately causing confusion in minds of authorities and the local population". Resultant groups Most of the groups regarded by the larger group of Baháʼís as Covenant-breakers originated in the claims of Charles Mason Remey to the Guardianship in 1960. The Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá states that Guardians should be lineal descendants of Baháʼu'lláh, that each Guardian must select his successor during his lifetime, and that the nine Hands of the Cause of God permanently stationed in the holy land must approve the appointment by majority vote. Baháʼís interpret lineal descendency to mean physical familial relation to Baháʼu'lláh, of which Mason Remey was not. Almost all of Baháʼís accepted the determination of the Hands of the Cause that upon the death of Shoghi Effendi, he died "without having appointed his successor". There was an absence of a valid descendant of Baháʼu'lláh who could qualify under the terms of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's will. Later the Universal House of Justice, initially elected in 1963, made a ruling on the subject that it was not possible for another Guardian to be appointed. In 1960 Remey, a Hand of the Cause himself, retracted his earlier position, and claimed to have been coerced. He claimed to be the successor to Shoghi Effendi. He and the small number of people who followed him were expelled from the mainstream Baháʼí community by the Hands of the Cause. Those close to Remey claimed that he went senile in old age, and by the time of his death he was largely abandoned, with his most prominent followers fighting amongst themselves for leadership. The largest group of the remaining followers of Remey, members of the "Orthodox Baháʼí Faith", believe that legitimate authority passed from Shoghi Effendi to Mason Remey to Joel Marangella. They, therefore, regard the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel to be illegitimate, and its members and followers to be Covenant-breakers. In 2009, Jeffery Goldberg and Janice Franco, both from the mainstream Baháʼí community, joined the Orthodox Baháʼí Faith. Both of them were declared as Covenant-breakers and shunned. Goldberg's wife was told to divorce her husband. The present descendants of expelled members of Baháʼu'lláh's family have not specifically been declared Covenant-breakers, though they mostly do not associate themselves with the Baháʼí religion. A small group of Baháʼís in Northern New Mexico believe that these descendants are eligible for appointment to the Guardianship and are waiting for such a direct descendant of Baháʼu'lláh to arise as the rightful Guardian. Enayatullah (Zabih) Yazdani was designated a Covenant-breaker in June 2005, after many years of insisting on his views that Mason Remey was the legitimate successor to Shoghi Effendi and of accepting Donald Harvey as the third guardian. He is now the fifth guardian of a small group of Baháʼís and resides in Australia. There is also a small group in Montana, originally inspired by Leland Jensen, who claimed a status higher than that of the Guardian. His failed apocalyptic predictions and unsuccessful efforts to reestablish the Guardianship and the administration were apparent by his death in 1996. A dispute among Jensen's followers over the identity of the Guardian resulted in another division in 2001. American opposition Juan Cole, an American professor of Middle Eastern history who had been a Baháʼí for 25 years, left the religion in 1996 after being approached by a Continental Counselor about his involvement in a secret email list that was organizing opposition to certain Baháʼí institutions and policies. Cole was never labeled a Covenant-breaker, because he claimed to be Universalist-Unitarian upon leaving. He went on to publish three papers in journals in 1998, 2000, and 2002. These heavily criticized the Baháʼí administration in the United States and suggested cult-like tendencies, particularly regarding the requirement of pre-publication literature review and the practice of shunning Covenant-breakers. For example, Cole wrote in 1998, "Baha’is, like members of the Watchtower and other cults, shun those who are excommunicated." In 2000, "Baha'i authorities... keep believers in line by appealing to the welfare and unity of the community, and if these appeals fail then implicit or explicit threats of disfellowshipping and even shunning are invoked. ... Shunning is the central control mechanism in the Baha'i system" In 2002, "Opportunistic sectarian-minded officials may have seen this... as a time when they could act arbitrarily and harshly against intellectuals and liberals, using summary expulsion and threats of shunning". Moojan Momen, a Baháʼí author, reviewed 66 exit narratives of former Baháʼís, and identified 1996 (Cole's departure) to 2002 as a period of "articulate and well-educated" apostates that used the newly available Internet to connect with each other and form a community with its own "mythology, creed and salvation stories becoming what could perhaps be called an anti-religion". According to Momen, the narrative among these apostates of a "fiercely aggressive religion where petty dictators rule" is the opposite experience of most members, who see "peace as a central teaching", "consultative decision-making", and "mechanisms to guard against individuals attacking the central institutions of the Bahá'í Faith or creating schisms." On the practice of shunning, Momen writes that it is "rarely used and is only applied after prolonged negotiations fail to resolve the situation. To the best knowledge of the present author it has been used against no more than a handful of individuals in over two decades and to only the first of the apostates described below [Francesco Ficicchia] more than twenty-five years ago - although it is regularly mentioned in the literature produced by the apostates as though it were a frequent occurrence." See also Covenant of Baháʼu'lláh List of former Baháʼís Notes Citations References External links A Compilation: Non-Association with Covenant-breakers - From the Continental Board of Counselors to the NSAs of Alaska, Canada and the US, 7 December 1999. Bahá'í divisions

is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Chrono Cross was designed primarily by scenarist and director Masato Kato, who had help from other designers who also worked on Chrono Trigger, including art director Yasuyuki Honne and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Nobuteru Yūki designed the characters of the game. The story of Chrono Cross focuses on a teenage boy named Serge and a theme of parallel worlds. Faced with an alternate reality in which he died as a child, Serge endeavors to discover the truth of the two worlds' divergence. The flashy thief Kid and many other characters assist him in his travels around the tropical archipelago El Nido. Struggling to uncover his past and find the mysterious Frozen Flame, Serge is chiefly challenged by Lynx, a shadowy antagonist working to apprehend him. Upon its release in Japan in 1999 and North America in 2000, Chrono Cross received critical acclaim, earning a perfect 10.0 score from GameSpot. The game shipped copies worldwide by 2003, leading to a Greatest Hits re-release and continued life in Japan as part of the Ultimate Hits series. Chrono Cross was later re-released for the PlayStation Network in Japan in July 2011, and in North America four months later. A remaster of the game, titled Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, will be released on April 7, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Gameplay Chrono Cross features standard role-playing video game gameplay with some differences. Players advance the game by controlling the protagonist Serge through the game's world, primarily by foot and boat. Navigation between areas is conducted via an overworld map, much like Chrono Trigger's, depicting the landscape from a scaled-down overhead view. Around the island world are villages, outdoor areas, and dungeons, through which the player moves in three dimensions. Locations such as cities and forests are represented by more realistically scaled field maps, in which players can converse with locals to procure items and services, solve puzzles and challenges, or encounter enemies. Like Chrono Trigger, the game features no random encounters; enemies are openly visible on field maps or lie in wait to ambush the party. Touching the monster switches perspectives to a battle screen, in which players can physically attack, use "Elements", defend, or run away from the enemy. Battles are turn-based, allowing the player unlimited time to select an action from the available menu. For both the playable characters and the computer-controlled enemies, each attack reduces their number of hit points (a numerically based life bar), which can be restored through some Elements. When a playable character loses all hit points, he or she faints. If all the player's characters fall in battle, the game ends and must be restored from a previously saved chapter—except for specific storyline-related battles that allow the player to lose. Chrono Cross's developers aimed to break new ground in the genre, and the game features several innovations. For example, players can run away from all conflicts, including boss fights and the final battle. Battle and Elements The Element system of Chrono Cross handles all magic, consumable items, and character-specific abilities. Elements unleash magic effects upon the enemy or party and must be equipped for use, much like the materia of 1997's Final Fantasy VII. Elements can be purchased from shops or found in treasure chests littered throughout areas. Once acquired, they are allocated to a grid whose size and shape are unique to each character. They are ranked according to eight tiers; certain high level Elements can only be assigned on equivalent tiers in a character's grid. As the game progresses, the grid expands, allowing more Elements to be equipped and higher tiers to be accessed. Elements are divided into six paired oppositional types, or "colors," each with a natural effect. Red (fire/magma) opposes Blue (water/ice), Green (wind/flora) opposes Yellow (earth/lightning), and White (light/cosmos) opposes Black (darkness/gravity). Each character and enemy has an innate color, enhancing the power of using same-color Elements while also making them weak against elements of the opposite color. Chrono Cross also features a "field effect", which keeps track of Element color used in the upper corner of the battle screen. If the field is purely one color, characters are able to unleash a powerful summon element at the cost of one of the player's stars. The field will also enhance the power of Elements of the colors present, while weakening Elements of the opposite colors. Characters also innately learn some special techniques ("Techs") that are unique to each character but otherwise act like Elements. Like Chrono Trigger, characters can combine certain Techs to make more powerful Double or Triple Techs. Consumable Elements may be used to restore hit points or heal status ailments during or after battle. Another innovative aspect of Chrono Cross is its stamina bar. At the beginning of a battle, each character has seven points of stamina. When a character attacks or uses an Element, stamina is decreased proportionally to the potency of the attack. Stamina slowly recovers when the character defends or when other characters perform actions in battle. Characters with stamina below one point must wait to take action. Use of an Element reduces the user's stamina bar by seven stamina points; this often means that the user's stamina gauge falls into the negative and the character must wait longer than usual to recover. With each battle, players can enhance statistics such as strength and defense. However, no system of experience points exists; after four or five upgrades, statistics remain static until players defeat a boss. This adds a star to a running count shown on the status screen, which allows for another few rounds of statistical increases. Players can equip characters with weapons, armor, helmets, and accessories for use in battle; for example, the "Power Seal" upgrades attack power. Items and equipment may be purchased or found on field maps, often in treasure chests. Unlike Elements, weapons and armor cannot merely be purchased with money; instead, the player must obtain base materials—such as copper, bronze, or bone—for a blacksmith to forge for a fee. The items can later be disassembled into their original components at no cost. Parallel dimensions The existence of two major parallel dimensions, like time periods in Chrono Trigger, plays a significant role in the game. Players must go back and forth between the worlds to recruit party members, obtain items, and advance the plot. Much of the population of either world have counterparts in the other; some party members can even visit their other versions. The player must often search for items or places found exclusively in one world. Events in one dimension sometimes have an impact in the other—for instance, cooling scorched ground on an island in one world allows vegetation to grow in the other world. This system assists the presentation of certain themes, including the questioning of the importance of one's past decisions and humanity's role in destroying the environment. Rounding out the notable facets of Chrono Cross's gameplay are the New Game+ option and multiple endings. As in Chrono Trigger, players who have completed the game may choose to start the game over using data from the previous session. Character levels, learned techniques, equipment, and items gathered copy over, while acquired money and some story-related items are discarded. On a New Game+, players can access twelve endings. Scenes viewed depend on players' progress in the game before the final battle, which can be fought at any time in a New Game+ file. Plot Characters Chrono Cross features a diverse cast of 45 party members. Each character is outfitted with an innate Element affinity and three unique special abilities that are learned over time. If taken to the world opposite their own, characters react to their counterparts (if available). Many characters tie in to crucial plot events. Since it is impossible to obtain all 45 characters in one playthrough, players must replay the game to witness everything. Through use of the New Game+ feature, players can ultimately obtain all characters on one save file. Serge, the game's protagonist, is a 17-year-old boy with blue hair who lives in the fishing village of Arni. One day, he slips into an alternate world in which he drowned ten years before. Determined to find the truth behind the incident, he follows a predestined course that leads him to save the world. He is assisted by Kid, a feisty, skilled thief who seeks the mythical Frozen Flame. Portrayed as willful and tomboyish due to her rough, thieving past, she helps Serge sneak into Viper Manor in order to obtain the Frozen Flame. Kid vows to find and defeat Lynx, an anthropomorphic panther who burned down her adopted mother's orphanage. Lynx, a cruel agent of the supercomputer FATE, is bent on finding Serge and using his body as part of a greater plan involving the Frozen Flame. Lynx travels with Harle, a mysterious, playful girl dressed like a harlequin. Harle was sent by the Dragon God to shadow Lynx and one day steal the Frozen Flame from Chronopolis, a task she painfully fulfills despite being smitten with Serge. To accomplish this goal, Harle helps Lynx manipulate the Acacia Dragoons, the powerful militia governing the islands of El Nido. As the Dragoons maintain order, they contend with Fargo, a former Dragoon turned pirate captain who holds a grudge against their leader, General Viper. Though tussling with Serge initially, the Acacia Dragoons—whose ranks include the fierce warriors Karsh, Zoah, Marcy, and Glenn—later assist him when the militaristic nation of Porre invades the archipelago. The invasion brings Norris and Grobyc to the islands, a heartful commander of an elite force and a prototype cyborg soldier, respectively, as they too seek the Frozen Flame. Story The game begins with Serge located in El Nido, a tropical archipelago inhabited by ancient natives, mainland colonists, and beings called Demi-humans. Serge slips into an alternate dimension in which he drowned on the beach ten years prior, and meets the thief, "Kid". As his adventure proceeds from here, Serge is able to recruit a multitude of allies to his cause. While assisting Kid in a heist at Viper Manor to steal the Frozen Flame, he learns that ten years before the present, the universe split into two dimensions—one in which Serge lived, and one in which he perished. Through Kid's Astral Amulet charm, Serge travels between the dimensions. At Fort Dragonia, with the use of a Dragonian artifact called the Dragon Tear, Lynx switches bodies with Serge. Unaware of the switch, Kid confides in Lynx, who stabs her as the real Serge helplessly watches. Lynx boasts of his victory and banishes Serge to a strange realm called the Temporal Vortex. He takes Kid under his wing, brainwashing her to believe the real Serge (in Lynx's body) is her enemy. Serge escapes with help from Harle, although his new body turns him into a stranger in his own world, with all the allies he had gained up to that point abandoning him due to his new appearance. Discovering that his new body prevents him from traveling across the dimensions, he sets out to regain his former body and learn more of the universal split that occurred ten years earlier, gaining a new band of allies along the way. He travels to a forbidden lagoon known as the Dead Sea—a wasteland frozen in time, dotted with futuristic ruins. At the center, he locates a man named Miguel and presumably Home world's Frozen Flame. Charged with guarding the Dead Sea by an entity named FATE, Miguel and three visions of Crono, Marle, and Lucca from Chrono Trigger explain that Serge's existence dooms Home world's future to destruction at the hands of Lavos. To prevent Serge from obtaining the Frozen Flame, FATE destroys the Dead Sea. Able to return to Another world, Serge allies with the Acacia Dragoons against Porre and locates that dimension's Dragon Tear, allowing him to return to his human form. He then enters the Sea of Eden, Another world's physical equivalent of the Dead Sea, finding a temporal research facility from the distant future called Chronopolis. Lynx and Kid are inside; Serge defeats Lynx and the supercomputer FATE, allowing the six Dragons of El Nido to steal the Frozen Flame and retire to Terra Tower, a massive structure raised from the sea floor. Kid falls into a coma, and Harle bids the party goodbye to fly with the Dragons. Serge regroups his party and tends to Kid, who remains comatose. Continuing his adventure, he obtains and cleanses the corrupted Masamune sword from Chrono Trigger. He then uses the Dragon relics and shards of the Dragon Tears to create the mythic Element Chrono Cross. The spiritual power of the Masamune later allows him to lift Kid from her coma. At Terra Tower, the prophet of time, revealed to be Belthasar from Chrono Trigger, visits him with visions of Crono, Marle, and Lucca. Serge learns that the time research facility Chronopolis created El Nido thousands of years ago after a catastrophic experimental failure drew it to the past. The introduction of a temporally foreign object in history caused the planet to pull in a counterbalance from a different dimension. This was Dinopolis, a city of Dragonians—parallel universe descendants of Chrono Trigger's Reptites. The institutions warred and Chronopolis subjugated the Dragonians. Humans captured their chief creation—the Dragon God, an entity capable of controlling nature. Chronopolis divided this entity into six pieces and created an Elements system. FATE then terraformed an archipelago, erased the memories of most of Chronopolis's staff, and sent them to inhabit and populate its new paradise. Thousands of years later, a panther demon attacked a three-year-old Serge. His father took him to find assistance at Marbule, but Serge's boat blew off course due to a raging magnetic storm caused by Schala. Schala, the princess of the Kingdom of Zeal, had long ago accidentally fallen to a place known as the Darkness Beyond Time and began merging with Lavos, the chief antagonist of Chrono Trigger. Schala's storm nullified Chronopolis's defenses and allowed Serge to contact the Frozen Flame; approaching it healed Serge but corrupted his father, turning him into Lynx. A circuit in Chronopolis then designated Serge "Arbiter", simultaneously preventing FATE from using the Frozen Flame by extension. The Dragons were aware of this situation, creating a seventh Dragon under the storm's cover named Harle, who manipulated Lynx to steal the Frozen Flame for the Dragons. After Serge returned home, FATE sent Lynx to kill Serge, hoping that it would release the Arbiter lock. Ten years after Serge drowned, the thief Kid—presumably on Belthasar's orders—went back in time to save Serge and split the dimensions. FATE, locked out of the Frozen Flame again, knew that Serge would one day cross to Another world and prepared to apprehend him. Lynx switched bodies with Serge to dupe the biological check of Chronopolis on the Frozen Flame. Belthasar then reveals that these events were part of a plan he had orchestrated named Project Kid. Serge continues to the top of Terra Tower and defeats the Dragon God. Continuing to the beach where the split in dimensions had occurred, Serge finds apparitions of Crono, Marle, and Lucca once more. They reveal that Belthasar's plan was to empower Serge to free Schala from melding with Lavos, lest they evolve into the "Time Devourer", a creature capable of destroying spacetime. Lucca explains that Kid is Schala's clone, sent to the modern age to take part in Project Kid. Serge uses a Time Egg—given to him by Belthasar—to enter the Darkness Beyond Time and vanquish the Time Devourer, separating Schala from Lavos and restoring the dimensions to one. Thankful, Schala muses on evolution and the struggle of life and returns Serge to his home, noting that he will forget the entire adventure. She then seemingly records the experience in her diary, noting she will always be searching for Serge in this life and beyond, signing the entry as Schala "Kid" Zeal, implying that she and Kid have merged and became whole again. A wedding photo of Kid and an obscured male sits on the diary's desk. Scenes then depict a real-life Kid searching for someone in a modern city, intending to make players entertain the possibility that their own Kid is searching for them. The ambiguous ending leaves the events of the characters' lives following the game up to interpretation. Relation to Radical Dreamers Chrono Cross employs story arcs, characters, and themes from Radical Dreamers, a Satellaview side story to Chrono Trigger released in Japan. Radical Dreamers is an illustrated text adventure which was created to wrap up an unresolved plot line of Chrono Trigger. Though it borrows from Radical Dreamers in its exposition, Chrono Cross is not a remake of Radical Dreamers, but a larger effort to fulfill that game's purpose; the plots of the games are irreconcilable. To resolve continuity issues and acknowledge Radical Dreamers, the developers of Chrono Cross suggested the game happened in a parallel dimension. A notable difference between the two games is that Magus—present in Radical Dreamers as Gil—is absent from Chrono Cross. Director Masato Kato originally planned for Magus to appear in disguise as Guile, but scrapped the idea due to plot difficulties. Kato specifically felt that the game's large number of characters, as well as the difficult production schedule, did not allow him to develop the relationship between Magus and Kid. In the DS version of Chrono Trigger, Kato teases the possibility of an amnesiac Magus. Development Square began planning Chrono Cross immediately after the release of Xenogears in 1998 (which itself was originally conceived as a sequel to the SNES game). Chrono Trigger's scenario director Masato Kato had brainstormed ideas for a sequel as early as 1996, following the release of Radical Dreamers. Square's managers selected a team, appointed Hiromichi Tanaka producer, and asked Kato to direct and develop a new Chrono game in the spirit of Radical Dreamers. Kato thought Dreamers was released in a "half-finished state", and wanted to continue the story of the character Kid. Kato and Tanaka decided to produce an indirect sequel. They acknowledged that Square would soon re-release Chrono Trigger as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles, which would give players a chance to catch up on the story of Trigger before playing Cross. Kato thought that using a different setting and cast for Chrono Cross would allow players unfamiliar with Chrono Trigger to play Cross without becoming confused. The Chrono Cross team decided against integrating heavy use of time travel into the game, as they thought it would be "rehashing and cranking up the volume of the last game". Masato Kato cited the belief, "there's no use in making something similar to before ", and noted, "we're not so weak nor cheap as to try to make something exactly the same as Trigger ... Accordingly, Chrono Cross is not Chrono Trigger 2. It doesn't simply follow on from Trigger, but is another, different Chrono that interlaces with Trigger." Kato and Tanaka further explained their intentions after the game's release: Full production began on Chrono Cross in mid-1998. The Chrono Cross team reached 80 members at its peak, with additional personnel of 10–20 cut-scene artists and 100 quality assurance testers. The team felt pressure to live up to the work of Chrono Trigger's "Dream Team" development group, which included famous Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama. Kato and Tanaka hired Nobuteru Yūki for character design and Yasuyuki Honne for art direction and concept art. The event team originally envisioned a short game, and planned a system by which players would befriend any person in a town for alliance in battle. Developers brainstormed traits and archetypes during the character-creation process, originally planning 64 characters with unique endings that could vary in three different ways per character. Kato described the character creation process: "Take Pierre, for example: we started off by saying we wanted a wacko fake hero like Tata from Trigger. We also said things like 'we need at least one powerful mom', 'no way we're gonna go without a twisted brat', and so on so forth." As production continued, the length of Cross increased, leading the event team to reduce the number of characters to 45 and scrap most of the alternate endings. Developers humorously named the character Pip "Tsumaru" in Japanese (which means "packed") as a pun on their attempts to pack as much content into the game as possible. To avoid the burden of writing unique, accented dialogue for several characters, team member Kiyoshi Yoshii coded a system that produces accents by modifying basic text for certain characters. Art director Nobuteru Yuuki initially wanted the characters to appear in a more chibi format with diminutive proportions. The game world's fusion of high technology and ethnic, tribal atmospheres proved challenging at first. He later recalled striving to harmonize the time period's level of technology, especially as reflected in characters' garb. The Chrono Cross team devised an original battle system using a stamina bar and Elements. Kato planned the system around allowing players to avoid repetitive gameplay (also known as "grinding") to gain combat experience. Hiromichi Tanaka likened the Elements system to card games, hoping players would feel a sense of complete control in battle. The team programmed each battle motion manually instead of performing motion capture. Developers strove to include tongue-in-cheek humor in the battle system's techniques and animations to distance the game from the Final Fantasy franchise. Masato Kato planned for the game's setting to feature a small archipelago, for fear that players would become confused traveling in large areas with respect to parallel worlds. He hoped El Nido would still impart a sense of grand scale, and the development team pushed hardware limitations in creating the game's world. To create field maps, the team modeled locations in 3D, then chose the best angle for 2D rendering. The programmers of Chrono Cross did not use any existing Square programs or routines to code the game, instead writing new, proprietary systems. Other innovations included variable-frame rate code for fast-forward and slow-motion gameplay (awarded as a bonus for completing the game) and a "CD-read swap" system to allow quick data retrieval. Masato Kato directed and wrote the main story, leaving sub-plots and minor character events to other staff. The event team sometimes struggled to mesh their work on the plot due to the complexity of the parallel worlds concept. Masato Kato confirmed that Cross featured a central theme of parallel worlds, as well as the fate of Schala, which he was previously unable to expound upon in Chrono Trigger. Concerning the ending sequences showing Kid searching for someone in a modern city, he hoped to make players realize that alternate futures and possibilities may exist in their own lives, and that this realization would "not ... stop with the game". He later added, "Paraphrasing one novelist's favorite words, what's important is not the message or theme, but how it is portrayed as a game. Even in Cross, it was intentionally made so that the most important question was left unanswered." Kato described the finished story as "ole' boy-meets-girl type of story" with sometimes-shocking twists. Kato rode his motorcycle to relieve the stress of the game's release schedule. He continued refining event data during the final stages of development while the rest of the team undertook debugging and quality control work. Square advertised the game by releasing a short demo of the first chapter with purchases of Legend of Mana. The North American version of Cross required three months of translation and two months of debugging before release. Richard Honeywood translated, working with Kato to rewrite certain dialogue for ease of comprehension in English. He also added instances of wordplay and alliteration to compensate for difficult Japanese jokes. To streamline translation for all 45 playable characters, Honeywood created his own version of the accent generator which needed to be more robust than the simple verbal tics of the Japanese cast. Although the trademark Chrono Cross was registered in the European Union, the game was not released in Europe. Music Chrono Cross was scored by freelance video game music composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who previously worked on Chrono Trigger. Director Masato Kato personally commissioned Mitsuda's involvement, citing a need for the "Chrono sound". Kato envisioned a "Southeast Asian feel, mixed with the foreign tastes and the tones of countries such as Greece"; Mitsuda centered his work around old world cultural influences, including Mediterranean, Fado, Celtic, and percussive African music. Mitsuda cited visual inspiration for songs: "All of my subjects are taken from scenery. I love artwork." To complement the theme of parallel worlds, he gave Another and Home respectively dark and bright moods, and hoped players would feel the emotions of "'burning soul,' 'lonely world,' and 'unforgettable memories'". Mitsuda and Kato planned music samples and sound effects with the philosophy of "a few sounds with a lot of content". Xenogears contributor Tomohiko Kira played guitar on the beginning and ending themes. Noriko Mitose, as selected by Masato Kato, sang the ending song—"Radical Dreamers – The Unstolen Jewel". Ryo Yamazaki, a synthesizer programmer for Square Enix, helped Mitsuda transfer his ideas to the PlayStation's sound capabilities; Mitsuda was happy to accomplish even half of what he envisioned. Certain songs were ported from the score of Radical Dreamers, such as Gale, Frozen Flame, and Viper Mansion. Other entries in the soundtrack contain leitmotifs from Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers. The melody of Far Promise ~ Dream Shore features prominently in The Dream That Time Dreams and Voyage ~ Another World. Masato Kato faced internal opposition in hiring Noriko Mitose: Production required six months of work. After wrapping, Mitsuda and Kato played Chrono Cross to record their impressions and observe how the tracks intermingled with scenes; the ending theme brought Kato to tears. Players who preordered the game received a sampler disc of five songs, and Square released a three-CD official soundtrack in Japan after the game's debut. The soundtrack won the Gold Prize for the PlayStation Awards of 2000. In 2005, Square Enix reissued the soundtrack due to popular demand. Earlier that year, Mitsuda announced a new arranged Chrono Cross album, scheduled for release in July 2005. Mitsuda's contract with Square gave him ownership and full rights to the soundtrack of Chrono Cross. It was delayed, and at a Play! A Video Game Symphony concert in May 2006, he revealed it would feature acoustic music and would be "out within the year", later backtracking and alleging a 2007 release date. Mitsuda posted a streaming sample of a finished track on his personal website in January 2009, and has stated the album will be released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Japanese debut of Cross. Music from Chrono Cross has been featured in the September 2009 Symphonic Fantasies concerts, part of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series conducted by Arnie Roth. The track "Dimension Break" was remixed by Mitsuda for inclusion on the charity album Play For Japan in 2011. That same year, the Chrono Cross theme "Time's Scar" was voted first place in Hardcore Gaming 101's "Best Video Game Music of All Time" poll. "Time's Scar" was also featured in 2012 by NPR in a program about classically arranged video game scores. Release and reception Chrono Cross shipped 850,000 units in Japan and 650,000 abroad by 2003. It was re-released once in the United States as a Sony Greatest Hits title and again as part of the Japanese Ultimate Hits series. Chrono Cross was also released on the PlayStation Network in Japan on July 6, 2011, and in North America on November 8, 2011, but a PAL region release has not been announced. Critics praised the game's complex plot, innovative battle system, varied characters, moving score, vibrant graphics, and success in breaking convention with its predecessor. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave Chrono Cross a Gold Award, scoring it 10/10/9.5 in their three reviewer format with the first review declaring the game to be "a masterpiece, plain and simple". GameSpot awarded the game a perfect 10, one of only sixteen games in the 40,000 games listed on Gamespot to have been given the score, and its Console Game of the Year Award for 2000. It also received the annual Best Role-Playing Game, Best Game Music and Best PlayStation Game awards, and nominations for Best Game Story and Best Graphics, Artistic. IGN gave the game a score of 9.7, and Cross appeared 89th in its 2008 Top 100 games list. Famitsu rated the game 36 out of 40 from four reviewers. Fan reaction was largely positive, though certain fans complained that the game was a far departure from its predecessor, Chrono Trigger; Chrono Cross broke convention by featuring more characters, fewer double and triple techs, fewer instances of time travel, and few appearances of Trigger characters and locations. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and director Masato Kato were aware of the changes in development, specifically intending to provide an experience different from Chrono Trigger. Kato anticipated and rebuffed this discontent before the game's release, wondering what the Chrono title meant to these fans and whether his messages ever "really got through to them". He continued, "Cross is undoubtedly the highest quality Chrono that we can create right now. (I won't say the 'best' Chrono, but) If you can't accept that, then I'm sorry to say this but I guess your Chrono and my Chrono have taken totally different paths. But I would like to say, thank you for falling in love with Trigger so much." Tanaka added, "Of course, the fans of the original are very important, but what innovation can come about when you're bound to the past? I believe that gameplay should evolve with the hardware." Kato later acknowledged that he could have "shown more empathy to the player" by making the story less complex, and acknowledged fans who felt the game was a departure from Chrono Trigger, noting that one can still "equally enjoy the game." Legacy On December 9 2021, a cross-over event between Chrono Cross and the free-to-play RPG Another Eden was released. A collaborative effort between Chrono writer Kato and composer Mitsuda, the game features elements similar to the Chrono series, such as talking frog protagonists and time-travel elements. Titled Complex Dream, the event introduces several Chrono Cross characters, including Serge, Kid, and Harle, as well as gameplay elements from the series such as element magic and combo techs. Remaster Publications began discussion of a possible remastered version of Chrono Cross in September 2021, when a security flaw allowed for a web developer to see an internal listing of current and upcoming video games in Nvidia's GeForce Now database, which included a never-announced Chrono Cross Remastered. Nvidia later confirmed that the list was real, but that game's listed were speculative, and may or may not end up getting a final release. A second Nvidia leak occurred the following November, which again listed Chrono Cross Remastered, this time with a December 2021 release date. Further comments on the game's existence also arose in November; Video Games Chronicle reported Nick Baker of the XboxEra podcast could confirm prior reports of its existence, and game website Gematsu separately confirmed the game's existence. On December 4, 2021, Square Enix announced a cross over event between Chrono Cross and mobile game Another Eden; the announcement spurred more discussion on a remaster, considering Square was reviving the game for the first time in 20 years, and writer Masato Kato worked on both games. A remaster of the game, titled Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, was announced on February 9, 2022 during a Nintendo Direct presentation, being slated for release on April 7, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The remaster of the title will include quality-of-life updates such as the ability to disable encounters, in addition to an enhanced OST. The remaster will also be bundled with the text adventure game Radical Dreamers, previously only available to Japanese players through the Satellaview peripheral for the Super Famicom. Sequel In 2001, Hironobu Sakaguchi revealed the company's staff wanted to develop a new game and were discussing script ideas. Although Kato was interested in a new title, the project had not been greenlighted. Square then registered a trademark for Chrono Break worldwide, causing speculation concerning a new sequel. Nothing materialized, and the trademark was dropped in the United States on November 13, 2003, though it still stands in Japan and the European Union. Kato later returned to Square Enix as a freelancer to work on Children of Mana and Dawn of Mana. Mitsuda also expressed interest in scoring a new Chrono series game. In 2005, Kato and Mitsuda teamed up to do a game called Deep Labyrinth, and again in 2008 for Sands of Destruction, both for the Nintendo DS. The February 2008 issue of Game Informer ranked the Chrono series eighth among the "Top Ten Sequels in Demand", naming the games "steadfast legacies in the Square Enix catalogue" and asking "what's the damn holdup?!" In Electronic Gaming Monthly's June 2008 "Retro Issue", writer Jeremy Parish cited Chrono as the franchise video game fans would be most thrilled to see a sequel to. In the May 1, 2009, issue of Famitsu, Chrono Trigger placed 14th out of 50 in a vote of most-wanted sequels by the magazine's readers. At E3 2009, SE Senior Vice President Shinji Hashimoto remarked, "If people want a sequel, they should buy more!" References External links Official website for The Radical Dreamers Edition Official Japanese website for The Radical Dreamers Edition Chrono Cross game entry at The Playstation Datacenter 1999 video games Chrono (series) Nintendo Switch games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 4 games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games with alternate endings Video games developed in Japan Video games about cats Video games featuring parallel universes Video games scored by Yasunori Mitsuda Windows games Xbox One games

David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the narrative film. Griffith is known to modern audiences primarily for directing the film The Birth of a Nation (1915). One of the most financially successful films of all time, it made investors enormous profits, but it also attracted much controversy for its degrading portrayals of African Americans, glorification of the Ku Klux Klan, and racist viewpoint. The film led to riots in several major cities all over the United States and attempts by the NAACP to have the film banned. Griffith made his next film Intolerance (1916) as an answer to critics, who he felt unfairly maligned his work. Together with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, Griffith founded the studio United Artists in 1919 with the goal of enabling actors and directors to make films on their own terms as opposed to those of commercial studios. Several of Griffith's later films were successful, including Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1921), but the high costs he incurred for production and promotion often led to commercial failure. He had made roughly 500 films by the time of his final feature, The Struggle (1931), all of which but three were completely silent. Griffith has a complicated legacy. Although far from universally so, he was a widely celebrated and respected figure in his lifetime, and modern film historians still recognize him for his technical contributions to the craft of filmmaking. Nevertheless, many critics have characterized both Griffith and his work (most notably, The Birth of a Nation) as racist, both during his life and in the decades that have followed since his death. Historians frequently cite The Birth of a Nation as a major factor in the KKK's revival in the 20th century, and it remains a polarizing work to this day. Early life Griffith was born January 22, 1875, on a farm in Oldham County, Kentucky, the son of Jacob Wark "Roaring Jake" Griffith, a Confederate Army colonel in the American Civil War who was elected as a Kentucky state legislator, and Mary Perkins (née Oglesby). Griffith was raised as a Methodist, and he attended a one-room schoolhouse, where he was taught by his older sister Mattie. His father died when he was 10, and the family struggled with poverty. When Griffith was 14, his mother abandoned the farm and moved the family to Louisville, Kentucky; there she opened a boarding house, which failed shortly afterward. Griffith then left high school to help support the family, taking a job in a dry goods store and later in a bookstore. He began his creative career as an actor in touring companies. Meanwhile, he was learning how to become a playwright, but had little success—only one of his plays was accepted for a performance. He traveled to New York City in 1907 in an attempt to sell a script to Edison Studios producer Edwin Porter; however, Porter rejected the script, but gave him an acting part in Rescued from an Eagle's Nest instead. He then decided to become an actor and appeared in many films as an extra. Early film career In 1908, Griffith accepted a role as a stage extra in Professional Jealousy for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, where he met cameraman Billy Bitzer, and his career in the film industry changed forever. In 1908, Biograph's main director Wallace McCutcheon Sr. grew ill, and his son Wallace McCutcheon Jr. took his place. McCutcheon Jr. did not bring the studio success; Biograph co-founder Harry Marvin gave Griffith the position, and he made the short The Adventures of Dollie. He directed a total of 48 shorts for the company that year. Among the films he directed in 1909 was The Cricket on the Hearth, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel. On the influence of Dickens on his own film narrative, Griffith employed the technique of cross-cutting—where two stories run alongside each other, as seen in Dickens' novels such as Oliver Twist. When criticized by a cameraman for doing this in a later film, Griffith was said to have replied, "Well, doesn't Dickens write that way?". His short In Old California (1910) was the first film shot in Hollywood, California. Four years later, he produced and directed his first feature film Judith of Bethulia (1914), one of the earliest to be produced in the U.S. Biograph believed that longer features were not viable at this point. According to Lillian Gish, the company thought that "a movie that long would hurt [the audience's] eyes". Griffith left Biograph because of company resistance to his goals and his cost overruns on the film. He took his company of actors with him and joined the Mutual Film Corporation. There he co-produced The Life of General Villa, a silent biographical-action movie starring Pancho Villa as himself, shot on location in Mexico during a civil war. He formed a studio with Majestic Studios manager Harry Aitken, which became known as Reliance-Majestic Studios and later was renamed Fine Arts Studios. His new production company became an autonomous production unit partner in the Triangle Film Corporation along with Thomas H. Ince and Keystone Studios' Mack Sennett. The Triangle Film Corporation was headed by Aitken, who was released from the Mutual Film Corporation, and his brother Roy. Griffith directed and produced The Clansman through Reliance-Majestic Studios in 1915, which became known as The Birth of a Nation and is considered one of the early feature length American films. The film was a success, but it aroused much controversy due to its depiction of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and race relations in the American Civil War and the reconstruction era of the United States. It was based on Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan; it depicts Southern slavery as benign, the enfranchisement of freedmen as a corrupt plot by the Republican Party, and the Ku Klux Klan as a band of heroes restoring the rightful order. This view of the era was popular at the time and was endorsed for decades by historians of the Dunning School, although it met with strong criticism from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other groups. The NAACP attempted to stop showings of the film. This was successful in some cities, but nonetheless it was shown widely and became the most successful box-office attraction of its time. It is considered among the first "blockbuster" motion pictures, and broke all box office records that had been established until then. "They lost track of the money it made", Lillian Gish remarked in a Kevin Brownlow interview. Audiences in some major northern cities rioted over the film's racial content, which was filled with action and violence. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year, in which he portrayed the effects of intolerance in four different historical periods: the Fall of Babylon; the Crucifixion of Jesus; the events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (during religious persecution of French Huguenots); and a modern story. Intolerance was not a financial success; it did not bring in enough profits to cover the lavish road show that accompanied it. Griffith put a huge budget into the film's production that could not be recovered in its box office. He mostly financed Intolerance himself, contributing to his financial ruin for the rest of his life. Griffith's production partnership was dissolved in 1917, and he went to Artcraft, part of Paramount Pictures, and then to First National Pictures (1919–1920). At the same time, he founded United Artists together with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks; the studio was premised on allowing actors to control their own interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. He continued to make films, but never again achieved box-office grosses as high as either The Birth of a Nation or Intolerance. Later film career Though United Artists survived as a company, Griffith's association with it was short-lived. While some of his later films did well at the box office, commercial success often eluded him. Griffith features from this period include Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), Orphans of the Storm (1921), Dream Street (1921), One Exciting Night (1922) and America (1924). Of these, the first three were successes at the box office. Griffith was forced to leave United Artists after Isn't Life Wonderful (1924) failed at the box office. He made a part-talkie, Lady of the Pavements (1929), and only two full-sound films: Abraham Lincoln (1930) and The Struggle (1931). Neither was successful, and after The Struggle he never made another film. In 1936, director Woody Van Dyke, who had worked as Griffith's apprentice on Intolerance, asked Griffith to help him shoot the famous earthquake sequence for San Francisco, but did not give him any film credit. Starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy, it was the top-grossing film of the year. In 1939, the producer Hal Roach hired Griffith to produce Of Mice and Men (1939) and One Million B.C. (1940). He wrote to Griffith: "I need help from the production side to select the proper writers, cast, et cetera, and to help me generally in the supervision of these pictures." Although Griffith eventually disagreed with Roach over the production and parted, Roach later insisted that some of the scenes in the completed film were directed by Griffith. This would make the film the final production in which Griffith was actively involved. However, cast members' accounts recall Griffith directing only the screen tests and costume tests. When Roach advertised the film in late 1939 with Griffith listed as producer, the latter asked that his name be removed. Griffith was for decades held in awe by many members of the film industry. He was presented a special Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the mid-1930s. In 1946, he made an impromptu visit to the film location of David O. Selznick's epic western Duel in the Sun, where some of his veteran actors—Lillian Gish, Lionel Barrymore and Harry Carey—were cast members. Gish and Barrymore found their old mentor's presence distracting and became self-conscious; in response, Griffith hid behind the scenery when the two were filming their scenes. Death On the morning of July 23, 1948, Griffith was discovered unconscious in the lobby at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles, where he had been living alone. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 3:42 PM on the way to a Hollywood hospital. A public memorial service was held in his honor at the Hollywood Masonic Temple. He is buried at Mount Tabor Methodist Church Graveyard in Centerfield, Kentucky. In 1950, The Directors Guild of America provided a stone and bronze monument for his grave site. Legacy Performer and director Charlie Chaplin called Griffith "The Teacher of Us All". Filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Lev Kuleshov, Jean Renoir, Cecil B. DeMille, King Vidor, Victor Fleming, Raoul Walsh, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Sergei Eisenstein, and Stanley Kubrick have praised Griffith. Griffith seems to have been the first to understand how certain film techniques could be used to create an expressive language; it gained popular recognition with the release of his The Birth of a Nation (1915). His early shorts —such as Biograph's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), show that Griffith's attention to camera placement and lighting heightened mood and tension. In making Intolerance Griffith opened up new possibilities for the medium, creating a form that seems to owe more to music than to traditional narrative. In the 1951 Philco Television Playhouse episode "The Birth of the Movies" events from Griffith's film career were depicted. Griffith was played by John Newland. In 1953 the Directors Guild of America (DGA) instituted the D. W. Griffith Award, its highest honor. However, on December 15, 1999, then DGA President Jack Shea and the DGA National Board announced that the award would be renamed as the "DGA Lifetime Achievement Award". They stated that, although Griffith was extremely talented, they felt his film The Birth of a Nation had "helped foster intolerable racial stereotypes", and that it was thus better not to have the top award in his name. In 1975 Griffith was honored on a ten-cent postage stamp by the United States. The 1976 American comedy film Nickelodeon in part pays homage to silent film makers and includes footage from The Birth of a Nation. D. W. Griffith Middle School in Los Angeles is named after Griffith. Because of the association of Griffith and the racist nature of The Birth of a Nation, attempts have been made to rename the 99% minority-enrolled school. In 2008 the Hollywood Heritage Museum hosted a screening of Griffith's earliest films to commemorate the centennial of his start in film. On January 22, 2009, the Oldham History Center in La Grange, Kentucky opened a 15-seat theatre in Griffith's honor. The theatre features a library of available Griffith films. Film preservation Griffith has six films preserved on the United States National Film Registry deemed as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". These are Lady Helen's Escapade (1909), A Corner in Wheat (1909), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919). See also D. W. Griffith filmography D. W. Griffith House Griffith Ranch (in San Fernando, California) List of Freemasons List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area References Further reading Seymour Stern, An Index to the Creative Work of D. W. Griffith (London: The British Film Institute, 1944–47) Iris Barry and Eileen Bowser, D. W. Griffith: American Film Master (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1965) Kevin Brownlow, The Parade's Gone By (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968) David Robinson, Hollywood in the Twenties (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co, Inc., 1968) Lillian Gish, The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me (Englewood, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1969) Robert M. Henderson, D. W. Griffith: His Life and Work (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972) Karl Brown, Adventures with D. W. Griffith (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973) Edward Wagenknecht and Anthony Slide, The Films of D. W. Griffith (New York: Crown, 1975) Petrić, Vlada, D.W. Griffith's A Corner in Wheat: A Critical Analysis. Cambridge, MA: University Film Study Center, 1975. William K. Everson, American Silent Film (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978) Richard Schickel, D. W. Griffith: An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) William M. Drew, D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance:" Its Genesis and Its Vision (Jefferson, New Jersey: McFarland & Company, 1986) Tom Gunning, D.W. Griffith and the Origin of the American Narrative: The Early Years at Biograph (Urbana: Illinois University Press, 1994) External links Bibliography of books and articles about Griffith via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center Photo of Griffith as a young man in the 1890s or early 1900s D.W. Griffith in theVanity Fair Hall of Fame (1918) A magazine article by the famous director printed in Illustrated World (1921) 1875 births 1948 deaths Academy Honorary Award recipients American film producers American film production company founders American people of Welsh descent American Methodists Artists from Los Angeles Artists from Louisville, Kentucky Articles containing video clips Burials in Kentucky Cinema pioneers Deaths by intracerebral hemorrhage Film directors from Kentucky Film directors from Los Angeles Hollywood history and culture People from Oldham County, Kentucky Silent film directors United Artists Western (genre) film directors

Destry Rides Again is a 1939 American Western film directed by George Marshall and starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody Jr., Lillian Yarbo, and Una Merkel. The opening credits list the story as "Suggested by Max Brand's novel Destry Rides Again", but the movie is almost completely different. It also bears no resemblance to the 1932 adaptation of the novel starring Tom Mix, which is often retitled as Justice Rides Again. In 1996, Destry Rides Again was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Plot Saloon owner Kent, the unscrupulous boss of the fictional Western town of Bottleneck, has the town's sheriff, Mr. Keogh, killed when Keogh asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game. Kent and Frenchy, a cheap saloon tramp who is his girlfriend, now have a stranglehold over the local cattle ranchers. The town's crooked mayor, Hiram J. Slade, who is in collusion with Kent, appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale, as the new sheriff, assuming that he will be easy to control and manipulate. However, Dimsdale, a deputy under the famous lawman Tom Destry, promptly swears off drinking, and is able to call upon the latter's equally formidable son, Tom Destry Jr., to help him make Bottleneck a lawful, respectable town. Destry arrives in Bottleneck with Jack Tyndall, a cattleman, and his sister, Janice. Destry initially confounds the townsfolk by refusing to strap on a gun and maintaining civility in dealing with everyone, including Kent and Frenchy. This quickly makes him a disappointment to Dimsdale and a laughingstock to the townspeople; he is mockingly asked to "clean up" Bottleneck by being given a mop and bucket. However, after a number of rowdy horsemen ride into town shooting their pistols in the air, he demonstrates uncanny expertise in marksmanship and threatens to jail them if they do it again, earning the respect of Bottleneck's citizens. Through the townsmen's evasive answers regarding the whereabouts of Keogh, Destry gradually begins to suspect that Keogh was murdered. He confirms this by provoking Frenchy into admitting it, but without a location for the body, he lacks any proof. Destry therefore deputizes Boris, a Russian immigrant whom Frenchy had earlier humiliated, and implies to Kent that he had found the body outside of town "in remarkably good condition". When Kent sends a member of his gang to check on Keogh's burial site, Boris and Dimsdale follow, capture, and jail him. Although the gang member is charged with Keogh's murder (in the hope that he would implicate Kent in exchange for clemency), Mayor Slade appoints himself judge of the trial, making an innocent verdict a foregone conclusion. To prevent this, Destry calls in a judge from a larger city in secret, but the plan is ruined after Boris accidentally gives away the other judge's name in the saloon. Kent orders Frenchy to invite the deputy to her house while other gang members storm the sheriff's office and cause a breakout; now in love with Destry, she accepts. When shots are fired, he rushes back, to find the cell empty and Dimsdale mortally wounded. Destry returns to his room and puts on his gun belt, abandoning his previous commitment to nonviolence. Under Destry's command, the honest townsmen form a posse and prepare to attack the saloon, where Kent's gang is fortified, while Destry enters through the roof and looks for Kent. At Frenchy's urging, the townswomen march in between the groups, preventing further violence, before breaking into the saloon and subduing the gang. Kent narrowly escapes, and attempts to shoot Destry from the second floor; Frenchy takes the bullet for him, killing her, and Destry kills Kent. Some time later, Destry is shown to be the sheriff of a now lawful Bottleneck, repeating to children the stories that Dimsdale told him of the town's violent history. He jokingly tells a story about marriage to Janice, implying a marriage between them will soon follow. Cast As appearing in screen credits: Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy, the saloon singer James Stewart as Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry Jr., the new deputy Mischa Auer as Boris Callahan, the henpecked Russian Charles Winninger as Washington "Wash" Dimsdale, the new sheriff Brian Donlevy as Kent, the saloon owner Allen Jenkins as "Gyp" Watson Warren Hymer as "Bugs" Watson Irene Hervey as Janice Tyndall Una Merkel as Lily Belle, "Mrs. Callahan" Billy Gilbert as Bartender "Loupgerou" Samuel S. Hinds as Judge Slade, the mayor Jack Carson as Jack Tyndall Tom Fadden as Lem Claggett Virginia Brissac as Sophie Claggett Edmund MacDonald as Rockwell Lillian Yarbo as Clara, Frenchy's maid Joe King as Sheriff Keogh Dickie Jones as Claggett's boy Ann E. Todd as Claggett's girl Songs Dietrich sings "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have" and "You've Got That Look", written by Frank Loesser, set to music by Frederick Hollander, which have become classics. Production Western writer Max Brand contributed the novel, Destry Rides Again, but the film also owes its origins to Brand's serial "Twelve Peers", published in a pulp magazine. In the original work, Harrison (or "Harry") Destry was not a pacifist. As filmed in 1932, with Tom Mix in the starring role, the central character differed in that Destry did wear six-guns. The film was James Stewart's first Western (he would not return to the genre until 1950, with Winchester '73, followed by Broken Arrow). The story featured a ferocious cat-fight between Marlene Dietrich and Una Merkel, which apparently caused a mild censorship problem at the time of release. The film also represented Dietrich's return to Hollywood after a string of flops at Paramount ("Angel", "The Scarlet Empress", "The Devil is a Woman") caused her, and a number of other stars, to be labelled "box office poison". While vacationing at Cap d'Antibes with her family, her mentor Josef von Sternberg and her lover Erich Maria Remarque, she received an offer from Joe Pasternak to come to Universal at half the salary she had been receiving for most of the 1930s. Pasternak had previously tried to sign Dietrich to Universal while she was still in Berlin. Unsure of what to do she was advised by von Sternberg "I made you into a Goddess. Now show them you have feet of clay". According to writer/director Peter Bogdanovich, Marlene Dietrich told him during an aircraft flight that she and James Stewart had an affair during shooting and that she became pregnant but had a surreptitious abortion without telling Stewart. Internationally, the film was released under the alternative titles Femme ou Démon in French and Arizona in Spanish. Reception Destry Rides Again was generally well accepted by the public, as well as critics. It was reviewed by Frank S. Nugent in The New York Times, who observed that the film did not follow the usual Hollywood type-casting. On Dietrich's role, he characterized: "It's difficult to reconcile Miss Dietrich's Frenchy, the cabaret girl of the Bloody Gulch Saloon, with the posed and posturing Dietrich we last saw in Mr. Lubitsch's 'Angel'." Stewart's contribution was similarly treated, "turning in an easy, likable, pleasantly humored performance." Other versions Universal Pictures released an earlier version, also titled Destry Rides Again (1932), directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Tom Mix and ZaSu Pitts. An almost shot-for-shot remake of the 1939 production, Destry (1954), was also directed by George Marshall and stars Audie Murphy and Thomas Mitchell. A Broadway musical version of the story, Destry Rides Again, opened in New York City at the Imperial Theatre on April 23, 1959, and played 472 performances. Produced by David Merrick, the show had a book by Leonard Gershe, music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and starred Andy Griffith as Destry and Dolores Gray as Frenchy. ABC aired a short-lived television series in 1964, Destry, based on the 1939 and 1954 films, starring John Gavin as the son of the movie's title character. In popular culture Marlene Dietrich's character, Frenchy, was the inspiration for the character of Lili Von Shtupp in the Western parody Blazing Saddles. References Notes Bibliography Beaver, Jim. "James Stewart." Films in Review, October 1980. Coe, Jonathan. James Stewart: Leading Man. London: Bloomsbury, 1994. . Eliot, Mark. Jimmy Stewart: A Biography. New York: Random House, 2006. . "The Jimmy Stewart Museum Home Page." jimmy.org. Retrieved: February 18, 2007. Jones, Ken D., Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey. The Films of James Stewart. New York: Castle Books, 1970. Pickard, Roy. Jimmy Stewart: A Life in Film. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. . Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James". International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 4th edition. London: St. James Press, 2000. . Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 5th edition. London: St. James Press, 2000. . Quirk, Lawrence J. James Stewart: Behind the Scenes of a Wonderful Life. Montclair, New Jersey: Applause Books, 2000. . Riva, Maria. Marlene Dietrich. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. . Robbins, Jhan. Everybody's Man: A Biography of Jimmy Stewart. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. . Thomas, Tony. A Wonderful Life: The Films and Career of James Stewart. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1988. . External links Destry Rides Again: Riding High an essay by Farran Smith Nehme at the Criterion Collection Destry Rides Again on Lux Radio Theater: November 5, 1945 Destry Rides Again essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 298-299 1939 films 1939 Western (genre) films 1939 comedy films American films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Films directed by George Marshall Films produced by Joe Pasternak Films scored by Frank Skinner Gambling films United States National Film Registry films Universal Pictures films

A duopoly (from Greek δύο, duo "two" and πωλεῖν, polein "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicity. Duopolies sell to consumers in a competitive market where the choice of an individual consumer can not affect the firm. The defining characteristic of both duopolies and oligopolies is that decisions made by sellers are dependent on each other. Duopoly models in economics and game theory There are two principal duopoly models, Cournot duopoly and Bertrand duopoly: The Cournot model, which shows that two firms assume each other's output and treat this as a fixed amount, and produce in their own firm according to this. The Bertrand model, in which, in a game of two firms, each one of them will assume that the other will not change prices in response to its price cuts. When both firms use this logic, they will reach a Nash equilibrium. Characteristics of duopoly Existence of only two sellers Interdependence: if any firm makes the change in the price or promotional scheme, other firms also have to comply with it, to remain in the competition. Presence of monopoly elements: so long as products are differentiated, the firms enjoy some monopoly power, as each product will have some loyal customers There are two popular models of duopoly, i.e., Cournot's Model and Bertrand's Model. Politics Like a market, a political system can be dominated by two groups, which exclude other parties or ideologies from participation. One party or the other tends to dominate government at any given time (the Majority party), while the other has only limited power (the Minority party). According to Duverger's law, this tends to be caused by a simple winner-take-all voting system without runoffs or ranked choices. The United States and many Latin American countries, such as Costa Rica, Guyana, and the Dominican Republic have two-party government systems. Examples in business A commonly cited example of a duopoly is that involving Visa and MasterCard, who between them control a large proportion of the electronic payment processing market. In 2000 they were the defendants in a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit. An appeal was upheld in 2004. Examples where two companies control a overwhelming proportion of a market are: Airbus and Boeing in the largest commercial aircraft market in the world Nvidia and AMD in the GPU market Intel and AMD in the desktop CPU market Google's Android and Apple's iOS make up over 99% of the mobile operating system market Google and Facebook together make up the majority of the online advertisement market. Woolworths and Coles in the Australian supermarket market Myer and David Jones in the Australian upmarket department store market Husqvarna and Stihl in the chainsaw market Doppelmayr Garaventa Group and HTI Group consisting of Poma & Leitner in the market for ropeways, transport commonly used in mountainous regions, ski resorts, cities and amusement parks. Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation operate a duopoly on freight rail traffic in the Eastern United States, and the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway operate a duopoly on freight rail traffic elsewere in the United States. Media In Finland, the state-owned broadcasting company Yleisradio and the private broadcaster Mainos-TV had a legal duopoly (in the economists' sense of the word) from the 1950s to 1993. No other broadcasters were allowed. Mainos-TV operated by leasing air time from Yleisradio, broadcasting in reserved blocks between Yleisradio's own programming on its two channels. This was a unique phenomenon in the world. Between 1986 and 1992 there was an independent third channel but it was jointly owned by Yle and MTV; only in 1993 did MTV get its own channel. In the United Kingdom, the BBC and ITV formed an effective duopoly (with Channel 4 originally being economically dependent on ITV) until the development of multichannel from the 1990s onwards. In Africa, mobile service providers Safaricom and Airtel in Kenya are examples of a Duopoly market in the telecommunication industry. Broadcasting Duopoly is also used in the United States broadcast television and radio industry to refer to a single company owning two outlets in the same city. This usage is technically incompatible with the normal definition of the word and may lead to confusion, inasmuch as there are generally more than two owners of broadcast television stations in markets with broadcast duopolies. In Canada, this definition is therefore more commonly called a "twinstick". See also Monopoly Oligopoly Two-party system References Market structure Oligopoly

The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy became the first Kennedy elected to public office, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. There was at least one Kennedy family member in federal elective office from 1947, when P. J. Kennedy's grandson John F. Kennedy became a member of Congress from Massachusetts, until 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy II (John's nephew) retired as a member of Congress from Rhode Island. P. J.'s son Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. had nine children with his wife Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, including John F. Kennedy (who served in both houses of the United States Congress and as U.S. President) and Robert F. Kennedy (who served as U.S. Attorney General and in the U.S. Senate). Other descendants include members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, two U.S. ambassadors, a lieutenant governor, three state legislators (one of whom was also in the U.S. House of Representatives), and one mayor. Their daughter, Eunice, founded the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (part of the National Institutes of Health), and the Special Olympics. Eunice's daughter Maria Shriver served as First Lady of California. Other descendants of Joseph and Rose Kennedy have been active as lawyers, authors, and activists on behalf of those with physical and intellectual challenges. History According to genealogist Brian Kennedy in his work JFK's Irish O'Kennedy Ancestors, the Kennedys who would go on to play a significant role in the United States of America originated from the Ó Cinnéide Fionn (one of the three Irish Gaelic Ó Cinnéide clans who ruled the kingdom of Ormond, along with the Ó Cinnéide Donn and Ó Cinnéide Ruadh). Their progenitor, Diarmaid Ó Cinnéide Fionn, held Knigh Castle close to what is today Puckane, County Tipperary in 1546. From there, having lost out to the New English order in the Kingdom of Ireland, they ended up in Dunganstown, New Ross, County Wexford by 1740. Patrick Kennedy was born there in 1823. The first Kennedys to reside in the United States were Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) and Bridget Murphy (1824–1888), who sailed from Ireland to East Boston in 1849; Patrick worked in East Boston as a barrel maker, or cooper. Patrick and Bridget had five children: their youngest, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy, went into business and served in the Massachusetts state legislature from 1884 to 1895. P. J. and Mary Augusta Hickey were the parents of four children. Their oldest was Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy Sr., who amassed a fortune in banking and securities trading, which he further expanded by investing in other growing industries. Joseph Sr. was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, chairman of the Maritime Commission, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom in the lead-up to World War II. He served on The Hoover Commission, officially named the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, from 1947 to 1949; the commission was appointed by President Harry Truman to recommend administrative changes in the federal government. His wife, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, was appointed Papal Countess of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Pius XII. Continued public service Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald were the parents of nine children: Joseph Jr., John, Rose Marie (called Rosemary), Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Edward (called Ted). John served as the 35th president of the United States, while Robert and Ted both became prominent senators. Every Kennedy elected to public office has served as a Democrat, while other members of the family have worked for the Democratic Party or held Cabinet posts in Democratic administrations. Many have attended Harvard University, and the family has contributed greatly to that university's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Joseph Sr. expected his eldest son, Joseph Jr., to go into politics and to ultimately be elected president. Joseph Jr. was elected as a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention, and enlisted in the Navy after the U.S. entered World War II. He was killed in 1944 when the bomber he was piloting exploded in flight. Joseph Sr.'s desire to see the family involved in politics and government then focused on John, who had considered a career as a journalist, having authored a book and done some reporting for Hearst Newspapers. After returning from Navy service, John served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Massachusetts's 11th congressional district from 1947 to 1953, and then as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts until his election as President in 1960. During John's administration, Robert served as attorney general; his brother-in-law Sargent Shriver served as director of the new Peace Corps, and Ted was elected to the U.S. Senate, occupying his brother's former seat in Massachusetts until his death in 2009. Among the Kennedy administration's accomplishments: the Alliance for Progress, the Peace Corps, peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the 24th Amendment ending the poll tax, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The family was the subject of intense media coverage during and after the Kennedy presidency, often emphasizing their relative youth, allure, education, and future in politics. Ted served in the Senate with his brother Robert (1965–1968), and was serving in the Senate when his nephew, Joseph P. II (1987–1999), and son, Patrick J. (1995–2011), served in the U.S. House of Representatives. In November 2012, Joseph P. Kennedy III, son of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th congressional district. In 2020, he lost the 2020 Senate primary election in Massachusetts to Ed Markey, the first Kennedy to ever lose an election in the state. Curse Family incidents led Senator Ted Kennedy to wonder, in a televised statement about the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969, whether there really was a "Kennedy curse." Some of the events endured by the Kennedy clan include: in 1941, Rosemary underwent a non-consensual lobotomy intended to prevent her from embarrassing the family with her violent mood swings, convulsions, and intellectual disability. The operation left her incapacitated for the rest of her life. Joseph Jr. died in 1944 when the Navy bomber he was piloting exploded in mid-flight. Kathleen died in a plane crash in France in 1948. John and Robert were assassinated, in 1963 and 1968 respectively. In 1964, Ted was nearly killed when his plane crashed in an apple orchard near Southampton, Massachusetts. (Legislative aide Edward Moss and the pilot were killed in the crash.) Ted was seriously injured and spent months in a hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding. In later generations, Robert's son David died of a drug overdose in 1984; and son Michael died from injuries sustained in a skiing accident in 1997; John's son John Jr. died in a plane crash (along with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren) off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in 1999; Kara Kennedy and Christopher Kennedy Lawford died of heart attacks, in 2011 and 2018 respectively; and Saoirse Kennedy Hill died of a drug overdose in 2019. In April 2020, Robert's granddaughter Maeve Kennedy McKean, a former official in the Obama Administration, and her eight-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, disappeared in Chesapeake Bay after embarking in a canoe to retrieve a ball. Maeve McKean's body was recovered the following week, and her son's two days later, about 2.5 miles from her mother's home on the Chesapeake Bay. Genealogy Government offices held Patrick Joseph Kennedy: Massachusetts state Representative 1884–1889; Massachusetts state Senator, 1889–1895. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr.: Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1934–1935; chairman of the United States Maritime Commission, 1936–1938; United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1938–1940. John Fitzgerald Kennedy: United States Representative from Massachusetts, 1947–1953; United States Senator from Massachusetts, 1953–1960; President of the United States, 1961–1963 Caroline Kennedy: United States Ambassador to Japan, 2013–2017. Eunice Kennedy Shriver Bobby Shriver: Santa Monica, California City Council member, 2004–2012; Mayor of Santa Monica, 2010. Mark Kennedy Shriver: Maryland state Delegate, 1995–2003. Robert Francis Kennedy: United States Attorney General 1961–1964; United States Senator from New York, 1965–1968. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Lieutenant governor of Maryland, 1995–2003. Joseph P. Kennedy II: United States Representative from Massachusetts, 1987–1999. Joseph P. Kennedy III: United States Representative from Massachusetts, 2013–2021. Jean Kennedy Smith: United States Ambassador to Ireland, 1993–1998. Edward Moore Kennedy: United States Senator from Massachusetts, 1962–2009. Edward M. Kennedy Jr.: Connecticut state Senator, 2015–2019. Patrick J. Kennedy: Rhode Island state Representative, 1989–1993; United States Representative from Rhode Island, 1995–2011. There was a member of the Kennedy family in public office nearly continuously from 1946, when John F. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, until early 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy left the House. The only exception was the period between John F. Kennedy's resignation from the Senate on December 22, 1960, and his assumption of the office of President on January 20, 1961. In 2013, two years after Patrick Kennedy left the House, Joseph P. Kennedy III was elected U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and served until 2021. Below is a timeline of the Kennedys' tenure in the U.S. Congress. Congressional timeline Heraldry In 1961, John F. Kennedy was presented with a grant of arms for all the descendants of Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) from the Chief Herald of Ireland. The design of the arms (three gold closed helmets on a black field) strongly alludes to symbols in the coats of arms of the O'Kennedys of Ormonde and the FitzGeralds of Desmond, from whom the family is believed to be descended. The crest is an armored hand holding four arrows between two olive branches, elements taken from the coat of arms of the United States of America and also symbolic of Kennedy and his brothers. References Bibliography Haas, Lawrence J. The Kennedys in the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America's Empire (2021) excerpt External links The Kennedys: A Family Tree, St. Petersburg Times Kennedy Family Tree, The New York Times Kennedy Family, The Political Graveyard American families of Irish ancestry Business families of the United States First Families of the United States Roman Catholic families County Wexford Irish-American culture Irish-American history Massachusetts Democrats People from Barnstable, Massachusetts People from Boston People from Brookline, Massachusetts Political families of the United States

The Donegal fiddle tradition is the way of playing the fiddle that is traditional in County Donegal, Ireland. It is one of the distinct fiddle traditions within Irish traditional music. The distinctness of the Donegal tradition developed due to the close relations between Donegal and Scotland, and the Donegal repertoire and style has influences from Scottish fiddle music. For example, in addition to the standard tune types such as Jigs and Reels, the Donegal tradition also has Highlands (influenced by the Scottish Strathspey). The distinctiveness of the Donegal tradition led to some conflict between Donegal players and representatives of the mainstream tradition when Irish traditional music was organised in the 1960s. The tradition has several distinguishing traits compared to other fiddle traditions such as the Sliabh Luachra style of southern Ireland, most of which involves styles of bowing and the ornamentation of the music, and rhythm. Due to the frequency of double stops and the strong bowing it is often compared to the Cape Breton tradition. Another characteristic of the style is the rapid pace at which it tends to proceed. Modern players, such as the fiddle group Altan, continue to be popular due to a variety of reasons. Among the most famous Donegal style players are John Doherty from the early twentieth century and James Byrne, Paddy Glackin, Tommy Peoples and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh in recent decades. History The fiddle has ancient roots in Ireland, the first report of bowed instruments similar to the violin being in the Book of Leinster (ca. 1160). The modern violin was ubiquitous in Ireland by the early 1700s. However the first mention of the fiddle being in use in Donegal is from the blind harper Arthur O'Neill who in his 1760 memoirs described a wedding in Ardara as having "plenty of pipers and fiddlers". Donegal fiddlers participated in the development of the Irish music tradition in the 18th century during which jigs and slipjigs and later reels and hornpipes became the dominant musical forms. However, Donegal musicians, many of them being fishermen, also frequently travelled to Scotland, where they acquired tune types from the Scottish repertoire such as the Strathspey which was integrated into the Donegal tradition as "Highland" tunes. The Donegal tradition derives much of its unique character from the synthesis of Irish and Scottish stylistic features and repertoires. Aoidh notes however that while different types of art music were commonly played among the upper classes of Scottish society in the 18th century, the Donegal tradition drew exclusively from the popular types of Scottish music. Like some Scottish fiddlers (who, like Donegal fiddlers, tend to use a short bow and play in a straight-ahead fashion), some Donegal fiddlers worked at imitating the sound of the bagpipes. Workers from Donegal would bring their music to Scotland and also bring back Scottish tunes with them such music of J. Scott Skinner and Mackenzie Murdoch. Lilting, unaccompanied singing of wordless tunes, was also an important part of the Donegal musical tradition often performed by women in social settings. Describing the musical life of Arranmore Island in the late 19th century singer Róise Rua Nic Gríanna describes the most popular dances: "The Sets, the Lancers, the Maggie Pickie [i.e., Maggie Pickins] the Donkey, the Mazurka and the Barn dances". Among the travelling fiddlers of the late 19th century players such as John Mhosaí McGinley, Anthony Hilferty, the McConnells and the Dohertys are best known. As skill levels increased through apprenticeships several fiddle masters appeared such as the Cassidy's, Connie Haughey, Jimmy Lyons and Miock McShane of Teelin and Francie Dearg and Mickey Bán Byrne of Kilcar. These virtuosos played unaccompanied listening pieces in addition to the more common dance music. The influences between Scotland and Donegal went both ways and were furthered by a wave of immigration from Donegal to Scotland in the 19th century (the regions share common names of dances), as can be heard in the volume of strathspeys, schottisches, marches, and Donegal's own strong piping tradition, has influenced and been influenced by music, and by the sounds, ornaments, and repertoire of the Píob Mhór, the traditional bagpipes of Ireland and Scotland. There are other differences between the Donegal style and the rest of Ireland. Instruments such as the tin whistle, flute, concertina and accordion were very rare in Donegal until modern times. Traditionally the píob mór and the fiddle were the only instruments used and the use of pipe or fiddle music was common in old wedding customs. Migrant workers carried their music to Scotland and also brought back a number of tunes of Scottish origin. The Donegal fiddlers may well have been the route by which Scottish tunes such as Lucy Campbell, Tarbolton Lodge (Tarbolton) and The Flagon (The Flogging Reel), that entered the Irish repertoire. These players prided themselves on their technical abilities, which included playing in higher positions (fairly uncommon among traditional Irish fiddlers), and sought out material which would demonstrate their skills. As Irish music was consolidated and organised under the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann movement in the 1960s, both strengthened the interest in traditional music but sometimes conflicted with the Donegal tradition and its social conventions. The rigidly organised sessions of the Comhaltas reflected the traditions of Southern Ireland and Donegal fiddlers like John Doherty considered the National repertoire with its strong focus on reels to be less diverse than that of Donegal with its varied rhythms. Other old fiddlers dislike the ways comhaltas sessions were organised with a committee player, often not himself a musician, in charge. Sometimes Comhaltas representatives would even disparage the Donegal tradition, with its Scottish flavour, as being un-Irish, and prohibit them from playing local tunes with Scottish genealogies such as the "Highlands" at Comhaltas sessions. This sometimes cause antagonism between Donegal players and the main organisation of traditional music in Ireland. Outside of the Comhaltas movement however, Donegal fiddling stood strong with Paddy Glackin of Ceoltorí Laighean and the Bothy Band and later Tommy Peoples also with the Bothy Band and Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh with Altan, who all drew attention and prestige to the Donegal tradition within folk music circles throughout Ireland. Description of style The Donegal style of fiddling is a label often applied to music from this area, though one also might plausibly identify several different, but related, styles within the county. To the extent to which there is one common style in the county, it is characterised by a rapid pace; a tendency to be more un-swung in the playing of the fast dance tune types (reel and jigs); short (non-slurred), aggressive bowing, sparse ornamentation, the use of bowed triplets more often than trills as ornaments, the use of double stops and droning; and the occurrence of "playing the octave", with one player playing the melody and the other playing the melody an octave lower. None of these characteristics are universal, and there is some disagreement as to the extent to which there is a common style at all. In general, however, the style is rather aggressive. Another feature of Donegal fiddling that makes it distinctive among Irish musical traditions is the variety of rare tune types that are played. Highlands, a type of tune in time with some similarities to Scottish strathspeys, which are also played in Donegal, are one of the most commonly played types of tune in the county. Other tune types common solely in the county include barndances, also called "Germans," and mazurkas. Fiddlers of the Donegal tradition Historical There are a number of different strands to the history of fiddle playing in County Donegal. Perhaps the best-known and, in the last half of the twentieth century, the most influential has been that of the Doherty family. Hugh Doherty is the first known musician of this family. Born in 1790, he headed an unbroken tradition of fiddlers and pipers in the Doherty family until the death, in 1980, of perhaps the best-known Donegal fiddler, John Doherty. John, a travelling tinsmith, was known for his extremely precise and fast finger- and bow-work and vast repertoire, and is considered to be one of the greatest Irish fiddlers ever recorded. John's older brother, Mickey, was also recorded and, though Mickey was another of the great Irish fiddlers, his reputation has been overshadowed by John's. There is no single Donegal style but several distinctive styles. These styles traditionally come from the geographical isolated regions of Donegal including Inishowen, eastern Donegal, The Rosses and Gweedore, Croaghs, Teelin, Kilcar, Glencolmcille, Ballyshannon and Bundoran. Even with improved communications and transport, these regions still have recognisably different ways of fiddle playing. Notable deceased players of the older Donegal styles include Neillidh ("Neilly") Boyle, Francie Byrne, Con Cassidy, Frank Cassidy, James Byrne (1946–2008), P.V. O'Donnell (2011), and Tommy Peoples (1948–2018). Currently living Donegal fiddlers, include, Vincent Campbell, John Gallagher, Paddy Glackin, and Danny O'Donnell. Modern Fiddle playing continues to be popular in Donegal. The three fiddlers of the Donegal "supergroup" Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Paul O'Shaughnessy, and Ciarán Tourish, are generally admired within Donegal. An example of another fiddler-player from Donegal is Liz Doherty. Another well regarded fiddle player hailing from Donegal is Aidan O'Donnell. TG4 Young Musician of the Year 2010 Aidan O'Donnell has been described as one of the finest young Irish musicians at present. He began his music making at the age of 12, and since then has performed with some of traditional music's finest artists, including Donal Lunny, Micheal Ó'Suilleabháin and the Chieftains. In 2007, he won the prestigious ‘Oireachtas na Geailge' fiddle title, and has been a regular tutor at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, at the University of Limerick for the past number of years. The fiddle, and traditional music in general, remained popular in Donegal not only because of the international coverage of certain artists but because of local pride in the music. Traditional music Seisiúns are still common place both in pubs and in houses. The Donegal fiddle music has been influenced by recorded music, but this is claimed to have had a positive impact on the tradition. Modern Donegal fiddle music is often played in concerts and recorded on albums. See also Irish fiddle Scottish fiddling Irish music Celtic music Notes Irish music Celtic music Irish styles of music

A disperser is a one-sided extractor. Where an extractor requires that every event gets the same probability under the uniform distribution and the extracted distribution, only the latter is required for a disperser. So for a disperser, an event we have: Definition (Disperser): A -disperser is a function such that for every distribution on with the support of the distribution is of size at least . Graph theory An (N, M, D, K, e)-disperser is a bipartite graph with N vertices on the left side, each with degree D, and M vertices on the right side, such that every subset of K vertices on the left side is connected to more than (1 − e)M vertices on the right. An extractor is a related type of graph that guarantees an even stronger property; every (N, M, D, K, e)-extractor is also an (N, M, D, K, e)-disperser. Other meanings A disperser is a high-speed mixing device used to disperse or dissolve pigments and other solids into a liquid. See also Expander graph References Graph families

Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main psychoactive component of alcoholic beverages, other physiological symptoms may arise from the activity of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol. These effects may not arise until hours after ingestion and may contribute to the condition colloquially known as a hangover. Symptoms of intoxication at lower doses may include mild sedation and poor coordination. At higher doses, there may be slurred speech, trouble walking, and vomiting. Extreme doses may result in a respiratory depression, coma, or death. Complications may include seizures, aspiration pneumonia, injuries including suicide, and low blood sugar. Alcohol intoxication can lead to alcohol-related crime with perpetrators more likely to be intoxicated than victims. Alcohol intoxication typically begins after two or more alcoholic drinks. Risk factors include a social situation where heavy drinking is common and a person having an impulsive personality. Diagnosis is usually based on the history of events and physical examination. Verification of events by witnesses may be useful. Legally, alcohol intoxication is often defined as a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of greater than 5.4–17.4 mmol/L (25–80 mg/dL or 0.025–0.080%). This can be measured by blood or breath testing. Alcohol is broken down in the human body at a rate of about 3.3 mmol/L (15 mg/dL) per hour, depending on an individual's metabolic rate (metabolism). Management of alcohol intoxication involves supportive care. Typically this includes putting the person in the recovery position, keeping the person warm, and making sure breathing is sufficient. Gastric lavage and activated charcoal have not been found to be useful. Repeated assessments may be required to rule out other potential causes of a person's symptoms. Acute intoxication has been documented throughout history, and alcohol remains one of the world's most widespread recreational drugs. Some religions consider alcohol intoxication to be a sin. Symptoms Alcohol intoxication leads to negative health effects due to the recent drinking of ethanol (alcohol). When severe it may become a medical emergency. Some effects of alcohol intoxication, such as euphoria and lowered social inhibition, are central to alcohol's desirability. Pathophysiology Alcohol is metabolized by a normal liver at the rate of about 8 grams of pure ethanol per hour. 8 grams or is one British standard unit. An "abnormal" liver with conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, gall bladder disease, and cancer is likely to result in a slower rate of metabolism. Ethanol is metabolised to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which is found in many tissues, including the gastric mucosa. Acetaldehyde is metabolised to acetate by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which is found predominantly in liver mitochondria. Acetate is used by the muscle cells to produce acetyl-CoA using the enzyme acetyl-CoA synthetase, and the acetyl-CoA is then used in the citric acid cycle. As drinking increases, people become sleepy, or fall into a stupor. After a very high level of consumption, the respiratory system becomes depressed and the person will stop breathing. Comatose patients may aspirate their vomit (resulting in vomitus in the lungs, which may cause "drowning" and later pneumonia if survived). CNS depression and impaired motor co-ordination along with poor judgment increases the likelihood of accidental injury occurring. It is estimated that about one-third of alcohol-related deaths are due to accidents and another 14% are from intentional injury. In addition to respiratory failure and accidents caused by effects on the central nervous system, alcohol causes significant metabolic derangements. Hypoglycaemia occurs due to ethanol's inhibition of gluconeogenesis, especially in children, and may cause lactic acidosis, ketoacidosis, and acute kidney injury. Metabolic acidosis is compounded by respiratory failure. Patients may also present with hypothermia. Mechanism In the past, alcohol was believed to be a non-specific pharmacological agent affecting many neurotransmitter systems in the brain. However, molecular pharmacology studies have shown that alcohol has only a few primary targets. In some systems, these effects are facilitatory and in others inhibitory. Among the neurotransmitter systems with enhanced functions are: GABAA, 5-HT3 receptor agonism (responsible for GABAergic (GABAA receptor PAM), glycinergic, and cholinergic effects), nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Among those that are inhibited are: NMDA, dihydropyridine-sensitive L-type Ca2+ channels and G-protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ channels. Alcohol is also converted to a lipid metabolite phosphatidylethanol by phospholipase D2 and this metabolite is shown to bind directly to and regulate ion channels. The result of these direct effects is a wave of further indirect effects involving a variety of other neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems, leading finally to the behavioural or symptomatic effects of alcohol intoxication. The order in which different types of alcohol are consumed ("Grape or grain but never the twain" and "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer") does not have any effect. GABAA receptors Many of the effects of activating GABAA receptors have the same effects as that of ethanol consumption. Some of these effects include anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative, and hypnotic effects, cognitive impairment, and motor incoordination. This correlation between activating GABAA receptors and the effects of ethanol consumption has led to the study of ethanol and its effects on GABAA receptors. It has been shown that ethanol does in fact exhibit positive allosteric binding properties to GABAA receptors. However, its effects are limited to pentamers containing the δ-subunit rather than the γ-subunit. GABAA receptors containing the δ-subunit have been shown to be located exterior to the synapse and are involved with tonic inhibition rather than its γ-subunit counterpart, which is involved in phasic inhibition. The δ-subunit has been shown to be able to form the allosteric binding site which makes GABAA receptors containing the δ-subunit more sensitive to ethanol concentrations, even to moderate social ethanol consumption levels (30mM). While it has been shown by Santhakumar et al. that GABAA receptors containing the δ-subunit are sensitive to ethanol modulation, depending on subunit combinations receptors could be more or less sensitive to ethanol. It has been shown that GABAA receptors that contain both δ and β3-subunits display increased sensitivity to ethanol. One such receptor that exhibits ethanol insensitivity is α3-β6-δ GABAA. It has also been shown that subunit combination is not the only thing that contributes to ethanol sensitivity. Location of GABAA receptors within the synapse may also contribute to ethanol sensitivity. Diagnosis Alcohol intoxication is described as a mental and behavioural disorder by the International Classification of Diseases. (ICD-10). Definitive diagnosis relies on a blood test for alcohol, usually performed as part of a toxicology screen. Law enforcement officers in the United States and other countries often use breathalyzer units and field sobriety tests as more convenient and rapid alternatives to blood tests. There are also various models of breathalyzer units that are available for consumer use. Because these may have varying reliability and may produce different results than the tests used for law-enforcement purposes, the results from such devices should be conservatively interpreted. Many informal intoxication tests exist, which, in general, are unreliable and not recommended as deterrents to excessive intoxication or as indicators of the safety of activities such as motor vehicle driving, heavy equipment operation, machine tool use, etc. For determining whether someone is intoxicated by alcohol by some means other than a blood-alcohol test, it is necessary to rule out other conditions such as hypoglycemia, stroke, usage of other intoxicants, mental health issues, and so on. It is best if their behavior has been observed while the subject is sober to establish a baseline. Several well-known criteria can be used to establish a probable diagnosis. For a physician in the acute-treatment setting, acute alcohol intoxication can mimic other acute neurological disorders, or is frequently combined with other recreational drugs that complicate diagnosis and treatment. Management Acute alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency due to the risk of death from respiratory depression or aspiration of vomit if vomiting occurs while the person is unresponsive. Emergency treatment strives to stabilize and maintain an open airway and sufficient breathing, while waiting for the alcohol to metabolize. This can be done by removal of any vomit or, if the person is unconscious or has impaired gag reflex, intubation of the trachea. Other measures may include Treat low blood sugar, with intravenous sugar solutions as ethanol induced low blood sugar unresponsive to glucagon. Administer the vitamin thiamine to prevent Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, which can cause a seizure (more usually a treatment for chronic alcoholism, but in the acute context usually co-administered to ensure maximal benefit). Hemodialysis if the blood concentration is very high at >130  mmol/l (>600 mg/dL) Provide oxygen therapy as needed via nasal cannula or non-rebreather mask. While the medication metadoxine may speed the breakdown of alcohol, use in alcohol intoxication requires further study as of 2017. It is approved in a number of countries in Europe, as well as India and Brazil. Additional medication may be indicated for treatment of nausea, tremor, and anxiety. Clinical findings Hospital admissions Alcohol intoxication was found to be prevalent in clinical populations within the United States involving people treated for trauma and in the age group of people aged within their 18th - 24th years (in a study of a group for the years 1999 - 2004). In the United States during the years 2010 - 2012, acute intoxication was found to be the direct cause of an average of 2,221 deaths, in the sample group of those aged within their 15th year or older. The same mortality route is thought to cause indirectly more than 30,000 deaths per year. Prognosis A normal liver detoxifies the blood of alcohol over a period of time that depends on the initial level and the patient's overall physical condition. An abnormal liver will take longer but still succeeds, provided the alcohol does not cause liver failure. People having drunk heavily for several days or weeks may have withdrawal symptoms after the acute intoxication has subsided. A person consuming a dangerous amount of alcohol persistently can develop memory blackouts and idiosyncratic intoxication or pathological drunkenness symptoms. Long-term persistent consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol can cause liver damage and have other deleterious health effects. Society and culture Alcohol intoxication is a risk factor in some cases of catastrophic injury, in particular for unsupervised recreational activity. A study in the province of Ontario based on epidemiological data from 1986, 1989, 1992, and 1995 states that 79.2% of the 2,154 catastrophic injuries recorded for the study were preventable, of which 346 (17%) involved alcohol consumption. The activities most commonly associated with alcohol-related catastrophic injury were snowmobiling (124), fishing (41), diving (40), boating (31) and canoeing (7), swimming (31), riding an all-terrain vehicle (24), and cycling (23). These events are often associated with unsupervised young males, often inexperienced in the activity, and many result in drowning. Alcohol use is also associated with unsafe sex. Legal issues Laws on drunkenness vary. In the United States, it is a criminal offense for a person to be drunk while driving a motorized vehicle, except in Wisconsin, where it is only a fine for the first offense. It is also a criminal offense to fly an aircraft or (in some American states) to assemble or operate an amusement park ride while drunk. Similar laws also exist in the United Kingdom and most other countries. In some countries, it is also an offense to serve alcohol to an already-intoxicated person, and, often, alcohol can be sold only by persons qualified to serve responsibly through alcohol server training. The blood alcohol content (BAC) for legal operation of a vehicle is typically measured as a percentage of a unit volume of blood. This percentage ranges from 0.00% in Romania and the United Arab Emirates; to 0.05% in Australia, South Africa, Germany, Scotland and New Zealand (0.00% for underage individuals); to 0.08% in England and Wales, the United States and Canada. The United States Federal Aviation Administration prohibits crew members from performing their duties within eight hours of consuming an alcoholic beverage, while under the influence of alcohol, or with a BAC greater than 0.04%. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, public intoxication is a crime (also known as "being drunk and disorderly" or "being drunk and incapable"). In some countries, there are special facilities, sometimes known as "drunk tanks", for the temporary detention of persons found to be drunk. Religious views Christianity Some religious groups permit the consumption of alcohol; some permit consumption but prohibit intoxication; others prohibit any amount of alcohol consumption altogether. Many denominations of Christianity, such as Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Lutheranism, use wine as a part of the Eucharist and permit its consumption, but consider it sinful to become intoxicated. In the Bible, the Book of Proverbs contains several chapters related to the negative effects of drunkenness and warn to stay away from intoxicating beverages. The Book of Leviticus tells the story of Nadab and Abihu, the eldest sons of Aaron, who were killed for serving in the Temple in Jerusalem after drinking wine, presumably while intoxicated. It continues to discuss monasticism, in which drinking wine is prohibited. The story of Samson in the Book of Judges tells of a monk from the Israelite tribe of Dan who is prohibited from cutting his hair and drinking wine. Romans 13:13–14, 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, Galatians 5:19–21 and Ephesians 5:18 are among a number of other Bible passages that speak against intoxication. While Proverbs 31:4 warns against kings and other rulers drinking wine and similar alcoholic beverages, Proverbs 31:6–7 promotes giving such beverages to the perishing and wine to those whose lives are bitter as a coping mechanism against the likes of poverty and other troubles. Some Protestant Christian denominations prohibit the consumption of alcohol based upon biblical passages that condemn drunkenness, but others allow a moderate rate of consumption. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alcohol consumption is forbidden, and teetotalism has become a distinguishing feature of its members. Jehovah's Witnesses allow moderate alcohol consumption among its members. Islam In the Quran, there is a prohibition on the consumption of grape-based alcoholic beverages, and intoxication is considered an abomination in the hadith of Muhammad. The schools of thought of Islamic jurisprudence have interpreted this as a strict prohibition of the consumption of all types of alcohol and declared it to be haram (), although other uses may be permitted. Buddhism In Buddhism, in general, the consumption of intoxicants is discouraged for both monastics and lay followers. Many Buddhists observe a basic code of ethics known as the five precepts, of which the fifth precept is an undertaking to refrain from the consumption of intoxicating substances (except for medical reasons). In the bodhisattva vows of the Brahmajala Sutra, observed by Mahayana Buddhist communities, distribution of intoxicants is likewise discouraged, as well as consumption. Hinduism In the Gaudiya Vaishnavism branch of Hinduism, one of the four regulative principles forbids the taking of intoxicants, including alcohol. Judaism In Judaism, in accordance with the biblical stance against drinking, wine drinking is not permitted for priests and monks. The biblical command to sanctify the Sabbath and other holidays has been interpreted as having three ceremonial meals with wine or grape juice, known as Kiddush. A number of Jewish marriage ceremonies end with the bride and groom drinking a shared cup of wine after reciting seven blessings; this occurs after a fasting day in some Ashkenazi traditions. It has been customary and in many cases even mandated to drink moderately so as to stay sober, and only after the prayers are over. During the Seder on Passover, there is an obligation to drink four ceremonial cups of wine while reciting the Haggadah. It has been assumed as the source for the wine-drinking ritual at the communion in some Christian groups. During Purim, there is an obligation to become intoxicated; however, as with many other decrees, this has been avoided in many communities by allowing sleep during the day as a replacement. During the U.S. Prohibition era in the 1920s, a rabbi from the Reform Judaism movement proposed using grape juice for the ritual instead of wine. Although refuted at first, the practice became widely accepted by orthodox Jews as well. Jewish wine-drinking rituals that take place around the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron during weddings, the Sabbath or other holidays have historically stirred tensions with local Palestinian Muslims, who unwillingly share the area with Israeli Jews under the supreme authority of the State of Israel. Other animals In the movie Animals are Beautiful People, an entire section was dedicated to showing many different animals including monkeys, elephants, hogs, giraffes, and ostriches, eating over-ripe marula tree fruit causing them to sway and lose their footing in a manner similar to human drunkenness. Birds may become intoxicated with fermented berries and some die colliding with hard objects when flying under the influence. In elephant warfare, practiced by the Greeks during the Maccabean revolt and by Hannibal during the Punic wars, it has been recorded that the elephants would be given wine before the attack, and only then would they charge forward after being agitated by their driver. It is a regular practice to give small amounts of beer to race horses in Ireland. Ruminant farm animals have natural fermentation occurring in their stomach, and adding alcoholic beverages in small amounts to their drink will generally do them no harm, and will not cause them to become drunk. Alcoholic beverages are extremely harmful to dogs, and often for reasons of additives such as xylitol, an artificial sweetener in some mixers. Dogs can absorb ethyl alcohol in dangerous amounts through their skin as well as through drinking the liquid or consuming it in foods. Even fermenting bread dough can be dangerous to dogs. See also A Night of Serious Drinking Alcohol and sex Alcohol enema Alcohol flush reaction Driving under the influence In vino veritas Short-term effects of alcohol consumption Long-term effects of alcohol consumption Low alcoholic drinks References Bibliography Bales, Robert F. "Attitudes toward Drinking in the Irish Culture". In: Pittman, David J. and Snyder, Charles R. (Eds.) Society, Culture and Drinking Patterns. New York: Wiley, 1962, pp. 157–187. Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr., God Gave Wine: What the Bible Says about Alcohol. Lincoln, Calif.: Oakdown, 2001. Rorabaugh, W.J. "The Alcoholic Republic," Chapter 2 & 5, Oxford University Press. Sigmund, Paul. St. Thomas Aquinas On Politics and Ethics. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1988, p. 77. Walton, Stuart. Out of It. A Cultural History of Intoxication. Penguin Books, 2002. . External links Alcohol overdose: NIAAA Alcohol poisoning: NHS Choices Intox Drinking culture Intox Alcohol abuse Substance intoxication Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate

Denmark is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. It consists of the Jutland peninsula and several islands in the Baltic sea, referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark is located southwest of Sweden and due south of Norway and is bordered by the German state (and former possession) Schleswig-Holstein to the south, on Denmark's only land border, 68 kilometres (42 miles) long. Denmark borders both the Baltic and North Seas along its tidal shoreline. Denmark's general coastline is much shorter, at , as it would not include most of the 1,419 offshore islands (each defined as exceeding 100 square metres in area) and the 180 km long Limfjorden, which separates Denmark's second largest island, North Jutlandic Island, 4,686 km2 in size, from the rest of Jutland. No location in Denmark is further from the coast than . The land area of Denmark is estimated to be . However, it cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and there are human land reclamation projects. On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between , and the tideline moves outward and inward on a stretch. A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 607km² of tidal flats in Denmark, making it the 42nd ranked country in terms of tidal flat extent. Denmark has an Exclusive Economic Zone of . When including Greenland and the Faroe Islands the EEZ is the 15th largest in the world with . A circle enclosing the same total area as Denmark would have a diameter of 234 km (146 miles). Denmark has 443 named islands (1,419 islands above 100 m2), of which 72 are inhabited (, Statistics Denmark). The largest islands are Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn). The island of Bornholm is located east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the larger islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden; the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand; and the Little Belt Bridge connects Jutland with Funen. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen on Zealand; Århus, Aalborg and Esbjerg in Jutland; and Odense on Funen. Denmark experiences a temperate climate. This means that the winters are mild and windy and the summers are cool. The local terrain is generally flat with a few gently rolling plains. The territory of Denmark includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Its position gives Denmark complete control of the Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking the Baltic and North Seas. The country's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand. Environment Climate Land use Arable land: 55.99% Permanent crops: 0.14% Other: 42.87% (2012) Irrigated land: 4,354 km2 (2007) Total renewable water resources: 6 km3 (2011) Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 0.66 km3/yr (58%/5%/36%) per capita: 118.4 m3/yr (2009) Land reclamation In 2019, the government proposed building 9 new artificial islands, named project Holmene, which would create 3 sq km of reclaimed land, to be built from 2022-2040. In June 2021, lawmakers approved the construction of a 3 sq km island, named Lynetteholm, in the Copenhagen Harbor. A spokesperson for the Climate Movement in Denmark (Klimabevægelsen i Danmark) said the organization would sue the government over environmental concerns. Agriculture Denmark has plenty of rain, flat landscape, and moderate climate. With 55.99% of its land considered as arable, Denmark has model characteristics for agriculture. 61% of the country's total area is cultivated Farms in Denmark are remarkably large, averaging 172.9 acres per farm. Additionally, homesteads exceeding 247 acres make up more than 20% in Denmark. Many of these large farms harvest fruits and vegetables, the leading exports from Denmark are meat, fur, and dairy products. The animal's diets in Denmark consist of mainly cereals since they are the dominant field crop. 75% of all cereal produced in Denmark is feed to the four most produced animals which are pigs, cattle, chicken and mink. Denmark overproduces about 66% of food production compared to their own population size (5.7 million) being that they are able to feed 15 million people. This is a byproduct of being highly productive within the Danish agricultural production. In 1961, Denmark's Agricultural land represented 74.5% of land area. Fifty-six years later to 2015, Denmark has decreased its amount of Agricultural land down to 62.1% then to 61% one year later in reference to "Facts and Figures - Danish Agriculture and Food" The decrease in agricultural land comes as farmers are being well educated and the intensive amount of research and development is being implemented. It begins with advancements in agro-technology. The results have improved fertilization and nutrient use on arable land. Digestibility and nutrient uptake are developing from the improvements of new methods that are being implemented. Examples of these new methods are the addition of enzymes and microbial cultures. Natural hazards Flooding is a threat in some areas of the country Current issues Air pollution, principally from vehicle and power plant emissions Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the North Sea Drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal wastes and pesticides International agreements Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Transnational issues Maritime claims Contiguous zone: Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation Exclusive economic zone: (excludes Greenland and Faroe Islands). Territorial sea: Other issues Iceland disputes the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line. Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles or about 370 km. The Faroe Islands continue to study proposals for full independence. Uncontested sovereignty dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Denmark is currently investigating the extent of the continental shelf of Greenland, in the hope that Greenland's Exclusive Economic Zone can be expanded. One of the areas investigated is the geographical North Pole. Population Urban population Denmark's urban population accounts for 87.9% of its total population, with a 0.51% rate of change in urbanization. Copenhagen remains the largest city in Denmark with a population of 1.2 million people and a metro population of 1.99 million. Copenhagen became Denmark's Capital in 1443 and now currently sits with a population density of 6,800 people per square kilometer. About a quarter of Danes live in the capital Copenhagen. See also List of islands of Denmark Danish Realm ISO 3166-2:DK NUTS:DK UN/LOCODE:DK Notes Footnotes Reference External links Map of Denmark from the Atlas “Theatrum orbis terrarum” by Abraham Ortelius. It's the first printed map of Denmark.

The economy of Djibouti is derived in large part from its strategic location on the Red Sea. Djibouti is mostly barren, with little development in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The country has a harsh climate, a largely unskilled labour force, and limited natural resources. The country's most important economic asset is its strategic location, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. As such, Djibouti's economy is commanded by the services sector, providing services as both a transit port for the region and as an international transshipment and refueling centre. From 1991 to 1994, Djibouti experienced a civil war which had devastating effects on the economy. Since then, the country has benefited from political stability. In recent years, Djibouti has seen significant improvement in macroeconomic stability, with its annual gross domestic product improving at an average of over 3 percent since 2003. This comes after a decade of negative or low growth and is attributed to fiscal adjustment aimed at improving public financing, reforms in port management and foreign investment. Despite the recent modest and stable growth, Djibouti is faced with many economic challenges, particularly job creation and poverty reduction. With an average annual population growth rate of 2.5 percent, the economy cannot significantly benefit national income per capita growth. Unemployment is extremely high, with some estimates placing it at almost 60 percent, and is a major contributor to widespread poverty. In recent years, the country's dependence on Chinese investment and debt has also come under scrutiny. According to a 2020 report by the World bank, Djibouti was 112th among 190 economies when it comes to the ease of doing business. Economic performance After experiencing armed conflict and economic hardship during the 1990s, Djibouti has experienced stable economic growth in recent years as a result of relative political stability and achievements in macroeconomic adjustment efforts. Fiscal adjustment measures included downsizing the civil service, implementing a pension reform that placed the system on a much stronger financial footing, and strengthening public expenditure institutions. From 2003 to 2005, annual real GDP growth averaged 3.1 percent in the mid-2000s, driven by good performance in the services sector, strong consumption and reached a value as high as 7.8 percent in 2019. In the 21st century, Inflation has been kept low through fixed pegging of the Djibouti franc to the US dollar, but experienced a sharp spike in the late 2000s, when it reached values three times higher than the average of the last 20 years. Despite experiencing economic growth, the country continues to struggle with high unemployment. Official numbers put the unemployment rate at just over 10 percent, but international estimates consider it to be closer to 60 percent. Furthermore, reliance on diesel-generated electricity and the need to import basic necessities like food and water leave average consumers vulnerable to global price shocks. Djibouti's gross domestic product expanded by an average of more than 6 percent per year, from US$341 million in 1985 to US$3.3 billion in 2019. Low tax revenue and high spending on public infrastructure has seen Djibouti struggle with its budget deficit. Additionally, the country's public debt has increased sharply—from 50.2 percent of GDP in 2015 to an expected 72.9 percent in 2020. Balance of payments Djibouti's merchandise trade balance has shown a large deficit. This is due to the country's enormous need for imports and narrow base of exports. Although Djibouti runs a substantial surplus in its services balance, the surplus has been smaller than the deficit in the merchandise trade balance. As a result, Djibouti's has developed a high level of trade deficit, reaching a peak of 130 billion Djibouti francs in 2019. Regional situation Positioned on a primary shipping lane between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Djibouti holds considerable strategic value in the international trade and shipping industries. The facilities of the Port of Djibouti are important to sea transportation companies for fuel bunkering and refuelling. Its transport facilities are used by several landlocked African countries for the re-export of their goods. Djibouti earns transit taxes and harbour fees from this trade, these form the bulk of government revenue. Threats of pirates patrolling the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, with the intentions of capturing large cargo ships, oil, and chemical tankers has created the need for larger nations such as the United States, France, and Japan to embed logistics bases or military camps from which they can defend their freight from piracy. The port of Djibouti functions as a small French naval facility, and the United States has also stationed hundreds of troops in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, its only African base, in an effort to counter terrorism in the region. Since 2010 China has become an important trading and military partner for Djibouti, including it in its African Road and Belt Initiative through the construction of infrastructure projects like a railway link to Ethiopia and the Doraleh port. In 2017, it also began operating a large naval base near de Doraleh port, which serves as China's first ever overseas military base. In 2009, China overtook the United States in becoming Djibouti's largest trading partner. Between 57 percent and 70 percent of Djibouti's debt is made up of Chinese loans. Chinese influence in Djibouti, particularly through its military base and financial debt, has been criticized in recent years as being more beneficial to the stability of the current political regime than for the country as a whole. Macro-economic trend The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. Impact of Covid-19 Despite not being hit as hard as other countries by the COVID-19 pandemic, Djibouti's economy suffered the effects of the global slowdown in trade and diminished traffic through the Doraleh port. Real GDP growth slumped to 1.4 percent in 2020 from 7.8 percent in 2019. The pandemic also contributed to a sharp deceleration in investment, which increased by just 10.3 percent of GDP in 2020, compared to a 26.3 percent growth in 2019, as well as in the value added by the services sector, which saw a modest 2 percent increase in 2020, after growing by 8.2 percent in 2019. Djibouti's recovery projections are closely tied to the timeframe in which global shipping and trade will return to pre-pandemic levels, with a full recovery expected to happen in the following couple of years,  if the COVID-19 pandemic does not last beyond the second half of 2021. Investment climate Background Djibouti's economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in the Horn of Africa. Two-thirds of inhabitants live in the capital and the remainder of the populace is mostly nomadic herders. Low amounts of rainfall limit crop production to fruits and vegetables, and requiring most food to be imported. The government provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling centre. Djibouti has few natural resources and little industry. All of these factors contribute to its heavy dependence on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of 60 percent continues to be a major problem. Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the franc to the US dollar. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35 percent over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate. Faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors. The Djiboutian franc is pegged to the US dollars since 1949 through the use of a currency board. The effectiveness of this longstanding and unique institution on the African continent has not been challenged since then. According to a financial risk assessment from 2018, the country has been suffering from increasing corruption and a decline in international governance and transparency indices, growing debt and over-reliance on Ethiopia and China for trade and FDI, respectively. Openness to foreign investment Officially, the government of Djibouti welcomes all foreign direct investment. Djibouti's assets include a strategic geographic location, an open trade regime, a stable currency, substantial tax breaks and other incentives. Potential areas of investment include Djibouti's port and the telecommunications sectors. President Ismail Omar Guellehh first elected in 1999, has named privatization, economic reform, and increased foreign investment as top priorities for his government. The president pledged to seek the help of the international private sector to develop the country's infrastructure. Djibouti has no major laws that would discourage incoming foreign investment. In principle there is no screening of investment or other discriminatory mechanisms. However, a number of hurdles to foreign investment in the country exist. For example, certain sectors, most notably public utilities, are state owned and some parts are not currently open to investors. In 2017, a law was passed granting the government the right to unilaterally alter or terminate contracts with foreign entities. Conditions of the structural adjustment agreement recently signed by Djibouti and the International Monetary Fund stipulate increased privatization of parastatal and government-owned monopolies. There are no patent laws in Djibouti. Furthermore, there are concerns about the rule of law, the independence of courts, and how this affects the protection of investments in the country. A Freedom House report, for example, mentions the case of Dubai-based port operator DP World which has been embroiled in a legal battle with Djibouti since 2012, "when Djibouti sold part of its concession in the Doraleh Container Terminal to a Chinese state-owned competitor of DP World, the original concession partner." In 2018, Djibouti seized DP World's port assets, but ruling the nationalization illegal, the London Court of International Arbitration in 2019 ordered Djibouti to restore the rights and benefits of the concession to DP World. The country subsequently rejected the ruling and asked the Djibouti high court to unilaterally nullify the LCIA decision. A Santander report concluded that despite its strategic importance, FDI into Djibouti is hampered by "mediocre governance, corruption, the lack of a sound judicial framework, an unstable regional geopolitical situation, a poorly diversified economy with little resilience to outside shocks, and a fragile ecosystem prone to environmental crisis." As in most African nations, access to licenses and approvals is complicated not so much by law as by administrative procedures. In Djibouti, the administrative process has been characterized as a form of 'circular dependency.' For example, the finance ministry will issue a license only if an investor possesses an approved investor visa, while the interior ministry will only issue an investor visa to a licensed business. The Djiboutian government is increasingly realizing the importance of establishing a one-stop shop to facilitate the investment process. Gender In May 2015 Choukri Djibah, Director of Gender in the Department of Women and Family, launched the project SIHA (Strategic Initiative for the Horn of Africa) designed to support and reinforce the economic capacity of women in Djibouti, funded with a grant from the European Union of 28 Million Djibouti francs. Sectors Trade Principal exports from the region transiting Djibouti are coffee, salt, hides, dried beans, cereals, other agricultural products, chalk, and wax. Djibouti itself has few exports, and the majority of its imports come from France. Most imports are consumed in Djibouti and the remainder goes to Ethiopia and Somalia. Djibouti's unfavorable balance of trade is offset partially by invisible earnings such as transit taxes and harbor dues. In 1999, U.S. exports to Djibouti totalled $26.7 million while U.S. imports from Djibouti were less than $1 million. The City of Djibouti has the only paved airport in the republic. Tourism In 2013, 63,000 foreign tourists visited Djibouti, Djibouti City is the principal tourist destination for visitors, revenues from tourism fell just US$43 million in 2013. See also Djibouti and the World Bank IMF Relations with Djibouti List of companies based in Djibouti United Nations Economic Commission for Africa References External links Djibouti latest trade data on ITC Trade Map Richard Labelle, "Djibouti ICT strategy and action plan", 28 May 2003 African Development Bank, "Djibouti: Results-based country strategy paper, 2007-2010", October 2007 Le système informel de transferts de fonds et le mécanisme automatique du Currency Board : complémentarité ou antagonisme ? Le cas des transferts des hawalas à Djibouti Djibouti Economy of the Arab League Djibouti

The Dominican Republic ( ; , ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at , and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.8 million people (2020 est.), of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. They had constructed an advanced farming and hunting society, and were in the process of becoming an organized civilization. The Taínos also inhabited Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804. After more than three hundred years of Spanish rule, the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821. The leader of the independence movement, José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced mostly civil wars (financed with loans from European merchants), several failed invasions by its neighbour, Haiti, and brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. During this period, two presidents were assassinated (Ulises Heureaux in 1899 and Ramón Cáceres in 1911). The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed. From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy, and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time after 1996. Danilo Medina succeeded Fernández in 2012, winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex-president Hipólito Mejía. He was later succeeded by Luis Abinader in the 2020 presidential election. The Dominican Republic has the largest economy (according to the U.S. State Department and the World Bank) in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. In the first half of 2016, the Dominican economy grew 7.4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine. Private consumption has been strong, as a result of low inflation (under 1% on average in 2015), job creation, and a high level of remittances. Illegal Haitian immigration is a big problem in the Dominican Republic, putting a strain on the Dominican economy and increasing tensions between Dominicans and Haitians. The Dominican Republic is also home to 114,050 illegal immigrants from Venezuela. The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are major attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo. The island has an average temperature of and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. Baseball is the de facto national sport. Etymology The name Dominican originates from Santo Domingo de Guzmán (Saint Dominic), the patron saint of astronomers, and founder of the Dominican Order. The Dominican Order established a house of high studies on the colony of Santo Domingo that is now known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the first University in the New World. They dedicated themselves to the education of the inhabitants of the island, and to the protection of the native Taíno people who were subjected to slavery. For most of its history, up until independence, the colony was known simply as – the name of its present capital and patron saint, Saint Dominic – and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called "Dominicans" (), the adjectival form of "Domingo", and as such, the revolutionaries named their newly independent country the "Dominican Republic" (). In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic (), the term "Dominicans" does not appear. The author of its lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme, consistently uses the poetic term "Quisqueyans" (). The word "Quisqueya" derives from the Taíno language, and means "mother of the lands" (). It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country in English is often shortened to "the D.R." (), but this is rare in Spanish. History Pre-European history The Arawakan-speaking Taíno moved into Hispaniola from the north east region of what is now known as South America, displacing earlier inhabitants, c. 650 C.E. They engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering. The fierce Caribs drove the Taíno to the northeastern Caribbean, during much of the 15th century. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, including tens of thousands, one hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, and four hundred thousand to two million. Determining precisely how many people lived on the island in pre-Columbian times is next to impossible, as no accurate records exist. By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms. The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya. The Spaniards arrived in 1492. Initially, after friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by the female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx, Guamá, Hatuey, and Enriquillo. The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave for a time on the island. Within a few years after 1492, the population of Taínos had declined drastically, due to smallpox, measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans. The first recorded smallpox outbreak, in the Americas, occurred on Hispaniola in 1507. The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864. Still, Taíno biological heritage survived to an important extent, due to intermixing. Census records from 1514 reveal that 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taíno women, and some present-day Dominicans have Taíno ancestry. Remnants of the Taíno culture include their cave paintings, such as the Pomier Caves, as well as pottery designs, which are still used in the small artisan village of Higüerito, Moca. European colonization Christopher Columbus arrived on the island on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española, due to its diverse climate and terrain, which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo, Western Europe's first permanent settlement in the "New World". The Spaniards created a plantation economy on the island. The colony was the springboard for the further Spanish conquest of America and for decades the headquarters of Spanish power in the hemisphere. The Taínos nearly disappeared, above all, due to European infectious diseases. Other causes were abuse, suicide, the breakup of family, starvation, the encomienda system, which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe, war with the Spaniards, changes in lifestyle, and mixing with other peoples. Laws passed for the native peoples' protection (beginning with the Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513) were never truly enforced. African slaves were imported to replace the dwindling Taínos. After its conquest of the Aztecs and Incas, Spain neglected its Caribbean holdings. Hispaniola's sugar plantation economy quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, free blacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening the racial hierarchy and aiding intermixing, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spaniard, Taíno, and African descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became one of the main sources of livelihood for the island's inhabitants. In the mid-17th century, France sent colonists to settle the island of Tortuga and the northwestern coast of Hispaniola (which the Spaniards had abandoned by 1606) due to its strategic position in the region. In order to entice the pirates, France supplied them with women who had been taken from prisons, accused of prostitution and thieving. After decades of armed struggles with the French settlers, Spain ceded the western coast of the island to France with the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, whilst the Central Plateau remained under Spanish domain. France created a wealthy colony on the island, while the Spanish colony continued to suffer economic decline. On April 17, 1655, English forces landed on Hispaniola, and marched 30 miles overland to Santo Domingo, the main Spanish stronghold on the island, where they laid siege to it. Spanish lancers attacked the English forces, sending them careening back toward the beach in confusion. The English commander hid behind a tree where, in the words of one of his soldiers, he was "so much possessed with terror that he could hardly speak". The Spanish defenders who had secured victory were rewarded with titles from the Spanish Crown. 18th century The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700, and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and importation of slaves was renewed. Santo Domingo's exports soared and the island's agricultural productivity rose, which was assisted by the involvement of Spain in the Seven Years' War, allowing privateers operating out of Santo Domingo to once again patrol surrounding waters for enemy merchantmen. Dominican privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown had already been active in the War of Jenkins' Ear just two decades prior, and they sharply reduced the amount of enemy trade operating in West Indian waters. The prizes they took were carried back to Santo Domingo, where their cargoes were sold to the colony's inhabitants or to foreign merchants doing business there. The enslaved population of the colony also rose dramatically, as numerous captive Africans were taken from enemy slave ships in West Indian waters. Between 1720 and 1774, Dominican privateers cruised the waters from Santo Domingo to the coast of Tierra Firme, taking British, French, and Dutch ships with cargoes of African slaves and other commodities. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), Dominican troops, shoulder to shoulder with Mexicans, Spaniards, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans fought under General Bernardo de Gálvez' command in West Florida. The colony of Santo Domingo saw a population increase during the 18th century, as it rose to about 91,272 in 1750. Of this number, approximately 38,272 were white landowners, 38,000 were free mixed people of color, and some 15,000 were slaves. This contrasted sharply with the population of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) – the wealthiest colony in the Caribbean and whose population of one-half a million was 90% enslaved and overall, seven times as numerous as the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. The 'Spanish' settlers, whose blood by now was mixed with that of Taínos, Africans, and Canary Guanches, proclaimed: 'It does not matter if the French are richer than us, we are still the true inheritors of this island. In our veins runs the blood of the heroic conquistadores who won this island of ours with sword and blood.' As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of Saint-Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Inspired by disputes between whites and mulattoes in Saint-Domingue, a slave revolt broke out in the French colony. Although the population of Santo Domingo was perhaps one-fourth that of Saint-Domingue, this did not prevent the King of Spain from launching an invasion of the French side of the island in 1793, attempting to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the rebellious slaves. In August 1793, a column of Dominican troops advanced into Saint-Domingue and were joined by Haitian rebels. However, these rebels soon turned against Spain and instead joined France. The Dominicans were not defeated militarily, but their advance was restrained, and when in 1795 Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France by the Treaty of Basel, Dominican attacks on Saint-Domingue ceased. After Haiti received independence in 1804, the French retained Santo Domingo until 1809, when combined Spanish and Dominican forces, aided by the British, defeated the French, leading to a recolonization by Spain. Ephemeral independence After a dozen years of discontent and failed independence plots by various opposing groups, Santo Domingo's former Lieutenant-Governor (top administrator), José Núñez de Cáceres, declared the colony's independence from the Spanish crown as Spanish Haiti, on November 30, 1821. This period is also known as the Ephemeral independence. Unification of Hispaniola (1822–44) The newly independent republic ended two months later under the Haitian government led by Jean-Pierre Boyer. As Toussaint Louverture had done two decades earlier, the Haitians abolished slavery. In order to raise funds for the huge indemnity of 150 million francs that Haiti agreed to pay the former French colonists, and which was subsequently lowered to 60 million francs, the Haitian government imposed heavy taxes on the Dominicans. Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint. Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and some people resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer and Joseph Balthazar Inginac's Code Rural. In the rural and rugged mountainous areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated. The Haitians associated the Roman Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence and confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. All levels of education collapsed; the university was shut down, as it was starved both of resources and students, with young Dominican men from 16 to 25 years old being drafted into the Haitian army. Boyer's occupation troops, who were largely Dominicans, were unpaid and had to "forage and sack" from Dominican civilians. Haiti imposed a "heavy tribute" on the Dominican people. Haiti's constitution forbade white elites from owning land, and Dominican major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. During this time, many white elites in Santo Domingo did not consider owning slaves due to the economic crisis that Santo Domingo faced during the España Boba period. The few landowners that wanted slavery established in Santo Domingo had to emigrate to Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Gran Colombia. Many landowning families stayed on the island, with a heavy concentration of landowners settling in the Cibao region. After independence, and eventually being under Spanish rule once again in 1861, many families returned to Santo Domingo including new waves of immigration from Spain. Dominican War of Independence (1844–56) In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria, which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention. Also Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramon Matias Mella, despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence. Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are considered the three Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. In 1843, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). After subduing the Dominicans, Rivière-Hérard, a mulatto, faced a rebellion by blacks in Port-au-Prince. Haiti had formed two regiments composed of Dominicans from the city of Santo Domingo; these were used by Rivière-Hérard to suppress the uprising. On February 27, 1844, the surviving members of La Trinitaria, now led by Tomás Bobadilla, declared the independence from Haiti. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle rancher from El Seibo, who became general of the army of the nascent republic. The Dominican Republic's first Constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844, and was modeled after the United States Constitution. The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, factionalism, economic difficulties, rapid changes of government, and exile for political opponents. Archrivals Santana and Buenaventura Báez held power most of the time, both ruling arbitrarily. They promoted competing plans to annex the new nation to another power: Santana favored Spain, and Báez the United States. Threatening the nation's independence were renewed Haitian invasions. In March 1844, Rivière-Hérard attempted to reimpose his authority, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition and inflicted heavy casualties on the Haitians. In early July 1844, Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic. Duarte agreed, but only if free elections were arranged. However, Santana's forces took Santo Domingo on July 12, and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic. Santana then put Mella, Duarte, and Sánchez in jail. On February 27, 1845, Santana executed María Trinidad Sánchez, heroine of La Trinitaria, and others for conspiracy. On June 17, 1845, small Dominican detachments invaded Haiti, capturing Lascahobas and Hinche. The Dominicans established an outpost at Cachimán, but the arrival of Haitian reinforcements soon compelled them to retreat back across the frontier. Haiti launched a new invasion on August 6. The Dominicans repelled the Haitian forces, on both land and sea, by December 1845. The Haitians invaded again in 1849, forcing the president of the Dominican Republic, Manuel Jimenes, to call upon Santana, whom he had ousted as president, to lead the Dominicans against this new invasion. Santana met the enemy at Ocoa, April 21, with only 400 militiamen, and succeeded in defeating the 18,000-strong Haitian army. The battle began with heavy cannon fire by the entrenched Haitians and ended with a Dominican assault followed by hand-to-hand combat. In November 1849, Dominican seamen raided the Haitian coasts, plundered seaside villages, as far as Dame Marie, and butchered crews of captured enemy ships. By 1854 both countries were at war again. In November, a Dominican squadron composed of the brigantine 27 de Febrero and schooner Constitución captured a Haitian warship and bombarded Anse-à-Pitres and Saltrou. In November 1855, Haiti invaded again. Over 1,000 Haitian soldiers were killed in the battles of Santomé and Cambronal in December 1855. The Haitians suffered even greater losses at Sabana Larga and Jácuba in January 1856. That same month, an engagement at Ouanaminthe again resulted in heavy Haitian casualties, bringing an effective halt to the invasion. Battles of the Dominican War of Independence Key: (D)  – Dominican Victory; (H) – Haitian Victory 1844 March 18 – Battle of Cabeza de Las Marías (H) March 19 – Battle of Azua (D) March 30 – Battle of Santiago (D) April 13 – Battle of El Memiso (D) April 15 – Battle of Tortuguero (D) December 6 – Battle of Fort Cachimán (D) 1845 September 17 – Battle of Estrelleta (D) November 27 – Battle of Beler (D) 1849 April 19 – Battle of El Número (D) April 21 – Battle of Las Carreras (D) 1855 December 22 – Battle of Santomé (D) December 22 – Battle of Cambronal (D) 1856 January 24 – Battle of Sabana Larga (D) First Republic The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte was the most important. The population of the Dominican Republic in 1845 was approximately 230,000 people (100,000 whites; 40,000 blacks; and 90,000 mulattoes). Due to the rugged mountainous terrain of the island the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, also known at the time as Ozama, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the north (better-known as Cibao), the nation's richest farmland, farmers supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value. In 1848, he was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes. After defeating a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo and deposed Jimenes in a coup d'état. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana's puppet, challenging his role as the country's acknowledged military leader. In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. Three years later, after repulsing another Haitian invasion, he negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. Cibao tobacco planters, who were ruined when hyperinflation ensued, revolted and formed a new government headed by José Desiderio Valverde and headquartered in Santiago de los Caballeros. In July 1857, General Juan Luis Franco Bidó besieged Santo Domingo. The Cibao-based government declared an amnesty to exiles and Santana returned and managed to replace Franco Bidó in September 1857. After a year of civil war, Santana captured Santo Domingo in June 1858, overthrew both Báez and Valverde and installed himself as president. Restoration republic In 1861, Santana asked Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake control of the Dominican Republic, after a period of only 17 years of independence. Spain, which had not come to terms with the loss of its American colonies 40 years earlier, accepted his proposal and made the country a colony again. Haiti, fearful of the reestablishment of Spain as colonial power, gave refuge and logistics to revolutionaries seeking to reestablish the independent nation of the Dominican Republic. The ensuing civil war, known as the War of Restoration, claimed more than 50,000 lives. The War of Restoration began in Santiago on August 16, 1863. Spain had a difficult time fighting the Dominican guerrillas. Over the course of the war, they would spend over 33 million pesos and suffer 30,000 casualties. In the south, Dominican forces under José María Cabral defeated the Spanish in the Battle of La Canela on December 4, 1864. The victory showed the Dominicans that they could defeat the Spaniards in pitched battle. After two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in 1865. Political strife again prevailed in the following years; warlords ruled, military revolts were extremely common, and the nation amassed debt. After the Ten Years' War (1868–78) broke out in Spanish Cuba, Dominican exiles, including Máximo Gómez, Luis Marcano and Modesto Díaz, joined the Cuban Revolutionary Army and provided its initial training and leadership. In 1869, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered U.S. Marines to the island for the first time. Pirates operating from Haiti had been raiding U.S. commercial shipping in the Caribbean, and Grant directed the Marines to stop them at their source. Following the virtual takeover of the island, Báez offered to sell the country to the United States. Grant desired a naval base at Samaná and also a place for resettling newly freed African Americans. The treaty, which included U.S. payment of $1.5 million for Dominican debt repayment, was defeated in the United States Senate in 1870 on a vote of 28–28, two-thirds being required. Báez was toppled in 1874, returned, and was toppled for good in 1878. A new generation was thence in charge, with the passing of Santana (he died in 1864) and Báez from the scene. Relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the coming to power of General Ulises Heureaux. "Lilís", as the new president was nicknamed, enjoyed a period of popularity. He was, however, "a consummate dissembler", who put the nation deep into debt while using much of the proceeds for his personal use and to maintain his police state. Heureaux became rampantly despotic and unpopular. In 1899, he was assassinated. However, the relative calm over which he presided allowed improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry was modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants. Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Palestinians began to arrive in the country during the latter part of the 19th century. At first, the Arab immigrants often faced discrimination in the Dominican Republic, but they were eventually assimilated into Dominican society, giving up their own culture and language. During the U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would not only kill U.S. Marines, but would also attack and kill Arab vendors traveling through the countryside. 20th century (1900–30) From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced the threat of military intervention by France, Germany, and Italy. United States President Theodore Roosevelt sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future Panama Canal, as the canal was already under construction. He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt. After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres (who had himself assassinated Heureaux) was assassinated in 1911. The result was several years of great political instability and civil war. U.S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power. To achieve a more broadly supported government, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his cabinet. But this brought no peace and, with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite a U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916. Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and had control of the country two months later. The military government established by the U.S., led by Vice Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp, was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, with caudillos in the mountainous eastern regions leading guerrilla campaigns against U.S. forces. Arias's forces, who had no machine guns or modern artillery, tried to take on the U.S. Marines in conventional battles, but were defeated at the Battle of Guayacanas and the Battle of San Francisco de Macoris. The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units. Opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after World War I it increased in the U.S. as well. There, President Warren G. Harding (1921–23), Wilson's successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, as he had promised to do during his campaign. The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president (1902–03) Horacio Vásquez, who had cooperated with the U.S. He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. In six years, the Marines were involved in at least 370 engagements, with 950 "bandits" killed or wounded in action to the Marines' 144 killed. Vásquez gave the country six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly, in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. During the government of Horacio Vásquez, Rafael Trujillo held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was chief of police. This position helped him launch his plans to overthrow the government of Vásquez. Trujillo had the support of Carlos Rosario Peña, who formed the Civic Movement, which had as its main objective to overthrow the government of Vásquez. In February 1930, when Vásquez attempted to win another term, his opponents rebelled in secret alliance with the commander of the National Army (the former National Guard), General Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for letting Ureña take power, Trujillo would be allowed to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality," Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Ureña's rebels to take the capital virtually uncontested. On March 3, Ureña was proclaimed acting president with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos), with Ureña as his running mate. During the election campaign, Trujillo used the army to unleash his repression, forcing his opponents to withdraw from the race. Trujillo stood to elect himself, and in May he was elected president virtually unopposed after a violent campaign against his opponents, ascending to power on August 16, 1930. Trujillo Era (1930–61) There was considerable economic growth during Rafael Trujillo's long and iron-fisted regime, although a great deal of the wealth was taken by the dictator and other regime elements. There was progress in healthcare, education, and transportation, with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and harbors. Trujillo also carried out an important housing construction program, and instituted a pension plan. He finally negotiated an undisputed border with Haiti in 1935, and achieved the end of the 50-year customs agreement in 1941, instead of 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947. This was accompanied by absolute repression and the copious use of murder, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. It has been estimated that Trujillo's tyrannical rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 Dominicans. Trujillo's henchmen did not hesitate to use intimidation, torture, or assassination of political foes both at home and abroad. Trujillo was responsible for the deaths of the Spaniards José Almoina in Mexico City and Jesús Galíndez in New York City. In 1930, Hurricane San Zenon destroyed Santo Domingo and killed 8,000 people. During the rebuilding process, Trujillo renamed Santo Domingo to "Ciudad Trujillo" (Trujillo City), and the nation's – and the Caribbean's – highest mountain La Pelona Grande (Spanish for: The Great Bald) to "Pico Trujillo" (Spanish for: Trujillo Peak). By the end of his first term in 1934 he was the country's wealthiest person, and one of the wealthiest in the world by the early 1950s; near the end of his regime his fortune was an estimated $800 million ($5.3 billion today). Trujillo, who neglected the fact that his maternal great-grandmother was from Haiti's mulatto class, actively promoted propaganda against Haitian people. In 1937, he ordered what became known as the Parsley Massacre or, in the Dominican Republic, as El Corte (The Cutting), directing the army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border. The army killed an estimated 17,000 to 35,000 Haitian men, women, and children over six days, from the night of October 2, 1937, through October 8, 1937. To avoid leaving evidence of the army's involvement, the soldiers used edged weapons rather than guns. The soldiers were said to have interrogated anyone with dark skin, using the shibboleth perejil (parsley) to distinguish Haitians from Afro-Dominicans when necessary; the 'r' of perejil was of difficult pronunciation for Haitians. As a result of the massacre, the Dominican Republic agreed to pay Haiti US$750,000, later reduced to US$525,000. During World War II, Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and on Nazi Germany and Italy four days later. Soon after, German U-boats torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels that Trujillo had named after himself. German U-boats also sank four Dominican-manned ships in the Caribbean. The country did not make a military contribution to the war, but Dominican sugar and other agricultural products supported the Allied war effort. American Lend-Lease and raw material purchases proved a powerful inducement in obtaining cooperation of the various Latin American republics. Over a hundred Dominicans served in the American armed forces. Many were political exiles from the Trujillo regime. Trujillo's dictatorship was marred by botched invasions, international scandals and assassination attempts. 1947 brought the failure of a planned invasion by leftist Dominican exiles from the Cuban island of Cayo Confites. July 1949 was the year of a failed invasion from Guatemala, and on June 14, 1959, there was a failed invasion at Constanza, Maimón and Estero Hondo by Dominican rebels from Cuba. On June 26, 1959, Cuba broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic due to widespread Dominican human rights abuses and hostility toward the Cuban people. On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of the four Mirabal sisters, nicknamed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). The victims were Patria Mercedes Mirabal (born on February 27, 1924), Argentina Minerva Mirabal (born on March 12, 1926), and Antonia María Teresa Mirabal (born on October 15, 1935). Along with their husbands, the sisters were conspiring to overthrow Trujillo in a violent revolt. The Mirabals had communist ideological leanings, as did their husbands. The sisters have received many honors posthumously and have many memorials in various cities in the Dominican Republic. Salcedo, their home province, changed its name to Provincia Hermanas Mirabal (Mirabal Sisters Province). The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on the anniversary of their deaths. For a long time, the U.S. and the Dominican elite supported the Trujillo government. This support persisted despite the assassinations of political opposition, the massacre of Haitians, and Trujillo's plots against other countries. The U.S. believed Trujillo was the lesser of two or more evils. The U.S. finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo's agents attempted to assassinate the Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt, a fierce critic of Trujillo. Dominican agents placed a bomb in the Venezuelan president's car in Caracas, which exploded, injuring Betancourt and killing a number of his advisers. In June 1960, Trujillo legalized the Communist Party and attempted to establish close political relations with the Soviet Bloc. Both the assassination attempt and the maneuver toward the Soviet Bloc provoked immediate condemnation throughout Latin America. Once its representatives confirmed Trujillo's complicity in the assassination attempt, the Organization of American States, for the first time in its history, decreed sanctions against a member state. The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar, the country's major export. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo had become expendable. Dissidents inside the Dominican Republic argued that assassination was the only certain way to remove Trujillo. According to Chester Bowles, the U.S. Undersecretary of State, internal Department of State discussions in 1961 on the topic were vigorous. Richard N. Goodwin, Assistant Special Counsel to the President, who had direct contacts with the rebel alliance, argued for intervention against Trujillo. Quoting Bowles directly: The next morning I learned that in spite of the clear decision against having the dissident group request our assistance Dick Goodwin following the meeting sent a cable to CIA people in the Dominican Republic without checking with State or CIA; indeed, with the protest of the Department of State. The cable directed the CIA people in the Dominican Republic to get this request at any cost. When Allen Dulles found this out the next morning, he withdrew the order. We later discovered it had already been carried out. Post-Trujillo (1961–1996) Trujillo was assassinated by Dominican dissidents in Chicago gangland-style on May 30, 1961. Although the dissidents possessed Dominican-made San Cristóbal submachine guns, they symbolically used U.S.-made M-1 carbines supplied by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, remained in de facto control of the government for the next six months through his position as commander of the armed forces. Trujillo's brothers, Hector Bienvenido and Jose Arismendi Trujillo, returned to the country and began immediately to plot against President Balaguer. On November 18, 1961, as a planned coup became more evident, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued a warning that the United States would not "remain idle" if the Trujillos attempted to "reassert dictatorial domination" over the Dominican Republic. Following this warning, and the arrival of a fourteen-vessel U.S. naval task force within sight of Santo Domingo, Ramfis and his uncles fled the country on November 19 with $200 million from the Dominican treasury. On December 28, 1962, the Dominican military suppressed a rebellion in Palma Sola, burning six hundred people to death by a napalm airstrike. In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office but it was overthrown in September. On April 24, 1965, after 19 months of military rule, a pro-Bosch revolt broke out in Santo Domingo. The pro-Bosch forces called themselves Constitutionalists. The revolution took on the dimensions of a civil war when conservative military forces struck back against the Constitutionalists on April 25. These conservative forces called themselves Loyalists. Despite tank assaults and bombing runs by Loyalist forces, the Constitutionalists held their positions in the capital. By April 26, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and for killing of all the policemen. On April 28, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, concerned that communists might take over the revolt and create a "second Cuba," sent 42,000 troops into Santo Domingo, in Operation Powerpack. "We don't propose to sit here in a rocking chair with our hands folded and let the Communist set up any government in the Western Hemisphere," Johnson said. The forces were soon joined by comparatively small contingents from the Organization of American States (OAS). The Loyalists used the U.S. presence to deploy its forces and attack Constitutionalists. As a result, Loyalist forces destroyed most Constitutionalist bases and captured the rebel radio station, effectively ending the war. On May 13, Loyalist forces launched Operation Limpieza and captured the northern part of Santo Domingo. Many black civilians were killed during the operation. A cease-fire was declared on May 21. The U.S. began withdrawing some of its troops by late May. However, Col. Francisco Caamaño's untrained civilians attacked American positions on June 15. Despite the coordinated attack involving mortars, rocket launchers, and several light tanks, the rebels lost a 56-square-block area to 82nd Airborne Division units which had received OAS permission to advance. The Dominican death toll for the entire period of civil war and occupation totaled more than 3,000. A total of 44 American peacekeepers died and 283 were wounded. U.S. and OAS troops remained in the country for over a year and left after supervising elections in 1966 won by Joaquín Balaguer. He had been Trujillo's last puppet-president. Balaguer remained in power as president for 12 years. His tenure was a period of repression of human rights and civil liberties, ostensibly to keep pro-Castro or pro-communist parties out of power; 11,000 persons were killed, tortured or forcibly disappeared. His rule was criticized for a growing disparity between rich and poor. It was, however, praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which included the construction of large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, roads, highways, and the massive Columbus Lighthouse, completed in 1992 during a later tenure. During Balaguer's administration, the Dominican military forced Haitians to cut sugarcane on Dominican sugar plantations. In September 1977, twelve Cuban-manned MiG-21s conducted strafing flights over Puerto Plata to warn Balaguer against intercepting Cuban warships headed to or returning from Angola. Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which left upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless. The hurricane caused over $1 billion in damage. In 1978, Balaguer was succeeded in the presidency by opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández, of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Another PRD win in 1982 followed, under Salvador Jorge Blanco. Balaguer regained the presidency in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994, this last time just defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez, a former mayor of Santo Domingo. During this period, the international community condemned the Dominican government for their continued exploitation of Haitian sugar cane workers; it had been alleged that thousands of these workers had essentially been put into slavery, forced to do backbreaking work under the supervision of armed guards. The 1994 elections were flawed, bringing on international pressure, to which Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in 1996. Balaguer was not a candidate. The PSRC candidate was his Vice President Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa. 1996–present In the 1996 presidential election, Leonel Fernández achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which Bosch had founded in 1973 after leaving the PRD (which he also had founded). Fernández oversaw a fast-growing economy: growth averaged 7.7% per year, unemployment fell, and there were stable exchange and inflation rates. In 2000, the PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election. This was a time of economic troubles. Mejía was defeated in his re-election effort in 2004 by Leonel Fernández of the PLD. In 2008, Fernández was as elected for a third term. Fernández and the PLD are credited with initiatives that have moved the country forward technologically, such as the construction of the Metro Railway ("El Metro"). On the other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption. Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow their administrative period. He was succeeded by the opposition candidate Luis Abinader in the 2020 election, marking the end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). Geography The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Greater Antilles, with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti, the north-to-south (though somewhat irregular) border between the two countries being . To the north and north-west lie The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and to the east, across the Mona Passage, the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The country's area is reported variously as (by the embassy in the United States) and , making it the second largest country in the Antilles, after Cuba. The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city Santo Domingo is on the southern coast. The Dominican Republic has four important mountain ranges. The most northerly is the Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern Mountain Range"), which extends from the northwestern coastal town of Monte Cristi, near the Haitian border, to the Samaná Peninsula in the east, running parallel to the Atlantic coast. The highest range in the Dominican Republic – indeed, in the whole of the West Indies – is the Cordillera Central ("Central Mountain Range"). It gradually bends southwards and finishes near the town of Azua, on the Caribbean coast. In the Cordillera Central are the four highest peaks in the Caribbean: Pico Duarte ( above sea level), La Pelona (), La Rucilla (), and Pico Yaque (). In the southwest corner of the country, south of the Cordillera Central, there are two other ranges: the more northerly of the two is the Sierra de Neiba, while in the south the Sierra de Bahoruco is a continuation of the Massif de la Selle in Haiti. There are other, minor mountain ranges, such as the Cordillera Oriental ("Eastern Mountain Range"), Sierra Martín García, Sierra de Yamasá, and Sierra de Samaná. Between the Central and Northern mountain ranges lies the rich and fertile Cibao valley. This major valley is home to the cities of Santiago and La Vega and most of the farming areas of the nation. Rather less productive are the semi-arid San Juan Valley, south of the Central Cordillera, and the Neiba Valley, tucked between the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Much of the land around the Enriquillo Basin is below sea level, with a hot, arid, desert-like environment. There are other smaller valleys in the mountains, such as the Constanza, Jarabacoa, Villa Altagracia, and Bonao valleys. The Llano Costero del Caribe ("Caribbean Coastal Plain") is the largest of the plains in the Dominican Republic. Stretching north and east of Santo Domingo, it contains many sugar plantations in the savannahs that are common there. West of Santo Domingo its width is reduced to as it hugs the coast, finishing at the mouth of the Ocoa River. Another large plain is the Plena de Azua ("Azua Plain"), a very arid region in Azua Province. A few other small coastal plains are on the northern coast and in the Pedernales Peninsula. Four major rivers drain the numerous mountains of the Dominican Republic. The Yaque del Norte is the longest and most important Dominican river. It carries excess water down from the Cibao Valley and empties into Monte Cristi Bay, in the northwest. Likewise, the Yuna River serves the Vega Real and empties into Samaná Bay, in the northeast. Drainage of the San Juan Valley is provided by the San Juan River, tributary of the Yaque del Sur, which empties into the Caribbean, in the south. The Artibonito is the longest river of Hispaniola and flows westward into Haiti. There are many lakes and coastal lagoons. The largest lake is Enriquillo, a salt lake at below sea level, the lowest elevation in the Caribbean. Other important lakes are Laguna de Rincón or Cabral, with fresh water, and Laguna de Oviedo, a lagoon with brackish water. There are many small offshore islands and cays that form part of the Dominican territory. The two largest islands near shore are Saona, in the southeast, and Beata, in the southwest. Smaller islands include the Cayos Siete Hermanos, Isla Cabra, Cayo Jackson, Cayo Limón, Cayo Levantado, Cayo la Bocaina, Catalanita, Cayo Pisaje and Isla Alto Velo. To the north, at distances of , are three extensive, largely submerged banks, which geographically are a southeast continuation of the Bahamas: Navidad Bank, Silver Bank, and Mouchoir Bank. Navidad Bank and Silver Bank have been officially claimed by the Dominican Republic. Isla Cabritos lies within Lago Enriquillo. The Dominican Republic is located near fault action in the Caribbean. In 1946, it suffered a magnitude 8.1 earthquake off the northeast coast, triggering a tsunami that killed about 1,800, mostly in coastal communities. Caribbean countries and the United States have collaborated to create tsunami warning systems and are mapping high-risk low-lying areas. The country is home to five terrestrial ecoregions: Hispaniolan moist forests, Hispaniolan dry forests, Hispaniolan pine forests, Enriquillo wetlands, and Greater Antilles mangroves. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.18/10, ranking it 134th globally out of 172 countries. Climate The Dominican Republic has a tropical rainforest climate in the coastal and lowland areas. Some areas, such as most of the Cibao region, have a tropical savanna climate. Due to its diverse topography, Dominican Republic's climate shows considerable variation over short distances and is the most varied of all the Antilles. The annual average temperature is . At higher elevations the temperature averages while near sea level the average temperature is . Low temperatures of are possible in the mountains while high temperatures of are possible in protected valleys. January and February are the coolest months of the year while August is the hottest month. Snowfall can be seen on rare occasions on the summit of Pico Duarte. The wet season along the northern coast lasts from November through January. Elsewhere the wet season stretches from May through November, with May being the wettest month. Average annual rainfall is countrywide, with individual locations in the Valle de Neiba seeing averages as low as while the Cordillera Oriental averages . The driest part of the country lies in the west. Tropical cyclones strike the Dominican Republic every couple of years, with 65% of the impacts along the southern coast. Hurricanes are most likely between June and October. The last major hurricane that struck the country was Hurricane Georges in 1998. Government and politics The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy or democratic republic, with three branches of power: executive, legislative, and judicial. The president of the Dominican Republic heads the executive branch and executes laws passed by the congress, appoints the cabinet, and is commander in chief of the armed forces. The president and vice-president run for office on the same ticket and are elected by direct vote for 4-year terms. The national legislature is bicameral, composed of a senate, which has 32 members, and the Chamber of Deputies, with 178 members. Judicial authority rests with the Supreme Court of Justice's 16 members. The court "alone hears actions against the president, designated members of his Cabinet, and members of Congress when the legislature is in session." The court is appointed by a council known as the National Council of the Magistracy which is composed of the president, the leaders of both houses of Congress, the President of the Supreme Court, and an opposition or non–governing-party member. The Dominican Republic has a multi-party political system. Elections are held every two years, alternating between the presidential elections, which are held in years evenly divisible by four, and the congressional and municipal elections, which are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four. "International observers have found that presidential and congressional elections since 1996 have been generally free and fair." The Central Elections Board (JCE) of nine members supervises elections, and its decisions are unappealable. Starting from 2016, elections will be held jointly, after a constitutional reform. Political culture The three major parties are the conservative Social Christian Reformist Party (), in power 1966–78 and 1986–96; and the social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (), in power in 1963, 1978–86, and 2000–04; and the Dominican Liberation Party (), in power 1996–2000 and since 2004. The presidential elections of 2008 were held on May 16, 2008, with incumbent Leonel Fernández winning 53% of the vote. He defeated Miguel Vargas Maldonado, of the PRD, who achieved a 40.48% share of the vote. Amable Aristy, of the PRSC, achieved 4.59% of the vote. Other minority candidates, which included former Attorney General Guillermo Moreno from the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change (), and PRSC former presidential candidate and defector Eduardo Estrella, obtained less than 1% of the vote. In the 2012 presidential elections, the incumbent president Leonel Fernández (PLD) declined his aspirations and instead the PLD elected Danilo Medina as its candidate. This time the PRD presented ex-president Hipolito Mejia as its choice. The contest was won by Medina with 51.21% of the vote, against 46.95% in favor of Mejia. Candidate Guillermo Moreno obtained 1.37% of the votes. In 2014, the Modern Revolutionary Party () was created by a faction of leaders from the PRD, and has since become the predominant opposition party, polling in second place for the May 2016 general elections. In 2020, the presidential candidate for the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader, won the election, defeating the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which had governed since 2004. Foreign relations The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States, and has close cultural ties with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other states and jurisdictions of the United States. The Dominican Republic's relationship with neighbouring Haiti is strained over mass Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic, with citizens of the Dominican Republic blaming the Haitians for increased crime and other social problems. The Dominican Republic is a regular member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. The Dominican Republic has a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua via the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. And an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and the Caribbean Community via the Caribbean Forum. Military Congress authorizes a combined military force of 44,000 active duty personnel. Actual active duty strength is approximately 32,000. Approximately 50% of those are used for non-military activities such as security providers for government-owned non-military facilities, highway toll stations, prisons, forestry work, state enterprises, and private businesses. The commander in chief of the military is the president. The army is larger than the other services combined with approximately 56,780 active duty personnel, consisting of six infantry brigades, a combat support brigade, and a combat service support brigade. The air force operates two main bases, one in the southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region near Puerto Plata. The navy operates two major naval bases, one in Santo Domingo and one in Las Calderas on the southwestern coast, and maintains 12 operational vessels. The Dominican Republic has the largest number of active military personnel in the Caribbean region surpassing Cuba. The armed forces have organized a Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) and a Specialized Port Security Corps (CESEP) to meet international security needs in these areas. The secretary of the armed forces has also announced plans to form a specialized border corps (CESEF). The armed forces provide 75% of personnel to the National Investigations Directorate (DNI) and the Counter-Drug Directorate (DNCD). The Dominican National Police force contains 32,000 agents. The police are not part of the Dominican armed forces but share some overlapping security functions. Sixty-three percent of the force serve in areas outside traditional police functions, similar to the situation of their military counterparts. In 2018, Dominican Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Administrative divisions The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. Santo Domingo, the capital, is designated Distrito Nacional (National District). The provinces are divided into municipalities (municipios; singular municipio). They are the second-level political and administrative subdivisions of the country. The president appoints the governors of the 31 provinces. Mayors and municipal councils administer the 124 municipal districts and the National District (Santo Domingo). They are elected at the same time as congressional representatives. The provinces are the first–level administrative subdivisions of the country. The headquarters of the central government's regional offices are normally found in the capital cities of provinces. The president appoints an administrative governor (Gobernador Civil) for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional (Title IX of the constitution). The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito National was the old Santo Domingo Province, in existence since the country's independence in 1844. It is not to be confused with the new Santo Domingo Province split off from it in 2001. While it is similar to a province in many ways, the Distrito Nacional differs in its lack of an administrative governor and consisting only of one municipality, Santo Domingo, the city council (ayuntamiento) and mayor (síndico) which are in charge of its administration. Economy During the last three decades, the Dominican economy, formerly dependent on the export of agricultural commodities (mainly sugar, cocoa and coffee), has transitioned to a diversified mix of services, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and trade. The service sector accounts for almost 60% of GDP; manufacturing, for 22%; tourism, telecommunications and finance are the main components of the service sector; however, none of them accounts for more than 10% of the whole. The Dominican Republic has a stock market, Bolsa de Valores de la Republica Dominicana (BVRD). and advanced telecommunication system and transportation infrastructure. High unemployment and income inequality are long-term challenges. International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives and sends large flows of migrants. Mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States, contributes to development, sending billions of dollars to Dominican families in remittances. Remittances in Dominican Republic increased to US$4571.30 million in 2014 from US$3333 million in 2013 (according to data reported by the Inter-American Development Bank). Economic growth takes place in spite of a chronic energy shortage, which causes frequent blackouts and very high prices. Despite a widening merchandise trade deficit, tourism earnings and remittances have helped build foreign exchange reserves. Following economic turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990, during which the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reached an unprecedented 100%, the Dominican Republic entered a period of growth and declining inflation until 2002, after which the economy entered a recession. This recession followed the collapse of the second-largest commercial bank in the country, Baninter, linked to a major incident of fraud valued at US$3.5 billion. The Baninter fraud had a devastating effect on the Dominican economy, with GDP dropping by 1% in 2003 as inflation ballooned by over 27%. All defendants, including the star of the trial, Ramón Báez Figueroa (the great-grandson of President Buenaventura Báez), were convicted. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked No. 71 in the world for resource availability, No. 79 for human development, and No. 14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These statistics emphasize national government corruption, foreign economic interference in the country, and the rift between the rich and poor. The Dominican Republic has a noted problem of child labor in its coffee, rice, sugarcane, and tomato industries. The labor injustices in the sugarcane industry extend to forced labor according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Three large groups own 75% of the land: the State Sugar Council (Consejo Estatal del Azúcar, CEA), Grupo Vicini, and Central Romana Corporation. According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 104,800 people are enslaved in the modern day Dominican Republic, or 1.00% of the population. Some slaves in the Dominican Republic are held on sugar plantations, guarded by men on horseback with rifles, and forced to work. Currency The Dominican peso (abbreviated $ or RD$; ISO 4217 code is "DOP") is the national currency, with the United States dollar, the Euro, the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc also accepted at most tourist sites. The exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, liberalized by 1985, stood at 2.70 pesos per dollar in August 1986, 14.00 pesos in 1993, and 16.00 pesos in 2000. the rate was 50.08 pesos per dollar. Tourism Tourism is one of the fueling factors in the Dominican Republic's economic growth. The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean. With the construction of projects like Cap Cana, San Souci Port in Santo Domingo, Casa De Campo and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (ancient Moon Palace Resort) in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic expects increased tourism activity in the upcoming years. Ecotourism has also been a topic increasingly important in this nation, with towns like Jarabacoa and neighboring Constanza, and locations like the Pico Duarte, Bahia de las Aguilas, and others becoming more significant in efforts to increase direct benefits from tourism. Most residents from other countries are required to get a tourist card, depending on the country they live in. In the last 10 years the Dominican Republic has become one of the worlds notably progressive states in terms of recycling and waste disposal. A UN report cited there was a 221.3% efficiency increase in the previous 10 years due, in part, to the opening of the largest open air landfill site located in the north 10 km from the Haitian border. Infrastructure Transportation The country has three national trunk highways, which connect every major town. These are DR-1, DR-2, and DR-3, which depart from Santo Domingo toward the northern (Cibao), southwestern (Sur), and eastern (El Este) parts of the country respectively. These highways have been consistently improved with the expansion and reconstruction of many sections. Two other national highways serve as spur (DR-5) or alternative routes (DR-4). In addition to the national highways, the government has embarked on an expansive reconstruction of spur secondary routes, which connect smaller towns to the trunk routes. In the last few years the government constructed a 106-kilometer toll road that connects Santo Domingo with the country's northeastern peninsula. Travelers may now arrive in the Samaná Peninsula in less than two hours. Other additions are the reconstruction of the DR-28 (Jarabacoa – Constanza) and DR-12 (Constanza – Bonao). Despite these efforts, many secondary routes still remain either unpaved or in need of maintenance. There is currently a nationwide program to pave these and other commonly used routes. Also, the Santiago light rail system is in planning stages but currently on hold. Bus services There are two main bus transportation services in the Dominican Republic: one controlled by the government, through the Oficina Técnica de Transito Terrestre (OTTT) and the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA), and the other controlled by private business, among them, Federación Nacional de Transporte La Nueva Opción (FENATRANO) and the Confederacion Nacional de Transporte (CONATRA). The government transportation system covers large routes in metropolitan areas such as Santo Domingo and Santiago. There are many privately owned bus companies, such as Metro Servicios Turísticos and Caribe Tours, that run daily routes. Santo Domingo Metro The Dominican Republic has a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the country's capital. It is the most extensive metro system in the insular Caribbean and Central American region by length and number of stations. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major "National Master Plan" to improve transportation in Santo Domingo as well as the rest of the nation. The first line was planned to relieve traffic congestion in the Máximo Gómez and Hermanas Mirabal Avenue. The second line, which opened in April 2013, is meant to relieve the congestion along the Duarte-Kennedy-Centenario Corridor in the city from west to east. The current length of the Metro, with the sections of the two lines open , is . Before the opening of the second line, 30,856,515 passengers rode the Santo Domingo Metro in 2012. With both lines opened, ridership increased to 61,270,054 passengers in 2014. Communications The Dominican Republic has a well developed telecommunications infrastructure, with extensive mobile phone and landline services. Cable Internet and DSL are available in most parts of the country, and many Internet service providers offer 3G wireless internet service. The Dominican Republic became the second country in Latin America to have 4G LTE wireless service. The reported speeds are from 1 Mbit/s up to 100 Mbit/s for residential services. For commercial service there are speeds from 256 kbit/s up to 154 Mbit/s. (Each set of numbers denotes downstream/upstream speed; that is, to the user/from the user.) Projects to extend Wi-Fi hot spots have been made in Santo Domingo. The country's commercial radio stations and television stations are in the process of transferring to the digital spectrum, via HD Radio and HDTV after officially adopting ATSC as the digital medium in the country with a switch-off of analog transmission by September 2015. The telecommunications regulator in the country is INDOTEL (Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones). The largest telecommunications company is Claro – part of Carlos Slim's América Móvil – which provides wireless, landline, broadband, and IPTV services. In June 2009 there were more than 8 million phone line subscribers (land and cell users) in the D.R., representing 81% of the country's population and a fivefold increase since the year 2000, when there were 1.6 million. The communications sector generates about 3.0% of the GDP. There were 2,439,997 Internet users in March 2009. In November 2009, the Dominican Republic became the first Latin American country to pledge to include a "gender perspective" in every information and communications technology (ICT) initiative and policy developed by the government. This is part of the regional eLAC2010 plan. The tool the Dominicans have chosen to design and evaluate all the public policies is the APC Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM). Electricity Electric power service has been unreliable since the Trujillo era, and as much as 75% of the equipment is that old. The country's antiquated power grid causes transmission losses that account for a large share of billed electricity from generators. The privatization of the sector started under a previous administration of Leonel Fernández. The recent investment in a 345 kilovolt "Santo Domingo–Santiago Electrical Highway" with reduced transmission losses, is being heralded as a major capital improvement to the national grid since the mid-1960s. During the Trujillo regime electrical service was introduced to many cities. Almost 95% of usage was not billed at all. Around half of the Dominican Republic's 2.1 million houses have no meters and most do not pay or pay a fixed monthly rate for their electric service. Household and general electrical service is delivered at 110 volts alternating at 60 Hz. Electrically powered items from the United States work with no modifications. The majority of the Dominican Republic has access to electricity. Tourist areas tend to have more reliable power, as do business, travel, healthcare, and vital infrastructure. Concentrated efforts were announced to increase efficiency of delivery to places where the collection rate reached 70%. The electricity sector is highly politicized. Some generating companies are undercapitalized and at times unable to purchase adequate fuel supplies. Society Demographics The Dominican Republic's population was in . In 2010, 31.2% of the population was under 15 years of age, with 6% of the population over 65 years of age. There were an estimated 102.3 males for every 100 females in 2020. The annual population growth rate for 2006–2007 was 1.5%, with the projected population for the year 2015 being 10,121,000. The population density in 2007 was 192 per km2 (498 per sq mi), and 63% of the population lived in urban areas. The southern coastal plains and the Cibao Valley are the most densely populated areas of the country. The capital city Santo Domingo had a population of 2,907,100 in 2010. Other important cities are Santiago de los Caballeros ( 745,293), La Romana (pop. 214,109), San Pedro de Macorís (pop. 185,255), Higüey (153,174), San Francisco de Macorís (pop. 132,725), Puerto Plata (pop. 118,282), and La Vega (pop. 104,536). Per the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 2.3%. Ethnic groups In a 2014 population survey, 70.4% self-identified as mixed (mestizo/indio 58%, mulatto 12.4%), 15.8% as black, 13.5% as white, and 0.3% as "other". Ethnic immigrant groups in the country include West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians; the current president, Luis Abinader, is of Lebanese descent. East Asians, Koreans, ethnic Chinese and Japanese, can also be found. Europeans are represented mostly by Spanish whites but also with smaller populations of Germans, Italians, French, British, Dutch, Swiss, Russians, and Hungarians. Languages The population of the Dominican Republic is mostly Spanish-speaking. The local variant of Spanish is called Dominican Spanish, which closely resembles other Spanish vernaculars in the Caribbean and has similarities to Canarian Spanish. In addition, it has influences from African languages and borrowed words from indigenous Caribbean languages particular to the island of Hispaniola. Schools are based on a Spanish educational model; English and French are mandatory foreign languages in both private and public schools, although the quality of foreign languages teaching is poor. Some private educational institutes provide teaching in other languages, notably Italian, Japanese and Mandarin. Haitian Creole is the largest minority language in the Dominican Republic and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. There is a community of a few thousand people whose ancestors spoke Samaná English in the Samaná Peninsula. They are the descendants of formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in the nineteenth century, but only a few elders speak the language today. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican Americans, and the country's economic ties with the United States motivate other Dominicans to learn English. The Dominican Republic is ranked 2nd in Latin America and 23rd in the World on English proficiency.EF English Proficiency Index – Dominican Republic, EF Education First. Retrieved on July 10, 2017. Population centres Religion 95.0% Christians 2.6% No religion 2.2% Other religions , 57% of the population (5.7 million) identified themselves as Roman Catholics and 23% (2.3 million) as Protestants (in Latin American countries, Protestants are often called Evangelicos because they emphasize personal and public evangelising and many are Evangelical Protestant or of a Pentecostal group). From 1896 to 1907 missionaries from the Episcopal, Free Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Moravians churches began work in the Dominican Republic. Three percent of the 10.63 million Dominican Republic population are Seventh-day Adventists. Recent immigration as well as proselytizing efforts have brought in other religious groups, with the following shares of the population: Spiritist: 2.2%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 1.3%, Buddhist: 0.1%, Baháʼí: 0.1%, Chinese Folk Religion: 0.1%, Islam: 0.02%, Judaism: 0.01%. The Catholic Church began to lose its strong dominance in the late 19th century. This was due to a lack of funding, priests, and support programs. During the same time, Protestant Evangelicalism began to gain a wider support "with their emphasis on personal responsibility and family rejuvenation, economic entrepreneurship, and biblical fundamentalism". The Dominican Republic has two Catholic patroness saints: Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Our Lady Of High Grace) and Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady Of Mercy). The Dominican Republic has historically granted extensive religious freedom. According to the United States Department of State, "The constitution specifies that there is no state church and provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Vatican designates Catholicism as the official religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, and complete exoneration from customs duties." In the 1950s restrictions were placed upon churches by the government of Trujillo. Letters of protest were sent against the mass arrests of government adversaries. Trujillo began a campaign against the Catholic Church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government. This campaign ended before it was put into place, with his assassination. During World War II a group of Jews escaping Nazi Germany fled to the Dominican Republic and founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of the Jewish population since. 20th century immigration In the 20th century, many Arabs (from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine), Japanese, and, to a lesser degree, Koreans settled in the country as agricultural laborers and merchants. The Chinese companies found business in telecom, mining, and railroads. The Arab community is rising at an increasing rate and is estimated at 80,000. In addition, there are descendants of immigrants who came from other Caribbean islands, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Tortola, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Guadeloupe. They worked on sugarcane plantations and docks and settled mainly in the cities of San Pedro de Macorís and Puerto Plata. Puerto Rican, and to a lesser extent, Cuban immigrants fled to the Dominican Republic from the mid-1800s until about 1940 due to a poor economy and social unrest in their respective home countries. Many Puerto Rican immigrants settled in Higüey, among other cities, and quickly assimilated due to similar culture. Before and during World War II, 800 Jewish refugees moved to the Dominican Republic. Numerous immigrants have come from other Caribbean countries, as the country has offered economic opportunities. There is an increasing number of Puerto Rican immigrants, especially in and around Santo Domingo; they are believed to number around 10,000. There are many Haitians and Venezuelans living in the Dominican Republic illegally. Haitian immigration Human Rights Watch estimated that 70,000 documented Haitian immigrants and 1,930,000 undocumented immigrants were living in Dominican Republic. Haiti is the neighboring nation to the Dominican Republic and is considerably poorer, less developed and is additionally the least developed country in the western hemisphere. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor (54% living in abject poverty) and 47.1% were illiterate. The country of nine million people also has a fast growing population, but over two-thirds of the labor force lack formal jobs. Haiti's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,800 in 2017, or just over one-tenth of the Dominican figure. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have migrated to the Dominican Republic, with some estimates of 800,000 Haitians in the country, while others put the Haitian-born population as high as one million. They usually work at low-paying and unskilled jobs in building construction and house cleaning and in sugar plantations. There have been accusations that some Haitian immigrants work in slavery-like conditions and are severely exploited. Due to the lack of basic amenities and medical facilities in Haiti a large number of Haitian women, often arriving with several health problems, cross the border to Dominican soil. They deliberately come during their last weeks of pregnancy to obtain medical attention for childbirth, since Dominican public hospitals do not refuse medical services based on nationality or legal status. Statistics from a hospital in Santo Domingo report that over 22% of childbirths are by Haitian mothers. Haiti also suffers from severe environmental degradation. Deforestation is rampant in Haiti; today less than 4 percent of Haiti's forests remain, and in many places the soil has eroded right down to the bedrock. Haitians burn wood charcoal for 60% of their domestic energy production. Because of Haiti running out of plant material to burn, some Haitian bootleggers have created an illegal market for charcoal on the Dominican side. Conservative estimates calculate the illegal movement of 115 tons of charcoal per week from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Dominican officials estimate that at least 10 trucks per week are crossing the border loaded with charcoal. In 2005, Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized collective expulsions of Haitians as having taken place "in an abusive and inhuman way." After a UN delegation issued a preliminary report stating that it found a profound problem of racism and discrimination against people of Haitian origin, Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso issued a formal statement denouncing it, asserting that "our border with Haiti has its problems[;] this is our reality and it must be understood. It is important not to confuse national sovereignty with indifference, and not to confuse security with xenophobia." Haitian nationals send half a billion dollars total yearly in remittance from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, according to the World Bank. The government of the Dominican Republic invested a total of $16 billion pesos in health services offered to foreign patients in 2013–2016, according to official data, which includes medical expenses in blood transfusion, clinical analysis, surgeries and other care. According to official reports, the country spends more than five billion Dominican pesos annually in care for pregnant women who cross the border ready to deliver. The children of Haitian immigrants are eligible for Haitian nationality, but they may be denied it by Haiti because of a lack of proper documents or witnesses. Emigration The first of three late-20th century emigration waves began in 1961 after the assassination of dictator Trujillo, due to fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies and political uncertainty in general. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic to end a civil war. Upon this, the U.S. eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain U.S. visas. From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals. In the early 1980s, underemployment, inflation, and the rise in value of the dollar all contributed to a third wave of emigration from the Dominican Republic. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high. In 2012, there were approximately 1.7 million people of Dominican descent in the U.S., counting both native- and foreign-born. There was also a growing Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico, with nearly 70,000 Dominicans living there . Although that number is slowly decreasing and immigration trends have reversed because of Puerto Rico's economic crisis . There is a significant Dominican population in Spain. Health In 2020, the Dominican Republic had an estimated birth rate of 18.5 per 1000 and a death rate of 6.3 per 1000. Education Primary education is regulated by the Ministry of Education, with education being a right of all citizens and youth in the Dominican Republic. Preschool education is organized in different cycles and serves the 2–4 age group and the 4–6 age group. Preschool education is not mandatory except for the last year. Basic education is compulsory and serves the population of the 6–14 age group. Secondary education is not compulsory, although it is the duty of the state to offer it for free. It caters to the 14–18 age group and is organized in a common core of four years and three modes of two years of study that are offered in three different options: general or academic, vocational (industrial, agricultural, and services), and artistic. The higher education system consists of institutes and universities. The institutes offer courses of a higher technical level. The universities offer technical careers, undergraduate and graduate; these are regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. The Dominican Republic was ranked 90th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, down from 87th in 2019. Crime In 2012, the Dominican Republic had a murder rate of 22.1 per 100,000 population. There was a total of 2,268 murders in the Dominican Republic in 2012. The Dominican Republic has become a trans-shipment point for Colombian drugs destined for Europe as well as the United States and Canada. Money-laundering via the Dominican Republic is favored by Colombian drug cartels for the ease of illicit financial transactions. In 2004, it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States had come through the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic responded with increased efforts to seize drug shipments, arrest and extradite those involved, and combat money-laundering. The often light treatment of violent criminals has been a continuous source of local controversy. In April 2010, five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, shot and killed two taxi drivers and killed another five by forcing them to drink drain-cleaning acid. On September 24, 2010, the teens were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years, despite the protests of the taxi drivers' families. Culture Due to cultural syncretism, the culture and customs of the Dominican people have a European cultural basis, influenced by both African and native Taíno elements, although endogenous elements have emerged within Dominican culture; culturally the Dominican Republic is among the most-European countries in Spanish America, alongside Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Spanish institutions in the colonial era were able to predominate in the Dominican culture's making-of as a relative success in the acculturation and cultural assimilation of African slaves diminished African cultural influence in comparison to other Caribbean countries. Visual arts Dominican art is perhaps most commonly associated with the bright, vibrant colors and images that are sold in every tourist gift shop across the country. However, the country has a long history of fine art that goes back to the middle of the 1800s when the country became independent and the beginnings of a national art scene emerged. Historically, the painting of this time were centered around images connected to national independence, historical scenes, portraits but also landscapes and images of still life. Styles of painting ranged between neoclassicism and romanticism. Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism. Dominican artists were focused on breaking from previous, academic styles in order to develop more independent and individual styles. Literature The 20th century brought many prominent Dominican writers, and saw a general increase in the perception of Dominican literature. Writers such as Juan Bosch (one of the greatest storytellers in Latin America), Pedro Mir (national poet of the Dominican Republic), Aida Cartagena Portalatin (poetess par excellence who spoke in the Era of Rafael Trujillo), Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi (the most important Dominican historian, with more than 1000 written works), Manuel del Cabral (main Dominican poet featured in black poetry), Hector Inchustegui Cabral (considered one of the most prominent voices of the Caribbean social poetry of the twentieth century), Miguel Alfonseca (poet belonging to Generation 60), Rene del Risco (acclaimed poet who was a participant in the June 14 Movement), Mateo Morrison (excellent poet and writer with numerous awards), among many more prolific authors, put the island in one of the most important in Literature in the twentieth century. New 21st century Dominican writers have not yet achieved the renown of their 20th century counterparts. However, writers such as Frank Báez (won the 2006 Santo Domingo Book Fair First Prize) and Junot Díaz (2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) lead Dominican literature in the 21st century. Architecture The architecture in the Dominican Republic represents a complex blend of diverse cultures. The deep influence of the European colonists is the most evident throughout the country. Characterized by ornate designs and baroque structures, the style can best be seen in the capital city of Santo Domingo, which is home to the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in all of the Americas, located in the city's Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The designs carry over into the villas and buildings throughout the country. It can also be observed on buildings that contain stucco exteriors, arched doors and windows, and red tiled roofs. The indigenous peoples of the Dominican Republic have also had a significant influence on the architecture of the country. The Taíno people relied heavily on the mahogany and guano (dried palm tree leaf) to put together crafts, artwork, furniture, and houses. Utilizing mud, thatched roofs, and mahogany trees, they gave buildings and the furniture inside a natural look, seamlessly blending in with the island's surroundings. Lately, with the rise in tourism and increasing popularity as a Caribbean vacation destination, architects in the Dominican Republic have now begun to incorporate cutting-edge designs that emphasize luxury. In many ways an architectural playground, villas and hotels implement new styles, while offering new takes on the old. This new style is characterized by simplified, angular corners and large windows that blend outdoor and indoor spaces. As with the culture as a whole, contemporary architects embrace the Dominican Republic's rich history and various cultures to create something new. Surveying modern villas, one can find any combination of the three major styles: a villa may contain angular, modernist building construction, Spanish Colonial-style arched windows, and a traditional Taíno hammock in the bedroom balcony. Cuisine Dominican cuisine is predominantly Spanish, Taíno, and African. The typical cuisine is quite similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries. One breakfast dish consists of eggs and mangú (mashed, boiled plantain). Heartier versions of mangú are accompanied by deep-fried meat (Dominican salami, typically), cheese, or both. Lunch, generally the largest and most important meal of the day, usually consists of rice, meat, beans, and salad. "La Bandera" (literally "The Flag") is the most popular lunch dish; it consists of meat and red beans on white rice. Sancocho is a stew often made with seven varieties of meat. Meals tend to favor meats and starches over dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with sofrito, which is a mix of local herbs used as a wet rub for meats and sautéed to bring out all of a dish's flavors. Throughout the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite Dominican foods include chicharrón, yuca, casabe, pastelitos(empanadas), batata, yam, pasteles en hoja, chimichurris, and tostones. Some treats Dominicans enjoy are arroz con leche (or arroz con dulce), bizcocho dominicano (lit. Dominican cake), habichuelas con dulce, flan, frío frío (snow cones), dulce de leche, and caña (sugarcane). The beverages Dominicans enjoy are Morir Soñando, rum, beer, Mama Juana, batida (smoothie), jugos naturales (freshly squeezed fruit juices), mabí, coffee, and chaca (also called maiz caqueao/casqueado, maiz con dulce and maiz con leche), the last item being found only in the southern provinces of the country such as San Juan. Music and dance Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the world popular musical style and genre called merengue, a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (though it varies) based on musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and güira. Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 merengue music was promoted internationally by Dominican groups like Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron "Los Reyes del Merengue," Joseito Mateo, and others. Radio, television, and international media popularized it further. Some well known merengue performers are Wilfrido Vargas, Johnny Ventura, singer-songwriter Los Hermanos Rosario, Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s, when many Dominican artists residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. They included Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos. The emergence of bachata, along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, has contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity. Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic, has become quite popular in recent years. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original name for the genre was amargue ("bitterness," or "bitter music,"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. Bachata grew out of, and is still closely related to, the pan-Latin American romantic style called bolero. Over time, it has been influenced by merengue and by a variety of Latin American guitar styles. Palo is an Afro-Dominican sacred music that can be found throughout the island. The drum and human voice are the principal instruments. Palo is played at religious ceremonies—usually coinciding with saints' religious feast days—as well as for secular parties and special occasions. Its roots are in the Congo region of central-west Africa, but it is mixed with European influences in the melodies. Salsa music has had a great deal of popularity in the country. During the late 1960s Dominican musicians like Johnny Pacheco, creator of the Fania All Stars, played a significant role in the development and popularization of the genre. Dominican rock and Reggaeton are also popular. Many, if not the majority, of its performers are based in Santo Domingo and Santiago. Fashion The country boasts one of the ten most important design schools in the region, La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón, which is making the country a key player in the world of fashion and design. Noted fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, and became a US citizen in 1971. He studied under the leading Spaniard designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and then worked with the house of Lanvin in Paris. By 1963, he had designs bearing his own label. After establishing himself in the US, de la Renta opened boutiques across the country. His work blends French and Spaniard fashion with American styles.Oscar de la Renta. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 31, 2012. Although he settled in New York, de la Renta also marketed his work in Latin America, where it became very popular, and remained active in his native Dominican Republic, where his charitable activities and personal achievements earned him the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and the Order of Cristóbal Colón. De la Renta died of complications from cancer on October 20, 2014. National symbols Some of the Dominican Republic's important symbols are the flag, the coat of arms, and the national anthem, titled Himno Nacional. The flag has a large white cross that divides it into four quarters. Two quarters are red and two are blue. Red represents the blood shed by the liberators. Blue expresses God's protection over the nation. The white cross symbolizes the struggle of the liberators to bequeath future generations a free nation. An alternative interpretation is that blue represents the ideals of progress and liberty, whereas white symbolizes peace and unity among Dominicans. In the center of the cross is the Dominican coat of arms, in the same colors as the national flag. The coat of arms pictures a red, white, and blue flag-draped shield with a Bible, a gold cross, and arrows; the shield is surrounded by an olive branch (on the left) and a palm branch (on the right). The Bible traditionally represents the truth and the light. The gold cross symbolizes the redemption from slavery, and the arrows symbolize the noble soldiers and their proud military. A blue ribbon above the shield reads, "Dios, Patria, Libertad" (meaning "God, Fatherland, Liberty"). A red ribbon under the shield reads, "República Dominicana" (meaning "Dominican Republic"). Out of all the flags in the world, the depiction of a Bible is unique to the Dominican flag. The national flower is the Bayahibe Rose and the national tree is the West Indian Mahogany. The national bird is the Cigua Palmera or Palmchat ("Dulus dominicus"). The Dominican Republic celebrates Dia de la Altagracia on January 21 in honor of its patroness, Duarte's Day on January 26 in honor of one of its founding fathers, Independence Day on February 27, Restoration Day on August 16, Virgen de las Mercedes on September 24, and Constitution Day on November 6. Sports Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Professional Baseball League consists of six teams. Its season usually begins in October and ends in January. After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Ozzie Virgil Sr. became the first Dominican-born player in the MLB on September 23, 1956. Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, and Vladimir Guerrero are the only Dominican-born players in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Other notable baseball players born in the Dominican Republic are José Bautista, Adrián Beltré, Juan Soto, Robinson Canó, Rico Carty, Bartolo Colón, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnación, Ubaldo Jiménez, Francisco Liriano, David Ortiz, Plácido Polanco, Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramírez, Manny Ramírez, José Reyes, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, Fernando Tatís Jr., and Miguel Tejada. Felipe Alou has also enjoyed success as a manager and Omar Minaya as a general manager. In 2013, the Dominican team went undefeated en route to winning the World Baseball Classic. In boxing, the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and several world champions, such as Carlos Cruz, his brother Leo, Juan Guzman, and Joan Guzman. Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Tito Horford, his son Al, Felipe Lopez, and Francisco Garcia are among the Dominican-born players currently or formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Olympic gold medalist and world champion hurdler Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as does NFL defensive end Luis Castillo. Other important sports are volleyball, introduced in 1916 by U.S. Marines and controlled by the Dominican Volleyball Federation, taekwondo, in which Gabriel Mercedes won an Olympic silver medal in 2008, and judo. See also Index of Dominican Republic-related articles Outline of the Dominican Republic Notes References Bibliography Further reading Wiarda, Howard J., and Michael J. Kryzanek. The Dominican Republic: a Caribbean Crucible, in series, Nations of Contemporary Latin America, and also Westview Profiles. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1982. pbk. Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Penguin Books, 2005 and 2011 (). See chapter 11 entitled "One Island, Two People, Two Histories: The Dominican Republic and Haiti". External links Presidency of the Dominican Republic Official country website Dominican Republic at UCB Libraries GovPubs'' Dominican Republic profile from the BBC News Official Website of the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic Official Commercial Website Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic Official Website of the IDDI, Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral Caribbean Connections: Dominican Republic teaching guide for middle and high school students 1844 establishments in North America Christian states Countries in North America Countries in the Caribbean Former French colonies Former Spanish colonies Former colonies in North America New Spain Greater Antilles Island countries Current member states of the United Nations Republics Small Island Developing States Spanish Caribbean Spanish West Indies 1492 establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1821 establishments in the Dominican Republic 1822 establishments in Haiti 1844 disestablishments in Haiti 1861 establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1865 disestablishments in the Spanish West Indies Spanish-speaking countries and territories Spanish colonization of the Americas States and territories established in 1844

A disease is an abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not due to any immediate external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are associated with specific signs and symptoms. A disease may be caused by external factors such as pathogens or by internal dysfunctions. For example, internal dysfunctions of the immune system can produce a variety of different diseases, including various forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies and autoimmune disorders. In humans, disease is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Diseases can affect people not only physically, but also mentally, as contracting and living with a disease can alter the affected person's perspective on life. Death due to disease is called death by natural causes. There are four main types of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases (including both genetic diseases and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases. The deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease (blood flow obstruction), followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. In developed countries, the diseases that cause the most sickness overall are neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety. The study of disease is called pathology, which includes the study of etiology, or cause. Terminology Concepts In many cases, terms such as disease, disorder, morbidity, sickness and illness are used interchangeably; however, there are situations when specific terms are considered preferable. Disease The term disease broadly refers to any condition that impairs the normal functioning of the body. For this reason, diseases are associated with the dysfunction of the body's normal homeostatic processes. Commonly, the term is used to refer specifically to infectious diseases, which are clinically evident diseases that result from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular organisms, and aberrant proteins known as prions. An infection or colonization that does not and will not produce clinically evident impairment of normal functioning, such as the presence of the normal bacteria and yeasts in the gut, or of a passenger virus, is not considered a disease. By contrast, an infection that is asymptomatic during its incubation period, but expected to produce symptoms later, is usually considered a disease. Non-infectious diseases are all other diseases, including most forms of cancer, heart disease, and genetic disease. Acquired disease An acquired disease is one that began at some point during one's lifetime, as opposed to disease that was already present at birth, which is congenital disease. Acquired sounds like it could mean "caught via contagion", but it simply means acquired sometime after birth. It also sounds like it could imply secondary disease, but acquired disease can be primary disease. Acute disease An acute disease is one of a short-term nature (acute); the term sometimes also connotes a fulminant nature Chronic condition or chronic disease A chronic disease is one that persists over time, often characterized as at least six months but may also include illnesses that are expected to last for the entirety of one's natural life. Congenital disorder or congenital disease A congenital disorder is one that is present at birth. It is often a genetic disease or disorder and can be inherited. It can also be the result of a vertically transmitted infection from the mother, such as HIV/AIDS. Genetic disease A genetic disorder or disease is caused by one or more genetic mutations. It is often inherited, but some mutations are random and de novo. Hereditary or inherited disease A hereditary disease is a type of genetic disease caused by genetic mutations that are hereditary (and can run in families) Iatrogenic disease An iatrogenic disease or condition is one that is caused by medical intervention, whether as a side effect of a treatment or as an inadvertent outcome. Idiopathic disease An idiopathic disease has an unknown cause or source. As medical science has advanced, many diseases with entirely unknown causes have had some aspects of their sources explained and therefore shed their idiopathic status. For example, when germs were discovered, it became known that they were a cause of infection, but particular germs and diseases had not been linked. In another example, it is known that autoimmunity is the cause of some forms of diabetes mellitus type 1, even though the particular molecular pathways by which it works are not yet understood. It is also common to know certain factors are associated with certain diseases; however, association and causality are two very different phenomena, as a third cause might be producing the disease, as well as an associated phenomenon. Incurable disease A disease that cannot be cured. Incurable diseases are not necessarily terminal diseases, and sometimes a disease's symptoms can be treated sufficiently for the disease to have little or no impact on quality of life. Primary disease A primary disease is a disease that is due to a root cause of illness, as opposed to secondary disease, which is a sequela, or complication that is caused by the primary disease. For example, a common cold is a primary disease, where rhinitis is a possible secondary disease, or sequela. A doctor must determine what primary disease, a cold or bacterial infection, is causing a patient's secondary rhinitis when deciding whether or not to prescribe antibiotics. Secondary disease A secondary disease is a disease that is a sequela or complication of a prior, causal disease, which is referred to as the primary disease or simply the underlying cause (root cause). For example, a bacterial infection can be primary, wherein a healthy person is exposed to bacteria and becomes infected, or it can be secondary to a primary cause, that predisposes the body to infection. For example, a primary viral infection that weakens the immune system could lead to a secondary bacterial infection. Similarly, a primary burn that creates an open wound could provide an entry point for bacteria, and lead to a secondary bacterial infection. Terminal disease A terminal disease is one that is expected to have the inevitable result of death. Previously, AIDS was a terminal disease; it is now incurable, but can be managed indefinitely using medications. Illness The terms illness and sickness are both generally used as synonyms for disease; however, the term illness is occasionally used to refer specifically to the patient's personal experience of his or her disease. In this model, it is possible for a person to have a disease without being ill (to have an objectively definable, but asymptomatic, medical condition, such as a subclinical infection, or to have a clinically apparent physical impairment but not feel sick or distressed by it), and to be ill without being diseased (such as when a person perceives a normal experience as a medical condition, or medicalizes a non-disease situation in his or her life – for example, a person who feels unwell as a result of embarrassment, and who interprets those feelings as sickness rather than normal emotions). Symptoms of illness are often not directly the result of infection, but a collection of evolved responses – sickness behavior by the body – that helps clear infection and promote recovery. Such aspects of illness can include lethargy, depression, loss of appetite, sleepiness, hyperalgesia, and inability to concentrate. A disorder is a functional abnormality or disturbance. Medical disorders can be categorized into mental disorders, physical disorders, genetic disorders, emotional and behavioral disorders, and functional disorders. The term disorder is often considered more value-neutral and less stigmatizing than the terms disease or illness, and therefore is preferred terminology in some circumstances. In mental health, the term mental disorder is used as a way of acknowledging the complex interaction of biological, social, and psychological factors in psychiatric conditions; however, the term disorder is also used in many other areas of medicine, primarily to identify physical disorders that are not caused by infectious organisms, such as metabolic disorders. Medical condition or health condition A medical condition or health condition is a broad concept that includes all diseases, lesions, disorders, or nonpathologic condition that normally receives medical treatment, such as pregnancy or childbirth. While the term medical condition generally includes mental illnesses, in some contexts the term is used specifically to denote any illness, injury, or disease except for mental illnesses. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the widely used psychiatric manual that defines all mental disorders, uses the term general medical condition to refer to all diseases, illnesses, and injuries except for mental disorders. This usage is also commonly seen in the psychiatric literature. Some health insurance policies also define a medical condition as any illness, injury, or disease except for psychiatric illnesses. As it is more value-neutral than terms like disease, the term medical condition is sometimes preferred by people with health issues that they do not consider deleterious. On the other hand, by emphasizing the medical nature of the condition, this term is sometimes rejected, such as by proponents of the autism rights movement. The term medical condition is also a synonym for medical state, in which case it describes an individual patient's current state from a medical standpoint. This usage appears in statements that describe a patient as being in critical condition, for example. Morbidity () is a diseased state, disability, or poor health due to any cause. The term may refer to the existence of any form of disease, or to the degree that the health condition affects the patient. Among severely ill patients, the level of morbidity is often measured by ICU scoring systems. Comorbidity is the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions, such as schizophrenia and substance abuse. In epidemiology and actuarial science, the term "morbidity rate" can refer to either the incidence rate, or the prevalence of a disease or medical condition. This measure of sickness is contrasted with the mortality rate of a condition, which is the proportion of people dying during a given time interval. Morbidity rates are used in actuarial professions, such as health insurance, life insurance, and long-term care insurance, to determine the correct premiums to charge to customers. Morbidity rates help insurers predict the likelihood that an insured will contract or develop any number of specified diseases. Pathosis or pathology Pathosis (plural pathoses) is synonymous with disease. The word pathology also has this sense, in which it is commonly used by physicians in the medical literature, although some editors prefer to reserve pathology to its other senses. Sometimes a slight connotative shade causes preference for pathology or pathosis implying "some [as yet poorly analyzed] pathophysiologic process" rather than disease implying "a specific disease entity as defined by diagnostic criteria being already met". This is hard to quantify denotatively, but it explains why cognitive synonymy is not invariable. Syndrome A syndrome is the association of several signs and symptoms, or other characteristics that often occur together, regardless of whether the cause is known. Some syndromes such as Down syndrome are known to have only one cause (an extra chromosome at birth). Others such as Parkinsonian syndrome are known to have multiple possible causes. Acute coronary syndrome, for example, is not a single disease itself but is rather the manifestation of any of several diseases including myocardial infarction secondary to coronary artery disease. In yet other syndromes, however, the cause is unknown. A familiar syndrome name often remains in use even after an underlying cause has been found or when there are a number of different possible primary causes. Examples of the first-mentioned type are that Turner syndrome and DiGeorge syndrome are still often called by the "syndrome" name despite that they can also be viewed as disease entities and not solely as sets of signs and symptoms. Predisease Predisease is a subclinical or prodromal vanguard of a disease. Prediabetes and prehypertension are common examples. The nosology or epistemology of predisease is contentious, though, because there is seldom a bright line differentiating a legitimate concern for subclinical/prodromal/premonitory status (on one hand) and conflict of interest–driven disease mongering or medicalization (on the other hand). Identifying legitimate predisease can result in useful preventive measures, such as motivating the person to get a healthy amount of physical exercise, but labeling a healthy person with an unfounded notion of predisease can result in overtreatment, such as taking drugs that only help people with severe disease or paying for drug prescription instances whose benefit–cost ratio is minuscule (placing it in the waste category of CMS' "waste, fraud, and abuse" classification). Three requirements for the legitimacy of calling a condition a predisease are: a truly high risk for progression to disease – for example, a pre-cancer will almost certainly turn into cancer over time actionability for risk reduction – for example, removal of the precancerous tissue prevents it from turning into a potentially deadly cancer benefit that outweighs the harm of any interventions taken – removing the precancerous tissue prevents cancer, and thus prevents a potential death from cancer. Types by body system Mental Mental illness is a broad, generic label for a category of illnesses that may include affective or emotional instability, behavioral dysregulation, cognitive dysfunction or impairment. Specific illnesses known as mental illnesses include major depression, generalized anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to name a few. Mental illness can be of biological (e.g., anatomical, chemical, or genetic) or psychological (e.g., trauma or conflict) origin. It can impair the affected person's ability to work or study and can harm interpersonal relationships. The term insanity is used technically as a legal term. Organic An organic disease is one caused by a physical or physiological change to some tissue or organ of the body. The term sometimes excludes infections. It is commonly used in contrast with mental disorders. It includes emotional and behavioral disorders if they are due to changes to the physical structures or functioning of the body, such as after a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, but not if they are due to psychosocial issues. Stages In an infectious disease, the incubation period is the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms. The latency period is the time between infection and the ability of the disease to spread to another person, which may precede, follow, or be simultaneous with the appearance of symptoms. Some viruses also exhibit a dormant phase, called viral latency, in which the virus hides in the body in an inactive state. For example, varicella zoster virus causes chickenpox in the acute phase; after recovery from chickenpox, the virus may remain dormant in nerve cells for many years, and later cause herpes zoster (shingles). Acute disease An acute disease is a short-lived disease, like the common cold. Chronic disease A chronic disease is one that lasts for a long time, usually at least six months. During that time, it may be constantly present, or it may go into remission and periodically relapse. A chronic disease may be stable (does not get any worse) or it may be progressive (gets worse over time). Some chronic diseases can be permanently cured. Most chronic diseases can be beneficially treated, even if they cannot be permanently cured. Clinical disease One that has clinical consequences; in other words, the stage of the disease that produces the characteristic signs and symptoms of that disease. AIDS is the clinical disease stage of HIV infection. Cure A cure is the end of a medical condition or a treatment that is very likely to end it, while remission refers to the disappearance, possibly temporarily, of symptoms. Complete remission is the best possible outcome for incurable diseases. Flare-up A flare-up can refer to either the recurrence of symptoms or an onset of more severe symptoms. Progressive disease Progressive disease is a disease whose typical natural course is the worsening of the disease until death, serious debility, or organ failure occurs. Slowly progressive diseases are also chronic diseases; many are also degenerative diseases. The opposite of progressive disease is stable disease or static disease: a medical condition that exists, but does not get better or worse. A refractory disease is a disease that resists treatment, especially an individual case that resists treatment more than is normal for the specific disease in question. Subclinical disease Also called silent disease, silent stage, or asymptomatic disease. This is a stage in some diseases before the symptoms are first noted. Terminal phase If a person will die soon from a disease, regardless of whether that disease typically causes death, then the stage between the earlier disease process and active dying is the terminal phase. Recovery Recovery can refer to the repairing of physical processes (tissues, organs etc.) and the resumption of healthy functioning after damage causing processes have been cured. Extent Localized disease A localized disease is one that affects only one part of the body, such as athlete's foot or an eye infection. Disseminated disease A disseminated disease has spread to other parts; with cancer, this is usually called metastatic disease. Systemic disease A systemic disease is a disease that affects the entire body, such as influenza or high blood pressure. Classification Diseases may be classified by cause, pathogenesis (mechanism by which the disease is caused), or by symptom(s). Alternatively, diseases may be classified according to the organ system involved, though this is often complicated since many diseases affect more than one organ. A chief difficulty in nosology is that diseases often cannot be defined and classified clearly, especially when cause or pathogenesis are unknown. Thus diagnostic terms often only reflect a symptom or set of symptoms (syndrome). Classical classification of human disease derives from the observational correlation between pathological analysis and clinical syndromes. Today it is preferred to classify them by their cause if it is known. The most known and used classification of diseases is the World Health Organization's ICD. This is periodically updated. Currently, the last publication is the ICD-11. Causes Only some diseases such as influenza are contagious and commonly believed infectious. The microorganisms that cause these diseases are known as pathogens and include varieties of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Infectious diseases can be transmitted, e.g. by hand-to-mouth contact with infectious material on surfaces, by bites of insects or other carriers of the disease, and from contaminated water or food (often via fecal contamination), etc. Also, there are sexually transmitted diseases. In some cases, microorganisms that are not readily spread from person to person play a role, while other diseases can be prevented or ameliorated with appropriate nutrition or other lifestyle changes. Some diseases, such as most (but not all) forms of cancer, heart disease, and mental disorders, are non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases have a partly or completely genetic basis (see genetic disorder) and may thus be transmitted from one generation to another. Social determinants of health are the social conditions in which people live that determine their health. Illnesses are generally related to social, economic, political, and environmental circumstances. Social determinants of health have been recognized by several health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization to greatly influence collective and personal well-being. The World Health Organization's Social Determinants Council also recognizes Social determinants of health in poverty. When the cause of a disease is poorly understood, societies tend to mythologize the disease or use it as a metaphor or symbol of whatever that culture considers evil. For example, until the bacterial cause of tuberculosis was discovered in 1882, experts variously ascribed the disease to heredity, a sedentary lifestyle, depressed mood, and overindulgence in sex, rich food, or alcohol, all of which were social ills at the time. When a disease is caused by a pathogenic organism (e.g., when malaria is caused by Plasmodium), one should not confuse the pathogen (the cause of the disease) with disease itself. For example, West Nile virus (the pathogen) causes West Nile fever (the disease). The misuse of basic definitions in epidemiology is frequent in scientific publications. Types of causes Airborne An airborne disease is any disease that is caused by pathogens and transmitted through the air. Foodborne Foodborne illness or food poisoning is any illness resulting from the consumption of food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. Infectious Infectious diseases, also known as transmissible diseases or communicable diseases, comprise clinically evident illness (i.e., characteristic medical signs or symptoms of disease) resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism. Included in this category are contagious diseases – an infection, such as influenza or the common cold, that commonly spreads from one person to another – and communicable diseases – a disease that can spread from one person to another, but does not necessarily spread through everyday contact. Lifestyle A lifestyle disease is any disease that appears to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer, especially if the risk factors include behavioral choices like a sedentary lifestyle or a diet high in unhealthful foods such as refined carbohydrates, trans fats, or alcoholic beverages. Non-communicable A non-communicable disease is a medical condition or disease that is non-transmissible. Non-communicable diseases cannot be spread directly from one person to another. Heart disease and cancer are examples of non-communicable diseases in humans. Prevention Many diseases and disorders can be prevented through a variety of means. These include sanitation, proper nutrition, adequate exercise, vaccinations and other self-care and public health measures, . Treatments Medical therapies or treatments are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problems. In the medical field, therapy is synonymous with the word treatment. Among psychologists, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy or "talk therapy". Common treatments include medications, surgery, medical devices, and self-care. Treatments may be provided by an organized health care system, or informally, by the patient or family members. Preventive healthcare is a way to avoid an injury, sickness, or disease in the first place. A treatment or cure is applied after a medical problem has already started. A treatment attempts to improve or remove a problem, but treatments may not produce permanent cures, especially in chronic diseases. Cures are a subset of treatments that reverse diseases completely or end medical problems permanently. Many diseases that cannot be completely cured are still treatable. Pain management (also called pain medicine) is that branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach to the relief of pain and improvement in the quality of life of those living with pain. Treatment for medical emergencies must be provided promptly, often through an emergency department or, in less critical situations, through an urgent care facility. Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study of the factors that cause or encourage diseases. Some diseases are more common in certain geographic areas, among people with certain genetic or socioeconomic characteristics, or at different times of the year. Epidemiology is considered a cornerstone methodology of public health research and is highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for diseases. In the study of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the work of epidemiologists ranges from outbreak investigation to study design, data collection, and analysis including the development of statistical models to test hypotheses and the documentation of results for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Epidemiologists also study the interaction of diseases in a population, a condition known as a syndemic. Epidemiologists rely on a number of other scientific disciplines such as biology (to better understand disease processes), biostatistics (the current raw information available), Geographic Information Science (to store data and map disease patterns) and social science disciplines (to better understand proximate and distal risk factors). Epidemiology can help identify causes as well as guide prevention efforts. In studying diseases, epidemiology faces the challenge of defining them. Especially for poorly understood diseases, different groups might use significantly different definitions. Without an agreed-on definition, different researchers may report different numbers of cases and characteristics of the disease. Some morbidity databases are compiled with data supplied by states and territories health authorities, at national levels or larger scale (such as European Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB)) which may contain hospital discharge data by detailed diagnosis, age and sex. The European HMDB data was submitted by European countries to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Burdens of disease Disease burden is the impact of a health problem in an area measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators. There are several measures used to quantify the burden imposed by diseases on people. The years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a simple estimate of the number of years that a person's life was shortened due to a disease. For example, if a person dies at the age of 65 from a disease, and would probably have lived until age 80 without that disease, then that disease has caused a loss of 15 years of potential life. YPLL measurements do not account for how disabled a person is before dying, so the measurement treats a person who dies suddenly and a person who died at the same age after decades of illness as equivalent. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 932 million years of potential life were lost to premature death. The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metrics are similar but take into account whether the person was healthy after diagnosis. In addition to the number of years lost due to premature death, these measurements add part of the years lost to being sick. Unlike YPLL, these measurements show the burden imposed on people who are very sick, but who live a normal lifespan. A disease that has high morbidity, but low mortality, has a high DALY and a low YPLL. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 1.5 billion disability-adjusted life years were lost to disease and injury. In the developed world, heart disease and stroke cause the most loss of life, but neuropsychiatric conditions like major depressive disorder cause the most years lost to being sick. Society and culture How a society responds to diseases is the subject of medical sociology. A condition may be considered a disease in some cultures or eras but not in others. For example, obesity can represent wealth and abundance, and is a status symbol in famine-prone areas and some places hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Epilepsy is considered a sign of spiritual gifts among the Hmong people. Sickness confers the social legitimization of certain benefits, such as illness benefits, work avoidance, and being looked after by others. The person who is sick takes on a social role called the sick role. A person who responds to a dreaded disease, such as cancer, in a culturally acceptable fashion may be publicly and privately honored with higher social status. In return for these benefits, the sick person is obligated to seek treatment and work to become well once more. As a comparison, consider pregnancy, which is not interpreted as a disease or sickness, even if the mother and baby may both benefit from medical care. Most religions grant exceptions from religious duties to people who are sick. For example, one whose life would be endangered by fasting on Yom Kippur or during Ramadan is exempted from the requirement, or even forbidden from participating. People who are sick are also exempted from social duties. For example, ill health is the only socially acceptable reason for an American to refuse an invitation to the White House. The identification of a condition as a disease, rather than as simply a variation of human structure or function, can have significant social or economic implications. The controversial recognition of diseases such as repetitive stress injury (RSI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has had a number of positive and negative effects on the financial and other responsibilities of governments, corporations, and institutions towards individuals, as well as on the individuals themselves. The social implication of viewing aging as a disease could be profound, though this classification is not yet widespread. Lepers were people who were historically shunned because they had an infectious disease, and the term "leper" still evokes social stigma. Fear of disease can still be a widespread social phenomenon, though not all diseases evoke extreme social stigma. Social standing and economic status affect health. Diseases of poverty are diseases that are associated with poverty and low social status; diseases of affluence are diseases that are associated with high social and economic status. Which diseases are associated with which states vary according to time, place, and technology. Some diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, may be associated with both poverty (poor food choices) and affluence (long lifespans and sedentary lifestyles), through different mechanisms. The term lifestyle diseases describes diseases associated with longevity and that are more common among older people. For example, cancer is far more common in societies in which most members live until they reach the age of 80 than in societies in which most members die before they reach the age of 50. Language of disease An illness narrative is a way of organizing a medical experience into a coherent story that illustrates the sick individual's personal experience. People use metaphors to make sense of their experiences with disease. The metaphors move disease from an objective thing that exists to an affective experience. The most popular metaphors draw on military concepts: Disease is an enemy that must be feared, fought, battled, and routed. The patient or the healthcare provider is a warrior, rather than a passive victim or bystander. The agents of communicable diseases are invaders; non-communicable diseases constitute internal insurrection or civil war. Because the threat is urgent, perhaps a matter of life and death, unthinkably radical, even oppressive, measures are society's and the patient's moral duty as they courageously mobilize to struggle against destruction. The War on Cancer is an example of this metaphorical use of language. This language is empowering to some patients, but leaves others feeling like they are failures. Another class of metaphors describes the experience of illness as a journey: The person travels to or from a place of disease, and changes himself, discovers new information, or increases his experience along the way. He may travel "on the road to recovery" or make changes to "get on the right track" or choose "pathways". Some are explicitly immigration-themed: the patient has been exiled from the home territory of health to the land of the ill, changing identity and relationships in the process. This language is more common among British healthcare professionals than the language of physical aggression. Some metaphors are disease-specific. Slavery is a common metaphor for addictions: The alcoholic is enslaved by drink, and the smoker is captive to nicotine. Some cancer patients treat the loss of their hair from chemotherapy as a metonymy or metaphor for all the losses caused by the disease. Some diseases are used as metaphors for social ills: "Cancer" is a common description for anything that is endemic and destructive in society, such as poverty, injustice, or racism. AIDS was seen as a divine judgment for moral decadence, and only by purging itself from the "pollution" of the "invader" could society become healthy again. More recently, when AIDS seemed less threatening, this type of emotive language was applied to avian flu and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Authors in the 19th century commonly used tuberculosis as a symbol and a metaphor for transcendence. Victims of the disease were portrayed in literature as having risen above daily life to become ephemeral objects of spiritual or artistic achievement. In the 20th century, after its cause was better understood, the same disease became the emblem of poverty, squalor, and other social problems. See also Cryptogenic disease, a disease whose cause is currently unknown Developmental disability, severe, lifelong disabilities attributable to mental or physical impairments Environmental disease Host–pathogen interaction Mitochondrial disease Plant pathology Rare disease, a disease that affects very few people Sociology of health and illness Syndrome Philosophy of medicine References External links Health Topics, MedlinePlus descriptions of most diseases, with access to current research articles. OMIM Comprehensive information on genes that cause disease at Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man CTD The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database is a scientific resource connecting chemicals, genes, and human diseases. NLM Comprehensive database from the US National Library of Medicine Health Topics A–Z, fact sheets about many common diseases at Centers for Disease Control The Merck Manual containing detailed description of most diseases Report: The global burden of disease from World Health Organization (WHO), 2004 Free online health-risk assessment by Your Disease Risk at Washington University in St Louis "Man and Disease", BBC Radio 4 discussion with Anne Hardy, David Bradley & Chris Dye (In Our Time, Dec. 15, 2002) Actuarial science Medical terminology Medicine in society

Delicate Arch is a freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1996. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch. History Because of its distinctive shape, the arch was known as "the Chaps" and "the Schoolmarm's Bloomers" by local cowboys. Many other names have been applied to this arch including "Bloomers Arch", "Marys Bloomers", "Old Maids Bloomers", "Pants Crotch", "Salt Wash Arch", and "School Marms Pants". The arch was given its current name by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–1934. Although there is a rumor that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage mixup by the National Park Service (NPS), this is false. This arch played no part in the original designation of the area as a national monument (Arches National Monument) in 1929, and was not included within the original boundaries; it was added when the monument was enlarged in 1938. In the 1950s, the NPS investigated the possibility of applying a clear plastic coating to the arch to protect it from further erosion and eventual destruction. The idea was ultimately abandoned as impractical and contrary to NPS principles. Nature photographer Michael Fatali started a fire under the arch in September 2000 to demonstrate nighttime photography techniques to a group of amateur photographers. The fire discolored portions of the sandstone near the arch. Fatali was placed on probation and fined $10,900 in restitution to the NPS for the cost of cleanup efforts. Geology Delicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone. The original sandstone fin was gradually worn away by weathering and erosion, leaving the arch. Other arches in the park were formed the same way but, due to placement and less dramatic shape, are not as famous. Ecology During the summer, white-throated swifts (Aeronautes saxatalis) nest in the top of the arch. Climbing In May 2006, climber Dean Potter performed as many as six free solo ascents of the arch. Climbing Delicate Arch was not explicitly forbidden under the rules in force at the time which only stated that routes "may be closed" on any named arch; however, most climbers accepted that the named arch formations should not be climbed. The NPS has since closed the loophole by disallowing climbs on any named arch within the park year-round. Slacklining and the placement of new fixed anchors on new climbs is also prohibited. Controversy ensued when photographs taken after Potter's climb appeared to show damage caused by a climbing technique called top roping. Potter stated on several occasions that he never damaged the arch, and no photos exist of Potter using a top rope setup on the arch. Previous climbers may have top-roped the arch, leaving the existing rope scars. Potter did admit to using a counterweighted rope over the top of the arch, within a natural groove, as well as four cams in a horizontal crack of harder rock at the summit. He used the rope and cams for protection while rehearsing his free solo route, and to rappel back down after the free solos. Two fellow climbers also ascended via fixed ropes, one of whom recorded video of Potter from the top. See also References External links Arches National Park Delicate Arch page Arches National Park Trails Page Panorama Under Arch Beautiful Places episode of Delicate Arch Panoramic View of Delicate Arch at Sunset Natural arches of Grand County, Utah Natural arches of Utah Arches National Park

Dutch commonly refers to: Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands Dutch people () Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States Pennsylvania Dutch Country People Ethnic groups Germanic peoples, the original meaning of the term Dutch in English Pennsylvania Dutch, a group of early Germanic immigrants to Pennsylvania Dutch people, the Germanic group native to the Netherlands Specific people Dutch (nickname), a list of people Johnny Dutch (born 1989), American hurdler Dutch Schultz (1902–1935), American mobster born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer Dutch Mantel, ring name of American retired professional wrestler Wayne Maurice Keown (born 1949) Dutch Savage, ring name of professional wrestler and promoter Frank Stewart (1935–2013) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters Dutch (Black Lagoon), an African-American character from the Japanese manga and anime Black Lagoon Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, the protagonist of the 1987 film Predator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger Dutch van der Linde, a character from the Red Dead video games Dutch Wagenbach, on the TV series The Shield Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media Dutch (film), a 1991 American comedy film starring Ed O'Neill Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan, a 1999 biography with fictional elements by Edmund Morris Dutch, the magazine, an English-language magazine about the Netherlands and the Dutch Dutching, a gambling term that signifies betting on more than one outcome Dutch, an American trip-hop duo that released the 2010 album A Bright Cold Day Chess Bird's Opening, a chess opening also known as the "Dutch attack" Dutch Defence, a chess opening Sports and mascots Dutch Grand Prix, a Formula One car race Dutch Open (disambiguation) Dutch TT, a motorcycle race, part of the MotoGP World Championship Dutch, nickname of college athletic teams of Central College in Pella, Iowa Dutch, the mascot of the Union Dutchmen, the athletic teams of Union College See also Deutsch (disambiguation) Double Dutch (disambiguation) Dutch Boy (disambiguation) Dutch Hill (disambiguation) Dutch oven (disambiguation) Going Dutch or Dutch treat, an arrangement whereby each person in a group pays for him/herself Netherlands (disambiguation) Language and nationality disambiguation pages

Digamma, waw, or wau (uppercase: Ϝ, lowercase: ϝ, numeral: ϛ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6. Whereas it was originally called waw or wau, its most common appellation in classical Greek is digamma; as a numeral, it was called episēmon during the Byzantine era and is now known as stigma after the Byzantine ligature combining σ-τ as ϛ. Digamma or wau was part of the original archaic Greek alphabet as initially adopted from Phoenician. Like its model, Phoenician waw, it represented the voiced labial-velar approximant and stood in the 6th position in the alphabet between epsilon and zeta. It is the consonantal doublet of the vowel letter upsilon (), which was also derived from waw but was placed near the end of the Greek alphabet. Digamma or wau is in turn the ancestor of the Latin letter F. As an alphabetic letter, it is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions until the classical period. The shape of the letter went through a development from through , , , to or , which at that point was conflated with the σ-τ ligature . In modern print, a distinction is made between the letter in its original alphabetic role as a consonant sign, which is rendered as "Ϝ" or its modern lowercase variant "ϝ", and the numeric symbol, which is represented by "ϛ". In modern Greek, this is often replaced by the digraph . Greek w Mycenaean Greek The sound existed in Mycenean Greek, as attested in Linear B and archaic Greek inscriptions using digamma. It is also confirmed by the Hittite name of Troy, Wilusa, corresponding to the Greek name *Wilion, classical Ilion (Ilium). Classical Greek The sound was lost at various times in various dialects, mostly before the classical period. In Ionic, had probably disappeared before Homer's epics were written down (7th century BC), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the meter defective. For example, the word ἄναξ ("(tribal) king, lord, (military) leader"), found in the Iliad, would have originally been (and is attested in this form in Mycenaean Greek), and the word ("wine"), are sometimes used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that was earlier (cf. Cretan Doric ibêna, cf. Latin vīnum and English "wine"). There have been editions of the Homeric epics where the wau was re-added, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these have largely fallen out of favour. Aeolian was the dialect that kept the sound longest. In discussions by ancient Greek grammarians of the Hellenistic era, the letter is therefore often described as a characteristic Aeolian feature. Loanwords that entered Greek before the loss of lost that sound when Greek did. For instance, Oscan Viteliu ("land of the male calves", compare "yearling, male calf") gave rise to the Greek word Italia. The Adriatic tribe of the Veneti was called in . In loanwords that entered the Greek language after the drop of , the phoneme was once again registered, compare for example the spelling of for vates. Pamphylian digamma In some local (epichoric) alphabets, a variant glyph of the letter digamma existed that resembled modern Cyrillic И. In one local alphabet, that of Pamphylia, this variant form existed side by side with standard digamma as two distinct letters. It has been surmised that in this dialect the sound may have changed to labiodental in some environments. The F-shaped letter may have stood for the new sound, while the special И-shaped form signified those positions where the old sound was preserved. Numeral Digamma/wau remained in use in the system of Greek numerals attributed to Miletus, where it stood for the number 6, reflecting its original place in the sequence of the alphabet. It was one of three letters that were kept in this way in addition to the 24 letters of the classical alphabet, the other two being koppa (ϙ) for 90, and sampi (ϡ) for 900. During their history in handwriting in late antiquity and the Byzantine era, all three of these symbols underwent several changes in shape, with digamma ultimately taking the form of "ϛ". It has remained in use as a numeral in Greek to the present day, in contexts comparable to those where Latin numerals would be used in English, for instance in regnal numbers of monarchs or in enumerating chapters in a book, although in practice the letter sequence ΣΤ΄ is much more common. Glyph development Epigraphy Digamma was derived from Phoenician waw, which was shaped roughly like a Y (). Of the two Greek reflexes of waw, digamma retained the alphabetic position, but had its shape modified to , while the upsilon retained the original shape but was placed in a new alphabetic position. Early Crete had an archaic form of digamma somewhat closer to the original Phoenician, , or a variant with the stem bent sidewards (). The shape , during the archaic period, underwent a development parallel to that of epsilon (which changed from to "E", with the arms becoming orthogonal and the lower end of the stem being shed off). For digamma, this led to the two main variants of classical "F" and square . The latter of these two shapes became dominant when used as a numeral, with "F" only very rarely employed in this function. However, in Athens, both of these were avoided in favour of a number of alternative numeral shapes (, , , , , ). Early handwriting In cursive handwriting, the square-C form developed further into a rounded form resembling a "C" (found in papyrus manuscripts as , on coins sometimes as ). It then developed a downward tail at the end (, ) and finally adopted a shape like a Latin "s" () These cursive forms are also found in stone inscriptions in late antiquity. Conflation with the στ ligature In the ninth and tenth centuries, the cursive shape digamma was visually conflated with a ligature of sigma (in its historical "lunate" form) and tau ( + = , ). The στ-ligature had become common in minuscule handwriting from the 9th century onwards. Both closed () and open () forms were subsequently used without distinction both for the ligature and for the numeral. The ligature took on the name of "stigma" or "sti", and the name stigma is today applied to it both in its textual and in the numeral function. The association between its two functions as a numeral and as a sign for "st" became so strong that in modern typographic practice in Greece, whenever the ϛʹ sign itself is not available, the letter sequences στʹ or ΣΤʹ are used instead for the number 6. Typography In western typesetting during the modern era, the numeral symbol was routinely represented by the same character as the stigma ligature (ϛ). In normal text, this ligature together with numerous others continued to be used widely until the early nineteenth century, following the style of earlier minuscule handwriting, but ligatures then gradually dropped out of use. The stigma ligature was among those that survived longest, but it too became obsolete in print after the mid-19th century. Today it is used only to represent the numeric digamma, and never to represent the sequence στ in text. Along with the other special numeric symbols koppa and sampi, numeric digamma/stigma normally has no distinction between uppercase and lowercase forms, (while other alphabetic letters can be used as numerals in both cases). Distinct uppercase versions were occasionally used in the 19th century. Several different shapes of uppercase stigma can be found, with the lower end either styled as a small curved S-like hook (), or as a straight stem, the latter either with a serif () or without one (). An alternative uppercase stylization in some twentieth-century fonts is , visually a ligature of Roman-style uppercase C and T. The characters used for numeric digamma/stigma are distinguished in modern print from the character used to represent the ancient alphabetic digamma, the letter for the [w] sound. This is rendered in print by a Latin "F", or sometimes a variant of it specially designed to fit in typographically with Greek (Ϝ). It has a modern lowercase form (ϝ) that typically differs from Latin "f" by having two parallel horizontal strokes like the uppercase character, with the vertical stem often being somewhat slanted to the right or curved, and usually descending below the baseline. This character is used in Greek epigraphy to transcribe the text of ancient inscriptions that contain "Ϝ", and in linguistics and historical grammar when describing reconstructed proto-forms of Greek words that contained the sound . Glyph confusion Throughout much of its history, the shape of digamma/stigma has often been very similar to that of other symbols, with which it can easily be confused. In ancient papyri, the cursive C-shaped form of numeric digamma is often indistinguishable from the C-shaped ("lunate") form that was then the common form of sigma. The similarity is still found today, since both the modern stigma (ϛ) and modern final sigma (ς) look identical or almost identical in most fonts; both are historically continuations of their ancient C-shaped forms with the addition of the same downward flourish. If the two characters are distinguished in print, the top loop of stigma tends to be somewhat larger and to extend farther to the right than that of final sigma. The two characters are, however, always distinguishable from the context in modern usage, both in numeric notation and in text: the final form of sigma never occurs in numerals (the number 200 being always written with the medial sigma, σ), and in normal Greek text the sequence "στ" can never occur word-finally. The medieval s-like shape of digamma () has the same shape as a contemporary abbreviation for ("and"). Yet another case of glyph confusion exists in the printed uppercase forms, this time between stigma and the other numeral, koppa (90). In ancient and medieval handwriting, koppa developed from through , , to . The uppercase forms and can represent either koppa or stigma. Frequent confusion between these two values in contemporary printing was already noted by some commentators in the eighteenth century. The ambiguity continues in modern fonts, many of which continue to have glyph similar to for either koppa or stigma. Names The symbol has been called by a variety of different names, referring either to its alphabetic or its numeral function or both. Wau Wau (variously rendered as vau, waw or similarly in English) is the original name of the alphabetic letter for in ancient Greek. It is often cited in its reconstructed acrophonic spelling "". This form itself is not historically attested in Greek inscriptions, but the existence of the name can be inferred from descriptions by contemporary Latin grammarians, who render it as vau. In later Greek, where both the letter and the sound it represented had become inaccessible, the name is rendered as or . In the 19th century, vau in English was a common name for the symbol ϛ in its numerical function, used by authors who distinguished it both from the alphabetic "digamma" and from ϛ as a στ ligature. Digamma The name digamma was used in ancient Greek and is the most common name for the letter in its alphabetic function today. It literally means "double gamma" and is descriptive of the original letter's shape, which looked like a Γ (gamma) placed on top of another. Episemon The name episēmon was used for the numeral symbol during the Byzantine era and is still sometimes used today, either as a name specifically for digamma/stigma, or as a generic term for the whole group of extra-alphabetic numeral signs (digamma, koppa and sampi). The Greek word "", from (epi-, "on") and (sēma, "sign"), literally means "a distinguishing mark", "a badge", but is also the neuter form of the related adjective "" ("distinguished", "remarkable"). This word was connected to the number "six" through early Christian mystical numerology. According to an account of the teachings of the heretic Marcus given by the church father Irenaeus, the number six was regarded as a symbol of Christ, and was hence called "" ("the outstanding number"); likewise, the name (Jesus), having six letters, was "" ("the outstanding name"), and so on. The sixth-century treatise About the Mystery of the Letters, which also links the six to Christ, calls the number sign to Episēmon throughout. The same name is still found in a fifteenth-century arithmetical manual by the Greek mathematician Nikolaos Rabdas. It is also found in a number of western European accounts of the Greek alphabet written in Latin during the early Middle Ages. One of them is the work De loquela per gestum digitorum, a didactic text about arithmetics attributed to the Venerable Bede, where the three Greek numerals for 6, 90 and 900 are called "episimon", "cophe" and "enneacosis" respectively. From Beda, the term was adopted by the seventeenth century humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger. However, misinterpreting Beda's reference, Scaliger applied the term episēmon not as a name proper for digamma/6 alone, but as a cover term for all three numeral letters. From Scaliger, the term found its way into modern academic usage in this new meaning, of referring to complementary numeral symbols standing outside the alphabetic sequence proper, in Greek and other similar scripts. Gabex or Gamex In one remark in the context of a biblical commentary, the 4th century scholar Ammonius of Alexandria is reported to have mentioned that the numeral symbol for 6 was called gabex by his contemporaries. The same reference in Ammonius has alternatively been read as gam(m)ex by some modern authors. Ammonius as well as later theologians discuss the symbol in the context of explaining the apparent contradiction and variant readings between the gospels in assigning the death of Jesus either to the "third hour" or "sixth hour", arguing that the one numeral symbol could easily have been substituted for the other through a scribal error. Stigma The name "stigma" () was originally a common Greek noun meaning "a mark, dot, puncture" or generally "a sign", from the verb στίζω ("to puncture"). It had an earlier writing-related special meaning, being the name for a dot as a punctuation mark, used for instance to mark shortness of a syllable in the notation of rhythm. It was then co-opted as a name specifically for the στ ligature, evidently because of the acrophonic value of its initial st- as well as the analogy with the name of sigma. Other names coined according to the same analogical principle are sti or stau. Computer encodings Greek Digamma / Stigma Coptic Digamma References Sources Peter T. Daniels – William Bright (edd.), The World's Writing Systems, New York, Oxford University Press, 1996. Jean Humbert, Histoire de la langue grecque, Paris, 1972. Michel Lejeune, Phonétique historique du mycénien et du grec ancien, Klincksieck, Paris, 1967. "In Search of The Trojan War", pp. 142–143,187 by Michael Wood, 1985, published by BBC. External links Perseus Project: lexicon search for words starting with or containing digamma Greek letters

The Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons. In the APG III system of 2009, the order includes only two families, Adoxaceae and a broadly defined Caprifoliaceae. Some well-known members of the Dipsacales order are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and valerian. Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae sensu stricto, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the 2003 APG II system, the circumscription of the order was much the same but the system allowed either a broadly circumscribed Caprifoliaceae including the families Diervillaceae, Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Morinaceae, and Valerianaceae, or these families being kept separate. The APG III system only uses the broadly circumscribed Caprifoliceae. The Dipsacales appear to be most closely related to the Paracryphiales. References Bell, C. D., E. J. Edwards, S. T. Kim, & M. J. Donoghue. 2001. Dipsacales phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA sequences. Harvard Papers in Botany 6:481-499. Donoghue, M. J., C. D. Bell, & R. C. Winkworth. 2003. The evolution of reproductive characters in Dipsacales. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164:S453-S464 External links Dipsacales at Tree of Life Phylogeny of the Asteridae s. str. based on rbcL sequences, with particular reference to the Dipsacales (link to abstract) Angiosperm orders

Dennis the Menace may refer to either of two comic strip characters that both appeared in March 1951, one in the UK and one in the US. British character Dennis the Menace (UK comics) is the original title of a British comic strip which first appeared in "The Beano" on March 12, 1951 (in the edition cover dated March 17, 1951); it is now published as Dennis the Menace and Gnasher. Dennis the Menace Annual, now known as the Dennis and Gnasher Annual, is a compilation of the comics plus new material. Various television adaptations of the comic strip: Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (1996 TV series) is an animated television series based on the Beano comic strip, known internationally as Dennis and Gnasher. Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (2009 TV series) was released on September 7, 2009. Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! (2017 TV series) is the latest animated CGI series, first broadcast in November 2017. A Second series has subsequently been made. American character Dennis the Menace (U.S. comics), a daily US syndicated newspaper comic strip since March 12, 1951 Various television and film adaptations of the comic strip: Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series), a CBS network live action television show Dennis the Menace (1986 TV series), an animated TV series Dennis the Menace (1987 film), a made-for-television live action film released in 1987; a.k.a. Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter All-New Dennis the Menace, a 1993 animated television series Dennis the Menace (film), A live-action film released in 1993 Dennis the Menace (video game), based on the 1993 film Dennis the Menace Strikes Again, a 1998 direct-to-video sequel of the 1993 film Dennis the Menace in Cruise Control (2002, animated) A Dennis the Menace Christmas, a 2007 direct-to-video sequel of the 1993 film Other Storm Dennis in the UK in 2020

Events Pre-1600 395 – Later Yan is defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope. 757 – Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong's court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion. 877 – Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom at Compiègne. 1432 – The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War. 1504 – Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah writes his Oran fatwa, arguing for the relaxation of Islamic law requirements for the forcibly converted Muslims in Spain. 1601–1900 1660 – A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello. 1851 – Conservative Santiago-based government troops defeat rebels at the Battle of Loncomilla, signaling the end of the 1851 Chilean Revolution. 1854 – In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin. 1864 – Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas. 1901–present 1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne. 1912 – Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out. 1914 – World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. declares war on Japan. 1941 – World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. (See December 7 for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere.) 1943 – World War II: The German 117th Jäger Division destroys the monastery of Mega Spilaio in Greece and executes 22 monks and visitors as part of reprisals that culminated a few days later with the Massacre of Kalavryta. 1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world. 1955 – The Flag of Europe is adopted by Council of Europe. 1962 – Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days. 1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board. 1966 – The Greek ship sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200. 1969 – Olympic Airways Flight 954 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history. 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi. 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737. 1974 – A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece. 1980 – John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City. 1985 – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia, is established. 1987 – Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House. 1987 – An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees and injures seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, which has been cited as one of the events which sparked the First Intifada. 1988 – A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing 5 people and injuring 50 others. 1990 – The Galileo spacecraft flies past Earth for the first time. 1991 – The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. 1992 – The Galileo spacecraft flies past Earth for the second time. 1998 – Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria. 2004 – The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations. 2004 – Columbus nightclub shooting: Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer. 2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kill 127 people and injure 448 others. 2010 – With the second launch of the Falcon 9 and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft. 2010 – The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km. 2013 – Riots break out in Singapore after a fatal accident in Little India. 2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents. 2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China. Births Pre-1600 65 BC – Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC) 1021 – Wang Anshi, Chinese economist and chancellor (d. 1086) 1412 – Astorre II Manfredi, Italian lord (d. 1468) 1418 – Queen Jeonghui, Queen consort of Korea (d. 1483) 1424 – Anselm Adornes, Belgian merchant, politician and diplomat (d. 1483) 1538 – Miklós Istvánffy, Hungarian politician (d. 1615) 1542 – Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise, at Linlithgow Palace (d. 1587) 1558 – François de La Rochefoucauld, Catholic cardinal (d. 1645) 1601–1900 1678 – Antonio de Benavides, colonial governor of Florida (d. 1762) 1678 – Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole, English politician and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (d. 1757) 1699 – Maria Josepha of Austria (d. 1757) 1708 – Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765) 1724 – Claude Balbastre, French organist and composer (d. 1799) 1730 – Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch physician, physiologist, and botanist (d. 1799) 1731 – František Xaver Dušek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1799) 1756 – Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (d. 1801) 1765 – Eli Whitney, American engineer, invented the cotton gin (d. 1825) 1795 – Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1874) 1807 – Friedrich Traugott Kützing, German pharmacist, botanist and phycologist (d. 1893) 1813 – August Belmont, Prussian-American financier and diplomat, 16th United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (d. 1890) 1815 – Adolph Menzel, German painter and illustrator (d. 1905) 1817 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1896) 1818 – Charles III, Prince of Monaco (d. 1889) 1822 – Jakov Ignjatović, Hungarian-Serbian author (d. 1889) 1832 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910) 1860 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish author and poet (d. 1939) 1861 – William C. Durant, American businessman, founded General Motors and Chevrolet (d. 1947) 1861 – Aristide Maillol, French sculptor and painter (d. 1944) 1861 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1938) 1862 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921) 1863 – Charles Lincoln Edwards, American zoologist (d. 1937) 1864 – Camille Claudel, French illustrator and sculptor (d. 1943) 1865 – Rüdiger von der Goltz, German general (d. 1946) 1865 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician and academic (d. 1963) 1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer (d. 1957) 1874 – Ernst Moro, Austrian physician and pediatrician (d. 1951) 1875 – Frederik Buch, Danish actor and screenwriter (d. 1925) 1877 – Paul Ladmirault, French pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 1944) 1880 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian linguist and philologist (d. 1973) 1881 – Albert Gleizes, French painter (d. 1953) 1884 – Francis Balfour, English colonel and politician (d. 1965) 1886 – Diego Rivera, Mexican painter and educator (d. 1957) 1890 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech-American pianist and composer (d. 1959) 1892 – Marcus Lee Hansen, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1938) 1894 – E. C. Segar, American cartoonist, created Popeye (d. 1938) 1894 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (d. 1961) 1899 – Arthur Leslie, English-Welsh actor and playwright (d. 1970) 1899 – John Qualen, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987) 1900 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general and politician (d. 1990) 1900 – Ants Oras, Estonian-American author and academic (d. 1982) 1901–present 1902 – Wifredo Lam, Cuban-French painter (d. 1982) 1903 – Zelma Watson George, Black American opera singer (d. 1994) 1908 – Concha Piquer, Spanish singer and actress (d. 1990) 1908 – John A. Volpe, American soldier and politician, 61st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1994) 1911 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (d. 1976) 1911 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and songwriter (d. 1992) 1913 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer (d. 1966) 1914 – Floyd Tillman, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003) 1914 – Ernie Toshack, Australian cricketer (d. 2003) 1915 – Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2005) 1916 – Richard Fleischer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006) 1917 – Ian Johnson, Australian cricketer and administrator (d. 1998) 1919 – Peter Tali Coleman, Samoan-American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of American Samoa (d. 1997) 1919 – Julia Bowman, American mathematician and theorist (d. 1985) 1919 – Kateryna Yushchenko, Ukrainian computer scientist and academic (d. 2001) 1920 – McDonald Bailey, Trinidadian-English sprinter and rugby player (d. 2013) 1922 – Lucian Freud, German-English painter and illustrator (d. 2011) 1922 – Jean Ritchie, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015) 1923 – Dewey Martin, American actor (d. 2018) 1923 – Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-American soldier and chemist 1924 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (d. 2015) 1925 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1990) 1925 – Nasir Kazmi, Pakistani Urdu poet (d. 1972) 1925 – Carmen Martín Gaite, Spanish author and poet (d. 2000) 1925 – Jimmy Smith, American organist (d. 2005) 1927 – Vladimir Shatalov, Kazakhstani general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2021) 1927 – Niklas Luhmann, German thinker and social theorist (d. 1998) 1928 – Bill Hewitt, Canadian journalist and sportscaster (d. 1996) 1928 – Ulric Neisser, German-American psychologist, neuroscientist, and academic (d. 2012) 1930 – Julian Critchley, English journalist and politician (d. 2000) 1930 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1931 – Bob Arum, American boxing promoter, founded Top Rank 1933 – Flip Wilson, American actor and comedian (d. 1998) 1935 – Dharmendra, Indian actor, producer, and politician 1935 – Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Russian-Israeli chess player (d. 2017) 1936 – David Carradine, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2009) 1936 – Michael Hobson, American publisher 1936 – Peter Parfitt, English cricketer 1937 – James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010) 1937 – Arne Næss, Jr., German-Norwegian mountaineer and businessman (d. 2004) 1939 – Red Berenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1939 – Jerry Butler, American singer-songwriter and producer 1939 – James Galway, Irish flute player 1939 – Felipe Gozon, Filipino lawyer and businessman 1939 – Dariush Mehrjui, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter 1939 – Soko Richardson, American drummer (d. 2004) 1940 – Brant Alyea, American baseball player 1941 – Ed Brinkman, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008) 1941 – Bob Brown, American football player 1941 – Duke Cunningham, American commander and politician 1941 – Bobby Elliott, English drummer 1941 – Geoff Hurst, English footballer and manager 1943 – Larry Martin, American paleontologist and ornithologist (d. 2013) 1943 – Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter and poet (d. 1971) 1943 – James Tate, American poet (d. 2015) 1943 – Bodo Tümmler, German runner 1943 – Mary Woronov, American actress, director, and screenwriter 1944 – George Baker, Dutch singer-songwriter 1944 – Bertie Higgins, American singer-songwriter 1944 – Ted Irvine, Canadian ice hockey player 1944 – Vince MacLean, Canadian educator and politician 1945 – John Banville, Irish novelist and screenwriter 1945 – Julie Heldman, American tennis player 1946 – John Rubinstein, American actor, director, and composer 1946 – Chava Alberstein, Polish-Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Gregg Allman, American musician (d. 2017) 1947 – Gérard Blanc, French singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 2009) 1947 – Thomas Cech, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1947 – Kati-Claudia Fofonoff, Finnish author and poet (d. 2011) 1947 – Margaret Geller, American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic 1948 – Luis Caffarelli, Argentinian-American mathematician and academic 1948 – John Waters, English-Australian actor, singer-songwriter, and guitarist 1949 – Mary Gordon, American author, critic, and academic 1949 – Nancy Meyers, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1949 – Robert Sternberg, American psychologist and academic 1950 – Rick Baker, American actor and makeup artist 1950 – Tim Foli, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1950 – Dan Hartman, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1994) 1951 – Bill Bryson, American essayist, travel and science writer 1951 – Richard Desmond, English publisher and businessman, founded Northern & Shell 1951 – Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1952 – Khaw Boon Wan, Malayan-Singaporean politician, Singaporean Minister of Health 1952 – Steve Atkinson, English-Hong Kong cricketer 1953 – Kim Basinger, American actress 1953 – Roy Firestone, American sportscaster and journalist 1953 – Norman Finkelstein, American author, academic, and activist 1953 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (d. 1992) 1953 – Władysław Kozakiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish pole vaulter and coach 1953 – Steve Yates, English footballer 1954 – Harold Hongju Koh, American lawyer, academic, and politician 1954 – Frits Pirard, Dutch cyclist 1955 – Milenko Zablaćanski, Serbian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2008) 1956 – Warren Cuccurullo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1956 – Andrius Kubilius, Lithuanian academic and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Lithuania 1956 – Slick, American wrestler and manager 1957 – Mike Buchanan, British men's rights advocate 1957 – James Cama, American martial artist and educator (d. 2014) 1957 – Phil Collen, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Rob Byrnes, American author and blogger 1958 – Rob Curling, Malayan-English journalist 1958 – Michel Ferté, French race car driver 1958 – Bob Greene, American physiologist and author 1958 – Mirosław Okoński, Polish footballer 1959 – Stephen Jefferies, South African cricketer and coach 1959 – Mark Steyn, Canadian-American author and critic 1960 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (d. 2014) 1960 – Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian accountant and politician 1961 – Conceição Lima, São Toméan poet 1961 – Mikey Robins, Australian comedian and television host 1962 – Steve Elkington, Australian-American golfer 1962 – Marty Friedman, American-Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and television host 1962 – Nikos Karageorgiou, Greek footballer and manager 1962 – Berry van Aerle, Dutch footballer 1963 – Greg Howe, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1963 – Toshiaki Kawada, Japanese wrestler 1963 – Ricky Walford, Australian rugby league player 1964 – James Blundell, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1964 – Teri Hatcher, American actress 1964 – Chigusa Nagayo, Japanese wrestler 1964 – Óscar Ramírez, Costa Rican footballer and coach 1965 – David Harewood, English actor 1965 – Theo Maassen, Dutch actor, producer, and screenwriter 1966 – Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (d. 2019) 1966 – Les Ferdinand, English footballer and coach 1966 – Tyler Mane, Canadian wrestler and actor 1966 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter 1967 – Jeff George, American football player 1967 – Andy Kapp, German curler 1967 – Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese voice actress and singer 1967 – Darren Sheridan, English footballer and manager 1968 – Mike Mussina, American baseball player and coach 1968 – Doriano Romboni, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2013) 1969 – Kristin Lauter, American mathematician and cryptographer 1971 – Abdullah Ercan, Turkish footballer and manager 1972 – Indrek Allmann, Estonian architect 1972 – Janae Marie Kroczaleski, American powerlifter 1972 – Édson Ribeiro, Brazilian sprinter 1973 – Corey Taylor, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor 1974 – Cristian Castro, Mexican singer 1974 – Tony Simmons, American football player and coach 1974 – Nick Zinner, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1975 – Kevin Harvick, American race car driver 1976 – Brettina, Bahamian-American singer-songwriter and actress 1976 – Reed Johnson, American baseball player 1976 – Dominic Monaghan, German-born English actor 1976 – Zoe Konstantopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician 1977 – Ryan Newman, American race car driver 1977 – Aleksandra Olsza, Polish tennis player 1977 – Anita Weyermann, Swiss runner and journalist 1978 – John Oster, English-Welsh footballer 1978 – Frédéric Piquionne, French footballer 1978 – Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer 1978 – Ian Somerhalder, American actor 1978 – Vernon Wells, American baseball player 1979 – Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby player 1979 – Johan Forssell, Swedish lawyer and politician 1979 – Raymond Lam, Chinese actor and singer 1979 – Ingrid Michaelson, American singer-songwriter and pianist 1979 – Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer 1980 – Yuliya Krevsun, Ukrainian runner 1981 – Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player 1981 – Simon Finnigan, English rugby league player 1981 – Philip Rivers, American football player 1982 – Alfredo Aceves, American baseball player 1982 – Serena Ryder, Canadian singer-songwriter 1982 – Chrisette Michele, American singer-songwriter 1982 – Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress 1983 – Neel Jani, Swiss race car driver 1983 – Valéry Mézague, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2014) 1984 – Emma Green Tregaro, Swedish high jumper 1984 – Greg Halford, English footballer 1984 – Sam Hunt, American singer-songwriter 1985 – Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater 1985 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player 1985 – Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukrainian basketball player 1986 – Enzo Amore, American wrestler and rapper 1986 – Amir Khan, English boxer 1986 – Sam Tagataese, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player 1986 – Kate Voegele, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress 1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player 1989 – Jesse Sene-Lefao, New Zealand rugby league player 1992 – Yui Yokoyama, Japanese idol, model, and actress 1993 – Janari Jõesaar, Estonian basketball player 1993 – Jordan Obita, English footballer 1993 – AnnaSophia Robb, American actress 1993 – Cara Mund, Miss America 2018 1994 – Conseslus Kipruto, Kenyan runner 1994 – Raheem Sterling, English footballer 1996 – Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer Deaths Pre-1600 855 – Drogo of Metz, illegitimate son of Charlemagne (b. 801) 899 – Arnulf of Carinthia (b. 850) 964 – Zhou the Elder, Chinese queen consort 1186 – Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen (b.c 1125) 1292 – John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury 1365 – Nicholas II, Duke of Opava (b. 1288) 1431 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Polish and Lithuanian princess (b. 1408) 1550 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian humanist, poet, dramatist and diplomat (b. 1478) 1601–1900 1626 – John Davies, English poet, lawyer, and politician (b. 1569) 1632 – Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1561) 1638 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet (b. 1589) 1643 – John Pym, English politician (b. 1583) 1649 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (b. 1613) 1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English lawyer and politician (b. 1606) 1691 – Richard Baxter, English minister, poet, and hymn-writer (b. 1615) 1695 – Barthélemy d'Herbelot, French orientalist and academic (b. 1625) 1709 – Thomas Corneille, French playwright and philologist (b. 1625) 1722 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine (b. 1652) 1744 – Marie Anne de Mailly, French mistress of Louis XV of France (b. 1717) 1745 – Étienne Fourmont, French orientalist and academic (b. 1683) 1746 – Charles Radclyffe, English courtier and soldier (b. 1693) 1756 – William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, English politician and diplomat, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1690) 1768 – Jean Denis Attiret, French painter and missionary (b. 1702) 1779 – Nathan Alcock, English physician (b. 1707) 1815 – Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, Methodist preacher and philanthropist (b. 1739) 1830 – Benjamin Constant, Swiss-French philosopher and author (b. 1767) 1856 – Theobald Mathew, Irish social reformer and temperance movement leader (b. 1790) 1859 – Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (b. 1785) 1864 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1815) 1869 – Narcisa de Jesús, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832) 1885 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1821) 1886 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (b. 1792) 1894 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1821) 1901–present 1903 – Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (b. 1820) 1907 – Oscar II of Sweden (b. 1829) 1913 – Camille Jenatzy, Belgian race car driver (b. 1868) 1914 – Melchior Anderegg, Swiss mountain guide (b. 1828) 1914 – Maximilian von Spee, Danish-German admiral (b. 1861) 1917 – Mendele Mocher Sforim, Russian author (b. 1836) 1918 – Josip Stadler, Bosnian Catholic archbishop (b. 1843) 1919 – J. Alden Weir, American painter (b. 1852) 1922 – Joe McKelvey, Irish Republican Army officer executed during the Irish Civil War 1929 – José Vicente Concha, Colombian politician and 8th President of Colombia (b. 1867) 1932 – Gertrude Jekyll, British horticulturist and writer (b. 1843) 1937 – Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist and academic (b. 1856) 1938 – Friedrich Glauser, Swiss author (b. 1896) 1940 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (b. 1861) 1941 – Izidor Kürschner, Hungarian football player and coach (b. 1885) 1942 – Albert Kahn, American architect, Fisher Building, Packard Automotive Plant, Ford River Rouge Complex (b. 1869) 1952 – Charles Lightoller, English sailor (b. 1874) 1954 – Claude Cahun, French artist, photographer, and writer (b. 1894) 1954 – Gladys George, American actress (b. 1904) 1954 – Joseph B. Keenan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1888) 1958 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888) 1963 – Sarit Thanarat, Thai field marshal and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1908) 1966 – Ward Morehouse, American playwright, author, and critic (b. 1899) 1971 – Ernst Krenkel, Russian geographer and explorer (b. 1903) 1971 – Eleni Ourani, Greek poet and critic (b. 1896) 1975 – Gary Thain, New Zealand bass player (b. 1948) 1978 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898) 1980 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940) 1982 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist and politician (b. 1951) 1982 – André Kamperveen, Surinamese footballer and manager (b. 1924) 1982 – Marty Robbins, American singer-songwriter and race car driver (b. 1925) 1982 – Haim Laskov, Israel Defense Forces fifth Chief of Staff (b. 1919) 1983 – Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, 26th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1904) 1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919) 1984 – Luther Adler, American actor (b. 1903) 1984 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant leader, founded The Order (b. 1953) 1984 – Razzle, English drummer (b. 1960) 1984 – Semih Sancar, Turkish general (b. 1911) 1991 – Buck Clayton, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1911) 1992 – William Shawn, American journalist (b. 1917) 1993 – Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (b. 1933) 1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1927) 1996 – Howard Rollins, American actor (b. 1950) 1996 – Kashiwado Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 47th Yokozuna (b. 1938) 1997 – Bob Bell, American clown and actor (b. 1922) 1999 – Péter Kuczka, Hungarian poet and author (b. 1923) 2001 – Mirza Delibašić, Bosnian basketball player and coach (b. 1954) 2001 – Betty Holberton, American computer scientist and programmer (b. 1917) 2003 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (b. 1919) 2004 – Dimebag Darrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966) 2005 – Rose Heilbron, British barrister and judge (b. 1914) 2006 – Martha Tilton, American singer (b. 1915) 2006 – José Uribe, Dominican baseball player (b. 1959) 2007 – Gerardo García Pimentel, Mexican journalist (b. 1983) 2008 – Oliver Postgate, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925) 2008 – Robert Prosky, American actor (b. 1930) 2009 – Luis Días, Dominican singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952) 2012 – Jerry Brown, American football player (b. 1987) 2012 – John Gowans, Scottish-English 16th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1934) 2012 – Johnny Lira, American boxer (b. 1951) 2013 – John Cornforth, Australian-English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917) 2013 – Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and academic (b. 1931) 2013 – Richard S. Williamson, American lawyer and diplomat (b. 1949) 2014 – Tom Gosnell, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1951) 2014 – Russ Kemmerer, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930) 2014 – Knut Nystedt, Norwegian organist and composer (b. 1915) 2015 – Mattiwilda Dobbs, American soprano and actress (b. 1925) 2015 – Alan Hodgkinson, English footballer and coach (b. 1936) 2015 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (b. 1943) 2015 – John Trudell, American author, poet, and actor (b. 1946) 2015 – Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (b. 1913) 2016 – John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (b. 1921) 2018 – David Weatherall, English physician, geneticist, and academic (b. 1933) 2019 – René Auberjonois, American actor (b. 1940) 2019 – Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (b. 1998) 2019 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer and actor (b. 1933) 2021 – Robbie Shakespeare, Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer (b. 1953) Holidays and observances Battle Day (Falkland Islands) Bodhi Day (Japan) CARICOM–Cuba Day (Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba) Christian feast day: Budoc (Beuzec) of Dol Clement of Ohrid (Julian Calendar), and its related observances: Student's Day (Bulgaria) Eucharius Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Communion), lesser commemoration Festa da Conceição da Praia, celebrating Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean in Umbanda (Salvador, Bahia) Festival of Lights (Lyon) Mother's Day (Panama) Lady of Camarin Day (Guam) Patapios of Thebes Pope Eutychian Richard Baxter (US Episcopal Church) Romaric December 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Constitution Day (Romania) Constitution Day (Uzbekistan) Day of Finnish Music (Finland) Earliest day on which National Tree Planting Day can fall, while December 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in December. (Malawi) Hari-Kuyō (Kansai region, Japan) National Youth Day (Albania) References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on December 8 Today in Canadian History Days of the year December

Dilation (or dilatation) and curettage (D&C) refers to the dilation (widening/opening) of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and/or contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping (curettage). It is a gynecologic procedure used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and is the most commonly used method for first-trimester miscarriage or abortion. D&C normally refers to a procedure involving a curette, also called sharp curettage. However, some sources use the term D&C to refer to any procedure that involves the processes of dilation and removal of uterine contents, which includes the more common suction curettage procedures of manual and electric vacuum aspiration. Clinical uses D&Cs may be performed in pregnant and non-pregnant patients, for different clinical indications. During pregnancy or postpartum A D&C may be performed early in pregnancy to remove pregnancy tissue, either in the case of a non-viable pregnancy, such as a missed or incomplete miscarriage, or an undesired pregnancy, as in a surgical abortion. Medical management of miscarriage and medical abortion using drugs such as misoprostol and mifepristone are safe, non-invasive and potentially less expensive alternatives to D&C. Because medication-based non-invasive methods of abortion now exist, dilation and curettage has been declining as a method of abortion, although suction curettage is still the most common method used for termination of a first-trimester pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends D&C with a sharp curette as a method of surgical abortion only when manual vacuum aspiration with a suction curette is unavailable. For patients who have recently given birth, a D&C may be indicated to remove retained placental tissue that does not pass spontaneously or for postpartum hemorrhage. Non-pregnant patients D&Cs for non-pregnant patients are commonly performed for the diagnosis of gynecological conditions leading to abnormal uterine bleeding; to remove the excess uterine lining in women who have conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome; to remove tissue in the uterus that may be causing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as endometrial polyps or uterine fibroids; or to diagnose the cause of post-menopausal bleeding, such as in the case of endometrial cancer. Hysteroscopy is a valid alternative or addition to D&C for many surgical indications, from diagnosis of uterine pathology to the removal of fibroids and even retained products of conception. It allows direct visualization of the inside of the uterus and may allow targeted sampling and removal of tissue inside the uterus. Procedure Depending on the anticipated duration and difficulty expected with the procedure, as well as the clinical indication and patient preferences, a D&C may be performed with local anesthesia, moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia. The first step in a D&C is to place a speculum in the vagina so as to see the cervix. Often, a tenaculum is placed to steady the cervix. Next, the provider will dilate the cervix. This can be done with Hegar or similar dilators. The amount of dilation depends on the amount of tissue to be removed as well as the size of the instruments to be used. After sufficient dilation, a curette, a metal rod with a handle on one end and a loop on the other, is then inserted into the uterus through the dilated cervix. The curette is used to gently scrape the lining of the uterus and remove the tissue in the uterus. If a suction curette is used, as in a vacuum aspiration, a plastic tubular curette will be introduced into the uterus and connected to suction to remove all tissue in the uterus. This tissue is examined for completeness (in the case of abortion or miscarriage treatment) or by pathology for abnormalities (in the case of treatment for abnormal bleeding). Complications The most common complications associated with D&C are infection, bleeding, or damage to nearby organs, including through uterine perforation. Aside from the surgery itself, complications related to anesthesia administration may also occur. Infection is uncommon after D&C for a non-pregnant patient, and society practice guidelines do not recommend routine prophylactic antibiotics to patients. However, for curettage of a pregnant patient, the risk of infection is higher, and patients should receive antibiotics that cover the bacteria commonly found in the vagina and gastrointestinal tract; doxycycline is a common recommendation, though azithromycin may also be used. Another risk of D&C is uterine perforation. The highest rate of uterine perforation appears to be in the setting of postpartum hemorrhage (5.1%) compared with a lower rate in diagnostic curettage in non-pregnant patients (0.3% in the premenopausal patient and 2.6% in the postmenopausal patient). Perforation may cause excessive bleeding or damage to organs outside the uterus. If the provider is concerned about ongoing bleeding or the possibility of injury to organs outside the uterus, a laparoscopy may be done to verify that there has been no undiagnosed injury. Another risk is intrauterine adhesions, or Asherman's syndrome. One study found that in women who had one or two sharp curettage procedures for miscarriage, 14-16% developed some adhesions. Women who underwent three sharp curettage procedures for miscarriage had a 32% risk of developing adhesions. The risk of Asherman's syndrome was found to be 30.9% in women who had D&C following a missed miscarriage, and 25% in those who had a D&C 1–4 weeks postpartum. Untreated Asherman's syndrome, especially if severe, also increases the risk of complications in future pregnancies, such as ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and abnormal placentation (such as placenta previa and placenta accreta). According to recent case reports, use of vacuum aspiration can also lead to intrauterine adhesions. A systematic review in 2013 came to the conclusion that recurrent miscarriage and D&C are the main risk factors for intrauterine adhesions. However, that review also found no studies reporting a link between intrauterine adhesions and long-term reproductive outcome, and that similar pregnancy outcomes were reported subsequent to surgical management (including D&C), medical management or conservative management (that is, watchful waiting). See also Dilation and evacuation Menstrual extraction Vacuum aspiration References External links Dilation and curettage (D&C) at Mayo Clinic Gynaecology Methods of abortion

Death is the permanent, irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable, universal process that eventually occurs in all organisms. Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die. As of the early 21st century, over 150,000 humans die each day, with aging being by far the most common cause of death. Death, particularly of humans, has commonly been considered a sad or unpleasant occasion, due to the affection for the deceased and the termination of social and familial bonds. Other concerns include fear of death or anxiety from the thought of death, necrophobia, feelings of sorrow, grief, depression, solitude or saudade for the deceased and/or feelings of sympathy or compassion for the deceased or the loved ones of the deceased. Many cultures and religions have the idea of an afterlife, and also may hold the idea of judgement of good and bad deeds in one's life (Heaven, Hell, Karma). Diagnosis Problems of definition The concept of death is a key to human understanding of the phenomenon. There are many scientific approaches and various interpretations of the concept. Additionally, the advent of life-sustaining therapy and the numerous criteria for defining death from both a medical and legal standpoint, have made it difficult to create a single unifying definition. One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. As a point in time, death would seem to refer to the moment at which life ends. Determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems. Such determination, therefore, requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is difficult, due to there being little consensus on how to define life. It is possible to define life in terms of consciousness. When consciousness ceases, an organism can be said to have died. One of the flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms that are alive but probably not conscious (for example, single-celled organisms). Another problem is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers. Additionally, many religious traditions, including Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions, hold that death does not (or may not) entail the end of consciousness. In certain cultures, death is more of a process than a single event. It implies a slow shift from one spiritual state to another. Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of something. More specifically, death occurs when a living entity experiences irreversible cessation of all functioning. As it pertains to human life, death is an irreversible process where someone loses their existence as a person. Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been subjective, or imprecise. Death was once defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and of breathing, but the development of CPR and prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted. This type of death where circulatory and respiratory arrest happens is known as the circulatory definition of death (DCDD). Proponents of the DCDD believe that this definition is reasonable because a person with permanent loss of circulatory and respiratory function should be considered dead. Critics of this definition state that while cessation of these functions may be permanent, it does not mean the situation is irreversible, because if CPR was applied, the person could be revived. Thus, the arguments for and against the DCDD boil down to a matter of defining the actual words "permanent" and "irreversible," which further complicates the challenge of defining death. Furthermore, events which were causally linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants and artificial pacemakers. Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being dead; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness. Suspension of consciousness must be permanent, and not transient, as occurs during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, EEGs can easily tell the difference. The category of "brain death" is seen as problematic by some scholars. For instance, Dr. Franklin Miller, senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes: "By the late 1990s... the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant "brain-dead" women)." While "brain death" is viewed as problematic by some scholars, there are certainly proponents of it that believe this definition of death is the most reasonable for distinguishing life from death. The reasoning behind the support for this definition is that brain death has a set of criteria that is reliable and reproducible. Also, the brain is crucial in determining our identity or who we are as human beings. The distinction should be made that "brain death" cannot be equated with one who is in a vegetative state or coma, in that the former situation describes a state that is beyond recovery. Those people maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity should be considered when defining death. Eventually it is possible that the criterion for death will be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone given current and foreseeable medical technology. At present, in most places the more conservative definition of death – irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex – has been adopted (for example the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States). In 2005, the Terri Schiavo case brought the question of brain death and artificial sustenance to the front of American politics. Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated. EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity on a temporary basis. Because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions. In the past, adoption of this whole-brain definition was a conclusion of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1980. They concluded that this approach to defining death sufficed in reaching a uniform definition nationwide. A multitude of reasons were presented to support this definition including: uniformity of standards in law for establishing death; consumption of a family's fiscal resources for artificial life support; and legal establishment for equating brain death with death in order to proceed with organ donation. Aside from the issue of support of or dispute against brain death, there is another inherent problem in this categorical definition: the variability of its application in medical practice. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), established a set of criteria that became the medical standard for diagnosing neurologic death. At that time, three clinical features had to be satisfied in order to determine "irreversible cessation" of the total brain including: coma with clear etiology, cessation of breathing, and lack of brainstem reflexes. This set of criteria was then updated again most recently in 2010, but substantial discrepancies still remain across hospitals and medical specialties. The problem of defining death is especially imperative as it pertains to the dead donor rule, which could be understood as one of the following interpretations of the rule: there must be an official declaration of death in a person before starting organ procurement or that organ procurement cannot result in death of the donor. A great deal of controversy has surrounded the definition of death and the dead donor rule. Advocates of the rule believe the rule is legitimate in protecting organ donors while also countering against any moral or legal objection to organ procurement. Critics, on the other hand, believe that the rule does not uphold the best interests of the donors and that the rule does not effectively promote organ donation. Signs Signs of death or strong indications that a warm-blooded animal is no longer alive are: Respiratory arrest (no breathing) Cardiac arrest (no pulse) Brain death (no neuronal activity) The stages that follow after death are: , paleness which happens in the 15–120 minutes after death , the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature , the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate , a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body Putrefaction, the beginning signs of decomposition Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor. Skeletonization, the end of decomposition, where all soft tissues have decomposed, leaving only the skeleton. Fossilization, the natural preservation of the skeletal remains formed over a very long period Legal The death of a person has legal consequences that may vary between different jurisdictions. A death certificate is issued in most jurisdictions, either by a doctor, or by an administrative office upon presentation of a doctor's declaration of death. Misdiagnosed There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then "coming back to life", sometimes days later in their own coffin, or when embalming procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive, and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet or into the rectum. Writing in 1895, the physician J.C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although others estimated the figure to be closer to 800. In cases of electric shock, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room. This "diving response", in which metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans called the mammalian diving reflex. As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be re-evaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information-theoretic death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside the field of cryonics. There have been some scientific attempts to bring dead organisms back to life, but with limited success. In science fiction scenarios where such technology is readily available, real death is distinguished from reversible death. Causes The leading cause of human death in developing countries is infectious disease. The leading causes in developed countries are atherosclerosis (heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging, leading to various complications known as aging-associated diseases. These conditions cause loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes. In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%. With improved medical capability, dying has become a condition to be managed. Home deaths, once commonplace, are now rare in the developed world. In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology makes death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease which killed 1.8M people in 2015. Malaria causes about 400–900M cases of fever and 1–3M deaths annually. AIDS death toll in Africa may reach 90–100M by 2025. According to Jean Ziegler (United Nations Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 – Mar 2008), mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62M people died from all causes and of those deaths more than 36M died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients. Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people around the world in the 21st century, a World Health Organization report warned. Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary cause of aging is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death. Selye proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that stress decreases adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe the adaptability as a special resource, adaptation energy. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted. Selye assumed that the adaptability is a finite supply, presented at birth. Later on, Goldstone proposed the concept of a production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit), as a capital reserve of adaptation. In recent works, adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the "dominant path" in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted. In 2012, suicide overtook car crashes for leading causes of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls and murder. Causes of death are different in different parts of the world. In high-income and middle income countries nearly half up to more than two thirds of all people live beyond the age of 70 and predominantly die of chronic diseases. In low-income countries, where less than one in five of all people reach the age of 70, and more than a third of all deaths are among children under 15, people predominantly die of infectious diseases. Autopsy An autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist. Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together. Autopsy is important in a medical environment and may shed light on mistakes and help improve practices. A necropsy, which is not always a medical procedure, was a term previously used to describe an unregulated postmortem examination . In modern times, this term is more commonly associated with the corpses of animals. Senescence Senescence refers to a scenario when a living being is able to survive all calamities, but eventually dies due to causes relating to old age. Animal and plant cells normally reproduce and function during the whole period of natural existence, but the aging process derives from deterioration of cellular activity and ruination of regular functioning. Aptitude of cells for gradual deterioration and mortality means that cells are naturally sentenced to stable and long-term loss of living capacities, even despite continuing metabolic reactions and viability. In the United Kingdom, for example, nine out of ten of all the deaths that occur on a daily basis relates to senescence, while around the world it accounts for two-thirds of 150,000 deaths that take place daily (Hayflick & Moody, 2003). Almost all animals who survive external hazards to their biological functioning eventually die from biological aging, known in life sciences as "senescence". Some organisms experience negligible senescence, even exhibiting biological immortality. These include the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, the hydra, and the planarian. Unnatural causes of death include suicide and predation. From all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day. Of these, two thirds die directly or indirectly due to senescence, but in industrialized countries – such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany – the rate approaches 90% (i.e., nearly nine out of ten of all deaths are related to senescence). Physiological death is now seen as a process, more than an event: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Cryonics Cryonics (from Greek κρύος 'kryos-' meaning 'icy cold') is the low-temperature preservation of animals and humans who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent information-theoretic definition of death. Some scientific literature is claimed to support the feasibility of cryonics. Medical science and cryobiologists generally regards cryonics with skepticism. Reperfusion "One of medicine's new frontiers: treating the dead", recognizes that cells that have been without oxygen for more than five minutes die, not from lack of oxygen, but rather when their oxygen supply is resumed. Therefore, practitioners of this approach, e.g., at the Resuscitation Science institute at the University of Pennsylvania, "aim to reduce oxygen uptake, slow metabolism and adjust the blood chemistry for gradual and safe reperfusion." Life extension Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing down or reversing the processes of aging through anti-aging measures. Despite the fact that aging is by far the most common cause of death worldwide, it is socially mostly ignored as such and seen as "necessary" and "inevitable" anyway, which is why little money is spent on research into anti-aging therapies, a phenomenon known as the pro-aging trance. Average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer, or cardiovascular disease. Extension of average lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is also determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. Currently, the only widely recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues. A United States poll found that religious people and irreligious people, as well as men and women and people of different economic classes have similar rates of support for life extension, while Africans and Hispanics have higher rates of support than white people. 38 percent of the polled said they would desire to have their aging process cured. Researchers of life extension are a subclass of biogerontologists known as "biomedical gerontologists". They try to understand the nature of aging and they develop treatments to reverse aging processes or to at least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage of life. Those who take advantage of life extension findings and seek to apply them upon themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists". The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply available anti-aging methods in the hope of living long enough to benefit from a complete cure to aging once it is developed. Location Before about 1930, most people in Western countries died in their own homes, surrounded by family, and comforted by clergy, neighbors, and doctors making house calls. By the mid-20th century, half of all Americans died in a hospital. By the start of the 21st century, only about 20–25% of people in developed countries died outside of a medical institution. The shift away from dying at home towards dying in a professional medical environment has been termed the "Invisible Death". This shift occurred gradually over the years, until most deaths now occur outside the home. Psychology Death studies is a field within psychology. Many people are afraid of dying. Discussing, thinking, or planning their own deaths causes them discomfort. This fear may cause them to put off financial planning, preparing a will and testament, or requesting help from a hospice organization. Different people have different responses to the idea of their own deaths. Philosopher Galen Strawson writes that the death that many people wish for is an instant, painless, unexperienced annihilation. In this unlikely scenario, the person dies without realizing it and without being able to fear it. One moment the person is walking, eating, or sleeping, and the next moment, the person is dead. Strawson reasons that this type of death would not take anything away from the person, as he believes that a person cannot have a legitimate claim to ownership in the future. Society and culture In society, the nature of death and humanity's awareness of its own mortality has for millennia been a concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical inquiry. This includes belief in resurrection or an afterlife (associated with Abrahamic religions), reincarnation or rebirth (associated with Dharmic religions), or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as eternal oblivion (associated with Secular humanism). Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various mourning, funeral practices and ceremonies of honouring the deceased. The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a corpse or body, are usually interred whole or cremated, though among the world's cultures there are a variety of other methods of mortuary disposal. In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include rest in peace (originally the Latin requiescat in pace), or its initialism RIP. Death is the center of many traditions and organizations; customs relating to death are a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice; in Tibet, for instance, the body is given a sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet. Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures, to retard the rate of decay. Legal aspects of death are also part of many cultures, particularly the settlement of the deceased estate and the issues of inheritance and in some countries, inheritance taxation. Capital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. Death in warfare and in suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, mutiny punishable by death, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the increase in terrorism following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombings, kamikaze missions in World War II and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts. Suicide in general, and particularly euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin. Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael, the Hindu god Yama and Father Time. In Brazil, a human death is counted officially when it is registered by existing family members at a cartório, a government-authorized registry. Before being able to file for an official death, the deceased must have been registered for an official birth at the cartório. Though a Public Registry Law guarantees all Brazilian citizens the right to register deaths, regardless of their financial means, of their family members (often children), the Brazilian government has not taken away the burden, the hidden costs and fees, of filing for a death. For many impoverished families, the indirect costs and burden of filing for a death lead to a more appealing, unofficial, local, cultural burial, which in turn raises the debate about inaccurate mortality rates. Talking about death and witnessing it is a difficult issue with most cultures. Western societies may like to treat the dead with the utmost material respect, with an official embalmer and associated rites. Eastern societies (like India) may be more open to accepting it as a fait accompli, with a funeral procession of the dead body ending in an open-air burning-to-ashes of the same. Consciousness Much interest and debate surround the question of what happens to one's consciousness as one's body dies. The belief in the permanent loss of consciousness after death is often called eternal oblivion. Belief that the stream of consciousness is preserved after physical death is described by the term afterlife. Neither are likely to ever be confirmed without the ponderer having to actually die. In biology After death, the remains of a former organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle, during which animals may be consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores, organisms which recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain, where these chemicals may eventually end up being consumed and assimilated into the cells of an organism. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice and dung beetles. Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules. Not all materials need to be fully decomposed. Coal, a fossil fuel formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example. Natural selection Contemporary evolutionary theory sees death as an important part of the process of natural selection. It is considered that organisms less adapted to their environment are more likely to die having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the gene pool. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to extinction and, more positively, making the process possible, referred to as speciation. Frequency of reproduction plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to Darwinian criteria, much greater fitness than a long-lived organism leaving only one. Extinction Extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where species presumed extinct abruptly "reappear" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. New species arise through the process of speciation, an aspect of evolution. New varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche – and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition. Evolution of aging and mortality Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age (exceptions include Hydra and the already cited jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, which research shows to be biologically immortal). The evolutionary origin of senescence remains one of the fundamental puzzles of biology. Gerontology specializes in the science of human aging processes. Organisms showing only asexual reproduction (e.g. bacteria, some protists, like the euglenoids and many amoebozoans) and unicellular organisms with sexual reproduction (colonial or not, like the volvocine algae Pandorina and Chlamydomonas) are "immortal" at some extent, dying only due to external hazards, like being eaten or meeting with a fatal accident. In multicellular organisms (and also in multinucleate ciliates), with a Weismannist development, that is, with a division of labor between mortal somatic (body) cells and "immortal" germ (reproductive) cells, death becomes an essential part of life, at least for the somatic line. The Volvox algae are among the simplest organisms to exhibit that division of labor between two completely different cell types, and as a consequence include death of somatic line as a regular, genetically regulated part of its life history. Religious views Buddhism In Buddhist doctrine and practice, death plays an important role. Awareness of death was what motivated Prince Siddhartha to strive to find the "deathless" and finally to attain enlightenment. In Buddhist doctrine, death functions as a reminder of the value of having been born as a human being. Being reborn as a human being is considered the only state in which one can attain enlightenment. Therefore, death helps remind oneself that one should not take life for granted. The belief in rebirth among Buddhists does not necessarily remove death anxiety, since all existence in the cycle of rebirth is considered filled with suffering, and being reborn many times does not necessarily mean that one progresses. Death is part of several key Buddhist tenets, such as the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination. Christianity While there are different sects of Christianity with different branches of belief; the overarching ideology on death grows from the knowledge of afterlife. Meaning after death the individual will undergo a separation from mortality to immortality; their soul leaves the body entering a realm of spirits. Following this separation of body and spirit (i.e. death)resurrection will occur. Representing the same transformation Jesus Christ embodied after his body was placed in the tomb for three days. Like Him, each person's body will be resurrected reuniting the spirit and body in a perfect form. This process allows the individuals soul to withstand death and transform into life after death. Hinduism In Hindu texts, death is described as the individual eternal spiritual jiva-atma (soul or conscious self) exiting the current temporary material body. The soul exits this body when the body can no longer sustain the conscious self (life), which may be due to mental or physical reasons, or more accurately, the inability to act on one's kama (material desires). During conception, the soul enters a compatible new body based on the remaining merits and demerits of one's karma (good/bad material activities based on dharma) and the state of one's mind (impressions or last thoughts) at the time of death. Usually the process of reincarnation (soul's transmigration) makes one forget all memories of one's previous life. Because nothing really dies and the temporary material body is always changing, both in this life and the next, death simply means forgetfulness of one's previous experiences (previous material identity). Material existence is described as being full of miseries arising from birth, disease, old age, death, mind, weather, etc. To conquer samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth) and become eligible for one of the different types of moksha (liberation), one has to first conquer kama (material desires) and become self-realized. The human form of life is most suitable for this spiritual journey, especially with the help of sadhu (self-realized saintly persons), sastra (revealed spiritual scriptures), and guru (self-realized spiritual masters), given all three are in agreement. Islam Judaism There are a variety of beliefs about the afterlife within Judaism, but none of them contradict the preference of life over death. This is partially because death puts a cessation to the possibility of fulfilling any commandments. Language around death The word death comes from Old English dēaþ, which in turn comes from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz (reconstructed by etymological analysis). This comes from the Proto-Indo-European stem *dheu- meaning the "process, act, condition of dying". The concept and symptoms of death, and varying degrees of delicacy used in discussion in public forums, have generated numerous scientific, legal, and socially acceptable terms or euphemisms for death. When a person has died, it is also said they have passed away, passed on, expired, or are gone, among numerous other socially accepted, religiously specific, slang, and irreverent terms. As a formal reference to a dead person, it has become common practice to use the participle form of "decease", as in the deceased; another noun form is decedent. Bereft of life, the dead person is then a corpse, cadaver, a body, a set of remains, and when all flesh has rotted away, a skeleton. The terms carrion and carcass can also be used, though these more often connote the remains of non-human animals. The ashes left after a cremation are sometimes referred to by the neologism cremains. See also Casualty (person) Day of Judgment Day of the Dead Deathbed Death drive Death row Death trajectory Dying Dying declaration End-of-life care Eschatology Faked death Karōshi Last rites List of deaths by year List of expressions related to death Memento mori Near-death experience Origin-of-death myth Spiritual death Survivalism (life after death) Taboo on the dead Thanatology Yama References Bibliography Further reading Interviews with people dying in hospices, and portraits of them before, and shortly after, death. How the medical profession categorized causes of death. A biologist explains life and death in different kinds of organisms, in relation to evolution. External links "Death" (video; 10:18) by Timothy Ferris, producer of the Voyager Golden Record for NASA. 2021 Senescence

Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a GNU/Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of Debian (0.01) was released on September 15, 1993, and its first stable version (1.1) was released on June 17, 1996. The Debian Stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and servers. Debian is also the basis for many other distributions, most notably Ubuntu. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kernel. The project is coordinated over the Internet by a team of volunteers guided by the Debian Project Leader and three foundational documents: the Debian Social Contract, the Debian Constitution, and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. New distributions are updated continually, and the next candidate is released after a time-based freeze. Since its founding, Debian has been developed openly and distributed freely according to the principles of the GNU Project. Because of this, the Free Software Foundation sponsored the project from November 1994 to November 1995. When the sponsorship ended, the Debian Project formed the nonprofit organization Software in the Public Interest to continue financially supporting development. History Debian version history Debian distribution codenames are based on the names of characters from the Toy Story films. Debian's unstable trunk is named after Sid, a character who regularly destroyed his toys. Founding (1993–1998) Debian was first announced on August 16, 1993, by Ian Murdock, who initially called the system "the Debian Linux Release". The word "Debian" was formed as a portmanteau of the first name of his then-girlfriend (later ex-wife) Debra Lynn and his own first name. Before Debian's release, the Softlanding Linux System (SLS) had been a popular Linux distribution and the basis for Slackware. The perceived poor maintenance and prevalence of bugs in SLS motivated Murdock to launch a new distribution. Debian 0.01, released on September 15, 1993, was the first of several internal releases. Version 0.90 was the first public release, providing support through mailing lists hosted at Pixar. The release included the Debian Linux Manifesto, outlining Murdock's view for the new operating system. In it he called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. The Debian project released the 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995. During this time it was sponsored by the Free Software Foundation for one year. Ian Murdock delegated the base system, the core packages of Debian, to Bruce Perens and Murdock focused on the management of the growing project. The first ports to non-IA-32 architectures began in 1995, and Debian 1.1 was released in 1996. By that time and thanks to Ian Jackson, the dpkg package manager was already an essential part of Debian. In 1996, Bruce Perens assumed the project leadership. Perens was a controversial leader, regarded as authoritarian and strongly attached to Debian. He drafted a social contract and edited suggestions from a month-long discussion into the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. After the FSF withdrew their sponsorship in the midst of the free software vs. open source debate, Perens initiated the creation of the legal umbrella organization Software in the Public Interest instead of seeking renewed involvement with the FSF. He led the conversion of the project from a.out to ELF. He created the BusyBox program to make it possible to run a Debian installer on a single floppy, and wrote a new installer. By the time Debian 1.2 was released, the project had grown to nearly two hundred volunteers. Perens left the project in 1998. Ian Jackson became the leader in 1998. Debian 2.0 introduced the second official port, m68k. During this time the first port to a non-Linux kernel, Debian GNU/Hurd, was started. On December 2, the first Debian Constitution was ratified. Leader election (1999–2005) From 1999, the project leader was elected yearly. The Advanced Packaging Tool was deployed with Debian 2.1. The number of applicants was overwhelming and the project established the new member process. The first Debian derivatives, namely Libranet, Corel Linux and Stormix's Storm Linux, were started in 1999. The 2.2 release in 2000 was dedicated to Joel Klecker, a developer who died of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In late 2000, the project reorganized the archive with new package "pools" and created the Testing distribution, made up of packages considered stable, to reduce the freeze for the next release. In the same year, developers began holding an annual conference called DebConf with talks and workshops for developers and technical users. In May 2001, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to base its Linux development on Debian. In July 2002, the project released version 3.0, code-named Woody, the first release to include cryptographic software, a free licensed KDE and internationalization. During these last release cycles, the Debian project drew considerable criticism from the free software community because of the long time between stable releases. Some events disturbed the project while working on Sarge, as Debian servers were attacked by fire and hackers. One of the most memorable was the Vancouver prospectus. After a meeting held in Vancouver, release manager Steve Langasek announced a plan to reduce the number of supported ports to four in order to shorten future release cycles. There was a large reaction because the proposal looked more like a decision and because such a drop would damage Debian's aim to be "the universal operating system". The first version of the Debian-based Ubuntu, named "4.10 Warty Warthog", was released on October 20, 2004. Because it was distributed as a free download, it became one of the most popular and successful operating systems with more than "40 million users" according to Canonical Ltd. However, Murdock was critical of the differences between Ubuntu packages and Debian, stating that it leads to incompatibilities. Sarge and later releases (2005–present) The 3.1 Sarge release was made in June 2005. This release updated 73% of the software and included over 9,000 new packages. A new installer with a modular design, Debian-Installer, allowed installations with RAID, XFS and LVM support, improved hardware detection, made installations easier for novice users, and was translated into almost forty languages. An installation manual and release notes were in ten and fifteen languages respectively. The efforts of Skolelinux, Debian-Med and Debian-Accessibility raised the number of packages that were educational, had a medical affiliation, and ones made for people with disabilities. In 2006, as a result of a much-publicized dispute, Mozilla software was rebranded in Debian, with Firefox forked as Iceweasel and Thunderbird as Icedove. The Mozilla Corporation stated that software with unapproved modifications could not be distributed under the Firefox trademark. Two reasons that Debian modifies the Firefox software are to change the non-free artwork and to provide security patches. In February 2016, it was announced that Mozilla and Debian had reached an agreement and Iceweasel would revert to the name Firefox; similar agreement was anticipated for Icedove/Thunderbird. A fund-raising experiment, Dunc-Tank, was created to solve the release cycle problem and release managers were paid to work full-time; in response, unpaid developers slowed down their work and the release was delayed. Debian 4.0 (Etch) was released in April 2007, featuring the x86-64 port and a graphical installer. Debian 5.0 (Lenny) was released in February 2009, supporting Marvell's Orion platform and netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC. The release was dedicated to Thiemo Seufer, a developer who died in a car crash. In July 2009, the policy of time-based development freezes on a two-year cycle was announced. Time-based freezes are intended to blend the predictability of time based releases with Debian's policy of feature based releases, and to reduce overall freeze time. The Squeeze cycle was going to be especially short; however, this initial schedule was abandoned. In September 2010, the backports service became official, providing more recent versions of some software for the stable release. Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) was released in February 2011, featuring Debian GNU/kFreeBSD as a technology preview, along with adding a dependency-based boot system, and moving problematic firmware to the non-free section. Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) was released in May 2013, featuring multiarch support. Debian 8.0 (Jessie) was released in April 2015, using systemd as the new init system. Debian 9.0 (Stretch) was released in June 2017, with nftables as a replacement for iptables, support for Flatpak apps, and MariaDB as the replacement for MySQL. Debian 10.0 (Buster) was released in July 2019, adding support for Secure Boot and enabling AppArmor by default. Debian 11.0 (Bullseye) was released in August 2021, enabling persistency in the system journal, adding support for driverless scanning, and containing kernel-level support for exFAT filesystems. Debian is still in development and new packages are uploaded to unstable every day. Debian used to be released as a very large set of CDs for each architecture, but with the release of Debian 9 (Stretch) in 2017, these have been dropped. Throughout Debian's lifetime, both the Debian distribution and its website have won various awards from different organizations, including Server Distribution of the Year 2011, The best Linux distro of 2011, and a Best of the Net award for October 1998. On December 2, 2015, Microsoft announced that they would offer Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution on the Azure cloud platform. Microsoft has also added a user environment to their Windows 10 desktop operating system called Windows Subsystem for Linux that offers a Debian subset. Features Debian has access to online repositories that contain over 51,000 packages. Debian officially contains only free software, but non-free software can be downloaded and installed from the Debian repositories. Debian includes popular free programs such as LibreOffice, Firefox web browser, Evolution mail, K3b disc burner, VLC media player, GIMP image editor, and Evince document viewer. Debian is a popular choice for servers, for example as the operating system component of a LAMP stack. Kernels Several flavors of the Linux kernel exist for each port. For example, the i386 port has flavors for IA-32 PCs supporting Physical Address Extension and real-time computing, for older PCs, and for x86-64 PCs. The Linux kernel does not officially contain firmware without sources, although such firmware is available in non-free packages and alternative installation media. Desktop environments Debian offers CD and DVD images specifically built for XFCE, GNOME, KDE, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, and LXQT. MATE is officially supported, while Cinnamon support was added with Debian 8.0 Jessie. Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Window Maker and others are available. The default desktop environment of version 7.0 Wheezy was temporarily switched to Xfce, because GNOME 3 did not fit on the first CD of the set. The default for the version 8.0 Jessie was changed again to Xfce in November 2013, and back to GNOME in September 2014. Localization Several parts of Debian are translated into languages other than American English, including package descriptions, configuration messages, documentation and the website. The level of software localization depends on the language, ranging from the highly supported German and French to the barely translated Creek and Samoan. The Debian 10 installer is available in 76 languages. Multimedia support Multimedia support has been problematic in Debian regarding codecs threatened by possible patent infringements, without sources or under too restrictive licenses. Even though packages with problems related to their distribution could go into the non-free area, software such as libdvdcss is not hosted at Debian. A notable third party repository exists, formerly named debian-multimedia.org, providing software not present in Debian such as Windows codecs, libdvdcss and the Adobe Flash Player. Even though this repository is maintained by Christian Marillat, a Debian developer, it is not part of the project and is not hosted on a Debian server. The repository provides packages already included in Debian, interfering with the official maintenance. Eventually, project leader Stefano Zacchiroli asked Marillat to either settle an agreement about the packaging or to stop using the "Debian" name. Marillat chose the latter and renamed the repository to deb-multimedia.org. The repository was so popular that the switchover was announced by the official blog of the Debian project. Distribution Debian offers DVD and CD images for installation that can be downloaded using BitTorrent or jigdo. Physical discs can also be bought from retailers. The full sets are made up of several discs (the amd64 port consists of 13 DVDs or 84 CDs), but only the first disc is required for installation, as the installer can retrieve software not contained in the first disc image from online repositories. Debian offers different network installation methods. A minimal install of Debian is available via the netinst CD, whereby Debian is installed with just a base and later added software can be downloaded from the Internet. Another option is to boot the installer from the network. The default bootstrap loader is GNU GRUB version 2, though the package name is simply grub, while version 1 was renamed to grub-legacy. This conflicts with (e.g., Fedora Linux), where grub version 2 is named grub2. The default desktop may be chosen from the DVD boot menu among GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce and LXDE, and from special disc 1 CDs. Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for IA-32 and x86-64 architectures, and with a choice of desktop environments. These Debian Live images allow users to boot from removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer. A full install of Debian to the computer's hard drive can be initiated from the live image environment. Personalized images can be built with the live-build tool for discs, USB drives and for network booting purposes. Installation images are hybrid on some architectures and can be used to create a bootable USB drive (Live USB). Packages Package management operations can be performed with different tools available on Debian, from the lowest level command dpkg to graphical front-ends like Synaptic. The recommended standard for administering packages on a Debian system is the apt toolset. dpkg provides the low-level infrastructure for package management. The dpkg database contains the list of installed software on the current system. The dpkg command tool does not know about repositories. The command can work with local .deb package files, and information from the dpkg database. APT tools An Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) allows administering an installed Debian system to retrieve and resolve package dependencies from repositories. APT share dependency information and cached packages. The apt command itself is intended as an end user interface and enables some options better suited for interactive usage by default compared to more specialized APT like apt-get and apt-cache explained below. apt-get and apt-cache are command tools of the standard apt package. apt-get installs and removes packages, and apt-cache is used for searching packages and displaying package information. Aptitude is a command line tool that also offers a text-based user interface. The program comes with enhancements such as better search on package metadata. GDebi and other front-ends GDebi is an APT tool which can be used in command-line and on the GUI. GDebi can install a local .deb file via the command line like the dpkg command, but with access to repositories to resolve dependencies. Other graphical front-ends for APT include Software Center, Synaptic and Apper. GNOME Software is a graphical front-end for PackageKit, which itself can work on top of various software packaging systems. Repositories The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) define the distinctive meaning of the word "free" as in "free and open-source software". Packages that comply with these guidelines, usually under the GNU General Public License, Modified BSD License or Artistic License, are included inside the main area; otherwise, they are included inside the non-free and contrib areas. These last two areas are not distributed within the official installation media, but they can be adopted manually. Non-free includes packages that do not comply with the DFSG, such as documentation with invariant sections and proprietary software, and legally questionable packages. Contrib includes packages which do comply with the DFSG but fail other requirements. For example, they may depend on packages which are in non-free or requires such for building them. Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation have criticized the Debian project for hosting the non-free repository and because the contrib and non-free areas are easily accessible, an opinion echoed by some in Debian including the former project leader Wichert Akkerman. The internal dissent in the Debian project regarding the non-free section has persisted, but the last time it came to a vote in 2004, the majority decided to keep it. Cross-distribution package manager The most popular optional Linux cross-distribution package manager are graphical (front-ends) package managers. They are available within the official Debian Repository. But not installed by default. They are widely popular with both Debian users and Debian software developers who are interested in installing the most recent versions of application or using the cross-distribution package manager built-in sandbox environment. While at the same time remaining in control of the security. Three most popular cross-distribution package managers. Sorted in alphabetical order: Flatpak software code is owned and maintain by the not for profit Flatpak Team. With an open source LGPL-2.1-only license. Homebrew software code is owned and maintain by its original author Max Howell. With an open source BSD 2-Clause License license. Snap software code is owned and maintain by the for profit Canonical Group Limited. With an open source GNU General Public License, version 3.0 license. Branches Three branches of Debian (also called releases, distributions or suites) are regularly maintained: Stable is the current release and targets stable and well-tested software needs. Stable is made by freezing Testing for a few months where bugs are fixed and packages with too many bugs are removed; then the resulting system is released as stable. It is updated only if major security or usability fixes are incorporated. This branch has an optional backports service that provides more recent versions of some software. Stables CDs and DVDs can be found in the Debian website. Testing is the preview branch that will eventually become the next major release. The packages included in this branch have had some testing in unstable but they may not be fit for release yet. It contains newer packages than stable but older than unstable. This branch is updated continually until it is frozen. Testings CDs and DVDs can be found on the Debian website. Unstable, always codenamed sid, is the trunk. Packages are accepted without checking the distribution as a whole. This branch is usually run by software developers who participate in a project and need the latest libraries available, and by those who prefer bleeding-edge software. Debian does not provide full Sid installation discs, but rather a minimal ISO that can be used to install over a network connection. Additionally, this branch can be installed through a system upgrade from stable or testing. Other branches in Debian: Oldstable is the prior stable release. It is supported by the Debian Security Team until one year after a new stable is released, and since the release of Debian 6, for another 2 years through the Long Term Support project. Eventually, oldstable is moved to a repository for archived releases. Debian 10 is the current Oldstable release. Oldoldstable is the prior oldstable release. It is supported by the Long Term Support community. Eventually, oldoldstable is moved to a repository for archived releases. Debian 9 is the current Oldoldstable release. Experimental is a temporary staging area of highly experimental software that is likely to break the system. It is not a full distribution and missing dependencies are commonly found in unstable, where new software without the damage chance is normally uploaded. The snapshot archive provides older versions of the branches. They may be used to install a specific older version of some software. Numbering scheme Stable and oldstable get minor updates, called point releases; , the stable release is version 11.0, released on , and the oldstable release is version 10.10. The numbering scheme for the point releases up to Debian 4.0 was to include the letter r (for revision) after the main version number and then the number of the point release; for example, the latest point release of version 4.0 is 4.0r9. This scheme was chosen because a new dotted version would make the old one look obsolete and vendors would have trouble selling their CDs. From Debian 5.0, the numbering scheme of point releases was changed, conforming to the GNU version numbering standard; the first point release of Debian 5.0 was 5.0.1 instead of 5.0r1. The numbering scheme was once again changed for the first Debian 7 update, which was version 7.1. The r scheme is no longer in use, but point release announcements include a note about not throwing away old CDs. Derivatives and flavors Debian is one of the most popular Linux distributions, and many other distributions have been created from the Debian codebase. , DistroWatch lists 121 active Debian derivatives. The Debian project provides its derivatives with guidelines for best practices and encourages derivatives to merge their work back into Debian. Debian Pure Blends are subsets of a Debian release configured out-of-the-box for users with particular skills and interests. For example, Debian Jr. is made for children, while Debian Science is for researchers and scientists. The complete Debian distribution includes all available Debian Pure Blends. "Debian Blend" (without "Pure") is a term for a Debian-based distribution that strives to become part of mainstream Debian, and have its extra features included in future releases. Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is a discontinued Debian flavor. It used the FreeBSD kernel and GNU userland. The majority of software in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was built from the same sources as Debian, with some kernel packages from FreeBSD. The k in kFreeBSD is an abbreviation for kernel, which refers to the FreeBSD kernel. Before discontinuing the project, Debian maintained i386 and amd64 ports. The last version of Debian kFreeBSD was Debian 8 (Jessie) RC3. Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was created in 2002. It was included in Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) as a technology preview, and in Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) as an official port. Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was discontinued as an officially supported platform as of Debian 8.0. Debian developers cited OSS, pf, jails, NDIS, and ZFS as reasons for being interested in the FreeBSD kernel. It has not been updated since Debian 8. As of July 2019, however, the operating system continues to be maintained unofficially. Debian GNU/Hurd is a flavor based on the Hurd microkernel, instead of Linux. Debian GNU/Hurd has been in development since 1998, and made a formal release in May 2013, with 78% of the software packaged for Debian GNU/Linux ported to the GNU Hurd. Hurd is not yet an official Debian release, and is maintained and developed as an unofficial port. Debian GNU/Hurd is distributed as an installer CD (running the official Debian installer) or ready-to-run virtual disk image (Live CD, Live USB). The CD uses the IA-32 architecture, making it compatible with IA-32 and x86-64 PCs. The current version of Debian GNU/Hurd is 2021, published in August 2021. Branding The Debian "swirl" logo was designed by Raul Silva in 1999 as part of a contest to replace the semi-official logo that had been used. The winner of the contest received an @debian.org email address, and a set of Debian 2.1 install CDs for the architecture of their choice. There has been no official statement from the Debian project on the logo's meaning, but at the time of the logo's selection, it was suggested that the logo represented the magic smoke ( or the genie ) that made computers work. One theory about the origin of the Debian logo is that Buzz Lightyear, the chosen character for the first named Debian release, has a swirl in his chin. Stefano Zacchiroli also suggested that this swirl is the Debian one. Buzz Lightyear's swirl is a more likely candidate as the codenames for Debian are names of Toy Story characters. The former Debian project leader Bruce Perens used to work for Pixar and is credited as a studio tools engineer on Toy Story 2 (1999). Hardware Hardware requirements are at least those of the kernel and the GNU toolsets. Debian's recommended system requirements depend on the level of installation, which corresponds to increased numbers of installed components: The real minimum memory requirements depend on the architecture and may be much less than the numbers listed in this table. It is possible to install Debian with 170 MB of RAM for x86-64; the installer will run in low memory mode and it is recommended to create a swap partition. The installer for z/Architecture requires about 20 MB of RAM, but relies on network hardware. Similarly, disk space requirements, which depend on the packages to be installed, can be reduced by manually selecting the packages needed. , no Pure Blend exists that would lower the hardware requirements easily. It is possible to run graphical user interfaces on older or low-end systems, but the installation of window managers instead of desktop environments is recommended, as desktop environments are more resource intensive. Requirements for individual software vary widely and must be considered, with those of the base operating environment. Architectures , the official ports are: amd64: x86-64 architecture with 64-bit userland and supporting 32-bit software arm64: ARMv8-A architecture armel: Little-endian ARM architecture (ARMv4T instruction set) on various embedded systems (embedded application binary interface (EABI)), although support has ended after Buster armhf: ARM hard-float architecture (ARMv7 instruction set) requiring hardware with a floating-point unit i386: IA-32 architecture with 32-bit userland, compatible with x86-64 machines mips64el: Little-endian 64-bit MIPS mipsel: Little-endian 32-bit MIPS ppc64el: Little-endian PowerPC architecture supporting POWER7+ and POWER8 CPUs s390x: z/Architecture with 64-bit userland, intended to replace s390 Unofficial ports are available as part of the unstable distribution: alpha: DEC Alpha architecture hppa: HP PA-RISC architecture hurd-i386: GNU Hurd kernel on IA-32 architecture ia64: Intel Itanium kfreebsd-amd64: Kernel of FreeBSD on x86-64 architecture kfreebsd-i386: Kernel of FreeBSD on IA-32 architecture m68k: Motorola 68k architecture on Amiga, Atari, Macintosh and various embedded VME systems powerpc: 32-bit PowerPC ppc64: PowerPC64 architecture supporting 64-bit PowerPC CPUs with VMX riscv64: 64-bit RISC-V sh4: Hitachi SuperH architecture sparc64: Sun SPARC architecture with 64-bit userland x32: x32 ABI userland for x86-64 Debian supports a variety of ARM-based NAS devices. The NSLU2 was supported by the installer in Debian 4.0 and 5.0, and Martin Michlmayr is providing installation tarballs since version 6.0. Other supported NAS devices are the Buffalo Kurobox Pro, GLAN Tank, Thecus N2100 and QNAP Turbo Stations. Devices based on the Kirkwood system on a chip (SoC) are supported too, such as the SheevaPlug plug computer and OpenRD products. There are efforts to run Debian on mobile devices, but this is not a project goal yet since the Debian Linux kernel maintainers would not apply the needed patches. Nevertheless, there are packages for resource-limited systems. There are efforts to support Debian on wireless access points. Debian is known to run on set-top boxes. Work is ongoing to support the AM335x processor, which is used in electronic point of service solutions. Debian may be customized to run on cash machines. BeagleBoard, a low-power open-source hardware single-board computer (made by Texas Instruments) has switched to Debian Linux preloaded on its Beaglebone Black board's flash. Roqos Core, manufactured by Roqos, is a x86-64 based IPS firewall router running Debian Linux. Organization Debian's policies and team efforts focus on collaborative software development and testing processes. As a result, a new major release tends to occur every two years with revision releases that fix security issues and important problems. The Debian project is a volunteer organization with three foundational documents: The Debian Social Contract defines a set of basic principles by which the project and its developers conduct affairs. The Debian Free Software Guidelines define the criteria for "free software" and thus what software is permissible in the distribution. These guidelines have been adopted as the basis of the Open Source Definition. Although this document can be considered separate, it formally is part of the Social Contract. The Debian Constitution describes the organizational structure for formal decision-making within the project, and enumerates the powers and responsibilities of the Project Leader, the Secretary and other roles. Debian developers are organized in a web of trust. There are about one thousand active Debian developers, but it is possible to contribute to the project without being an official developer. The project maintains official mailing lists and conferences for communication and coordination between developers. For issues with single packages and other tasks, a public bug tracking system is used by developers and end users. Internet Relay Chat is also used for communication among developers and to provide real time help. Debian is supported by donations made to organizations authorized by the leader. The largest supporter is Software in the Public Interest, the owner of the Debian trademark, manager of the monetary donations and umbrella organization for various other community free software projects. A Project Leader is elected once per year by the developers. The leader has special powers, but they are not absolute, and appoints delegates to perform specialized tasks. Delegates make decisions as they think is best, taking into account technical criteria and consensus. By way of a General Resolution, the developers may recall the leader, reverse a decision made by the leader or a delegate, amend foundational documents and make other binding decisions. The voting method is based on the Schulze method (Cloneproof Schwartz Sequential Dropping). Project leadership is distributed occasionally. Branden Robinson was helped by the Project Scud, a team of developers that assisted the leader, but there were concerns that such leadership would split Debian into two developer classes. Anthony Towns created a supplemental position, Second In Charge (2IC), that shared some powers of the leader. Steve McIntyre was 2IC and had a 2IC himself. One important role in Debian's leadership is that of a release manager. The release team sets goals for the next release, supervises the processes and decides when to release. The team is led by the next release managers and stable release managers. Release assistants were introduced in 2003. Developers The Debian Project has an influx of applicants wishing to become developers. These applicants must undergo a vetting process which establishes their identity, motivation, understanding of the project's principles, and technical competence. This process has become much harder throughout the years. Debian developers join the project for many reasons. Some that have been cited include: Debian is their main operating system and they want to promote Debian To improve the support for their favorite technology They are involved with a Debian derivative A desire to contribute back to the free-software community To make their Debian maintenance work easier Debian developers may resign their positions at any time or, when deemed necessary, they can be expelled. Those who follow the retiring protocol are granted the "emeritus" status and they may regain their membership through a shortened new member process. Development Flowchart of the life cycle of a Debian package Each software package has a maintainer that may be either one person or a team of Debian developers and non-developer maintainers. The maintainer keeps track of upstream releases, and ensures that the package coheres with the rest of the distribution and meets the standards of quality of Debian. Packages may include modifications introduced by Debian to achieve compliance with Debian Policy, even to fix non-Debian specific bugs, although coordination with upstream developers is advised. The maintainer releases a new version by uploading the package to the "incoming" system, which verifies the integrity of the packages and their digital signatures. If the package is found to be valid, it is installed in the package archive into an area called the "pool" and distributed every day to hundreds of mirrors worldwide. The upload must be signed using OpenPGP-compatible software. All Debian developers have individual cryptographic key pairs. Developers are responsible for any package they upload even if the packaging was prepared by another contributor. Initially, an accepted package is only available in the unstable branch. For a package to become a candidate for the next release, it must migrate to the Testing branch by meeting the following: It has been in unstable for a certain length of time that depends on the urgency of the changes. It does not have "release-critical" bugs, except for the ones already present in Testing. Release-critical bugs are those considered serious enough that they make the package unsuitable for release. There are no outdated versions in unstable for any release ports. The migration does not break any packages in Testing. Its dependencies can be satisfied by packages already in Testing or by packages being migrated at the same time. The migration is not blocked by a freeze. Thus, a release-critical bug in a new version of a shared library on which many packages depend may prevent those packages from entering Testing, because the updated library must meet the requirements too. From the branch viewpoint, the migration process happens twice per day, rendering Testing in perpetual beta. Periodically, the release team publishes guidelines to the developers in order to ready the release. A new release occurs after a freeze, when all important software is reasonably up-to-date in the Testing branch and any other significant issues are solved. At that time, all packages in the testing branch become the new stable branch. Although freeze dates are time-based, release dates are not, which are announced by the release managers a couple of weeks beforehand. A version of a package can belong to more than one branch, usually testing and unstable. It is possible for a package to keep the same version between stable releases and be part of oldstable, stable, testing and unstable at the same time. Each branch can be seen as a collection of pointers into the package "pool" mentioned above. One optional resolution to the challenge with release-critical bug in an application new version is the use of optional package managers. Which allow software developers, to use sandbox environments. While at the same time remaining in controle of the security. Another benefit of cross-distribution package manager is that they allows application developers to directly provide updates to users without going through distributions, and without having to package and test the application separately for each distribution. Release cycle A new stable branch of Debian gets released approximately every 2 years. It will receive official support for about 3 years with update for major security or usability fixes. Point releases will be available every several months as determined by Stable Release Managers (SRM). Debian also launched its Long Term Support (LTS) project since Debian 6 (Debian Squeeze). For each Debian release, it will receive two years of extra security updates provided by LTS Team after its End Of Life (EOL). However, no point releases will be made. Now each Debian release can receive 5 years of security support in total. Security The Debian project handles security through public disclosure. Debian security advisories are compatible with the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures dictionary, are usually coordinated with other free software vendors and are published the same day a vulnerability is made public. There used to be a security audit project that focused on packages in the stable release looking for security bugs; Steve Kemp, who started the project, retired in 2011 but resumed his activities and applied to rejoin in 2014. The stable branch is supported by the Debian security team; oldstable is supported for one year. Although Squeeze is not officially supported, Debian is coordinating an effort to provide long-term support (LTS) until February 2016, five years after the initial release, but only for the IA-32 and x86-64 platforms. Testing is supported by the testing security team, but does not receive updates in as timely a manner as stable. Unstables security is left for the package maintainers. The Debian project offers documentation and tools to harden a Debian installation both manually and automatically. AppArmor support is available and enabled by default since Buster. Debian provides an optional hardening wrapper, and does not harden all of its software by default using gcc features such as PIE and buffer overflow protection, unlike operating systems such as OpenBSD, but tries to build as many packages as possible with hardening flags. In May 2008, a Debian developer discovered that the OpenSSL package distributed with Debian and derivatives such as Ubuntu made a variety of security keys vulnerable to a random number generator attack, since only 32,767 different keys were generated. The security weakness was caused by changes made in 2006 by another Debian developer in response to memory debugger warnings. The complete resolution procedure was cumbersome because patching the security hole was not enough; it involved regenerating all affected keys and certificates. Value The cost of developing all of the packages included in Debian 5.0 Lenny (323 million lines of code) has been estimated to be about , using one method based on the COCOMO model. , Black Duck Open Hub estimates that the current codebase (74 million lines of code) would cost about to develop, using a different method based on the same model. Forks and derivatives A large number of forks and derivatives have been built upon Debian over the years. Among the more notable are Ubuntu, developed by Canonical Ltd. and first released in 2004, which has surpassed Debian in popularity with desktop users; Knoppix, first released in the year 2000 and one of the first distributions optimized to boot from external storage; and Devuan, which gained attention in 2014 when it forked in disagreement over Debian's adoption of the systemd software suite, and has been mirroring Debian releases since 2017. See also Comparison of Linux distributions Debian version history List of Debian project leaders Notes References Further reading External links Debian vs Arch Linux at TechiWiki 1993 software ARM Linux distributions Free software culture and documents IA-32 Linux distributions LXQt Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media Power ISA Linux distributions PowerPC Linux distributions X86-64 Linux distributions Linux distributions

Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A pair of bridges known collectively as Deception Pass Bridge cross Deception Pass. The bridges were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. History The Deception Pass area has been home to various Coast Salish tribes for thousands of years. The first Europeans to see Deception Pass were members of the 1790 expedition of Manuel Quimper on the Princesa Real. The Spanish gave it the name Boca de Flon. A group of sailors led by Joseph Whidbey, part of the Vancouver Expedition, found and mapped Deception Pass on June 7, 1792. George Vancouver gave it the name "Deception" because it had misled him into thinking Whidbey Island was a peninsula. The "deception" was heightened due to Whidbey's failure to find the strait at first. In May 1792, Vancouver was anchored near the southern end of Whidbey Island. He sent Joseph Whidbey to explore the waters east of Whidbey Island, now known as Saratoga Passage, using small boats. Whidbey reached the northern end of Saratoga Passage and explored eastward into Skagit Bay, which is shallow and difficult to navigate. He returned south to rejoin Vancouver without having found Deception Pass. It appeared that Skagit Bay was a dead-end and that Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island were a long peninsula attached to the mainland. In June, the expedition sailed north along the west coast of Whidbey Island. Vancouver sent Joseph Whidbey to explore inlets leading to the east. The first inlet turned out to be a "very narrow and intricate channel, which...abounded with rocks above and beneath the surface of the water". This channel led to Skagit Bay, thus separating Whidbey Island from the mainland. Vancouver apparently felt he and Joseph Whidbey had been deceived by the tricky strait. Vancouver wrote of Whidbey's efforts: "This determined [the shore they had been exploring] to be an island, which, in consequence of Mr. Whidbey’s circumnavigation, I distinguished by the name of Whidbey’s Island: and this northern pass, leading into [Skagit Bay], Deception Passage". In the waters of Deception Pass, just east of the present-day Deception Pass Bridge, is a small island known as Ben Ure Island. The island became infamous for its activity of human smuggling of migrant Chinese people for local labor. Ben Ure and his partner Lawrence "Pirate" Kelly were quite profitable at their human smuggling business and played hide-and-seek with the United States Customs Department for years. Ure's own operation at Deception Pass in the late 1880s consisted of Ure and his Native-American wife. Local tradition has it that his wife would camp on the nearby Strawberry Island (which was visible from the open sea) and signal him with a fire on the island's summit to alert him to whether or not it was safe to attempt to bring the human cargo he illegally transported ashore. For transport, Ure would tie the people up in burlap bags so that if customs agents approached he could toss the bagged people overboard. The tidal currents carried the entrapped drowned migrants' bodies to San Juan Island to the north and west of the pass; many ended up in Dead Man's Bay. Between 1910 and 1914, a prison rock quarry was operated on the Fidalgo Island side of the pass. Nearby barracks housed some 40 prisoners, members of an honors program out of Walla Walla State Penitentiary and the prison population was made up of several types of prisoners, including those convicted of murder. Guards stood watch at the quarry as prisoners cut the rock into gravel and loaded it onto barges at the base of the cliff atop the pass's waters. The quarried rock was then barged to the Seattle waterfront. The camp was dismantled in 1924 and although abandoned as a quarry, the remains of the camp can still be found. The location is hazardous; over the years there have been several fatal accidents when visitors have ventured onto the steep cliffs. Upon completion on July 31, 1935, the span Deception Pass Bridge connected Whidbey Island to the tiny Pass Island, and Pass Island to Fidalgo Island. Prior to the bridge, travelers used an inter-island ferry to commute between Fidalgo and Whidbey islands. Currents Deception Pass is a dramatic seascape where the tidal flow and whirlpools beneath the twin bridges connecting Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island move quickly. During ebb and flood tide current speed reaches about , flowing in opposite directions between ebb and flood. This swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools, and roiling eddies. This swift current phenomenon can be viewed from the twin bridges' pedestrian walkways or from the trail leading below the larger south bridge from the parking lot on the Whidbey Island side. Boats can be seen waiting on either side of the pass for the current to stop or change direction before going through. Thrill-seeking kayakers go there during large tide changes to surf the standing waves and brave the class 2 and 3 rapid conditions. Scuba diving Diving Deception Pass is dangerous and only for the most competent and prepared divers. There are a few times each year that the tides are right for a drift dive from the cove, under the bridge, and back to the cove as the tide changes. These must be planned well in advance by divers who know how to read currents and are aware of the dangerous conditions. However, because of the large tidal exchange, Deception Pass hosts some of the most spectacular colors and life in the Pacific Northwest. The walls and bottom are covered in colorful invertebrates, lingcod, greenlings, and barnacles everywhere. State park Deception Pass is surrounded by Deception Pass State Park, one of the most visited Washington state parks with over two million annual visitors. History The park was officially established in 1923, when the original of a military reserve was transferred to Washington State Parks. The park's facilities were greatly enhanced in the 1930s when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built roads, trails, and buildings in order to develop the park. The road to West Beach was created in 1950, opening up a stretch of beach to hordes of vehicles. The former fish hatchery at Bowman Bay became a part of the park in the early 1970s. The old entrance to the park was closed in 1997 when a new entrance was created at the intersection of Highway 20 and Cornet Bay road, improving access into and out of the park. Activities and amenities The park's recreational facilities include campgrounds, hiking trails, beaches, and tidepools. Several miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail are within the park, most notably including the section that crosses Deception Pass on the Highway 20 bridge. In addition, the Cornet Bay Retreat Center provides cabins and dining and recreation facilities. Cornet Bay offers boat launches and fishing opportunities, while Bowman Bay has an interpretive center that explains the story of the Civilian Conservation Corps throughout Washington state. Near the center is a CCC honor statue, which can be found in 30 different states in the country. Fishing is popular in Pass Lake, on the north side of the bridge. Boat rentals and guided tours of the park are also offered. Islands Included in the park are ten islands: Northwest Island, Deception Island, Pass Island, Strawberry, Ben Ure, Kiket, Skagit, Hope, and Big and Little Deadman Islands. Ben Ure Island is partially privately owned. The island is not open to the public except for a small rentable cabin available via the state park, which is only accessible by rowboat. In popular culture Jonathan Raban's 1999 travel memoir Passage to Juneau describes the history of the pass and Raban's passage through it in a 30ft yacht. The 2002 horror movie The Ring was in part filmed near the pass. The bridge is fictionalized as a toll bridge named "Desolation Bridge" in season one of The Killing. Seattle shoegaze act The Sight Below filmed the 2008 video for their track "Further Away" at Deception Pass, with Deception Island's scenic imagery prominently featured. Seattle grunge band Mudhoney named a song on their 1993 EP Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew "Deception Pass." Seattle progressive rock band Queensrÿche filmed scenes of their video "Anybody Listening" near Deception Pass and Deception Island. See also Juan Carrasco (explorer) Deception Pass ferry References External links Deception Pass State Park Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Deception Pass Park Foundation Straits of Washington (state) Landforms of Puget Sound State parks of Washington (state) Protected areas established in 1922 Parks in Island County, Washington Parks in Skagit County, Washington Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) Bodies of water of Island County, Washington Bodies of water of Skagit County, Washington

A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time between successive events is relatively small. It can be used literally (an observed series of actual collisions) or metaphorically (causal linkages within systems such as global finance or politics). The term domino effect is used both to imply that an event is inevitable or highly likely (as it has already started to happen), and conversely to imply that an event is impossible or highly unlikely (the one domino left standing). Demonstration of the effect The domino effect can easily be visualized by placing a row of dominoes upright, each separated by a small distance. Upon pushing the first domino, the next domino in line will be knocked over, and so on, thus firing a linear chain in which each domino's fall is triggered by the domino immediately preceding it. The effect is the same regardless of the length of the chain. The energy used in this chain reaction is the potential energy of the dominoes due to them being in a meta-stable state; when the first domino is toppled, the energy transferred by the fall is greater than the energy needed to knock over the following domino, and so on. The domino effect is exploited in Rube Goldberg machines. Appearances in media Domino Day – world record attempt for the highest number of toppling domino stones. See also Domino effect accident Ripple effect Rube Goldberg machine Ablation cascade Relevant physical theory: Butterfly effect Cascading failure Causality Chain reaction Snowball effect Mathematical theory Mathematical induction Political theory Domino theory Social Chinese whispers Behavioral contagion Copycat crime References Further reading Impact Mechanics, W. J. Stronge, Cambridge University Press, 2004, , Metaphors referring to objects Causality

DSL or digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL may also refer to: Damn Small Linux, a very small Linux distribution Danish Sign Language Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China Definitive software library Design Science License, a copyleft license for intellectual property Diagnostic Systems Laboratories, a company now part of Beckman-Coulter Dictionary of the Scots Language Domain-specific language, a specialized computer language Digital subscriber line, a device used to connect a computer or router to a telephone line Dominican Summer League of baseball DSL, a musical artist signed to Ed Banger Records Deutsche Schule Lagos, or the German School Lagos

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the hierarchical and decentralized naming system used to identify computers, services, and other resources reachable through the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The resource records contained in the DNS associate domain names with other forms of information. These are most commonly used to map human-friendly domain names to the numerical IP addresses computers need to locate services and devices using the underlying network protocols, but have been extended over time to perform many other functions as well. The Domain Name System has been an essential component of the functionality of the Internet since 1985. Function An often-used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the phone book for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, the domain name www.example.com translates to the addresses (IPv4) and (IPv6). The DNS can be quickly and transparently updated, allowing a service's location on the network to change without affecting the end users, who continue to use the same hostname. Users take advantage of this when they use meaningful Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and e-mail addresses without having to know how the computer actually locates the services. An important and ubiquitous function of the DNS is its central role in distributed Internet services such as cloud services and content delivery networks. When a user accesses a distributed Internet service using a URL, the domain name of the URL is translated to the IP address of a server that is proximal to the user. The key functionality of the DNS exploited here is that different users can simultaneously receive different translations for the same domain name, a key point of divergence from a traditional phone-book view of the DNS. This process of using the DNS to assign proximal servers to users is key to providing faster and more reliable responses on the Internet and is widely used by most major Internet services. The DNS reflects the structure of administrative responsibility in the Internet. Each subdomain is a zone of administrative autonomy delegated to a manager. For zones operated by a registry, administrative information is often complemented by the registry's RDAP and WHOIS services. That data can be used to gain insight on, and track responsibility for, a given host on the Internet. History Using a simpler, more memorable name in place of a host's numerical address dates back to the ARPANET era. The Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) maintained a text file named HOSTS.TXT that mapped host names to the numerical addresses of computers on the ARPANET. Elizabeth Feinler developed and maintained the first ARPANET directory. Maintenance of numerical addresses, called the Assigned Numbers List, was handled by Jon Postel at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (ISI), whose team worked closely with SRI. Addresses were assigned manually. Computers, including their hostnames and addresses, were added to the primary file by contacting the SRI Network Information Center (NIC), directed by Feinler, telephone during business hours. Later, Feinler set up a WHOIS directory on a server in the NIC for retrieval of information about resources, contacts, and entities. She and her team developed the concept of domains. Feinler suggested that domains should be based on the location of the physical address of the computer. Computers at educational institutions would have the domain edu, for example. She and her team managed the Host Naming Registry from 1972 to 1989. By the early 1980s, maintaining a single, centralized host table had become slow and unwieldy and the emerging network required an automated naming system to address technical and personnel issues. Postel directed the task of forging a compromise between five competing proposals of solutions to Paul Mockapetris. Mockapetris instead created the Domain Name System in 1983. The Internet Engineering Task Force published the original specifications in RFC 882 and RFC 883 in November 1983. In 1984, four UC Berkeley students, Douglas Terry, Mark Painter, David Riggle, and Songnian Zhou, wrote the first Unix name server implementation for the Berkeley Internet Name Domain, commonly referred to as BIND. In 1985, Kevin Dunlap of DEC substantially revised the DNS implementation. Mike Karels, Phil Almquist, and Paul Vixie have maintained BIND since then. In the early 1990s, BIND was ported to the Windows NT platform. In November 1987, RFC 1034 and RFC 1035 superseded the 1983 DNS specifications. Several additional Request for Comments have proposed extensions to the core DNS protocols. Structure Domain name space The domain name space consists of a tree data structure. Each node or leaf in the tree has a label and zero or more resource records (RR), which hold information associated with the domain name. The domain name itself consists of the label, concatenated with the name of its parent node on the right, separated by a dot. The tree sub-divides into zones beginning at the root zone. A DNS zone may consist of only one domain, or may consist of many domains and sub-domains, depending on the administrative choices of the zone manager. DNS can also be partitioned according to class where the separate classes can be thought of as an array of parallel namespace trees. Administrative responsibility for any zone may be divided by creating additional zones. Authority over the new zone is said to be delegated to a designated name server. The parent zone ceases to be authoritative for the new zone. Domain name syntax, internationalization The definitive descriptions of the rules for forming domain names appear in RFC 1035, RFC 1123, RFC 2181, and RFC 5892. A domain name consists of one or more parts, technically called labels, that are conventionally concatenated, and delimited by dots, such as example.com. The right-most label conveys the top-level domain; for example, the domain name www.example.com belongs to the top-level domain com. The hierarchy of domains descends from right to left; each label to the left specifies a subdivision, or subdomain of the domain to the right. For example, the label example specifies a subdomain of the com domain, and www is a subdomain of example.com. This tree of subdivisions may have up to 127 levels. A label may contain zero to 63 characters. The null label, of length zero, is reserved for the root zone. The full domain name may not exceed the length of 253 characters in its textual representation. In the internal binary representation of the DNS the maximum length requires 255 octets of storage, as it also stores the length of the name. Although no technical limitation exists to prevent domain name labels using any character which is representable by an octet, hostnames use a preferred format and character set. The characters allowed in labels are a subset of the ASCII character set, consisting of characters a through z, A through Z, digits 0 through 9, and hyphen. This rule is known as the LDH rule (letters, digits, hyphen). Domain names are interpreted in case-independent manner. Labels may not start or end with a hyphen. An additional rule requires that top-level domain names should not be all-numeric. The limited set of ASCII characters permitted in the DNS prevented the representation of names and words of many languages in their native alphabets or scripts. To make this possible, ICANN approved the Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications (IDNA) system, by which user applications, such as web browsers, map Unicode strings into the valid DNS character set using Punycode. In 2009 ICANN approved the installation of internationalized domain name country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). In addition, many registries of the existing top-level domain names (TLDs) have adopted the IDNA system, guided by RFC 5890, RFC 5891, RFC 5892, RFC 5893. Name servers The Domain Name System is maintained by a distributed database system, which uses the client–server model. The nodes of this database are the name servers. Each domain has at least one authoritative DNS server that publishes information about that domain and the name servers of any domains subordinate to it. The top of the hierarchy is served by the root name servers, the servers to query when looking up (resolving) a TLD. Authoritative name server An authoritative name server is a name server that only gives answers to DNS queries from data that has been configured by an original source, for example, the domain administrator or by dynamic DNS methods, in contrast to answers obtained via a query to another name server that only maintains a cache of data. An authoritative name server can either be a primary server or a secondary server. Historically the terms master/slave and primary/secondary were sometimes used interchangeably but the current practice is to use the latter form. A primary server is a server that stores the original copies of all zone records. A secondary server uses a special automatic updating mechanism in the DNS protocol in communication with its primary to maintain an identical copy of the primary records. Every DNS zone must be assigned a set of authoritative name servers. This set of servers is stored in the parent domain zone with name server (NS) records. An authoritative server indicates its status of supplying definitive answers, deemed authoritative, by setting a protocol flag, called the "Authoritative Answer" (AA) bit in its responses. This flag is usually reproduced prominently in the output of DNS administration query tools, such as dig, to indicate that the responding name server is an authority for the domain name in question. When a name server is designated as the authoritative server for a domain name for which it does not have authoritative data, it presents a type of error called a "lame delegation" or "lame response". Operation Address resolution mechanism Domain name resolvers determine the domain name servers responsible for the domain name in question by a sequence of queries starting with the right-most (top-level) domain label. For proper operation of its domain name resolver, a network host is configured with an initial cache (hints) of the known addresses of the root name servers. The hints are updated periodically by an administrator by retrieving a dataset from a reliable source. Assuming the resolver has no cached records to accelerate the process, the resolution process starts with a query to one of the root servers. In typical operation, the root servers do not answer directly, but respond with a referral to more authoritative servers, e.g., a query for "www.wikipedia.org" is referred to the org servers. The resolver now queries the servers referred to, and iteratively repeats this process until it receives an authoritative answer. The diagram illustrates this process for the host that is named by the fully qualified domain name "www.wikipedia.org". This mechanism would place a large traffic burden on the root servers, if every resolution on the Internet required starting at the root. In practice caching is used in DNS servers to off-load the root servers, and as a result, root name servers actually are involved in only a relatively small fraction of all requests. Recursive and caching name server In theory, authoritative name servers are sufficient for the operation of the Internet. However, with only authoritative name servers operating, every DNS query must start with recursive queries at the root zone of the Domain Name System and each user system would have to implement resolver software capable of recursive operation. To improve efficiency, reduce DNS traffic across the Internet, and increase performance in end-user applications, the Domain Name System supports DNS cache servers which store DNS query results for a period of time determined in the configuration (time-to-live) of the domain name record in question. Typically, such caching DNS servers also implement the recursive algorithm necessary to resolve a given name starting with the DNS root through to the authoritative name servers of the queried domain. With this function implemented in the name server, user applications gain efficiency in design and operation. The combination of DNS caching and recursive functions in a name server is not mandatory; the functions can be implemented independently in servers for special purposes. Internet service providers typically provide recursive and caching name servers for their customers. In addition, many home networking routers implement DNS caches and recursion to improve efficiency in the local network. DNS resolvers The client side of the DNS is called a DNS resolver. A resolver is responsible for initiating and sequencing the queries that ultimately lead to a full resolution (translation) of the resource sought, e.g., translation of a domain name into an IP address. DNS resolvers are classified by a variety of query methods, such as recursive, non-recursive, and iterative. A resolution process may use a combination of these methods. In a non-recursive query, a DNS resolver queries a DNS server that provides a record either for which the server is authoritative, or it provides a partial result without querying other servers. In case of a caching DNS resolver, the non-recursive query of its local DNS cache delivers a result and reduces the load on upstream DNS servers by caching DNS resource records for a period of time after an initial response from upstream DNS servers. In a recursive query, a DNS resolver queries a single DNS server, which may in turn query other DNS servers on behalf of the requester. For example, a simple stub resolver running on a home router typically makes a recursive query to the DNS server run by the user's ISP. A recursive query is one for which the DNS server answers the query completely by querying other name servers as needed. In typical operation, a client issues a recursive query to a caching recursive DNS server, which subsequently issues non-recursive queries to determine the answer and send a single answer back to the client. The resolver, or another DNS server acting recursively on behalf of the resolver, negotiates use of recursive service using bits in the query headers. DNS servers are not required to support recursive queries. The iterative query procedure is a process in which a DNS resolver queries a chain of one or more DNS servers. Each server refers the client to the next server in the chain, until the current server can fully resolve the request. For example, a possible resolution of www.example.com would query a global root server, then a "com" server, and finally an "example.com" server. Circular dependencies and glue records Name servers in delegations are identified by name, rather than by IP address. This means that a resolving name server must issue another DNS request to find out the IP address of the server to which it has been referred. If the name given in the delegation is a subdomain of the domain for which the delegation is being provided, there is a circular dependency. In this case, the name server providing the delegation must also provide one or more IP addresses for the authoritative name server mentioned in the delegation. This information is called glue. The delegating name server provides this glue in the form of records in the additional section of the DNS response, and provides the delegation in the authority section of the response. A glue record is a combination of the name server and IP address. For example, if the authoritative name server for example.org is ns1.example.org, a computer trying to resolve www.example.org first resolves ns1.example.org. As ns1 is contained in example.org, this requires resolving example.org first, which presents a circular dependency. To break the dependency, the name server for the top level domain org includes glue along with the delegation for example.org. The glue records are address records that provide IP addresses for ns1.example.org. The resolver uses one or more of these IP addresses to query one of the domain's authoritative servers, which allows it to complete the DNS query. Record caching A standard practice in implementing name resolution in applications is to reduce the load on the Domain Name System servers by caching results locally, or in intermediate resolver hosts. Results obtained from a DNS request are always associated with the time to live (TTL), an expiration time after which the results must be discarded or refreshed. The TTL is set by the administrator of the authoritative DNS server. The period of validity may vary from a few seconds to days or even weeks. As a result of this distributed caching architecture, changes to DNS records do not propagate throughout the network immediately, but require all caches to expire and to be refreshed after the TTL. RFC 1912 conveys basic rules for determining appropriate TTL values. Some resolvers may override TTL values, as the protocol supports caching for up to sixty-eight years or no caching at all. Negative caching, i.e. the caching of the fact of non-existence of a record, is determined by name servers authoritative for a zone which must include the Start of Authority (SOA) record when reporting no data of the requested type exists. The value of the minimum field of the SOA record and the TTL of the SOA itself is used to establish the TTL for the negative answer. Reverse lookup A reverse DNS lookup is a query of the DNS for domain names when the IP address is known. Multiple domain names may be associated with an IP address. The DNS stores IP addresses in the form of domain names as specially formatted names in pointer (PTR) records within the infrastructure top-level domain arpa. For IPv4, the domain is in-addr.arpa. For IPv6, the reverse lookup domain is ip6.arpa. The IP address is represented as a name in reverse-ordered octet representation for IPv4, and reverse-ordered nibble representation for IPv6. When performing a reverse lookup, the DNS client converts the address into these formats before querying the name for a PTR record following the delegation chain as for any DNS query. For example, assuming the IPv4 address 208.80.152.2 is assigned to Wikimedia, it is represented as a DNS name in reverse order: 2.152.80.208.in-addr.arpa. When the DNS resolver gets a pointer (PTR) request, it begins by querying the root servers, which point to the servers of American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) for the 208.in-addr.arpa zone. ARIN's servers delegate 152.80.208.in-addr.arpa to Wikimedia to which the resolver sends another query for 2.152.80.208.in-addr.arpa, which results in an authoritative response. Client lookup Users generally do not communicate directly with a DNS resolver. Instead DNS resolution takes place transparently in applications such as web browsers, e-mail clients, and other Internet applications. When an application makes a request that requires a domain name lookup, such programs send a resolution request to the DNS resolver in the local operating system, which in turn handles the communications required. The DNS resolver will almost invariably have a cache (see above) containing recent lookups. If the cache can provide the answer to the request, the resolver will return the value in the cache to the program that made the request. If the cache does not contain the answer, the resolver will send the request to one or more designated DNS servers. In the case of most home users, the Internet service provider to which the machine connects will usually supply this DNS server: such a user will either have configured that server's address manually or allowed DHCP to set it; however, where systems administrators have configured systems to use their own DNS servers, their DNS resolvers point to separately maintained name servers of the organization. In any event, the name server thus queried will follow the process outlined above, until it either successfully finds a result or does not. It then returns its results to the DNS resolver; assuming it has found a result, the resolver duly caches that result for future use, and hands the result back to the software which initiated the request. Broken resolvers Some large ISPs have configured their DNS servers to violate rules, such as by disobeying TTLs, or by indicating that a domain name does not exist just because one of its name servers does not respond. Some applications such as web browsers maintain an internal DNS cache to avoid repeated lookups via the network. This practice can add extra difficulty when debugging DNS issues as it obscures the history of such data. These caches typically use very short caching times on the order of one minute. Internet Explorer represents a notable exception: versions up to IE 3.x cache DNS records for 24 hours by default. Internet Explorer 4.x and later versions (up to IE 8) decrease the default timeout value to half an hour, which may be changed by modifying the default configuration. When Google Chrome detects issues with the DNS server it displays a specific error message. Other applications The Domain Name System includes several other functions and features. Hostnames and IP addresses are not required to match in a one-to-one relationship. Multiple hostnames may correspond to a single IP address, which is useful in virtual hosting, in which many web sites are served from a single host. Alternatively, a single hostname may resolve to many IP addresses to facilitate fault tolerance and load distribution to multiple server instances across an enterprise or the global Internet. DNS serves other purposes in addition to translating names to IP addresses. For instance, mail transfer agents use DNS to find the best mail server to deliver e-mail: An MX record provides a mapping between a domain and a mail exchanger; this can provide an additional layer of fault tolerance and load distribution. The DNS is used for efficient storage and distribution of IP addresses of blacklisted email hosts. A common method is to place the IP address of the subject host into the sub-domain of a higher level domain name, and to resolve that name to a record that indicates a positive or a negative indication. For example: The address 102.3.4.5 is blacklisted. It points to 5.4.3.102.blacklist.example, which resolves to 127.0.0.1. The address 102.3.4.6 is not blacklisted and points to 6.4.3.102.blacklist.example. This hostname is either not configured, or resolves to 127.0.0.2. E-mail servers can query blacklist.example to find out if a specific host connecting to them is in the blacklist. Many of such blacklists, either subscription-based or free of cost, are available for use by email administrators and anti-spam software. To provide resilience in the event of computer or network failure, multiple DNS servers are usually provided for coverage of each domain. At the top level of global DNS, thirteen groups of root name servers exist, with additional "copies" of them distributed worldwide via anycast addressing. Dynamic DNS (DDNS) updates a DNS server with a client IP address on-the-fly, for example, when moving between ISPs or mobile hot spots, or when the IP address changes administratively. DNS message format The DNS protocol uses two types of DNS messages, queries and replies; both have the same format. Each message consists of a header and four sections: question, answer, authority, and an additional space. A header field (flags) controls the content of these four sections. The header section consists of the following fields: Identification, Flags, Number of questions, Number of answers, Number of authority resource records (RRs), and Number of additional RRs. Each field is 16 bits long, and appears in the order given. The identification field is used to match responses with queries. The flag field consists of sub-fields as follows: After the flag, the header ends with four 16-bit integers which contain the number of records in each of the sections that follow, in the same order. Question section The question section has a simpler format than the resource record format used in the other sections. Each question record (there is usually just one in the section) contains the following fields: The domain name is broken into discrete labels which are concatenated; each label is prefixed by the length of that label. DNS transport protocols DNS-over-UDP/53 ("Do53") From the time of its origin in 1983 until quite recently, DNS has primarily answered queries on User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port number 53. Such queries consist of a clear-text request sent in a single UDP packet from the client, responded to with a clear-text reply sent in a single UDP packet from the server. When the length of the answer exceeds 512 bytes and both client and server support Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS), larger UDP packets may be used. Use of DNS-over-UDP is limited by, among other things, its lack of transport-layer encryption, authentication, reliable delivery, and message length. DNS-over-TCP/53 ("Do53/TCP") In 1989, RFC 1123 specified optional Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) transport for DNS queries, replies and, particularly, zone transfers. Via fragmentation of long replies, TCP allows longer responses, reliable delivery, and re-use of long-lived connections between clients and servers. DNSCrypt The DNSCrypt protocol, which was developed in 2011 outside the IETF standards framework, introduced DNS encryption on the downstream side of recursive resolvers, wherein clients encrypt query payloads using servers' public keys, which are published in the DNS (rather than relying upon third-party certificate authorities) and which may in turn be protected by DNSSEC signatures. DNSCrypt uses either TCP or UDP port 443, the same port as HTTPS encrypted web traffic. This introduced not only privacy regarding the content of the query, but also a significant measure of firewall-traversal capability. In 2019, DNSCrypt was further extended to support an "anonymized" mode, similar to the proposed "Oblivious DNS," in which an ingress node receives a query which has been encrypted with the public key of a different server, and relays it to that server, which acts as an egress node, performing the recursive resolution. Privacy of user/query pairs is created, since the ingress node does not know the content of the query, while the egress nodes does not know the identity of the client. DNSCrypt was first implemented in production by OpenDNS in December of 2011. DNS-over-TLS ("DoT") An IETF standard for encrypted DNS emerged in 2016, utilizing standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect the entire connection, rather than just the DNS payload. DoT servers listen on TCP port 853. RFC7858 specifies that opportunistic encryption and authenticated encryption may be supported, but did not make either server or client authentication mandatory. DNS-over-HTTPS ("DoH") A competing standard for DNS query transport was introduced in 2018, tunneling DNS query data over HTTPS (which in turn transports HTTP over TLS). DoH was promoted as a more web-friendly alternative to DNS since, like DNSCrypt, it travels on TCP port 443, and thus looks similar to web traffic, though they are easily differentiable in practice. DoH has been widely criticized for decreasing user anonymity relative to DoT. DNS-over-TOR Like other Internet protocols, DNS may be run over VPNs and tunnels. One use which has become common enough since 2019 to warrant its own frequently used acronym is DNS-over-Tor. The privacy gains of Oblivious DNS can be garnered through the use of the preexisting Tor network of ingress and egress nodes, paired with the transport-layer encryption provided by TLS. Oblivious DNS-over-HTTPS ("ODoH") In 2021, an "oblivious" implementation of DoH was proposed and has been implemented in draft form, combining ingress/egress separation with HTTPS tunneling and TLS transport-layer encryption in a single defined protocol. Resource records The Domain Name System specifies a database of information elements for network resources. The types of information elements are categorized and organized with a list of DNS record types, the resource records (RRs). Each record has a type (name and number), an expiration time (time to live), a class, and type-specific data. Resource records of the same type are described as a resource record set (RRset), having no special ordering. DNS resolvers return the entire set upon query, but servers may implement round-robin ordering to achieve load balancing. In contrast, the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) work on the complete set of resource record in canonical order. When sent over an Internet Protocol network, all records use the common format specified in RFC 1035: NAME is the fully qualified domain name of the node in the tree . On the wire, the name may be shortened using label compression where ends of domain names mentioned earlier in the packet can be substituted for the end of the current domain name. TYPE is the record type. It indicates the format of the data and it gives a hint of its intended use. For example, the A record is used to translate from a domain name to an IPv4 address, the NS record lists which name servers can answer lookups on a DNS zone, and the MX record specifies the mail server used to handle mail for a domain specified in an e-mail address. RDATA is data of type-specific relevance, such as the IP address for address records, or the priority and hostname for MX records. Well known record types may use label compression in the RDATA field, but "unknown" record types must not (RFC 3597). The CLASS of a record is set to IN (for Internet) for common DNS records involving Internet hostnames, servers, or IP addresses. In addition, the classes Chaos (CH) and Hesiod (HS) exist. Each class is an independent name space with potentially different delegations of DNS zones. In addition to resource records defined in a zone file, the domain name system also defines several request types that are used only in communication with other DNS nodes (on the wire), such as when performing zone transfers (AXFR/IXFR) or for EDNS (OPT). Wildcard DNS records The domain name system supports wildcard DNS records which specify names that start with the asterisk label, '*', e.g., *.example. DNS records belonging to wildcard domain names specify rules for generating resource records within a single DNS zone by substituting whole labels with matching components of the query name, including any specified descendants. For example, in the following configuration, the DNS zone x.example specifies that all subdomains, including subdomains of subdomains, of x.example use the mail exchanger (MX) a.x.example. The A record for a.x.example is needed to specify the mail exchanger IP address. As this has the result of excluding this domain name and its subdomains from the wildcard matches, an additional MX record for the subdomain a.x.example, as well as a wildcarded MX record for all of its subdomains, must also be defined in the DNS zone. x.example. MX 10 a.x.example. *.x.example. MX 10 a.x.example. *.a.x.example. MX 10 a.x.example. a.x.example. MX 10 a.x.example. a.x.example. AAAA 2001:db8::1 The role of wildcard records was refined in , because the original definition in was incomplete and resulted in misinterpretations by implementers. Protocol extensions The original DNS protocol had limited provisions for extension with new features. In 1999, Paul Vixie published in RFC 2671 (superseded by RFC 6891) an extension mechanism, called Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS) that introduced optional protocol elements without increasing overhead when not in use. This was accomplished through the OPT pseudo-resource record that only exists in wire transmissions of the protocol, but not in any zone files. Initial extensions were also suggested (EDNS0), such as increasing the DNS message size in UDP datagrams. Dynamic zone updates Dynamic DNS updates use the UPDATE DNS opcode to add or remove resource records dynamically from a zone database maintained on an authoritative DNS server. The feature is described in RFC 2136. This facility is useful to register network clients into the DNS when they boot or become otherwise available on the network. As a booting client may be assigned a different IP address each time from a DHCP server, it is not possible to provide static DNS assignments for such clients. Security issues Originally, security concerns were not major design considerations for DNS software or any software for deployment on the early Internet, as the network was not open for participation by the general public. However, the expansion of the Internet into the commercial sector in the 1990s changed the requirements for security measures to protect data integrity and user authentication. Several vulnerability issues were discovered and exploited by malicious users. One such issue is DNS cache poisoning, in which data is distributed to caching resolvers under the pretense of being an authoritative origin server, thereby polluting the data store with potentially false information and long expiration times (time-to-live). Subsequently, legitimate application requests may be redirected to network hosts operated with malicious intent. DNS responses traditionally do not have a cryptographic signature, leading to many attack possibilities; the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) modify DNS to add support for cryptographically signed responses. DNSCurve has been proposed as an alternative to DNSSEC. Other extensions, such as TSIG, add support for cryptographic authentication between trusted peers and are commonly used to authorize zone transfer or dynamic update operations. Some domain names may be used to achieve spoofing effects. For example, and paypa1.com are different names, yet users may be unable to distinguish them in a graphical user interface depending on the user's chosen typeface. In many fonts the letter l and the numeral 1 look very similar or even identical. This problem is acute in systems that support internationalized domain names, as many character codes in ISO 10646 may appear identical on typical computer screens. This vulnerability is occasionally exploited in phishing. Techniques such as forward-confirmed reverse DNS can also be used to help validate DNS results. DNS can also "leak" from otherwise secure or private connections, if attention is not paid to their configuration, and at times DNS has been used to bypass firewalls by malicious persons, and exfiltrate data, since it is often seen as innocuous. Privacy and tracking issues Originally designed as a public, hierarchical, distributed and heavily cached database, DNS protocol has no confidentiality controls. User queries and nameserver responses are being sent unencrypted which enables network packet sniffing, DNS hijacking, DNS cache poisoning and man-in-the-middle attacks. This deficiency is commonly used by cybercriminals and network operators for marketing purposes, user authentication on captive portals and censorship. User privacy is further exposed by proposals for increasing the level of client IP information in DNS queries (RFC 7871) for the benefit of Content Delivery Networks. The main approaches that are in use to counter privacy issues with DNS: VPNs, which move DNS resolution to the VPN operator and hide user traffic from local ISP, Tor, which replaces traditional DNS resolution with anonymous .onion domains, hiding both name resolution and user traffic behind onion routing counter-surveillance, Proxies and public DNS servers, which move the actual DNS resolution to a third-party provider, who usually promises little or no request logging and optional added features, such as DNS-level advertisement or pornography blocking. Public DNS servers can be queried using traditional DNS protocol, in which case they provide no protection from local surveillance, or DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS and DNSCrypt, which do provide such protection Solutions preventing DNS inspection by local network operator are criticized for thwarting corporate network security policies and Internet censorship. They are also criticized from a privacy point of view, as giving away the DNS resolution to the hands of a small number of companies known for monetizing user traffic and for centralizing DNS name resolution, which is generally perceived as harmful for the Internet. Domain name registration The right to use a domain name is delegated by domain name registrars which are accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or other organizations such as OpenNIC, that are charged with overseeing the name and number systems of the Internet. In addition to ICANN, each top-level domain (TLD) is maintained and serviced technically by an administrative organization, operating a registry. A registry is responsible for operating the database of names within its authoritative zone, although the term is most often used for TLDs. A registrant is a person or organization who asked for domain registration. The registry receives registration information from each domain name registrar, which is authorized (accredited) to assign names in the corresponding zone and publishes the information using the WHOIS protocol. As of 2015, usage of RDAP is being considered. ICANN publishes the complete list of TLDs, TLD registries, and domain name registrars. Registrant information associated with domain names is maintained in an online database accessible with the WHOIS service. For most of the more than 290 country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), the domain registries maintain the WHOIS (Registrant, name servers, expiration dates, etc.) information. For instance, DENIC, Germany NIC, holds the DE domain data. From about 2001, most Generic top-level domain (gTLD) registries have adopted this so-called thick registry approach, i.e. keeping the WHOIS data in central registries instead of registrar databases. For top-level domains on COM and NET, a thin registry model is used. The domain registry (e.g., GoDaddy, BigRock and PDR, VeriSign, etc., etc.) holds basic WHOIS data (i.e., registrar and name servers, etc.). Organizations, or registrants using ORG on the other hand, are on the Public Interest Registry exclusively. Some domain name registries, often called network information centers (NIC), also function as registrars to end-users, in addition to providing access to the WHOIS datasets. The top-level domain registries, such as for the domains COM, NET, and ORG use a registry-registrar model consisting of many domain name registrars. In this method of management, the registry only manages the domain name database and the relationship with the registrars. The registrants (users of a domain name) are customers of the registrar, in some cases through additional subcontracting of resellers. RFC documents Standards The Domain Name System is defined by Request for Comments (RFC) documents published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (Internet standards). The following is a list of RFCs that define the DNS protocol. , Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities , Domain Names - Implementation and Specification , Requirements for Internet Hosts—Application and Support , Incremental Zone Transfer in DNS , A Mechanism for Prompt Notification of Zone Changes (DNS NOTIFY) , Dynamic Updates in the domain name system (DNS UPDATE) , Clarifications to the DNS Specification , Negative Caching of DNS Queries (DNS NCACHE) , Non-Terminal DNS Name Redirection , Secret Key Transaction Authentication for DNS (TSIG) , Indicating Resolver Support of DNSSEC , DNSSEC and IPv6 A6 aware server/resolver message size requirements , DNS Extensions to Support IP Version 6 , Handling of Unknown DNS Resource Record (RR) Types , Domain Name System (DNS) Case Insensitivity Clarification , The Role of Wildcards in the Domain Name System , HMAC SHA TSIG Algorithm Identifiers , DNS Name Server Identifier (NSID) Option , Automated Updates of DNS Security (DNSSEC) Trust Anchors , Measures for Making DNS More Resilient against Forged Answers , Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA):Definitions and Document Framework , Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA): Protocol , The Unicode Code Points and Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA) , Right-to-Left Scripts for Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA) , Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS0) , DNS Transport over TCP - Implementation Requirements Proposed security standards , DNS Security Introduction and Requirements , Resource Records for the DNS Security Extensions , Protocol Modifications for the DNS Security Extensions , Use of SHA-256 in DNSSEC Delegation Signer (DS) Resource Records , Minimally Covering NSEC Records and DNSSEC On-line Signing , DNS Security (DNSSEC) Hashed Authenticated Denial of Existence , Use of SHA-2 Algorithms with RSA in DNSKEY and RRSIG Resource Records for DNSSEC , Domain Name System (DNS) Security Extensions Mapping for the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) , Use of GOST Signature Algorithms in DNSKEY and RRSIG Resource Records for DNSSEC , The EDNS(0) Padding Option , Specification for DNS over Transport Layer Security (TLS) , Usage Profiles for DNS over TLS and DNS over DTLS , DNS Queries over HTTPS (DoH) Experimental RFCs , New DNS RR Definitions Best Current Practices , Selection and Operation of Secondary DNS Servers (BCP 16) , Classless IN-ADDR.ARPA delegation (BCP 20) , DNS Proxy Implementation Guidelines (BCP 152) , Domain Name System (DNS) IANA Considerations (BCP 42) , DNS Root Name Service Protocol and Deployment Requirements (BCP 40) Informational RFCs These RFCs are advisory in nature, but may provide useful information despite defining neither a standard or BCP. (RFC 1796) , Choosing a Name for Your Computer (FYI 5) , Domain Name System Structure and Delegation , Common DNS Operational and Configuration Errors , The Naming of Hosts , Application Techniques for Checking and Transformation of Names . Threat Analysis of the Domain Name System (DNS) , Requirements for a Mechanism Identifying a Name Server Instance , Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA):Background, Explanation, and Rationale , Mapping Characters for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA) 2008 , DNS Privacy Considerations , Decreasing Access Time to Root Servers by Running One on Loopback , DNS TerminologyUnknown These RFCs have an official status of Unknown, but due to their age are not clearly labeled as such. , Domain Requirements – Specified original top-level domains , Domain Administrators Guide , Domain Administrators Operations Guide , DNS Encodings of Network Names and Other Types'' See also Alternative DNS root Comparison of DNS server software Domain hijacking DNS hijacking DNS management software DNS over HTTPS DNS over TLS Hierarchical namespace IPv6 brokenness and DNS whitelisting Multicast DNS Public recursive name server resolv.conf Split-horizon DNS List of DNS record types List of managed DNS providers Zone file DNS leak References Sources External links Zytrax.com, Open Source Guide – DNS for Rocket Scientists. Internet Governance and the Domain Name System: Issues for Congress Congressional Research Service Computer-related introductions in 1983 Application layer protocols Internet Standards

Events Pre-1600 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations. 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo takes place. 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated. 1408 – Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow. 1456 – The first of the two 1456 Central Italy earthquakes measuring 7.2 causes extreme destruction and kills as many as 70,000 people. 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany. 1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jewish "heretics" from the country. 1560 – Charles IX becomes king of France. 1578 – Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan raids Valparaiso. 1601–1900 1649 – The town of Raahe () was founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger. 1757 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. 1766 – In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale. 1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1776 – Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary. 1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives. 1847 – Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate. 1848 – California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California. 1865 – Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain. 1895 – New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert. 1901–present 1921 - The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years. 1931 – Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow is destroyed on orders from Joseph Stalin. 1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. 1934 – Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city. 1935 – Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City. 1936 – The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR. 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army. 1941 – World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania. 1943 – World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow. 1945 – Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. 1952 – Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it. 1955 – The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO. 1955 – E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery bus boycott. 1958 – Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh. 1958 – The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.) 1964 – Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war. 1964 – Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response. 1971 – Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces stand defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh. 1977 – Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt. 1983 – Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina. 1991 – Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine. 1995 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna. 1995 – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic located in Azerbaijan, killing 52 people. 2004 – The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there. 2005 – The 6.8 Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people. 2006 – Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji. 2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska. 2013 – Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others. 2014 – Exploration Flight Test 1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched. 2017 – The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Births Pre-1600 852 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (d. 912) 1377 – Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402) 1389 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (d. 1455) 1443 – Pope Julius II (d. 1513) 1470 – Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author (d. 1530) 1495 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1542) 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shōgun (d. 1597) 1539 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (d. 1604) 1547 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625) 1556 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (d. 1588) 1596 – Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662) 1601–1900 1661 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1724) 1666 – Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741) 1687 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762) 1697 – Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1771) 1782 – Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862) 1784 – George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter (d. 1862) 1803 – Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat (d. 1873) 1820 – Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author (d. 1892) 1822 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College (d. 1907) 1829 – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec (d. 1908) 1830 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and author (d. 1894) 1839 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876) 1841 – Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman (d. 1900) 1849 – Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic (d. 1922) 1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer (d. 1942) 1859 – John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1935) 1861 – Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer (d. 1939) 1862 – John Henry Leech, English entomologist (d. 1900) 1863 – Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France (d. 1933) 1866 – John Beresford, Irish polo player (d. 1944) 1866 – Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author (d. 1896) 1867 – Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic (d. 1925) 1867 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1935) 1868 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (d. 1951) 1869 – Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet (d. 1937) 1870 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (d. 1949) 1872 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906) 1875 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (d. 1933) 1879 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (d. 1954) 1881 – René Cresté, French actor and director (d. 1922) 1886 – Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (d. 1968) 1886 – Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (d. 1968) 1886 – Nikolai Uglanov, Soviet politician (d. 1937) 1890 – David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic (d. 1957) 1890 – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1976) 1891 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic (d. 1951) 1894 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (d. 1982) 1895 – Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic (d. 1969) 1896 – Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator (d. 1995) 1896 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984) 1897 – Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977) 1897 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (d. 1982) 1898 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator (d. 1982) 1898 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (d. 1947) 1900 – Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer (d. 1972) 1901–present 1901 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (d. 1966) 1901 – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author (d. 1980) 1901 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976) 1902 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988) 1902 – Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (d. 2003) 1903 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer (d. 2011) 1903 – C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969) 1905 – Gus Mancuso, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1984) 1905 – Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1986) 1905 – Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (d.1949) 1907 – Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1971) 1907 – Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (d. 1993) 1910 – Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999) 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2000) 1912 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1965) 1912 – Kate Simon, American travel writer (d. 1990) 1913 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (d. 2013) 1914 – Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author (d. 1989) 1916 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine (d. 2013) 1916 – Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013) 1917 – Ken Downing, English race car driver (d. 2004) 1918 – Charity Adams Earley, Black American Army officer (d. 2002) 1919 – Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician (d. 2020) 1921 – Alvy Moore, American actor and producer (d. 1997) 1922 – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (d. 2011) 1922 – Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist (d. 2015) 1924 – Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician (d. 1978) 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua (d. 1980) 1926 – Adetowun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean 1927 – Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thai king (d. 2016) 1927 – W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan musician and composer (d. 2016) 1929 – Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author (d. 2014) 1930 – Yi-Fu Tuan, Chinese-American geographer 1931 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (d. 2011) 1932 – Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, British politician 1932 – Sheldon Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1932 – Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (d. 1989) 1932 – Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2020) 1932 – Nadira, Indian actress (d. 2006) 1933 – Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker (d. 1999) 1933 – Harry Holgate, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1997) 1934 – Joan Didion, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021) 1935 – Calvin Trillin, American novelist, humorist, and journalist 1935 – Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician (d. 2021) 1936 – James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic 1938 – J. J. Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013) 1940 – Tony Crafter, Australian cricket umpire 1940 – Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager 1940 – Peter Pohl, Swedish author, director, and screenwriter 1940 – Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012) 1942 – Bryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach (d. 2017) 1943 – Eva Joly, Norwegian-French judge and politician 1943 – Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, South Korean cardinal 1944 – Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor, director, and producer 1945 – Serge Chapleau, Canadian cartoonist 1945 – Moshe Katsav, Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israel 1946 – José Carreras, Spanish tenor and actor 1946 – Andy Kim, Canadian pop singer-songwriter 1946 – Sarel van der Merwe, South African race car driver 1947 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete 1947 – Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica 1947 – Tony Gregory, Irish activist and politician (d. 2009) 1947 – Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1947 – Jim Plunkett, American football player and radio host 1947 – Kim Simmonds, Welsh blues-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1947 – Don Touhig, Welsh journalist and politician 1948 – Denise Drysdale, Australian television host and actress 1949 – John Altman, English composer and conductor 1949 – David Manning, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States 1951 – Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2015) 1951 – Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator 1952 – Eva Dillner, Swedish author 1953 – Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist 1954 – Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright 1954 – Gary Roenicke, American baseball player and scout 1955 – Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer 1955 – Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower (d. 2003) 1956 – Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager 1956 – Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright 1956 – Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist 1957 – Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician 1958 – Dynamite Kid, English wrestler (d. 2018) 1959 – Lee Chapman, English footballer 1959 – Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, Ukrainian businessman 1960 – Frans Adelaar, Dutch footballer and manager 1960 – Osvaldo Golijov, Argentinian-American composer and educator 1960 – Jack Russell, American singer-songwriter and producer 1960 – Matthew Taylor, English businessman and politician 1961 – Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer 1961 – Laura Flanders, British journalist 1962 – José Cura, Argentinian tenor, conductor, and director 1962 – Pablo Morales, American swimmer and coach 1962 – Nivek Ogre, Canadian singer-songwriter 1962 – Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and manager 1963 – Doctor Dré, American television and radio host 1963 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and playwright (d. 2002) 1963 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer (d. 2015) 1963 – Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, British Olympic ski jumper 1964 – Martin Vinnicombe, Australian cyclist 1965 – Manish Malhotra, Indian fashion designer 1965 – John Rzeznik, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1965 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican rapper (d. 2014) 1965 – Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker 1967 – Gary Allan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1968 – Margaret Cho, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter 1968 – Lisa Marie, American model and actress 1968 – Lydia Millet, American novelist 1968 – Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter 1969 – Eric Etebari, American actor, director, and producer 1969 – Morgan J. Freeman, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1969 – Sajid Javid, British Pakistani banker and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1969 – Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer 1969 – Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer 1970 – Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player 1970 – Michel'le, American singer-songwriter 1971 – Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence 1971 – Ashia Hansen, American-English triple jumper 1971 – Gabriel Hjertstedt, Swedish golfer 1972 – Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster 1972 – Mike Mahoney, American baseball player 1972 – Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach 1973 – Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer 1973 – Arik Benado, Israeli footballer 1973 – Andrei Krasnopjorov, Estonian footballer 1973 – Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor 1973 – Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic 1973 – Shalom Harlow, Canadian model 1974 – Charlie Batch, American football player and sportscaster 1974 – Ravish Kumar, Indian journalist and author 1974 – Brian Lewis, American sprinter 1975 – Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player and radio host 1975 – Paula Patton, American actress 1976 – Amy Acker, American actress 1976 – Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player 1976 – Sachiko Kokubu, Japanese actress and model 1976 – Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer and coach 1977 – Peter van der Vlag, Dutch footballer 1978 – Neil Druckmann, American video game designer and author 1978 – Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player 1978 – Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer 1979 – Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer 1979 – Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player 1979 – Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer 1979 – Nick Stahl, American actor and producer 1980 – Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-French trumpet player and composer 1980 – Jessica Paré, Canadian actress 1982 – Eddy Curry, American basketball player 1982 – Trai Essex, American football player 1982 – Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress 1983 – Cooper Cronk, Australian rugby league player 1985 – Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer 1985 – Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver 1985 – Nico Verdonck, Belgian race car driver 1985 – Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player 1986 – LeGarrette Blount, American football player 1986 – James Hinchcliffe, Canadian race car driver 1986 – Justin Smoak, American baseball player 1987 – Tommy Fraser, English footballer 1988 – Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist 1989 – Jurrell Casey, American football player 1990 – Montee Ball, American football player 1991 – Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer 1992 – Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer 1992 – Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player 1993 – Ross Barkley, English footballer 1994 – Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer 1994 – Grant Ward, English footballer 1995 – Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player 1995 – Anthony Martial, French footballer 1995 – Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater 1997 – Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician Deaths Pre-1600 63 BC – Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician (b. 114 BC) 334 – Li Ban, emperor of Cheng Han (b. 288) 902 – Ealhswith, queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (b. 1053) 1212 – Dirk van Are, bishop and lord of Utrecht 1244 – Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault(b. 1199 or 1200) 1355 – John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300) 1560 – Francis II of France (b. 1544) 1570 – Johan Friis, Danish politician (b. 1494) 1601–1900 1624 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician (b. 1560) 1654 – Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet (b. 1611) 1663 – Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1582) 1749 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer (b. 1685) 1758 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (b. 1688) 1770 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor (b. 1692) 1784 – Phillis Wheatley, Senegal-born slave, later American poet (b. 1753) 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician (b. 1756) 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer (b. 1750) 1870 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (b. 1802) 1887 – Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter (b. 1804) 1891 – Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825) 1901–present 1918 – Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic (b. 1852) 1925 – Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867) 1926 – Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840) 1931 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879) 1940 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1880) 1941 – Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter (b. 1913) 1942 – Jock Delves Broughton, English captain (b. 1883) 1946 – Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator (b. 1872) 1951 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887) 1951 – Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic (b. 1871) 1953 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (b. 1901) 1955 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (b. 1886) 1961 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (b. 1878) 1963 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator (b. 1905) 1963 – Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1892) 1964 – V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician (b. 1892) 1965 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874) 1968 – Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914) 1969 – Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884) 1969 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885) 1973 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar (b. 1892) 1975 – Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author (b. 1897) 1977 – Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (b. 1894) 1977 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1895) 1979 – Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1930) 1983 – Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918) 1984 – Cecil M. Harden, American politician (b. 1894) 1986 – Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924) 1989 – John Pritchard, English conductor and director (b. 1921) 1990 – Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (b. 1916) 1994 – Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer (b. 1910) 1995 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (b. 1918) 1995 – Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator (b. 1918) 1995 – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (b. 1920) 1995 – Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (b. 1922) 1997 – Eugen Cicero, Romanian-German jazz pianist (b. 1940) 1998 – Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1907) 2001 – Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic (b. 1901) 2002 – Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1931) 2002 – Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma (b. 1911) 2005 – Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician (b. 1932) 2006 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician (b. 1924) 2007 – Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic (b. 1921) 2007 – George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides (b. 1916) 2007 – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (b. 1928) 2008 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (b. 1929) 2008 – George Brecht, American chemist and composer (b. 1926) 2008 – Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (b. 1924) 2008 – Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (b. 1926) 2008 – Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1957) 2009 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (b. 1912) 2010 – Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922) 2010 – Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (b. 1938) 2011 – Peter Gethin, English race car driver (b. 1940) 2011 – Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1942) 2012 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (b. 1920) 2012 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (b. 1909) 2012 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (b. 1907) 2012 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (b. 1920) 2013 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (b. 1917) 2013 – William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1927) 2013 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918) 2014 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (b. 1931) 2014 – Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (b. 1928) 2014 – Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (b. 1931) 2014 – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (b. 1931) 2014 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (b. 1909) 2015 – Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (b. 1936) 2015 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1929) 2015 – Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (b. 1915) 2016 – Jayalalithaa, Indian politician, chief minister of Tamil Nadu (b. 1948) 2016 – Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (b. 1968) 2017 – Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (b. 1921) 2017 – August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (b. 1994) 2018 – Dynamite Kid, English wrestler (b. 1958) 2019 – Robert Walker, American actor (b. 1940) 2020 – Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (b. 1931) 2021 – Bob Dole, American politician (b. 1923) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Abercius Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church) Crispina Dalmatius of Pavia Gerbold Justinian of Ramsey Island Nicetius (Nizier) Pelinus of Brindisi Sabbas the Sanctified December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Children's Day (Suriname) Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia) Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic) International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands) Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK) Krampusnacht (Austria) The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday (Thailand) World Soil Day References External links BBC: On This Day Historical Events on December 5 Today in Canadian History Days of the year December

For many cameras, depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image. The depth of field can be calculated based on focal length, distance to subject, the acceptable circle of confusion size, and aperture. A particular depth of field may be chosen for technical or artistic purposes. Limitations of depth of field can sometimes be overcome with various techniques and equipment. Factors affecting depth of field For cameras that can only focus on one object distance at a time, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus. "Acceptably sharp focus" is defined using a property called the circle of confusion. The depth of field can be determined by focal length, distance to subject, the acceptable circle of confusion size, and aperture. The approximate depth of field can be given by: for a given circle of confusion (c), focal length (f), f-number (N), and distance to subject (u). As distance or the size of the acceptable circle of confusion increases, the depth of field increases; however, increasing the size of the aperture or increasing the focal length reduces the depth of field. Depth of field changes linearly with F-number and circle of confusion, but changes in proportional to the square of the focal length and the distance to the subject. As a result, photos taken at extremely close range have a proportionally much smaller depth of field. Sensor size affects DOF in counterintuitive ways. Because the circle of confusion is directly tied to the sensor size, decreasing the size of the sensor while holding focal length and aperture constant will decrease the depth of field (by the crop factor). The resulting image however will have a different field of view. If the focal length is altered to maintain the field of view, the change in focal length will counter the decrease of DOF from the smaller sensor and increase the depth of field (also by the crop factor). Effect of lens aperture For a given subject framing and camera position, the DOF is controlled by the lens aperture diameter, which is usually specified as the f-number (the ratio of lens focal length to aperture diameter). Reducing the aperture diameter (increasing the f-number) increases the DOF because only the light travelling at shallower angles passes through the aperture. Because the angles are shallow, the light rays are within the acceptable circle of confusion for a greater distance. For a given size of the subject's image in the focal plane, the same f-number on any focal length lens will give the same depth of field. This is evident from the DOF equation by noting that the ratio u/f is constant for constant image size. For example, if the focal length is doubled, the subject distance is also doubled to keep the subject image size the same. This observation contrasts with the common notion that "focal length is twice as important to defocus as f/stop", which applies to a constant subject distance, as opposed to constant image size. Motion pictures make only limited use of aperture control; to produce a consistent image quality from shot to shot, cinematographers usually choose a single aperture setting for interiors and another for exteriors, and adjust exposure through the use of camera filters or light levels. Aperture settings are adjusted more frequently in still photography, where variations in depth of field are used to produce a variety of special effects. Effect of circle of confusion Precise focus is only possible at an exact distance from the lens; at that distance, a point object will produce a point image. Otherwise, a point object will produce a blur spot shaped like the aperture, typically and approximately a circle. When this circular spot is sufficiently small, it is visually indistinguishable from a point, and appears to be in focus. The diameter of the largest circle that is indistinguishable from a point is known as the acceptable circle of confusion, or informally, simply as the circle of confusion. Points that produce a blur spot smaller than this acceptable circle of confusion are considered acceptably sharp. The acceptable circle of confusion depends on how the final image will be used. It is generally accepted to be 0.25 mm for an image viewed from 25 cm away. For 35 mm motion pictures, the image area on the film is roughly 22 mm by 16 mm. The limit of tolerable error was traditionally set at 0.05 mm (0.002 in) diameter, while for 16 mm film, where the size is about half as large, the tolerance is stricter, 0.025 mm (0.001 in). More modern practice for 35 mm productions set the circle of confusion limit at 0.025 mm (0.001 in). Camera movements The term "camera movements" refers to swivel (swing and tilt, in modern terminology) and shift adjustments of the lens holder and the film holder. These features have been in use since the 1800s and are still in use today on view cameras, technical cameras, cameras with tilt/shift or perspective control lenses, etc. Swiveling the lens or sensor causes the plane of focus (POF) to swivel, and also causes the field of acceptable focus to swivel with the POF; and depending on the DOF criteria, to also change the shape of the field of acceptable focus. While calculations for DOF of cameras with swivel set to zero have been discussed, formulated, and documented since before the 1940s, documenting calculations for cameras with non-zero swivel seem to have begun in 1990. More so than in the case of the zero swivel camera, there are various methods to form criteria and set up calculations for DOF when swivel is non-zero. There is a gradual reduction of clarity in objects as they move away from the POF, and at some virtual flat or curved surface the reduced clarity becomes unacceptable. Some photographers do calculations or use tables, some use markings on their equipment, some judge by previewing the image. When the POF is rotated, the near and far limits of DOF may be thought of as wedge-shaped, with the apex of the wedge nearest the camera; or they may be thought of as parallel to the POF. Object-field calculation methods Traditional depth-of-field formulas can be hard to use in practice. As an alternative, the same effective calculation can be done without regard to the focal length and f-number. Moritz von Rohr and later Merklinger observe that the effective absolute aperture diameter can be used for similar formula in certain circumstances. Moreover, traditional depth-of-field formulas assume equal acceptable circles of confusion for near and far objects. Merklinger suggested that distant objects often need to be much sharper to be clearly recognizable, whereas closer objects, being larger on the film, do not need to be so sharp. The loss of detail in distant objects may be particularly noticeable with extreme enlargements. Achieving this additional sharpness in distant objects usually requires focusing beyond the hyperfocal distance, sometimes almost at infinity. For example, if photographing a cityscape with a traffic bollard in the foreground, this approach, termed the object field method by Merklinger, would recommend focusing very close to infinity, and stopping down to make the bollard sharp enough. With this approach, foreground objects cannot always be made perfectly sharp, but the loss of sharpness in near objects may be acceptable if recognizability of distant objects is paramount. Other authors such as Ansel Adams have taken the opposite position, maintaining that slight unsharpness in foreground objects is usually more disturbing than slight unsharpness in distant parts of a scene. Overcoming DOF limitations Some methods and equipment allow altering the apparent DOF, and some even allow the DOF to be determined after the image is made. For example, focus stacking combines multiple images focused on different planes, resulting in an image with a greater (or less, if so desired) apparent depth of field than any of the individual source images. Similarly, in order to reconstruct the 3-dimensional shape of an object, a depth map can be generated from multiple photographs with different depths of field. Xiong and Shafer concluded, in part, "...the improvements on precisions of focus ranging and defocus ranging can lead to efficient shape recovery methods." Another approach is focus sweep. The focal plane is swept across the entire relevant range during a single exposure. This creates a blurred image, but with a convolution kernel that is nearly independent of object depth, so that the blur is almost entirely removed after computational deconvolution. This has the added benefit of dramatically reducing motion blur. Other technologies use a combination of lens design and post-processing: Wavefront coding is a method by which controlled aberrations are added to the optical system so that the focus and depth of field can be improved later in the process. The lens design can be changed even more: in colour apodization the lens is modified such that each colour channel has a different lens aperture. For example, the red channel may be f/2.4, green may be f/2.4, whilst the blue channel may be f/5.6. Therefore, the blue channel will have a greater depth of field than the other colours. The image processing identifies blurred regions in the red and green channels and in these regions copies the sharper edge data from the blue channel. The result is an image that combines the best features from the different f-numbers. At the extreme, a plenoptic camera captures 4D light field information about a scene, so the focus and depth of field can be altered after the photo is taken. Diffraction and DOF Diffraction causes images to lose sharpness at high F-numbers, and hence limits the potential depth of field. In general photography this is rarely an issue; because large f-numbers typically require long exposure times, motion blur may cause greater loss of sharpness than the loss from diffraction. However, diffraction is a greater issue in close-up photography, and the tradeoff between DOF and overall sharpness can become quite noticeable as photographers are trying to maximise depth of field with very small apertures. Hansma and Peterson have discussed determining the combined effects of defocus and diffraction using a root-square combination of the individual blur spots. Hansma's approach determines the f-number that will give the maximum possible sharpness; Peterson's approach determines the minimum f-number that will give the desired sharpness in the final image, and yields a maximum depth of field for which the desired sharpness can be achieved. In combination, the two methods can be regarded as giving a maximum and minimum f-number for a given situation, with the photographer free to choose any value within the range, as conditions (e.g., potential motion blur) permit. Gibson gives a similar discussion, additionally considering blurring effects of camera lens aberrations, enlarging lens diffraction and aberrations, the negative emulsion, and the printing paper. Couzin gave a formula essentially the same as Hansma's for optimal f-number, but did not discuss its derivation. Hopkins, Stokseth, and Williams and Becklund have discussed the combined effects using the modulation transfer function. DOF scales Many lenses include scales that indicate the DOF for a given focus distance and f-number; the 35 mm lens in the image is typical. That lens includes distance scales in feet and meters; when a marked distance is set opposite the large white index mark, the focus is set to that distance. The DOF scale below the distance scales includes markings on either side of the index that correspond to f-numbers. When the lens is set to a given f-number, the DOF extends between the distances that align with the f-number markings. Photographers can use the lens scales to work backwards from the desired depth of field to find the necessary focus distance and aperture. For the 35 mm lens shown, if it were desired for the DOF to extend from 1 m to 2 m, focus would be set so that index mark was centered between the marks for those distances, and the aperture would be set to f/11. On a view camera, the focus and f-number can be obtained by measuring the depth of field and performing simple calculations. Some view cameras include DOF calculators that indicate focus and f-number without the need for any calculations by the photographer. Hyperfocal distance Near:far distribution The DOF beyond the subject is always greater than the DOF in front of the subject. When the subject is at the hyperfocal distance or beyond, the far DOF is infinite, so the ratio is 1:∞; as the subject distance decreases, near:far DOF ratio increases, approaching unity at high magnification. For large apertures at typical portrait distances, the ratio is still close to 1:1. DOF formulae This section covers some additional formula for evaluating depth of field; however they are all subject to significant simplifying assumptions: for example, they assume the paraxial approximation of Gaussian optics. They are suitable for practical photography, lens designers would use significantly more complex ones. Focus and f-number from DOF limits For given near and far DOF limits and , the required f-number is smallest when focus is set to the harmonic mean of the near and far distances. In practice, this is equivalent to the arithmetic mean for shallow depths of field. Sometimes, view camera users refer to the difference as the focus spread. Foreground and background blur If a subject is at distance and the foreground or background is at distance , let the distance between the subject and the foreground or background be indicated by The blur disk diameter of a detail at distance from the subject can be expressed as a function of the subject magnification , focal length , f-number , or alternatively the aperture , according to The minus sign applies to a foreground object, and the plus sign applies to a background object. The blur increases with the distance from the subject; when is less than the circle of confusion, the detail is within the depth of field. See also Notes References Citations Sources Available as GIF images on the Large Format page. Further reading Hummel, Rob (editor). 2001. American Cinematographer Manual. 8th ed. Hollywood: ASC Press. External links Depth of Field in Photography - Beginner's Guide Online Depth of Field Calculator Simple depth of field and hyperfocal distance calculator photoskop: Interactive Photography Lessons – Interactive Depth of Field Bokeh simulator and depth of field calculator Interactive depth of field calculator with background blur simulation feature Lens Comparison: Nikon 50mm f/1.4D vs. 50mm f/1.4G Demonstration of varying apertures on Depth of Field Depth Of Field For Beginners- A quick explainer video for DOF Geometrical optics Science of photography Photographic techniques

Director may refer to: Literature Director (magazine), a British magazine The Director (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker The Director (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music Director (band), an Irish rock band Director (Avant album) (2006) Director (Yonatan Gat album) Occupations and positions Arts and design Animation director Artistic director Creative director Design director Film director Music director Music video director Sports director Television director Theatre director Positions in other fields Director (business), a senior level management position Director (colonial), head of chartered company's colonial administration in a territory Director (education), head of a university or other educational body Company director Cruise director Executive director Finance director or chief financial officer Funeral director Managing director Non-executive director Technical director Tournament director Science and technology Director (military), a device that continuously calculates firing data Adobe Director, multimedia authoring software Fibre Channel director, a large switch for computer storage networks Director telephone system, or Director exchange GCR Class 11E or Directors, a class of locomotive Director, the spatial and temporal average of the orientation of the long molecular axis within a small volume element of liquid crystal Other uses Director (1969 film), a Soviet film directed by Alexey Saltykov Director (2009 film), an American film directed by Aleks Rosenberg The Director, an artificial intelligence system in the video game Left 4 Dead HMS Director (1784), a ship of the British Royal Navy Directors beer, by Courage Brewery People with the surname Aaron Director (1901–2004), professor at the University of Chicago Law School Kim Director (born 1974), American actress See also Deputy Director (disambiguation) Directeur sportif, a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event Director-general Director string, a way of tracking free variables in computation French Directory, the executive committee of the French Revolutionary government between 1795 and 1799 kk:Режиссер

In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this example, the dative marks what would be considered the indirect object of a verb in English. Sometimes the dative has functions unrelated to giving. In Scottish Gaelic and Irish, the term dative case is used in traditional grammars to refer to the prepositional case-marking of nouns following simple prepositions and the definite article. In Georgian and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), the dative case can also mark the subject of a sentence. This is called the dative construction. In Hindi, the dative construction is not limited to only certain verbs or tenses and it can be used with any verb in any tense or mood. The dative was common among early Indo-European languages and has survived to the present in the Balto-Slavic branch and the Germanic branch, among others. It also exists in similar forms in several non-Indo-European languages, such as the Uralic family of languages. In some languages, the dative case has assimilated the functions of other, now extinct cases. In Ancient Greek, the dative has the functions of the Proto-Indo-European locative and instrumental as well as those of the original dative. Under the influence of English, which uses the preposition "to" for (among other uses) both indirect objects (give to) and directions of movement (go to), the term "dative" has sometimes been used to describe cases that in other languages would more appropriately be called lative. Etymology "Dative" comes from Latin cāsus datīvus ("case for giving"), a translation of Greek δοτικὴ πτῶσις, dotikē ptôsis ("inflection for giving"). Dionysius Thrax in his Art of Grammar also refers to it as epistaltikḗ "for sending (a letter)", from the verb epistéllō "send to", a word from the same root as epistle. English The Old English language had a dative case; however, the English case system gradually fell into disuse during the Middle English period, when the accusative and dative of pronouns merged into a single oblique case that was also used with all prepositions. This conflation of case in Middle and Modern English has led most modern grammarians to discard the "accusative" and "dative" labels as obsolete in reference to English, often using the term "objective" for oblique. Set expressions The dative case is rare in modern English usage, but it can be argued that it survives in a few set expressions. One example is the word "methinks", with the meaning "it seems to me". It survives in this fixed form from Old English (having undergone, however, phonetic changes with the rest of the language), in which it was constructed as "[it]" + "me" (the dative case of the personal pronoun) + "thinks" (i.e., "seems", < Old English þyncan, "to seem", a verb closely related to the verb þencan, "to think", but distinct from it in Old English; later it merged with "think" and lost this meaning). Relic pronouns The modern objective case pronoun whom is derived from the dative case in Old English, specifically the Old English dative pronoun "hwām" (as opposed to the modern subjective "who", which descends from Old English "hwā") – though "whom" also absorbed the functions of the Old English accusative pronoun "hwone". It is also cognate to the word "wem" (the dative form of "wer") in German. The OED defines all classical uses of the word "whom" in situations where the indirect object is not known – in effect, indicating the anonymity of the indirect object. Likewise, some of the object forms of personal pronouns are remnants of Old English datives. For example, "him" goes back to the Old English dative him (accusative was hine), and "her" goes back to the dative hire (accusative was hīe). These pronouns are not pure datives in modern English; they are also used for functions previously indicated by the accusative. Modern English The indirect object of the verb may be placed between the verb and the direct object of the verb: "he gave me a book" or "he wrote me a poem." The indirect object may also be expressed using a prepositional phrase using "to" or "for": "he gave a book to me " or "he wrote a poem for me." German In general, the dative (German: Dativ) is used to mark the indirect object of a German sentence. For example: Ich schickte dem Mann(e) das Buch. (literally: I sent "to the man" the book.) – Masculine Ich gab der Frau den Stift zurück. (literally: I gave "to the woman" the pencil back.) – Feminine Ich überreiche dem Kind(e) ein Geschenk. (literally: I hand "to the child" a present.) – Neuter In English, the first sentence can be rendered as "I sent the book to the man" and as "I sent the man the book", where the indirect object is identified in English by standing in front of the direct object. The normal word order in German is to put the dative in front of the accusative (as in the example above). However, since the German dative is marked in form, it can also be put after the accusative: Ich schickte das Buch dem Mann(e). The (e) after Mann and Kind signifies a now largely archaic -e ending for certain nouns in the dative. It survives today almost exclusively in set phrases such as zu Hause (at home, lit. to house), im Zuge (in the course of), and am Tage (during the day, lit. at the day), as well as in occasional usage in formal prose, poetry, and song lyrics. Some masculine nouns (and one neuter noun, Herz [heart]), referred to as weak nouns or n-nouns, take an -n or -en in the dative singular and plural. Many are masculine nouns ending in -e in the nominative (such as Name [name], Beamte [officer], and Junge [boy]), although not all such nouns follow this rule. Many also, whether or not they fall into the former category, refer to people, animals, professions, or titles; exceptions to this include the aforementioned Herz and Name, as well as Buchstabe (letter), Friede (peace), Obelisk (obelisk), Planet (planet), and others. Certain German prepositions require the dative: aus (from), außer (out of), bei (at, near), entgegen (against), gegenüber (opposite), mit (with), nach (after, to), seit (since), von (from), and zu (at, in, to). Some other prepositions (an [at], auf [on], entlang [along], hinter [behind], in [in, into], neben (beside, next to), über [over, across], unter [under, below], vor [in front of], and zwischen [among, between]) may be used with dative (indicating current location), or accusative (indicating direction toward something). Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch(e) (dative: The book is lying on the table), but Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch (accusative: I put the book onto the table). In addition the four prepositions [an]statt (in place of), trotz (in spite of), während (during), and wegen (because of) which require the genitive in modern formal language, are most commonly used with the dative in colloquial German. For example, "because of the weather" is expressed as wegen dem Wetter instead of the formally correct wegen des Wetters. Other prepositions requiring the genitive in formal language, are combined with von ("of") in colloquial style, e.g. außerhalb vom Garten instead of außerhalb des Gartens ("outside the garden"). Note that the concept of an indirect object may be rendered by a prepositional phrase. In this case, the noun's or pronoun's case is determined by the preposition, NOT by its function in the sentence. Consider this sentence: Ich sandte das Buch zum Verleger. 'I sent the book to the editor.' Here, the subject, Ich, is in the nominative case, the direct object, das Buch, is in the accusative case, and zum Verleger is in the dative case, since zu always requires the dative (zum is a contraction of zu + dem). However: Ich habe das Buch an meinen Freund (accusative) weitergegeben. 'I forwarded the book to my friend.' (weitergeben = lit.: to give further). In this sentence, Freund is the indirect object, but, because it follows an (direction), the accusative is required, not the dative. All of the articles change in the dative case. Some German verbs require the dative for their direct objects. Common examples are antworten (to answer), danken (to thank), gefallen (to please), folgen (to follow), glauben (to believe), helfen (to help), and raten (to advise). In each case, the direct object of the verb is rendered in the dative. For example: Meine Freunde helfen mir. (My friends help me.) These verbs cannot be used in normal passive constructions, because German allows these only for verbs with accusative objects. It is therefore ungrammatical to say: *Ich werde geholfen. "I am helped." Instead a special construction called "impersonal passive" must be used: Mir wird geholfen, literally: "To me is helped." A colloquial (non-standard) way to form the passive voice for dative verbs is the following: Ich kriege geholfen, or: Ich bekomme geholfen, literally: "I get helped". The use of the verb "to get" here reminds us that the dative case has something to do with giving and receiving. In German, help is not something you perform on somebody, but rather something you offer them. The dative case is also used with reflexive (sich) verbs when specifying what part of the self the verb is being done to: Ich wasche mich. – accusative (I wash myself.) Ich wasche mir die Hände. – dative (I wash my hands, literally "I wash for myself the hands") Cf. the respective accord in French: "Les enfants se sont lavés" (the children have washed themselves) vs. "Les enfants se sont lavé" [uninflected] "les mains" (... their hands). German can use two datives to make sentences like: Sei mir meinem Sohn(e) gnädig! "For my sake, have mercy on my son!" Literally: "Be for me to my son merciful." The first dative mir ("for me") expresses the speaker's commiseration (much like the dativus ethicus in Latin, see below). The second dative meinem Sohn(e) ("to my son") names the actual object of the plea. Mercy is to be given to the son for or on behalf of his mother/father. Adjective endings also change in the dative case. There are three inflection possibilities depending on what precedes the adjective. They most commonly use weak inflection when preceded by a definite article (the), mixed inflection after an indefinite article (a/an), and strong inflection when a quantity is indicated (many green apples). Latin There are several uses for the dative case (): (dative of purpose), e.g. – "[we learn] not for school, but for life", – "to call for help", – "I'm coming for help", – "I receive [this] as a gift" or – "[this] is for the girl's decoration", or "... for decoration for the girl" (as could be either dative or genitive) , which means action for (or against) somebody, e.g., – "to till fields for Greeks"; Combination of and (double dative): "to you for joy" (possessive dative) which means possession, e.g. – literally "to (or for) the angels are wings", this is typically found with a copula and translated as "angels have wings". (ethic dative) indicates that the person in the dative is or should be especially concerned about the action, e.g. "What is Celsus doing for me?" (expressing the speaker being especially interested in what Celsus is doing for him or her); or "Whose interest does this serve?" (literally "To whom does this do good?") , meaning; 'in the eyes of', e.g., 'he seems to me to be a good man'. The dative expresses agency with the gerundive when the gerundive is used to convey obligation or necessity, e.g., , 'these things must be done by us.' Greek Ancient In addition to its main function as the dativus, the dative case has other functions in Classical Greek: (The chart below uses the Latin names for the types of dative; the Greek name for the dative is δοτική πτῶσις, like its Latin equivalent, derived from the verb "to give"; in Ancient Greek, δίδωμι.) Dativus finalis: The dativus finalis, or the 'dative of purpose', is when the dative is used to denote the purpose of a certain action. For example: "" "I fight for the king". "" "I die for honour". Dativus commŏdi (incommodi): The dativus commodi sive incommodi, or the 'dative of benefit (or harm)' is the dative that expresses the advantage or disadvantage of something for someone. For example: For the benefit of: "" (Sophocles, Ajax 1366). "Every man toils for himself". For the harm or disadvantage of: "" (Thucydides 2.12.4). "This day will be the beginning of great sorrows for the Greeks (i.e., for their disadvantage)". Dativus possessivus: The dativus possessivus, or the 'dative of possession' is the dative used to denote the possessor of a certain object or objects. For example: "" (Thucycdides 1.86.3). "For others have a lot of money and ships and horses, but we have good allies (i.e., To others there is a lot of money...)". Dativus ethicus: The dativus ethicus, or the 'ethic or polite dative,' is when the dative is used to signify that the person or thing spoken of is regarded with interest by someone. This dative is mostly, if not exclusively, used in pronouns. As such, it is also called the "dative of pronouns." For example: "" (Demosthenes 18.178). "Pay close attention to this, I beg you (i.e., please pay..)". "" (Xenophon, Cyropaedia 18.178). "Oh, mother, how handsome grandpa is (I've just realized!)". Dativus auctoris: The dativus auctoris, or the 'dative of agent,' is the dative used to denote the doer of an action. Note, however, that in Classical Greek, the agent is usually in the genitive after (by, at the hands of). The agent is in the dative most often with the perfect and pluperfect passive, and with the verbal adjective in . For example: "" (Isocrates 8.39) "Many cures have been discovered by doctors." Dativus instrumenti: The dativus instrumenti, or the 'dative of instrument,' is when the dative is used to denote an instrument or means of a certain action (or, more accurately, as the instrumental case). For example: "." (Homer, Odyssey 9.407) "He kills me with a bait (i.e., by means of a bait)." Dativus modi: The dativus modi, or the 'dative of manner,' is the dative used to describe the manner or way by which something happened. For example: "" (Thucydides 8.84) "having died of (from) a disease." Dativus mensurae: The dativus mensurae, or the 'dative of measurement,' is the dative used to denote the measurement of difference. For example: "" (Plato, Phaedo 101a) "taller by a head." "" (Plato, Laws 729d) "by far the best." The articles in the Greek dative are Modern The dative case, strictly speaking, no longer exists in Modern Greek, except in fossilized expressions like δόξα τω Θεώ (from the ecclesiastical τῷ Θεῷ δόξα, "Glory to God") or εν τάξει (ἐν τάξει, lit. "in order", i.e. "all right" or "OK"). Otherwise, most of the functions of the dative have been subsumed in the accusative. Slavic languages In Russian, the dative case is used for indicating the indirect object of an action (that to which something is given, thrown, read, etc.). In the instance where a person is the goal of motion, dative is used instead of accusative to indicate motion toward. This is usually achieved with the preposition κ + destination in dative case; К врачу, meaning "to the doctor." Dative is also the necessary case taken by certain prepositions when expressing certain ideas. For instance, when the preposition по is used to mean "along," its object is always in dative case, as in По бокам, meaning "along the sides." Other Slavic languages apply the dative case (and the other cases) more or less the same way as does Russian; some languages may use the dative in other ways. The following examples are from Polish: after certain verbs (dziękować komuś "to thank someone", pomóc komuś "to help someone", wierzyć komuś "to believe someone") in certain expressions (Czy podoba ci się piosenka? "Do you like the song?", Jest mi zimno "I'm cold", Jest nam smutno "We're feeling sad", Będzie wam trudniej... "It will be more difficult for you guys"), Śniło jej się, że... "She dreamt that" dativus commodi to indicate action for somebody (Zbuduję temu człowiekowi dom "I will build a house for this person") when something is taken away or something occurs to someone (Zdechł im pies "Their dog died"; Zabrali mu komputer "They took away his computer"; Zepsuł nam się samochód "Our car broke down"; Coś mi się przypomniało "I just remembered something") Some other kinds of dative use as found in the Serbo-Croatian language are: Dativus finalis (Titaniku u pomoć "to Titanic's rescue"), Dativus commodi/incommodi (Operi svojoj majci suđe "Wash the dishes for your mother"), Dativus possessivus (Ovcama je dlaka gusta "Sheep's hair is thick"), Dativus ethicus (Šta mi radi Boni? "What is Boni doing? (I am especially interested in what it is)") and Dativus auctoris (Izgleda mi okej "It seems okay to me"). Unusual in other Indo-European branches but common among Slavic languages, endings of nouns and adjectives are different based on grammatical function. Other factors are gender and number. In some cases, the ending may not be obvious, even when those three factors (function, gender, number) are considered. For example, in Polish, 'syn' ("son") and 'ojciec' ("father") are both masculine singular nouns, yet appear as syn → synowi and ojciec → ojcu in the dative. Baltic languages Both Lithuanian and Latvian have a distinct dative case in the system of nominal declensions. Lithuanian nouns preserve Indo-European inflections in the dative case fairly well: (o-stems) vaikas -> sg. vaikui, pl. vaikams; (ā-stems) ranka -> sg. rankai, pl. rankoms; (i-stems) viltis -> sg. vilčiai, pl. viltims; (u-stems) sūnus -> sg. sūnui, pl. sūnums; (consonant stems) vanduo -> sg. vandeniui, pl. vandenims. Adjectives in the dative case receive pronominal endings (this might be the result of a more recent development): tas geras vaikas -> sg. tam geram vaikui, pl. tiems geriems vaikams. The dative case in Latvian underwent further simplifications – the original masculine endings of both nouns and adjectives have been replaced with pronominal inflections: tas vīrs -> sg. tam vīram, pl. vīriem. Also, the final "s" in all Dative forms has been dropped. The only exception is personal pronouns in the plural: mums (to us), jums (to you). Note that in colloquial Lithuanian the final "s" in the dative is often omitted, as well: time geriem vaikam. In both Latvian and Lithuanian, the main function of the dative case is to render the indirect object in a sentence: (lt) aš duodu vyrui knygą; (lv) es dodu [duodu] vīram grāmatu – I am giving a book to the man. The dative case can also be used with gerundives to indicate an action preceding or simultaneous with the main action in a sentence: (lt) jam įėjus, visi atsistojo – when he walked in, everybody stood up, lit. to him having walked in, all stood up; (lt) jai miegant, visi dirbo – while she slept, everybody was working, lit. to her sleeping, all were working. In modern standard Lithuanian, Dative case is not required by prepositions, although in many dialects it is done frequently: (dial.) iki (+D) šiai dienai, (stand.) iki (+G) šios dienos – up until this day. In Latvian, the dative case is taken by several prepositions in the singular and all prepositions in the plural (due to peculiar historical changes): sg. bez (+G) tevis (without thee) ~ pl. bez (+D) jums (without you); sg. pa (+A) ceļu (along the road) ~ pl. pa (+D) ceļiem (along the roads). Armenian In modern Eastern Armenian, the dative is attained by adding any article to the genitive: dog = շուն GEN > շան (of the dog; dog's) with no articles DAT > շանը or շանն (to the dog) with definite articles (-ն if preceding a vowel) DAT > մի շան (to a dog) with indefinite article DAT > շանս (to my dog) with 1st person possessive article DAT > շանդ (to your dog) with 2nd person possessive article There is a general tendency to view -ին as the standard dative suffix, but only because that is its most productive (and therefore common) form. The suffix -ին as a dative marker is nothing but the standard, most common, genitive suffix -ի accompanied by the definite article -ն. But the dative case encompasses indefinite objects as well, which will not be marked by -ին: Definite DAT > Ես գիրքը տվեցի տղային: (I gave the book to the boy) Indefinite DAT> Ես գիրքը տվեցի մի տղայի: (I gave the book to a boy) The main function of the dative marking in Armenian is to indicate the receiving end of an action, more commonly the indirect object which in English is preceded by the preposition to. In the use of "giving" verbs like give, donate, offer, deliver, sell, bring... the dative marks the recipient. With communicative verbs like tell, say, advise, explain, ask, answer... the dative marks the listener. Other verbs whose indirect objects are marked by the dative case in Armenian are show, reach, look, approach... Eastern Armenian also uses the dative case to mark the time of an event, in the same way English uses the preposition at, as in Meet me at nine o' clock. Indo-Aryan languages Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) has true dative case for pronouns, but for nouns the dative case has to be constructed using the dative case-marker (postposition) को کو (ko) to the nouns in their oblique case. Pronouns in Hindustani also have an oblique case, so dative pronouns can also be alternatively constructed using the dative case-marker को کو (ko) with the pronouns in their oblique case, hence forming two sets of synonymous dative pronouns. The following table shows the pronouns in their nominative and their dative forms. Hindustani lacks pronouns in the third person and the demonstrative pronouns double as the third person pronouns. The table below shows the oblique cases of Hindustani for the nouns boy and girl which take in the dative case-marker after them to assign the combination of the oblique case and the case-marker the dative case. The oblique case of Hindustani by itself has no meaning and adding the case-marker को کو (ko) assigns the oblique case the function of the dative case. Dative case in Hindustani can also mark the subject of a sentence. This is called the dative construction or quirky subjects. In the examples below the dative pronoun passes the subjecthood test of subject-oriented anaphora binding. The dative subject मुझे مجھے (mujhe) binds the anaphora अपने اپنے (apne). Sanskrit The dative case is known as the "fourth case" (chaturthi-vibhakti) in the usual procedure in the declension of nouns. Its use is mainly for the indirect object. Non-Indo-European languages Hungarian As with many other languages, the dative case is used in Hungarian to show the indirect object of a verb. For example, Dánielnek adtam ezt a könyvet (I gave this book to Dániel). It has two suffixes, -nak and -nek; the correct one is selected by vowel harmony. The personal dative pronouns follow the -nek version: nekem, neked, etc. This case is also used to express "for" in certain circumstances, such as "I bought a gift for Mother". In possessive constructions the nak/nek endings are also used but this is not the dative form (rather, the attributive or possessive case) Finnish Finnish does not have a separate dative case. However, the allative case can fulfill essentially the same role as dative, beyond its primary meaning of directional movement (that is, going somewhere or approaching someone). For example: He lahjoittivat kaikki rahansa köyhille (They donated all their money to the poor.) Tsez In the Northeast Caucasian languages, such as Tsez, the dative also takes the functions of the lative case in marking the direction of an action. By some linguists, they are still regarded as two separate cases in those languages, although the suffixes are exactly the same for both cases. Other linguists list them separately only for the purpose of separating syntactic cases from locative cases. An example with the ditransitive verb "show" (literally: "make see") is given below: The dative/lative is also used to indicate possession, as in the example below, because there is no such verb as "to have". As in the examples above, the dative/lative case usually occurs in combination with another suffix as poss-lative case; this should not be regarded as a separate case, however, as many of the locative cases in Tsez are constructed analytically; hence, they are, in fact, a combination of two case suffixes. See Tsez language#Locative case suffixes for further details. Verbs of perception or emotion (like "see", "know", "love", "want") also require the logical subject to stand in the dative/lative case. Note that in this example the "pure" dative/lative without its POSS-suffix is used. Turkish The dative case (yönelme durumu) in Turkish language is formed by adding the ''-e" or "-a'' suffixes to the end of the noun, in accordance with the effected noun's vowel harmony. The word that should be in the dative case can be found as an answer to the questions 'neye?' (to what?), 'kime?' (to whom?) and 'nereye?' (to where?) will lead to find a dative case in a sentence. There are many different uses for the dative case. The dative also is for objects, usually indirect objects, but sometimes objects that in English would be considered direct: The dative case tells whither, that is, the place to which''. Thus it has roughly the meaning of the English prepositions "to" and "into", and also "in" when it can be replaced with "into": See also Dative construction Declension in English Double dative References External links German dative case A lesson covering the dative case in the German language Hungarian dative case from www. HungarianReference.com Russian Dative: , , Grammatical cases

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The two formed the subfamily Raphinae, a clade of extinct flightless birds that were a part of the family including pigeons and doves. The closest living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion, but it is now believed that this assumption was merely confusion based on the also-extinct Réunion ibis and paintings of white dodos. Subfossil remains show the dodo was about tall and may have weighed in the wild. The dodo's appearance in life is evidenced only by drawings, paintings, and written accounts from the 17th century. Since these portraits vary considerably, and since only some of the illustrations are known to have been drawn from live specimens, the dodos' exact appearance in life remains unresolved, and little is known about its behaviour. It has been depicted with brownish-grey plumage, yellow feet, a tuft of tail feathers, a grey, naked head, and a black, yellow, and green beak. It used gizzard stones to help digest its food, which is thought to have included fruits, and its main habitat is believed to have been the woods in the drier coastal areas of Mauritius. One account states its clutch consisted of a single egg. It is presumed that the dodo became flightless because of the ready availability of abundant food sources and a relative absence of predators on Mauritius. Though the dodo has historically been portrayed as being fat and clumsy, it is now thought to have been well-adapted for its ecosystem. The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. In the following years, the bird was hunted by sailors and invasive species, while its habitat was being destroyed. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662. Its extinction was not immediately noticed, and some considered it to be a myth. In the 19th century, research was conducted on a small quantity of remains of four specimens that had been brought to Europe in the early 17th century. Among these is a dried head, the only soft tissue of the dodo that remains today. Since then, a large amount of subfossil material has been collected on Mauritius, mostly from the Mare aux Songes swamp. The extinction of the dodo within less than a century of its discovery called attention to the previously unrecognised problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species. The dodo achieved widespread recognition from its role in the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it has since become a fixture in popular culture, often as a symbol of extinction and obsolescence. Taxonomy The dodo was variously declared a small ostrich, a rail, an albatross, or a vulture, by early scientists. In 1842, Danish zoologist Johannes Theodor Reinhardt proposed that dodos were ground pigeons, based on studies of a dodo skull he had discovered in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. This view was met with ridicule, but was later supported by English naturalists Hugh Edwin Strickland and Alexander Gordon Melville in their 1848 monograph The Dodo and Its Kindred, which attempted to separate myth from reality. After dissecting the preserved head and foot of the specimen at the Oxford University Museum and comparing it with the few remains then available of the extinct Rodrigues solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) they concluded that the two were closely related. Strickland stated that although not identical, these birds shared many distinguishing features of the leg bones, otherwise known only in pigeons. Strickland and Melville established that the dodo was anatomically similar to pigeons in many features. They pointed to the very short keratinous portion of the beak, with its long, slender, naked basal part. Other pigeons also have bare skin around their eyes, almost reaching their beak, as in dodos. The forehead was high in relation to the beak, and the nostril was located low on the middle of the beak and surrounded by skin, a combination of features shared only with pigeons. The legs of the dodo were generally more similar to those of terrestrial pigeons than of other birds, both in their scales and in their skeletal features. Depictions of the large crop hinted at a relationship with pigeons, in which this feature is more developed than in other birds. Pigeons generally have very small clutches, and the dodo is said to have laid a single egg. Like pigeons, the dodo lacked the vomer and septum of the nostrils, and it shared details in the mandible, the zygomatic bone, the palate, and the hallux. The dodo differed from other pigeons mainly in the small size of the wings and the large size of the beak in proportion to the rest of the cranium. Throughout the 19th century, several species were classified as congeneric with the dodo, including the Rodrigues solitaire and the Réunion solitaire, as Didus solitarius and Raphus solitarius, respectively (Didus and Raphus being names for the dodo genus used by different authors of the time). An atypical 17th-century description of a dodo and bones found on Rodrigues, now known to have belonged to the Rodrigues solitaire, led Abraham Dee Bartlett to name a new species, Didus nazarenus, in 1852. Based on solitaire remains, it is now a synonym of that species. Crude drawings of the red rail of Mauritius were also misinterpreted as dodo species; Didus broeckii and Didus herberti. For many years the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire were placed in a family of their own, the Raphidae (formerly Dididae), because their exact relationships with other pigeons were unresolved. Each was also placed in its own monotypic family (Raphidae and Pezophapidae, respectively), as it was thought that they had evolved their similarities independently. Osteological and DNA analysis has since led to the dissolution of the family Raphidae, and the dodo and solitaire are now placed in their own subfamily, Raphinae, within the family Columbidae. Evolution In 2002, American geneticist Beth Shapiro and colleagues analysed the DNA of the dodo for the first time. Comparison of mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA sequences isolated from a tarsal of the Oxford specimen and a femur of a Rodrigues solitaire confirmed their close relationship and their placement within the Columbidae. The genetic evidence was interpreted as showing the Southeast Asian Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) to be their closest living relative, followed by the crowned pigeons (Goura) of New Guinea, and the superficially dodo-like tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris) from Samoa (its scientific name refers to its dodo-like beak). This clade consists of generally ground-dwelling island endemic pigeons. The following cladogram shows the dodo's closest relationships within the Columbidae, based on Shapiro et al., 2002: A similar cladogram was published in 2007, inverting the placement of Goura and Didunculus and including the pheasant pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis) and the thick-billed ground pigeon (Trugon terrestris) at the base of the clade. The DNA used in these studies was obtained from the Oxford specimen, and since this material is degraded, and no usable DNA has been extracted from subfossil remains, these findings still need to be independently verified. Based on behavioural and morphological evidence, Jolyon C. Parish proposed that the dodo and Rodrigues solitaire should be placed in the subfamily Gourinae along with the Goura pigeons and others, in agreement with the genetic evidence. In 2014, DNA of the only known specimen of the recently extinct spotted green pigeon (Caloenas maculata) was analysed, and it was found to be a close relative of the Nicobar pigeon, and thus also the dodo and Rodrigues solitaire. The 2002 study indicated that the ancestors of the dodo and the solitaire diverged around the Paleogene-Neogene boundary, about 23.03 million years ago. The Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues), are of volcanic origin and are less than 10 million years old. Therefore, the ancestors of both birds probably remained capable of flight for a considerable time after the separation of their lineage. The Nicobar and spotted green pigeon were placed at the base of a lineage leading to the Raphinae, which indicates the flightless raphines had ancestors that were able to fly, were semi-terrestrial, and inhabited islands. This in turn supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of those birds reached the Mascarene islands by island hopping from South Asia. The lack of mammalian herbivores competing for resources on these islands allowed the solitaire and the dodo to attain very large sizes and flightlessness. Despite its divergent skull morphology and adaptations for larger size, many features of its skeleton remained similar to those of smaller, flying pigeons. Another large, flightless pigeon, the Viti Levu giant pigeon (Natunaornis gigoura), was described in 2001 from subfossil material from Fiji. It was only slightly smaller than the dodo and the solitaire, and it too is thought to have been related to the crowned pigeons. Etymology One of the original names for the dodo was the Dutch "Walghvoghel", first used in the journal of Dutch Vice Admiral Wybrand van Warwijck, who visited Mauritius during the Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia in 1598. Walghe means "tasteless", "insipid", or "sickly", and means "bird". The name was translated by Jakob Friedlib into German as Walchstök or Walchvögel. The original Dutch report titled Waarachtige Beschryving was lost, but the English translation survived: Another account from that voyage, perhaps the first to mention the dodo, states that the Portuguese referred to them as penguins. The meaning may not have been derived from penguin (the Portuguese referred to those birds as "fotilicaios" at the time), but from pinion, a reference to the small wings. The crew of the Dutch ship Gelderland referred to the bird as "Dronte" (meaning "swollen") in 1602, a name that is still used in some languages. This crew also called them "griff-eendt" and "kermisgans", in reference to fowl fattened for the Kermesse festival in Amsterdam, which was held the day after they anchored on Mauritius. The etymology of the word dodo is unclear. Some ascribe it to the Dutch word dodoor for "sluggard", but it is more probably related to Dodaars, which means either "fat-arse" or "knot-arse", referring to the knot of feathers on the hind end. The first record of the word Dodaars is in Captain Willem Van West-Zanen's journal in 1602. The English writer Sir Thomas Herbert was the first to use the word dodo in print in his 1634 travelogue claiming it was referred to as such by the Portuguese, who had visited Mauritius in 1507. Another Englishman, Emmanuel Altham, had used the word in a 1628 letter in which he also claimed its origin was Portuguese. The name "dodar" was introduced into English at the same time as dodo, but was only used until the 18th century. As far as is known, the Portuguese never mentioned the bird. Nevertheless, some sources still state that the word dodo derives from the Portuguese word doudo (currently doido), meaning "fool" or "crazy". It has also been suggested that dodo was an onomatopoeic approximation of the bird's call, a two-note pigeon-like sound resembling "doo-doo". The Latin name cucullatus ("hooded") was first used by Juan Eusebio Nieremberg in 1635 as Cygnus cucullatus, in reference to Carolus Clusius's 1605 depiction of a dodo. In his 18th-century classic work Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus used cucullatus as the specific name, but combined it with the genus name Struthio (ostrich). Mathurin Jacques Brisson coined the genus name Raphus (referring to the bustards) in 1760, resulting in the current name Raphus cucullatus. In 1766, Linnaeus coined the new binomial Didus ineptus (meaning "inept dodo"). This has become a synonym of the earlier name because of nomenclatural priority. Description As no complete dodo specimens exist, its external appearance, such as plumage and colouration, is hard to determine. Illustrations and written accounts of encounters with the dodo between its discovery and its extinction (1598–1662) are the primary evidence for its external appearance. According to most representations, the dodo had greyish or brownish plumage, with lighter primary feathers and a tuft of curly light feathers high on its rear end. The head was grey and naked, the beak green, black and yellow, and the legs were stout and yellowish, with black claws. A study of the few remaining feathers on the Oxford specimen head showed that they were pennaceous rather than plumaceous (downy) and most similar to those of other pigeons. Subfossil remains and remnants of the birds that were brought to Europe in the 17th century show that dodos were very large birds, up to tall. The bird was sexually dimorphic; males were larger and had proportionally longer beaks. Weight estimates have varied from study to study. In 1993, Bradley C. Livezey proposed that males would have weighed and females . Also in 1993, Andrew C. Kitchener attributed a high contemporary weight estimate and the roundness of dodos depicted in Europe to these birds having been overfed in captivity; weights in the wild were estimated to have been in the range of , and fattened birds could have weighed . A 2011 estimate by Angst and colleagues gave an average weight as low as . This has also been questioned, and there is still controversy over weight estimates. A 2016 study estimated the weight at , based on CT scans of composite skeletons. It has also been suggested that the weight depended on the season, and that individuals were fat during cool seasons, but less so during hot. The skull of the dodo differed much from those of other pigeons, especially in being more robust, the bill having a hooked tip, and in having a short cranium compared to the jaws. The upper bill was nearly twice as long as the cranium, which was short compared to those of its closest pigeon relatives. The openings of the bony nostrils were elongated along the length of the beak, and they contained no bony septum. The cranium (excluding the beak) was wider than it was long, and the frontal bone formed a dome-shape, with the highest point above the hind part of the eye sockets. The skull sloped downwards at the back. The eye sockets occupied much of the hind part of the skull. The sclerotic rings inside the eye were formed by eleven ossicles (small bones), similar to the amount in other pigeons. The mandible was slightly curved, and each half had a single fenestra (opening), as in other pigeons. The dodo had about nineteen presynsacral vertebrae (those of the neck and thorax, including three fused into a notarium), sixteen synsacral vertebrae (those of the lumbar region and sacrum), six free tail (caudal) vertebrae, and a pygostyle. The neck had well-developed areas for muscle and ligament attachment, probably to support the heavy skull and beak. On each side, it had six ribs, four of which articulated with the sternum through sternal ribs. The sternum was large, but small in relation to the body compared to those of much smaller pigeons that are able to fly. The sternum was highly pneumatic, broad, and relatively thick in cross-section. The bones of the pectoral girdle, shoulder blades, and wing bones were reduced in size compared to those of flighted pigeon, and were more gracile compared to those of the Rodrigues solitaire, but none of the individual skeletal components had disappeared. The carpometacarpus of the dodo was more robust than that of the solitaire, however. The pelvis was wider than that of the solitaire and other relatives, yet was comparable to the proportions in some smaller, flighted pigeons. Most of the leg bones were more robust than those of extant pigeons and the solitaire, but the length proportions were little different. Many of the skeletal features that distinguish the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire, its closest relative, from other pigeons have been attributed to their flightlessness. The pelvic elements were thicker than those of flighted pigeons to support the higher weight, and the pectoral region and the small wings were paedomorphic, meaning that they were underdeveloped and retained juvenile features. The skull, trunk and pelvic limbs were peramorphic, meaning that they changed considerably with age. The dodo shared several other traits with the Rodrigues solitaire, such as features of the skull, pelvis, and sternum, as well as their large size. It differed in other aspects, such as being more robust and shorter than the solitaire, having a larger skull and beak, a rounded skull roof, and smaller orbits. The dodo's neck and legs were proportionally shorter, and it did not possess an equivalent to the knob present on the solitaire's wrists. Contemporary descriptions Most contemporary descriptions of the dodo are found in ship's logs and journals of the Dutch East India Company vessels that docked in Mauritius when the Dutch Empire ruled the island. These records were used as guides for future voyages. Few contemporary accounts are reliable, as many seem to be based on earlier accounts, and none were written by scientists. One of the earliest accounts, from van Warwijck's 1598 journal, describes the bird as follows: One of the most detailed descriptions is by Herbert in A Relation of Some Yeares Travaille into Afrique and the Greater Asia from 1634: Contemporary depictions The travel journal of the Dutch ship Gelderland (1601–1603), rediscovered in the 1860s, contains the only known sketches of living or recently killed specimens drawn on Mauritius. They have been attributed to the professional artist Joris Joostensz Laerle, who also drew other now-extinct Mauritian birds, and to a second, less refined artist. Apart from these sketches, it is unknown how many of the twenty or so 17th-century illustrations of the dodos were drawn from life or from stuffed specimens, which affects their reliability. Since dodos are otherwise only known from limited physical remains and descriptions, contemporary artworks are important to reconstruct their appearance in life. While there has been an effort since the mid-19 century to list all historical illustrations of dodos, previously unknown depictions continue to be discovered occasionally. The traditional image of the dodo is of a very fat and clumsy bird, but this view may be exaggerated. The general opinion of scientists today is that many old European depictions were based on overfed captive birds or crudely stuffed specimens. It has also been suggested that the images might show dodos with puffed feathers, as part of display behaviour. The Dutch painter Roelant Savery was the most prolific and influential illustrator of the dodo, having made at least twelve depictions, often showing it in the lower corners. A famous painting of his from 1626, now called Edwards's Dodo as it was once owned by the ornithologist George Edwards, has since become the standard image of a dodo. It is housed in the Natural History Museum, London. The image shows a particularly fat bird and is the source for many other dodo illustrations. An Indian Mughal painting rediscovered in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, in 1955 shows a dodo along with native Indian birds. It depicts a slimmer, brownish bird, and its discoverer Aleksander Iwanow and British palaeontologist Julian Hume regarded it as one of the most accurate depictions of the living dodo; the surrounding birds are clearly identifiable and depicted with appropriate colouring. It is believed to be from the 17th century and has been attributed to the Mughal painter Ustad Mansur. The bird depicted probably lived in the menagerie of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, located in Surat, where the English traveller Peter Mundy also claimed to have seen two dodos sometime between 1628 and 1633. In 2014, another Indian illustration of a dodo was reported, but it was found to be derivative of an 1836 German illustration. All post-1638 depictions appear to be based on earlier images, around the time reports mentioning dodos became rarer. Differences in the depictions led ornithologists such as Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans and Masauji Hachisuka to speculate about sexual dimorphism, ontogenic traits, seasonal variation, and even the existence of different species, but these theories are not accepted today. Because details such as markings of the beak, the form of the tail feathers, and colouration vary from account to account, it is impossible to determine the exact morphology of these features, whether they signal age or sex, or if they even reflect reality. Hume argued that the nostrils of the living dodo would have been slits, as seen in the Gelderland, Cornelis Saftleven, Savery's Crocker Art Gallery, and Ustad Mansur images. According to this claim, the gaping nostrils often seen in paintings indicate that taxidermy specimens were used as models. Most depictions show that the wings were held in an extended position, unlike flighted pigeons, but similar to ratites such as the ostrich and kiwi. Behaviour and ecology Little is known of the behaviour of the dodo, as most contemporary descriptions are very brief. Based on weight estimates, it has been suggested the male could reach the age of 21, and the female 17. Studies of the cantilever strength of its leg bones indicate that it could run quite fast. The legs were robust and strong to support the bulk of the bird, and also made it agile and manoeuvrable in the dense, pre-human landscape. Though the wings were small, well-developed muscle scars on the bones show that they were not completely vestigial, and may have been used for display behaviour and balance; extant pigeons also use their wings for such purposes. Unlike the Rodrigues solitaire, there is no evidence that the dodo used its wings in intraspecific combat. Though some dodo bones have been found with healed fractures, it had weak pectoral muscles and more reduced wings in comparison. The dodo may instead have used its large, hooked beak in territorial disputes. Since Mauritius receives more rainfall and has less seasonal variation than Rodrigues, which would have affected the availability of resources on the island, the dodo would have less reason to evolve aggressive territorial behaviour. The Rodrigues solitaire was therefore probably the more aggressive of the two. In 2016, the first 3D endocast was made from the brain of the dodo; the brain-to-body-size ratio was similar to that of modern pigeons, indicating that dodos were probably equal in intelligence. The preferred habitat of the dodo is unknown, but old descriptions suggest that it inhabited the woods on the drier coastal areas of south and west Mauritius. This view is supported by the fact that the Mare aux Songes swamp, where most dodo remains have been excavated, is close to the sea in south-eastern Mauritius. Such a limited distribution across the island could well have contributed to its extinction. A 1601 map from the Gelderland journal shows a small island off the coast of Mauritius where dodos were caught. Julian Hume has suggested this island was l'île aux Benitiers in Tamarin Bay, on the west coast of Mauritius. Subfossil bones have also been found inside caves in highland areas, indicating that it once occurred on mountains. Work at the Mare aux Songes swamp has shown that its habitat was dominated by tambalacoque and Pandanus trees and endemic palms. The near-coastal placement and wetness of the Mare aux Songes led to a high diversity of plant species, whereas the surrounding areas were drier. Many endemic species of Mauritius became extinct after the arrival of humans, so the ecosystem of the island is badly damaged and hard to reconstruct. Before humans arrived, Mauritius was entirely covered in forests, but very little remains of them today, because of deforestation. The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened. The dodo lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the flightless red rail, the broad-billed parrot, the Mascarene grey parakeet, the Mauritius blue pigeon, the Mauritius owl, the Mascarene coot, the Mauritian shelduck, the Mauritian duck, and the Mauritius night heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian giant skink, and the Round Island burrowing boa. The small Mauritian flying fox and the snail Tropidophora carinata lived on Mauritius and Réunion, but vanished from both islands. Some plants, such as Casearia tinifolia and the palm orchid, have also become extinct. Diet A 1631 Dutch letter (long thought lost, but rediscovered in 2017) is the only account of the dodo's diet, and also mentions that it used its beak for defence. The document uses word-play to refer to the animals described, with dodos presumably being an allegory for wealthy mayors: In addition to fallen fruits, the dodo probably subsisted on nuts, seeds, bulbs, and roots. It has also been suggested that the dodo might have eaten crabs and shellfish, like their relatives the crowned pigeons. Its feeding habits must have been versatile, since captive specimens were probably given a wide range of food on the long sea journeys. Oudemans suggested that as Mauritius has marked dry and wet seasons, the dodo probably fattened itself on ripe fruits at the end of the wet season to survive the dry season, when food was scarce; contemporary reports describe the bird's "greedy" appetite. The Mauritian ornithologist France Staub suggested in 1996 that they mainly fed on palm fruits, and he attempted to correlate the fat-cycle of the dodo with the fruiting regime of the palms. Skeletal elements of the upper jaw appear to have been rhynchokinetic (movable in relation to each other), which must have affected its feeding behaviour. In extant birds, such as frugivorous (fruit-eating) pigeons, kinetic premaxillae help with consuming large food items. The beak also appears to have been able to withstand high force loads, which indicates a diet of hard food. Examination of the brain endocast found that though the brain was similar to that of other pigeons in most respects, the dodo had a comparatively large olfactory bulb. This gave the dodo a good sense of smell, which may have aided in locating fruit and small prey. Several contemporary sources state that the dodo used Gastroliths (gizzard stones) to aid digestion. The English writer Sir Hamon L'Estrange witnessed a live bird in London and described it as follows: It is not known how the young were fed, but related pigeons provide crop milk. Contemporary depictions show a large crop, which was probably used to add space for food storage and to produce crop milk. It has been suggested that the maximum size attained by the dodo and the solitaire was limited by the amount of crop milk they could produce for their young during early growth. In 1973, the tambalacoque, also known as the dodo tree, was thought to be dying out on Mauritius, to which it is endemic. There were supposedly only 13 specimens left, all estimated to be about 300 years old. Stanley Temple hypothesised that it depended on the dodo for its propagation, and that its seeds would germinate only after passing through the bird's digestive tract. He claimed that the tambalacoque was now nearly coextinct because of the disappearance of the dodo. Temple overlooked reports from the 1940s that found that tambalacoque seeds germinated, albeit very rarely, without being abraded during digestion. Others have contested his hypothesis and suggested that the decline of the tree was exaggerated, or seeds were also distributed by other extinct animals such as Cylindraspis tortoises, fruit bats or the broad-billed parrot. According to Wendy Strahm and Anthony Cheke, two experts in the ecology of the Mascarene Islands, the tree, while rare, has germinated since the demise of the dodo and numbers several hundred, not 13 as claimed by Temple, hence discrediting Temple's view as to the dodo and the tree's sole survival relationship. The Brazilian ornithologist Carlos Yamashita suggested in 1997 that the broad-billed parrot may have depended on dodos and Cylindraspis tortoises to eat palm fruits and excrete their seeds, which became food for the parrots. Anodorhynchus macaws depended on now-extinct South American megafauna in the same way, but now rely on domesticated cattle for this service. Reproduction and development As it was flightless and terrestrial and there were no mammalian predators or other kinds of natural enemy on Mauritius, the dodo probably nested on the ground. The account by François Cauche from 1651 is the only description of the egg and the call: Cauche's account is problematic, since it also mentions that the bird he was describing had three toes and no tongue, unlike dodos. This led some to believe that Cauche was describing a new species of dodo ("Didus nazarenus"). The description was most probably mingled with that of a cassowary, and Cauche's writings have other inconsistencies. A mention of a "young ostrich" taken on board a ship in 1617 is the only other reference to a possible juvenile dodo. An egg claimed to be that of a dodo is stored in the East London Museum in South Africa. It was donated by the South African museum official Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, whose great aunt had received it from a captain who claimed to have found it in a swamp on Mauritius. In 2010, the curator of the museum proposed using genetic studies to determine its authenticity. It may instead be an aberrant ostrich egg. Because of the possible single-egg clutch and the bird's large size, it has been proposed that the dodo was K-selected, meaning that it produced few altricial offspring, which required parental care until they matured. Some evidence, including the large size and the fact that tropical and frugivorous birds have slower growth rates, indicates that the bird may have had a protracted development period. The fact that no juvenile dodos have been found in the Mare aux Songes swamp may indicate that they produced little offspring, that they matured rapidly, that the breeding grounds were far away from the swamp, or that the risk of miring was seasonal. A 2017 study examined the histology of thin-sectioned dodo bones, modern Mauritian birds, local ecology, and contemporary accounts, to recover information about the life history of the dodo. The study suggested that dodos bred around August, after having potentially fattened themselves, corresponding with the fat and thin cycles of many vertebrates of Mauritius. The chicks grew rapidly, reaching robust, almost adult, sizes, and sexual maturity before Austral summer or the cyclone season. Adult dodos which had just bred moulted after Austral summer, around March. The feathers of the wings and tail were replaced first, and the moulting would have completed at the end of July, in time for the next breeding season. Different stages of moulting may also account for inconsistencies in contemporary descriptions of dodo plumage. Relationship with humans Mauritius had previously been visited by Arab vessels in the Middle Ages and Portuguese ships between 1507 and 1513, but was settled by neither. No records of dodos by these are known, although the Portuguese name for Mauritius, "Cerne (swan) Island", may have been a reference to dodos. The Dutch Empire acquired Mauritius in 1598, renaming it after Maurice of Nassau, and it was used for the provisioning of trade vessels of the Dutch East India Company henceforward. The earliest known accounts of the dodo were provided by Dutch travelers during the Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia, led by admiral Jacob van Neck in 1598. They appear in reports published in 1601, which also contain the first published illustration of the bird. Since the first sailors to visit Mauritius had been at sea for a long time, their interest in these large birds was mainly culinary. The 1602 journal by Willem Van West-Zanen of the ship Bruin-Vis mentions that 24–25 dodos were hunted for food, which were so large that two could scarcely be consumed at mealtime, their remains being preserved by salting. An illustration made for the 1648 published version of this journal, showing the killing of dodos, a dugong, and possibly Mascarene grey parakeets, was captioned with a Dutch poem, here in Hugh Strickland's 1848 translation: Some early travellers found dodo meat unsavoury, and preferred to eat parrots and pigeons; others described it as tough but good. Some hunted dodos only for their gizzards, as this was considered the most delicious part of the bird. Dodos were easy to catch, but hunters had to be careful not to be bitten by their powerful beaks. The appearance of the dodo and the red rail led Peter Mundy to speculate, 230 years before Charles Darwin's theory of evolution: Dodos transported abroad The dodo was found interesting enough that living specimens were sent to Europe and the East. The number of transported dodos that reached their destinations alive is uncertain, and it is unknown how they relate to contemporary depictions and the few non-fossil remains in European museums. Based on a combination of contemporary accounts, paintings, and specimens, Julian Hume has inferred that at least eleven transported dodos reached their destinations alive. Hamon L'Estrange's description of a dodo that he saw in London in 1638 is the only account that specifically mentions a live specimen in Europe. In 1626 Adriaen van de Venne drew a dodo that he claimed to have seen in Amsterdam, but he did not mention if it were alive, and his depiction is reminiscent of Savery's Edwards's Dodo. Two live specimens were seen by Peter Mundy in Surat, India, between 1628 and 1634, one of which may have been the individual painted by Ustad Mansur around 1625. In 1628, Emmanuel Altham visited Mauritius and sent a letter to his brother in England: Whether the dodo survived the journey is unknown, and the letter was destroyed by fire in the 19th century. The earliest known picture of a dodo specimen in Europe is from a collection of paintings depicting animals in the royal menagerie of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague. This collection includes paintings of other Mauritian animals as well, including a red rail. The dodo, which may be a juvenile, seems to have been dried or embalmed, and had probably lived in the emperor's zoo for a while together with the other animals. That whole stuffed dodos were present in Europe indicates they had been brought alive and died there; it is unlikely that taxidermists were on board the visiting ships, and spirits were not yet used to preserve biological specimens. Most tropical specimens were preserved as dried heads and feet. One dodo was reportedly sent as far as Nagasaki, Japan in 1647, but it was long unknown whether it arrived. Contemporary documents first published in 2014 proved the story, and showed that it had arrived alive. It was meant as a gift, and, despite its rarity, was considered of equal value to a white deer and a bezoar stone. It is the last recorded live dodo in captivity. Extinction Like many animals that evolved in isolation from significant predators, the dodo was entirely fearless of humans. This fearlessness and its inability to fly made the dodo easy prey for sailors. Although some scattered reports describe mass killings of dodos for ships' provisions, archaeological investigations have found scant evidence of human predation. Bones of at least two dodos were found in caves at Baie du Cap that sheltered fugitive slaves and convicts in the 17th century, which would not have been easily accessible to dodos because of the high, broken terrain. The human population on Mauritius (an area of ) never exceeded 50 people in the 17th century, but they introduced other animals, including dogs, pigs, cats, rats, and crab-eating macaques, which plundered dodo nests and competed for the limited food resources. At the same time, humans destroyed the forest habitat of the dodos. The impact of the introduced animals on the dodo population, especially the pigs and macaques, is today considered more severe than that of hunting. Rats were perhaps not much of a threat to the nests, since dodos would have been used to dealing with local land crabs. It has been suggested that the dodo may already have been rare or localised before the arrival of humans on Mauritius, since it would have been unlikely to become extinct so rapidly if it had occupied all the remote areas of the island. A 2005 expedition found subfossil remains of dodos and other animals killed by a flash flood. Such mass mortalities would have further jeopardised a species already in danger of becoming extinct. Yet the fact that the dodo survived hundreds of years of volcanic activity and climatic changes shows the bird was resilient within its ecosystem. Some controversy surrounds the date of its extinction. The last widely accepted record of a dodo sighting is the 1662 report by shipwrecked mariner Volkert Evertsz of the Dutch ship Arnhem, who described birds caught on a small islet off Mauritius, now suggested to be Amber Island: The dodos on this islet may not necessarily have been the last members of the species. The last claimed sighting of a dodo was reported in the hunting records of Isaac Johannes Lamotius in 1688. A 2003 statistical analysis of these records by the biologists David L. Roberts and Andrew R. Solow gave a new estimated extinction date of 1693, with a 95% confidence interval of 1688–1715. These authors also pointed out that because the last sighting before 1662 was in 1638, the dodo was probably already quite rare by the 1660s, and thus a disputed report from 1674 by an escaped slave could not be dismissed out of hand. The British ornithologist Alfred Newton suggested in 1868 that the name of the dodo was transferred to the red rail after the former had gone extinct. Cheke also pointed out that some descriptions after 1662 use the names "Dodo" and "Dodaers" when referring to the red rail, indicating that they had been transferred to it. He therefore pointed to the 1662 description as the last credible observation. A 1668 account by English traveller John Marshall, who used the names "Dodo" and "Red Hen" interchangeably for the red rail, mentioned that the meat was "hard", which echoes the description of the meat in the 1681 account. Even the 1662 account has been questioned by the writer Errol Fuller, as the reaction to distress cries matches what was described for the red rail. Until this explanation was proposed, a description of "dodos" from 1681 was thought to be the last account, and that date still has proponents. Cheke stated in 2014 that then recently accessible Dutch manuscripts indicate that no dodos were seen by settlers in 1664–1674. In 2020, Cheke and the British researcher Jolyon C. Parish suggested that all mentions of dodos after the mid-17th century instead referred to red rails, and that the dodo had disappeared due to predation by feral pigs during a hiatus in settlement of Mauritius (1658–1664). The dodo's extinction therefore was not realised at the time, since new settlers had not seen real dodos, but as they expected to see flightless birds, they referred to the red rail by that name instead. Since red rails probably had larger clutches than dodos and their eggs could be incubated faster, and their nests were perhaps concealed, they probably bred more efficiently, and were less vulnerable to pigs. It is unlikely the issue will ever be resolved, unless late reports mentioning the name alongside a physical description are rediscovered. The IUCN Red List accepts Cheke's rationale for choosing the 1662 date, taking all subsequent reports to refer to red rails. In any case, the dodo was probably extinct by 1700, about a century after its discovery in 1598. The Dutch left Mauritius in 1710, but by then the dodo and most of the large terrestrial vertebrates there had become extinct. Even though the rareness of the dodo was reported already in the 17th century, its extinction was not recognised until the 19th century. This was partly because, for religious reasons, extinction was not believed possible until later proved so by Georges Cuvier, and partly because many scientists doubted that the dodo had ever existed. It seemed altogether too strange a creature, and many believed it a myth. The bird was first used as an example of human-induced extinction in Penny Magazine in 1833, and has since been referred to as an "icon" of extinction. Physical remains 17th-century specimens The only extant remains of dodos taken to Europe in the 17th century are a dried head and foot in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, a foot once housed in the British Museum but now lost, a skull in the University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum, and an upper jaw in the National Museum, Prague. The last two were rediscovered and identified as dodo remains in the mid-19th century. Several stuffed dodos were also mentioned in old museum inventories, but none are known to have survived. Apart from these remains, a dried foot, which belonged to the Dutch professor Pieter Pauw, was mentioned by Carolus Clusius in 1605. Its provenance is unknown, and it is now lost, but it may have been collected during the Van Neck voyage. Supposed stuffed dodos seen in museums around the world today have in fact been made from feathers of other birds, many of the older ones by the British taxidermist Rowland Ward's company. The only known soft tissue remains, the Oxford head (specimen OUM 11605) and foot, belonged to the last known stuffed dodo, which was first mentioned as part of the Tradescant collection in 1656 and was moved to the Ashmolean Museum in 1659. It has been suggested that this might be the remains of the bird that Hamon L'Estrange saw in London, the bird sent by Emanuel Altham, or a donation by Thomas Herbert. Since the remains do not show signs of having been mounted, the specimen might instead have been preserved as a study skin. In 2018, it was reported that scans of the Oxford dodo's head showed that its skin and bone contained lead shot, pellets which were used to hunt birds in the 17th century. This indicates that the Oxford dodo was shot either before being transported to Britain, or some time after arriving. The circumstances of its killing are unknown, and the pellets are to be examined to identify where the lead was mined from. Many sources state that the Ashmolean Museum burned the stuffed dodo around 1755 because of severe decay, saving only the head and leg. Statute 8 of the museum states "That as any particular grows old and perishing the keeper may remove it into one of the closets or other repository; and some other to be substituted." The deliberate destruction of the specimen is now believed to be a myth; it was removed from exhibition to preserve what remained of it. This remaining soft tissue has since degraded further; the head was dissected by Strickland and Melville, separating the skin from the skull in two-halves. The foot is in a skeletal state, with only scraps of skin and tendons. Very few feathers remain on the head. It is probably a female, as the foot is 11% smaller and more gracile than the London foot, yet appears to be fully grown. The specimen was exhibited at the Oxford museum from at least the 1860s and until 1998, where-after it was mainly kept in storage to prevent damage. Casts of the head can today be found in many museums worldwide. The dried London foot, first mentioned in 1665, and transferred to the British Museum in the 18th century, was displayed next to Savery's Edwards's Dodo painting until the 1840s, and it too was dissected by Strickland and Melville. It was not posed in a standing posture, which suggests that it was severed from a fresh specimen, not a mounted one. By 1896 it was mentioned as being without its integuments, and only the bones are believed to remain today, though its present whereabouts are unknown. The Copenhagen skull (specimen ZMUC 90-806) is known to have been part of the collection of Bernardus Paludanus in Enkhuizen until 1651, when it was moved to the museum in Gottorf Castle, Schleswig. After the castle was occupied by Danish forces in 1702, the museum collection was assimilated into the Royal Danish collection. The skull was rediscovered by J. T. Reinhardt in 1840. Based on its history, it may be the oldest known surviving remains of a dodo brought to Europe in the 17th century. It is shorter than the Oxford skull, and may have belonged to a female. It was mummified, but the skin has perished. The front part of a skull (specimen NMP P6V-004389) in the National Museum of Prague was found in 1850 among the remains of the Böhmisches Museum. Other elements supposedly belonging to this specimen have been listed in the literature, but it appears only the partial skull was ever present (a partial right limb in the museum appears to be from a Rodrigues solitaire). It may be what remains of one of the stuffed dodos known to have been at the menagerie of Emperor Rudolph II, possibly the specimen painted by Hoefnagel or Savery there. Subfossil specimens Until 1860, the only known dodo remains were the four incomplete 17th-century specimens. Philip Burnard Ayres found the first subfossil bones in 1860, which were sent to Richard Owen at the British Museum, who did not publish the findings. In 1863, Owen requested the Mauritian Bishop Vincent Ryan to spread word that he should be informed if any dodo bones were found. In 1865, George Clark, the government schoolmaster at Mahébourg, finally found an abundance of subfossil dodo bones in the swamp of Mare aux Songes in Southern Mauritius, after a 30-year search inspired by Strickland and Melville's monograph. In 1866, Clark explained his procedure to The Ibis, an ornithology journal: he had sent his coolies to wade through the centre of the swamp, feeling for bones with their feet. At first they found few bones, until they cut away herbage that covered the deepest part of the swamp, where they found many fossils. Harry Pasley Higginson, a railway engineer from Yorkshire, reports discovering the Mare aux Songes bones at the same time as Clark and there is some dispute over who found them first. Higginson sent boxes of these bones to Liverpool, Leeds and York museums. The swamp yielded the remains of over 300 dodos, but very few skull and wing bones, possibly because the upper bodies were washed away or scavenged while the lower body was trapped. The situation is similar to many finds of moa remains in New Zealand marshes. Most dodo remains from the Mare aux Songes have a medium to dark brown colouration. Clark's reports about the finds rekindled interest in the bird. Sir Richard Owen and Alfred Newton both wanted to be first to describe the post-cranial anatomy of the dodo, and Owen bought a shipment of dodo bones originally meant for Newton, which led to rivalry between the two. Owen described the bones in Memoir on the Dodo in October 1866, but erroneously based his reconstruction on the Edwards's Dodo painting by Savery, making it too squat and obese. In 1869 he received more bones and corrected its stance, making it more upright. Newton moved his focus to the Réunion solitaire instead. The remaining bones not sold to Owen or Newton were auctioned off or donated to museums. In 1889, Théodor Sauzier was commissioned to explore the "historical souvenirs" of Mauritius and find more dodo remains in the Mare aux Songes. He was successful, and also found remains of other extinct species. In 2005, after a hundred years of neglect, a part of the Mare aux Songes swamp was excavated by an international team of researchers (International Dodo Research Project). To prevent malaria, the British had covered the swamp with hard core during their rule over Mauritius, which had to be removed. Many remains were found, including bones of at least 17 dodos in various stages of maturity (though no juveniles), and several bones obviously from the skeleton of one individual bird, which have been preserved in their natural position. These findings were made public in December 2005 in the Naturalis museum in Leiden. 63% of the fossils found in the swamp belonged to turtles of the extinct genus Cylindraspis, and 7.1% belonged to dodos, which had been deposited within several centuries, 4,000 years ago. Subsequent excavations suggested that dodos and other animals became mired in the Mare aux Songes while trying to reach water during a long period of severe drought about 4,200 years ago. Furthermore, cyanobacteria thrived in the conditions created by the excrements of animals gathered around the swamp, which died of intoxication, dehydration, trampling, and miring. Though many small skeletal elements were found during the recent excavations of the swamp, few were found during the 19th century, probably owing to the employment of less refined methods when collecting. Louis Etienne Thirioux, an amateur naturalist at Port Louis, also found many dodo remains around 1900 from several locations. They included the first articulated specimen, which is the first subfossil dodo skeleton found outside the Mare aux Songes, and the only remains of a juvenile specimen, a now lost tarsometatarsus. The former specimen was found in 1904 in a cave near Le Pouce mountain, and is the only known complete skeleton of an individual dodo. Thirioux donated the specimen to the Museum Desjardins (now Natural History Museum at Mauritius Institute). Thrioux's heirs sold a second mounted composite skeleton (composed of at least two skeletons, with a mainly reconstructed skull) to the Durban Museum of Natural Science in South Africa in 1918. Together, these two skeletons represent the most completely known dodo remains, including bone elements previously unrecorded (such as knee-caps and wing bones). Though some contemporary writers noted the importance of Thrioux's specimens, they were not scientifically studied, and were largely forgotten until 2011, when sought out by a group of researchers. The mounted skeletons were laser scanned, from which 3-D models were reconstructed, which became the basis of a 2016 monograph about the osteology of the dodo. In 2006, explorers discovered a complete skeleton of a dodo in a lava cave in Mauritius. This was only the second associated skeleton of an individual specimen ever found, and the only one in recent times. Worldwide, 26 museums have significant holdings of dodo material, almost all found in the Mare aux Songes. The Natural History Museum, American Museum of Natural History, Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, the Senckenberg Museum, and others have almost complete skeletons, assembled from the dissociated subfossil remains of several individuals. In 2011, a wooden box containing dodo bones from the Edwardian era was rediscovered at the Grant Museum at University College London during preparations for a move. They had been stored with crocodile bones until then. White dodo The supposed "white dodo" (or "solitaire") of Réunion is now considered an erroneous conjecture based on contemporary reports of the Réunion ibis and 17th-century paintings of white, dodo-like birds by Pieter Withoos and Pieter Holsteyn that surfaced in the 19th century. The confusion began when Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe, who visited Réunion around 1619, mentioned fat, flightless birds that he referred to as "Dod-eersen" in his journal, though without mentioning their colouration. When the journal was published in 1646, it was accompanied by an engraving of a dodo from Savery's "Crocker Art Gallery sketch". A white, stocky, and flightless bird was first mentioned as part of the Réunion fauna by Chief Officer J. Tatton in 1625. Sporadic mentions were subsequently made by Sieur Dubois and other contemporary writers. Baron Edmond de Sélys Longchamps coined the name Raphus solitarius for these birds in 1848, as he believed the accounts referred to a species of dodo. When 17th-century paintings of white dodos were discovered by 19th-century naturalists, it was assumed they depicted these birds. Oudemans suggested that the discrepancy between the paintings and the old descriptions was that the paintings showed females, and that the species was therefore sexually dimorphic. Some authors also believed the birds described were of a species similar to the Rodrigues solitaire, as it was referred to by the same name, or even that there were white species of both dodo and solitaire on the island. The Pieter Withoos painting, which was discovered first, appears to be based on an earlier painting by Pieter Holsteyn, three versions of which are known to have existed. According to Hume, Cheke, and Valledor de Lozoya, it appears that all depictions of white dodos were based on Roelant Savery's painting Landscape with Orpheus and the animals, or on copies of it. The painting has generally been dated to 1611, though a post-1614, or even post-1626, date has also been proposed. The painting shows a whitish specimen and was apparently based on a stuffed specimen then in Prague; a walghvogel described as having a "dirty off-white colouring" was mentioned in an inventory of specimens in the Prague collection of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, to whom Savery was contracted at the time (1607–1611). Savery's several later images all show greyish birds, possibly because he had by then seen another specimen. Cheke and Hume believe the painted specimen was white, owing to albinism. Valledor de Lozoya has instead suggested that the light plumage was a juvenile trait, a result of bleaching of old taxidermy specimens, or simply artistic license. In 1987, scientists described fossils of a recently extinct species of ibis from Réunion with a relatively short beak, Borbonibis latipes, before a connection to the solitaire reports had been made. Cheke suggested to one of the authors, Francois Moutou, that the fossils may have been of the Réunion solitaire, and this suggestion was published in 1995. The ibis was reassigned to the genus Threskiornis, now combined with the specific epithet from the binomial R. solitarius. Birds of this genus are also white and black with slender beaks, fitting the old descriptions of the Réunion solitaire. No fossil remains of dodo-like birds have ever been found on the island. Cultural significance The dodo's significance as one of the best-known extinct animals and its singular appearance led to its use in literature and popular culture as a symbol of an outdated concept or object, as in the expression "dead as a dodo," which has come to mean unquestionably dead or obsolete. Similarly, the phrase "to go the way of the dodo" means to become extinct or obsolete, to fall out of common usage or practice, or to become a thing of the past. "Dodo" is also a slang term for a stupid, dull-witted person, as it was said to be stupid and easily caught. The dodo appears frequently in works of popular fiction, and even before its extinction, it was featured in European literature, as a symbol for exotic lands, and of gluttony, due to its apparent fatness. In 1865, the same year that George Clark started to publish reports about excavated dodo fossils, the newly vindicated bird was featured as a character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It is thought that he included the dodo because he identified with it and had adopted the name as a nickname for himself because of his stammer, which made him accidentally introduce himself as "Do-do-dodgson", his legal surname. Carroll and the girl who served as inspiration for Alice, Alice Liddell, had enjoyed visiting the Oxford museum to see the dodo remains there. The book's popularity made the dodo a well-known icon of extinction. Popular depictions of the dodo often became more exaggerated and cartoonish following its Alice in Wonderland fame, which was in line with the inaccurate belief that it was clumsy, tragic, and destined for extinction. The dodo is used as a mascot for many kinds of products, especially in Mauritius. It appears as a supporter on the coat of arms of Mauritius, on Mauritius coins, is used as a watermark on all Mauritian rupee banknotes, and features as the background of the Mauritian immigration form. A smiling dodo is the symbol of the Brasseries de Bourbon, a popular brewer on Réunion, whose emblem displays the white species once thought to have lived there. The dodo is used to promote the protection of endangered species by environmental organisations, such as the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Durrell Wildlife Park. The Center for Biological Diversity gives an annual 'Rubber Dodo Award', to "those who have done the most to destroy wild places, species and biological diversity". In 2011, the nephiline spider Nephilengys dodo, which inhabits the same woods as the dodo once did, was named after the bird to raise awareness of the urgent need for protection of the Mauritius biota. Two species of ant from Mauritius have been named after the dodo: Pseudolasius dodo in 1946 and Pheidole dodo in 2013. A species of isopod from a coral reef off Réunion was named Hansenium dodo in 1991. The name dodo has been used by scientists naming genetic elements, honoring the dodo's flightless nature. A fruitfly gene within a region of a chromosome required for flying ability was named "dodo". In addition, a defective transposable element family from Phytophthora infestans was named DodoPi as it contained mutations that eliminated the element's ability to jump to new locations in a chromosome. In 2009, a previously unpublished 17th-century Dutch illustration of a dodo went for sale at Christie's and was expected to sell for £6,000. It is unknown whether the illustration was based on a specimen or on a previous image, and the artist is unidentified. It sold for £44,450. The poet Hilaire Belloc included the following poem about the dodo in his Bad Child's Book of Beasts from 1896: See also Holocene extinction List of African animals extinct in the Holocene List of recently extinct birds References Footnotes Sources Supplementary information External links Painting the Dodo: Two-minute video about Julian Hume's modern interpretation of Roelant Savery's Dodo Dodo Bird Unboxing: Seven-minute video showing the Oxford specimen being taken out of storage and discussed Aves3D – Raphus cucullatus : Interactive 3D scans of various dodo elements Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1758 Birds of Mauritius Extinct animals of Mauritius Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands Extinct flightless birds National symbols of Mauritius Raphinae Species made extinct by human activities Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of stem cells in the adult organism. Perspectives The main processes involved in the embryonic development of animals are: tissue patterning (via regional specification and patterned cell differentiation); tissue growth; and tissue morphogenesis. Regional specification refers to the processes that create spatial pattern in a ball or sheet of initially similar cells. This generally involves the action of cytoplasmic determinants, located within parts of the fertilized egg, and of inductive signals emitted from signaling centers in the embryo. The early stages of regional specification do not generate functional differentiated cells, but cell populations committed to develop to a specific region or part of the organism. These are defined by the expression of specific combinations of transcription factors. Cell differentiation relates specifically to the formation of functional cell types such as nerve, muscle, secretory epithelia etc. Differentiated cells contain large amounts of specific proteins associated with the cell function. Morphogenesis relates to the formation of three-dimensional shape. It mainly involves the orchestrated movements of cell sheets and of individual cells. Morphogenesis is important for creating the three germ layers of the early embryo (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm) and for building up complex structures during organ development. Tissue growth involves both an overall increase in tissue size, and also the differential growth of parts (allometry) which contributes to morphogenesis. Growth mostly occurs through cell proliferation but also through changes of cell size or the deposition of extracellular materials. The development of plants involves similar processes to that of animals. However plant cells are mostly immotile so morphogenesis is achieved by differential growth, without cell movements. Also, the inductive signals and the genes involved are different from those that control animal development. Developmental processes Cell differentiation Cell differentiation is the process whereby different functional cell types arise in development. For example, neurons, muscle fibers and hepatocytes (liver cells) are well known types of differentiated cells. Differentiated cells usually produce large amounts of a few proteins that are required for their specific function and this gives them the characteristic appearance that enables them to be recognized under the light microscope. The genes encoding these proteins are highly active. Typically their chromatin structure is very open, allowing access for the transcription enzymes, and specific transcription factors bind to regulatory sequences in the DNA in order to activate gene expression. For example, NeuroD is a key transcription factor for neuronal differentiation, myogenin for muscle differentiation, and HNF4 for hepatocyte differentiation. Cell differentiation is usually the final stage of development, preceded by several states of commitment which are not visibly differentiated. A single tissue, formed from a single type of progenitor cell or stem cell, often consists of several differentiated cell types. Control of their formation involves a process of lateral inhibition, based on the properties of the Notch signaling pathway. For example, in the neural plate of the embryo this system operates to generate a population of neuronal precursor cells in which NeuroD is highly expressed. Regeneration Regeneration indicates the ability to regrow a missing part. This is very prevalent amongst plants, which show continuous growth, and also among colonial animals such as hydroids and ascidians. But most interest by developmental biologists has been shown in the regeneration of parts in free living animals. In particular four models have been the subject of much investigation. Two of these have the ability to regenerate whole bodies: Hydra, which can regenerate any part of the polyp from a small fragment, and planarian worms, which can usually regenerate both heads and tails. Both of these examples have continuous cell turnover fed by stem cells and, at least in planaria, at least some of the stem cells have been shown to be pluripotent. The other two models show only distal regeneration of appendages. These are the insect appendages, usually the legs of hemimetabolous insects such as the cricket, and the limbs of urodele amphibians. Considerable information is now available about amphibian limb regeneration and it is known that each cell type regenerates itself, except for connective tissues where there is considerable interconversion between cartilage, dermis and tendons. In terms of the pattern of structures, this is controlled by a re-activation of signals active in the embryo. There is still debate about the old question of whether regeneration is a "pristine" or an "adaptive" property. If the former is the case, with improved knowledge, we might expect to be able to improve regenerative ability in humans. If the latter, then each instance of regeneration is presumed to have arisen by natural selection in circumstances particular to the species, so no general rules would be expected. Embryonic development of animals The sperm and egg fuse in the process of fertilization to form a fertilized egg, or zygote. This undergoes a period of divisions to form a ball or sheet of similar cells called a blastula or blastoderm. These cell divisions are usually rapid with no growth so the daughter cells are half the size of the mother cell and the whole embryo stays about the same size. They are called cleavage divisions. Mouse epiblast primordial germ cells (see Figure: “The initial stages of human embryogenesis”) undergo extensive epigenetic reprogramming. This process involves genome-wide DNA demethylation, chromatin reorganization and epigenetic imprint erasure leading to totipotency. DNA demethylation is carried out by a process that utilizes the DNA base excision repair pathway. Morphogenetic movements convert the cell mass into a three layered structure consisting of multicellular sheets called ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. These sheets are known as germ layers. This is the process of gastrulation. During cleavage and gastrulation the first regional specification events occur. In addition to the formation of the three germ layers themselves, these often generate extraembryonic structures, such as the mammalian placenta, needed for support and nutrition of the embryo, and also establish differences of commitment along the anteroposterior axis (head, trunk and tail). Regional specification is initiated by the presence of cytoplasmic determinants in one part of the zygote. The cells that contain the determinant become a signaling center and emit an inducing factor. Because the inducing factor is produced in one place, diffuses away, and decays, it forms a concentration gradient, high near the source cells and low further away. The remaining cells of the embryo, which do not contain the determinant, are competent to respond to different concentrations by upregulating specific developmental control genes. This results in a series of zones becoming set up, arranged at progressively greater distance from the signaling center. In each zone a different combination of developmental control genes is upregulated. These genes encode transcription factors which upregulate new combinations of gene activity in each region. Among other functions, these transcription factors control expression of genes conferring specific adhesive and motility properties on the cells in which they are active. Because of these different morphogenetic properties, the cells of each germ layer move to form sheets such that the ectoderm ends up on the outside, mesoderm in the middle, and endoderm on the inside. Morphogenetic movements not only change the shape and structure of the embryo, but by bringing cell sheets into new spatial relationships they also make possible new phases of signaling and response between them. Growth in embryos is mostly autonomous. For each territory of cells the growth rate is controlled by the combination of genes that are active. Free-living embryos do not grow in mass as they have no external food supply. But embryos fed by a placenta or extraembryonic yolk supply can grow very fast, and changes to relative growth rate between parts in these organisms help to produce the final overall anatomy. The whole process needs to be coordinated in time and how this is controlled is not understood. There may be a master clock able to communicate with all parts of the embryo that controls the course of events, or timing may depend simply on local causal sequences of events. Metamorphosis Developmental processes are very evident during the process of metamorphosis. This occurs in various types of animal. Well-known examples are seen in frogs, which usually hatch as a tadpole and metamorphoses to an adult frog, and certain insects which hatch as a larva and then become remodeled to the adult form during a pupal stage. All the developmental processes listed above occur during metamorphosis. Examples that have been especially well studied include tail loss and other changes in the tadpole of the frog Xenopus, and the biology of the imaginal discs, which generate the adult body parts of the fly Drosophila melanogaster. Plant development Plant development is the process by which structures originate and mature as a plant grows. It is studied in plant anatomy and plant physiology as well as plant morphology. Plants constantly produce new tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant always has embryonic tissues. By contrast, an animal embryo will very early produce all of the body parts that it will ever have in its life. When the animal is born (or hatches from its egg), it has all its body parts and from that point will only grow larger and more mature. The properties of organization seen in a plant are emergent properties which are more than the sum of the individual parts. "The assembly of these tissues and functions into an integrated multicellular organism yields not only the characteristics of the separate parts and processes but also quite a new set of characteristics which would not have been predictable on the basis of examination of the separate parts." Growth A vascular plant begins from a single celled zygote, formed by fertilisation of an egg cell by a sperm cell. From that point, it begins to divide to form a plant embryo through the process of embryogenesis. As this happens, the resulting cells will organize so that one end becomes the first root, while the other end forms the tip of the shoot. In seed plants, the embryo will develop one or more "seed leaves" (cotyledons). By the end of embryogenesis, the young plant will have all the parts necessary to begin its life. Once the embryo germinates from its seed or parent plant, it begins to produce additional organs (leaves, stems, and roots) through the process of organogenesis. New roots grow from root meristems located at the tip of the root, and new stems and leaves grow from shoot meristems located at the tip of the shoot. Branching occurs when small clumps of cells left behind by the meristem, and which have not yet undergone cellular differentiation to form a specialized tissue, begin to grow as the tip of a new root or shoot. Growth from any such meristem at the tip of a root or shoot is termed primary growth and results in the lengthening of that root or shoot. Secondary growth results in widening of a root or shoot from divisions of cells in a cambium. In addition to growth by cell division, a plant may grow through cell elongation. This occurs when individual cells or groups of cells grow longer. Not all plant cells will grow to the same length. When cells on one side of a stem grow longer and faster than cells on the other side, the stem will bend to the side of the slower growing cells as a result. This directional growth can occur via a plant's response to a particular stimulus, such as light (phototropism), gravity (gravitropism), water, (hydrotropism), and physical contact (thigmotropism). Plant growth and development are mediated by specific plant hormones and plant growth regulators (PGRs) (Ross et al. 1983). Endogenous hormone levels are influenced by plant age, cold hardiness, dormancy, and other metabolic conditions; photoperiod, drought, temperature, and other external environmental conditions; and exogenous sources of PGRs, e.g., externally applied and of rhizospheric origin. Morphological variation Plants exhibit natural variation in their form and structure. While all organisms vary from individual to individual, plants exhibit an additional type of variation. Within a single individual, parts are repeated which may differ in form and structure from other similar parts. This variation is most easily seen in the leaves of a plant, though other organs such as stems and flowers may show similar variation. There are three primary causes of this variation: positional effects, environmental effects, and juvenility. Evolution of plant morphology Transcription factors and transcriptional regulatory networks play key roles in plant morphogenesis and their evolution. During plant landing, many novel transcription factor families emerged and are preferentially wired into the networks of multicellular development, reproduction, and organ development, contributing to more complex morphogenesis of land plants. Most land plants share a common ancestor, multicellular algae. An example of the evolution of plant morphology is seen in charophytes. Studies have shown that charophytes have traits that are homologous to land plants. There are two main theories of the evolution of plant morphology, these theories are the homologous theory and the antithetic theory. The commonly accepted theory for the evolution of plant morphology is the antithetic theory. The antithetic theory states that the multiple mitotic divisions that take place before meiosis, cause the development of the sporophyte. Then the sporophyte will development as an independent organism. Developmental model organisms Much of developmental biology research in recent decades has focused on the use of a small number of model organisms. It has turned out that there is much conservation of developmental mechanisms across the animal kingdom. In early development different vertebrate species all use essentially the same inductive signals and the same genes encoding regional identity. Even invertebrates use a similar repertoire of signals and genes although the body parts formed are significantly different. Model organisms each have some particular experimental advantages which have enabled them to become popular among researchers. In one sense they are "models" for the whole animal kingdom, and in another sense they are "models" for human development, which is difficult to study directly for both ethical and practical reasons. Model organisms have been most useful for elucidating the broad nature of developmental mechanisms. The more detail is sought, the more they differ from each other and from humans. Plants Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) Vertebrates Frog: Xenopus (X. laevis and X. tropicalis). Good embryo supply. Especially suitable for microsurgery. Zebrafish: Danio rerio. Good embryo supply. Well developed genetics. Chicken: Gallus gallus. Early stages similar to mammal, but microsurgery easier. Low cost. Mouse: Mus musculus. A mammal with well developed genetics. Invertebrates Fruit fly: Drosophila melanogaster. Good embryo supply. Well developed genetics. Nematode: Caenorhabditis elegans. Good embryo supply. Well developed genetics. Low cost. Unicellular Algae: Chlamydomonas Yeast: Saccharomyces Others Also popular for some purposes have been sea urchins and ascidians. For studies of regeneration urodele amphibians such as the axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum are used, and also planarian worms such as Schmidtea mediterranea. Organoids have also been demonstrated as an efficient model for development. Plant development has focused on the thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism. See also References Further reading External links Society for Developmental Biology Collaborative resources Developmental Biology - 10th edition Essential Developmental Biology 3rd edition Philosophy of biology

Dorado () is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), which is known as dorado in Spanish, although it has also been depicted as a swordfish. Dorado contains most of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remainder being in the constellation Mensa. The South Ecliptic pole also lies within this constellation. Even though the name Dorado is not Latin but Spanish, astronomers give it the Latin genitive form Doradus when naming its stars; it is treated (like the adjacent asterism Argo Navis) as a feminine proper name of Greek origin ending in -ō (like Io or Callisto or Argo), which have a genitive ending -ūs. History Dorado was one of twelve constellations named by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. It appeared: On Plancius's maps of 1592 and 1594, figured as an elderly bearded man named Polophylax (Greek for "guardian of the pole"). On a celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. First depiction in a celestial atlas, in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603, where it was named Dorado. In Johannes Kepler's edition of Tycho Brahe's star list in the Rudolphine Tables of 1627: first time that it was named Xiphias, the swordfish. Dorado has been represented historically as a dolphinfish and a swordfish; the latter depiction is inaccurate. It has also been represented as a goldfish. The constellation was also known in the 17th and 18th centuries as Xiphias. The name Dorado ultimately become dominant and was adopted by the IAU. Features Stars Alpha Doradus is a blue-white star of magnitude 3.3, 176 light-years from Earth. It is the brightest star in Dorado. Beta Doradus is a notably bright Cepheid variable star. It is a yellow-tinged supergiant star that has a minimum magnitude of 4.1 and a maximum magnitude of 3.5. One thousand and forty light-years from Earth, Beta Doradus has a period of 9 days and 20 hours. R Doradus is one of the many variable stars in Dorado. S Dor, 9.721 hypergiant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, is the prototype of S Doradus variable stars. The variable star R Doradus 5.73 has the largest-known apparent size of any star other than the Sun. Gamma Doradus is the prototype of the Gamma Doradus variable stars. Supernova 1987A was the closest supernova to occur since the invention of the telescope. SNR 0509-67.5 is the remnant of an unusually energetic Type 1a supernova from about 400 years ago. HE 0437-5439 is a hypervelocity star escaping from the Milky Way/Magellanic Cloud system. Dorado is also the location of the South Ecliptic pole, which lies near the fish's head. The pole was called "Polus Doradinalis" by Willem Jansson Blaeu. Deep-sky objects Because Dorado contains part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, it is rich in deep sky objects. The Large Magellanic Cloud, 25,000 light-years in diameter, is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy, located at a distance of 179,000 light-years. It has been deformed by its gravitational interactions with the larger Milky Way. In 1987, it became host to SN 1987A, the first supernova of 1987 and the closest since 1604. This 25,000-light-year-wide galaxy contains over 10,000 million stars. All coordinates given are for Epoch J2000.0. N 180B is an emission nebula located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 1566 (RA 04h 20m 00s Dec -56° 56.3′) is a face-on spiral galaxy. It gives its name to the NGC 1566 Group of galaxies. NGC 1755 (RA 04h 55m 13s Dec -68° 12.2′) is a globular cluster. NGC 1763 (RA 04h 56m 49s Dec -68° 24.5′) is a bright nebula associated with three type B stars. NGC 1820 (RA 05h 04m 02s Dec -67° 15.9′) is an open cluster. NGC 1850 (RA 05h 08m 44s Dec -68° 45.7′) is a globular cluster. NGC 1854 (RA 05h 09m 19s Dec -68° 50.8′) is a globular cluster. NGC 1869 (RA 05h 13m 56s Dec -67° 22.8′) is an open cluster. NGC 1901 (RA 05h 18m 15s Dec -68° 26.2′) is an open cluster. NGC 1910 (RA 05h 18m 43s Dec -69° 13.9′) is an open cluster. NGC 1936 (RA 05h 22m 14s Dec -67° 58.7′) is a bright nebula and is one of four NGC objects in close proximity, the others being NGC 1929, NGC 1934 and NGC 1935. NGC 1978 (RA 05h 28m 36s Dec -66° 14.0′) is an open cluster. NGC 2002 (RA 05h 30m 17s Dec -66° 53.1′) is an open cluster. NGC 2014 (RA 05h 44m 12.7s Dec −67° 42′ 57″) is a red emission nebula. NGC 2020 (RA 05h 44m 12.7s Dec −67° 42′ 57″) is an HII region surrounding a Wolf–Rayet star. NGC 2027 (RA 05h 35m 00s Dec -66° 55.0′) is an open cluster. NGC 2032 (RA 05h 35m 21s Dec -67° 34.1′; also known as "Seagull Nebula") is a nebula complex that contains four NGC designations: NGC 2029, NGC 2032, NGC 2035 and NGC 2040. NGC 2074 (RA 05h 39m 03.0s, Dec −69° 29′ 54″) is an emission nebula. NGC 2080, also called the "Ghost Head Nebula", is an emission nebula that is 50 light-years wide in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is named for the two distinct white patches that it possesses, which are regions of recent star formation. The western portion is colored green from doubly ionized oxygen, the southern portion is red from hydrogen alpha emissions, and the center region is colored yellow from both oxygen and hydrogen emissions. The western white patch, A1, has one massive, recently formed star inside. The eastern patch, A2, has several stars hidden in its dust. Tarantula Nebula is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, named for its spiderlike shape. It is also designated 30 Doradus, as it is visible to the naked eye as a slightly out-of-focus star. Larger than any nebula in the Milky Way at 1,000 light-years in diameter, it is also brighter, because it is illuminated by the open star cluster NGC 2070, which has at its center the star cluster R136. The illuminating stars are supergiants. NGC 2164 (RA 05h 58m 53s Dec -68° 30.9′) is a globular cluster. N44 is a superbubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud that is 1,000 light-years wide. Its overall structure is shaped by the 40 hot stars towards its center. Within the superbubble of N44 is a smaller bubble catalogued as N44F. It is approximately 35 light-years in diameter and is shaped by an incredibly hot star at its center, which has a stellar wind speed of 7 million kilometers per hour. N44F also features dust columns with probable star formation hidden inside. Equivalents In Chinese astronomy, the stars of Dorado are in two of Xu Guangqi's Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu): the White Patches Attached (夾白, Jiābái) and the Goldfish (金魚, Jīnyú). Namesakes Dorado (SS-248) and Dorado (SS-526), two United States Navy submarines, were named after the same sea creature as the constellation. Gallery See also Dorado in Chinese astronomy Dutch celestial cartography in the Age of Exploration IAU-recognized constellations References Notes The above deep sky objects appear in Norton's Star Atlas, 1973 edition. Co-ordinates are obtained from Uranometria Chart Index and Skyview. Images of the deep sky objects described herein may be viewed at Skyview. Citations Sources External links The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Dorado The clickable Dorado Peoria Astronomical Society - Dorado Star Tales – Dorado Southern constellations Constellations listed by Petrus Plancius Dutch celestial cartography in the Age of Discovery Astronomy in the Dutch Republic 1590s in the Dutch Republic

Dressed to Kill is a 1980 American neo-noir erotic thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, and Keith Gordon, the film depicts the events leading up to the murder of a New York City housewife (Dickinson) before following a prostitute (Allen) who witnesses the crime. It contains several direct references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho. Released in July 1980, Dressed to Kill was a box office hit in the United States, grossing over $30 million. It received largely favorable reviews, and critic David Denby of New York Magazine proclaimed it "the first great American movie of the '80s." Angie Dickinson won the Saturn Award for Best Actress for her performance. Nancy Allen received both a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year, as well as an inaugural first-year Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Plot Sexually frustrated housewife Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is attending therapy sessions with New York City psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine). During an appointment, Kate attempts to seduce him, but Elliott rejects her advances as he states he does not want to jeopardize his happy marriage. Kate has made plans to spend the day with her son Peter (Keith Gordon), but he has to cancel as he has reached a critical point in his research, for his entry to the city’s science fair. Thus Kate goes by herself to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she unexpectedly flirts with a mysterious stranger. Kate and the stranger stalk each other through the museum until they finally wind up outside, where Kate joins him in a taxi. They go to his apartment and have sex. Hours later, Kate awakens and decides to discreetly leave while the man, Warren Lockman, is asleep. Kate sits at his desk to leave him a note and finds a document indicating that Warren has contracted both syphilis and gonorrhoea. Shocked, she leaves the apartment, but having hastily forgotten her wedding ring on the nightstand, she returns to retrieve it. The elevator doors open on the figure of a tall, blonde woman in dark sunglasses wielding a straight razor, who violently slashes Kate to death in the elevator. Upon discovering the body, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), a high-priced call girl, notices the killer in the elevator's convex mirror, and subsequently becomes both the prime suspect and the killer's next target. Dr. Elliott receives a bizarre message on his answering machine from "Bobbi", a transgender patient. Bobbi taunts the psychiatrist for ending their therapy sessions, apparently because Elliott refuses to sign the necessary papers for Bobbi to get sex reassignment surgery. Elliott tries to convince Dr. Levy, the patient's new doctor, that Bobbi is endangering herself and others. Police Detective Marino doubts Liz's story, partly because of her profession, so Liz teams up with Kate's revenge-minded teenaged son Peter, an inventor, to find the killer, using a series of his homemade listening devices and time-lapse cameras to track patients leaving Elliott's office. They catch Bobbi on camera, and soon a tall blonde in sunglasses starts stalking Liz, subsequently making several attempts on Liz's life. Peter thwarts one of them in the New York City Subway by spraying Bobbi with homemade Mace. The pair scheme to learn Bobbi's birth name by getting inside Dr. Elliott's office. Liz baits the therapist by stripping to lingerie and flirting with him, distracting him long enough to briefly exit and look through his appointment book. Peter is watching through the window when a blonde pulls him away. When Liz returns, a razor-wielding blonde confronts her; the blonde outside shoots and wounds the blonde inside, knocking the wig off and revealing the razor-wielding blonde as Dr. Elliott/Bobbi. The blonde who shot Bobbi is actually a female police officer, revealing herself to be the blonde who has been trailing Liz. Elliott is arrested and placed in an insane asylum. Dr. Levy explains later to Liz that Elliott wanted to be a woman, but their male side would not allow them to proceed with the operation. Whenever a woman sexually aroused Elliott, Bobbi, representing the unstable, female side of the doctor's personality, became threatened to the point that she finally became murderous. When Dr. Levy realized this through his last conversation with Elliott, he called the police on the spot, who then, with his help, did their duty. In a final sequence, Elliott escapes from the asylum after strangling a nurse, and slashes Liz's throat in a bloody act of vengeance. She wakes up screaming, with Peter rushing to her side to help her realize that it was just a nightmare. Cast Production Casting De Palma originally wanted Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann to play Kate Miller, but she declined because of the violence, and the role then went to Angie Dickinson. Sean Connery was offered the role of Robert Elliot and was enthusiastic about it, but declined because of previous commitments. Connery later worked with De Palma on the 1987 Oscar-winning adaptation of The Untouchables. Filming Dressed to Kill was shot primarily in New York City, though the art gallery scene was filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The naked body in the opening scene, taking place in a shower, was not that of Angie Dickinson, but of 1977 Penthouse Pet of the Year model Victoria Lynn Johnson. De Palma called the elevator killing the best murder scene he has ever done. Censorship Two versions of the film exist in North America, an R-rated version and an unrated version. The unrated version is around 30 seconds longer and shows more pubic hair in the shower scene, more blood in the elevator scene (including a close-up shot of the killer slitting Kate's throat), and more explicit dialogue from Liz during the scene in Elliott's office. These scenes were trimmed when the MPAA originally gave the film an X rating. Release Box office Dressed to Kill premiered in Los Angeles and New York City on July 25, 1980. The film grossed $3,416,000 in its opening weekend from 591 theatres and improved its gross the following weekend with $3,640,000 from 596 theatres. It grossed a total of $31.9 million at the U.S. box office, and was the 21st highest-grossing film of the year. Critical response Dressed to Kill currently holds an 81% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The consensus states, "With arresting visuals and an engrossingly lurid mystery, Dressed to Kill stylishly encapsulates writer-director Brian De Palma's signature strengths." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 74 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three stars out of four, stating "the museum sequence is brilliant" and adding: "Dressed to Kill is an exercise in style, not narrative; it would rather look and feel like a thriller than make sense, but DePalma has so much fun with the conventions of the thriller that we forgive him and go along." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also gave it three stars out of four, writing that there were scenes "that are as exciting and as stylish as any ever put on film. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the film is a whodunit, and its mystery is so easy to solve that we merely end up watching the film's visual pyrotechnics at a distance, never getting all that involved." Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "witty, romantic," and "very funny, which helps to defuse the effect of the graphically photographed violence. In addition, the film is, in its own inside-out way, peculiarly moral." His review added that "The performers are excellent, especially Miss Dickinson." Variety declared "Despite some major structural weaknesses, the cannily manipulated combination of mystery, gore and kinky sex adds up to a slick commercial package that stands to draw some rich blood money." David Denby of New York magazine proclaimed the film "the first great American movie of the '80s." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote "The brilliance of Dressed to Kill is apparent within seconds of its opening gliding shot; it is a sustained work of terror—elegant, sensual, erotic, bloody, a directorial tour de force." Pauline Kael of The New Yorker stated of De Palma that "his timing is so great that when he wants you to feel something he gets you every time. His thriller technique, constantly refined, has become insidious, jewelled. It's hardly possible to find a point at which you could tear yourself away from this picture." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "This elegant new murder thriller promises to revive the lagging summer box office and enhance De Palma's reputation as the most exciting and distinctive manipulator of suspense since Alfred Hitchcock." In his movie guide, Leonard Maltin gave the film stars out of four, calling it a "High-tension melodrama", and stating "De Palma works on viewers' emotions, not logic, and maintains a fever pitch from start to finish." He also praised Pino Donaggio's "chilling music score." John Simon, of the National Review, after taking note of the two-page advertisements full of superlatives in The New York Times, wrote "What Dressed to Kill dispenses liberally, however, is sophomoric soft-core pornography, vulgar manipulation of the emotions for mere sensation, salacious but inept dialogue that is a cross between comic-strip Freudianism and sniggering double entendres, and a plot line so full of holes to be at best a dotted line". Accusations of discriminatory themes The film led to controversy and protests upon its release. When the film was screened, Iowa City National Organization for Women and members of other feminist organizations picketed the film as it was shown on the University of Iowa campus, distributing leaflets against the film, condemning what they saw as a depiction of violence against women as entertainment. During the film's initial release, the activist group Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media distributed a leaflet, arguing that "The distorted image of a psychotic male transvestite [sic] makes all sexual minorities appear sick and dangerous.” Numerous critics have since placed Dressed to Kill in a lineage of slasher movies that perpetuate the transphobic myth that trans people are mentally-ill sexual predators. Dressed to Kill was featured in the 2020 documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen; in a 2020 reappraisal of the film for The Guardian, the critic Scott Tobias referred to De Palma's understanding of trans issues as "disconcertingly retrograde....There's no getting around the ugly association of gender transition with violence, other than to say that it feels thoroughly aestheticized". In a 2016 interview, De Palma said, "I don't know what the transgender community would think [of the film now]... Obviously I realize that it's not good for their image to be transgender and also be a psychopathic murderer. But I think that [perception] passes with time. We're in a different time." He added that he was "glad" that the film had become "a favorite of the gay community," which he attributed to its "flamboyance". Home media The film is currently owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (successor to Orion Pictures, who bought Filmways and American International Pictures in 1982). The film saw a 1984 VHS release by Warner Home Video, and later another VHS release by Goodtimes under licence from Orion. In 2002, MGM released the film on DVD, including special features. In 2010, MGM released both R-rated and unrated versions on DVD and Blu-ray. The Criterion Collection released separate deluxe Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film on September 8, 2015. Accolades See also List of horror films of 1980 List of American films of 1980 Transgender in film and television Cruising-William Friedkin's cult 1980 film with similar LGBT themes Giallo References Sources External links Film stills Dressed to Kill: The Power of Two an essay by Michael Koresky at the Criterion Collection 1980 films 1980s crime thriller films 1980s erotic thriller films 1980 independent films 1980 LGBT-related films 1980s mystery thriller films 1980s slasher films Adultery in films American crime thriller films American erotic thriller films American films American independent films American LGBT-related films American neo-noir films American mystery thriller films American slasher films Dissociative identity disorder in films English-language films Erotic slasher films Films about murderers Films about prostitution in the United States Films about psychiatry Films directed by Brian De Palma Films scored by Pino Donaggio Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films shot in Philadelphia LGBT-related thriller films Films about trans women Filmways films Films set in museums

A data set (or dataset) is a collection of data. In the case of tabular data, a data set corresponds to one or more database tables, where every column of a table represents a particular variable, and each row corresponds to a given record of the data set in question. The data set lists values for each of the variables, such as height and weight of an object, for each member of the data set. Data sets can also consist of a collection of documents or files. In the open data discipline, data set is the unit to measure the information released in a public open data repository. The European Open Data portal aggregates more than half a million data sets. Some other issues (real-time data sources, non-relational data sets, etc.) increases the difficulty to reach a consensus about it. Properties Several characteristics define a data set's structure and properties. These include the number and types of the attributes or variables, and various statistical measures applicable to them, such as standard deviation and kurtosis. The values may be numbers, such as real numbers or integers, for example representing a person's height in centimeters, but may also be nominal data (i.e., not consisting of numerical values), for example representing a person's ethnicity. More generally, values may be of any of the kinds described as a level of measurement. For each variable, the values are normally all of the same kind. However, there may also be missing values, which must be indicated in some way. In statistics, data sets usually come from actual observations obtained by sampling a statistical population, and each row corresponds to the observations on one element of that population. Data sets may further be generated by algorithms for the purpose of testing certain kinds of software. Some modern statistical analysis software such as SPSS still present their data in the classical data set fashion. If data is missing or suspicious an imputation method may be used to complete a data set. Classic data sets Several classic data sets have been used extensively in the statistical literature: Iris flower data set – Multivariate data set introduced by Ronald Fisher (1936). MNIST database – Images of handwritten digits commonly used to test classification, clustering, and image processing algorithms Categorical data analysis – Data sets used in the book, An Introduction to Categorical Data Analysis. Robust statistics – Data sets used in Robust Regression and Outlier Detection (Rousseeuw and Leroy, 1986). Provided on-line at the University of Cologne. Time series – Data used in Chatfield's book, The Analysis of Time Series, are provided on-line by StatLib. Extreme values – Data used in the book, An Introduction to the Statistical Modeling of Extreme Values are a snapshot of the data as it was provided on-line by Stuart Coles, the book's author. Bayesian Data Analysis – Data used in the book are provided on-line by Andrew Gelman, one of the book's authors. The Bupa liver data – Used in several papers in the machine learning (data mining) literature. Anscombe's quartet – Small data set illustrating the importance of graphing the data to avoid statistical fallacies See also Data Data blending Data (computing) Data sample Data store Interoperability Data collection system References External links Datahub – a community-managed home for open data sets Data.gov – the U.S. Government's open data data.world GCMD – the Global Change Master Directory containing over 34,000 descriptions of Earth science and environmental science data sets and services Humanitarian Data Exchange(HDX) – The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) is an open humanitarian data sharing platform managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. NYC Open Data – free public data published by New York City agencies and other partners. Relational data set repository Research Pipeline – a wiki/website with links to data sets on many different topics StatLib–JASA Data Archive UCI – a machine learning repository UK Government Public Data World Bank Open Data – Free and open access to global development data by World Bank A collection of simple 2D datasets Computer data Statistical data sets

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century and one of its most popular composers. Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of the Soviet chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex relationship with the government, from which he earned state awards and privileges. Throughout his life he participated in bureaucratic functions and delegations, including serving in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death). Shostakovich combined a variety of different musical techniques into his works. His music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; he was also heavily influenced by the neoclassical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by the late Romanticism of Gustav Mahler. Shostakovich's orchestral works include 15 symphonies and six concerti. His chamber output includes 15 string quartets, a piano quintet, two piano trios, and two pieces for string octet. His solo piano works include two sonatas, an early set of 24 preludes, and a later set of 24 preludes and fugues. Other works include three operas, three ballets, several song cycles, and a substantial quantity of music for theatre and film. Of the latter genre, the waltz from The First Echelon (in an alternate arrangement as the "Waltz No. 2" for the Suite for Variety Orchestra), the suite of music extracted from The Gadfly, and the theme from the Counterplan are especially well known. Biography Youth Born at Podolskaya Street in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Shostakovich was the second of three children of Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina. Shostakovich's paternal grandfather, originally surnamed Szostakowicz, was of Polish Roman Catholic descent (his family roots trace to the region of the town of Vileyka in today's Belarus), but his immediate forebears came from Siberia. A Polish revolutionary in the January Uprising of 1863–4, Bolesław Szostakowicz was exiled to Narym (432 km from Tomsk on the highway) in 1866 in the crackdown that followed Dmitry Karakozov's assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II. When his term of exile ended, Szostakowicz decided to remain in Siberia. He eventually became a successful banker in Irkutsk and raised a large family. His son Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich, the composer's father, was born in exile in Narim in 1875 and studied physics and mathematics at Saint Petersburg University, graduating in 1899. He then went to work as an engineer under Dmitri Mendeleev at the Bureau of Weights and Measures in Saint Petersburg. In 1903 he married another Siberian transplant to the capital, Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina, one of six children born to a Siberian Russian. Their son, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, displayed significant musical talent after he began piano lessons with his mother at the age of nine. On several occasions he displayed a remarkable ability to remember what his mother had played at the previous lesson, and would get "caught in the act" of playing the previous lesson's music while pretending to read different music placed in front of him. In 1918 he wrote a funeral march in memory of two leaders of the Kadet party murdered by Bolshevik sailors. In 1919, at age 13, Shostakovich was admitted to the Petrograd Conservatory, then headed by Alexander Glazunov, who monitored his progress closely and promoted him. Shostakovich studied piano with Leonid Nikolayev after a year in the class of Elena Rozanova, composition with Maximilian Steinberg, and counterpoint and fugue with Nikolay Sokolov, with whom he became friends. He also attended Alexander Ossovsky's music history classes. In 1925, he enrolled in the conducting classes of Nikolai Malko. On 20 March 1925, Shostakovich's music was played in Moscow for the first time, in a program which also included works by his friend Vissarion Shebalin. To the composer's disappointment, the critics and public there received his music coolly. While Shostakovich visited the Russian capital, Mikhail Kvadri introduced him to Mikhail Tukhachevsky, who helped the composer find accommodation and work in Moscow, and sent a driver around in "a very stylish automobile" to take him to a concert. His musical breakthrough was the First Symphony, written as his graduation piece at the age of 19. At first, Shostakovich aspired only to perform it privately with the conservatory orchestra and prepared to conduct the scherzo himself. By late 1925, Steinberg and Shostakovich's friend Boleslav Yavorsky brought the symphony to Malko's attention, whereupon he agreed to conduct its premiere with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. On 12 May 1926, Malko premiered the symphony, which was received enthusiastically by the audience, who demanded an encore of the scherzo. Thereafter, Shostakovich would celebrate the date of his symphonic debut for the rest of his life. Early career After graduation, Shostakovich embarked on a dual career as concert pianist and composer, but his dry playing style was often remarked upon negatively. Shostakovich maintained a heavy performance schedule until 1930; after 1933, he performed only his own compositions. Along with , Grigory Ginzburg, Lev Oborin, and Josif Shvarts, he was among the Soviet contestants in the inaugural I International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1927. According to the later reminiscences of : , who heard Shostakovich play his Chopin programs before he went to Warsaw, said that his "anti-sentimental" playing, which eschewed rubato and extreme dynamic contrasts, was unlike anything he had ever heard. called Shostakovich's playing "profound and lacking any salon-like mannerisms." Shostakovich was stricken with appendicitis on the opening day of the competition, but his condition improved by the time of his first performance on 27 January 1927. (He had his appendix removed on 25 April.) According to Shostakovich, his playing found favor with the audience. He persisted into the final round of the competition, but ultimately earned only a diploma, no prize; Oborin was declared the winner. Shostakovich was upset about the result, but for a time resolved to continue a career as performer. While recovering from his appendectomy in April 1927, Shostakovich said he was beginning to reassess those plans: After the competition, Shostakovich and Oborin spent a week in Berlin. There he met the conductor Bruno Walter, who was so impressed by Shostakovich's First Symphony that he conducted its first performance outside Russia later that year. Leopold Stokowski led the American premiere the next year in Philadelphia and also made the work's first recording. In 1927 Shostakovich wrote his Second Symphony (subtitled To October), a patriotic piece with a pro-Soviet choral finale. Owing to its experimental nature, as with the subsequent Third Symphony, it was not critically acclaimed with the enthusiasm given to the First. 1927 also marked the beginning of Shostakovich's relationship with Ivan Sollertinsky, who remained his closest friend until the latter's death in 1944. Sollertinsky introduced the composer to Mahler's music, which had a strong influence on Shostakovich from the Fourth Symphony onward. While writing the Second Symphony, Shostakovich also began work on his satirical opera The Nose, based on the story by Nikolai Gogol. In June 1929, against the composer's wishes, the opera was given a concert performance; it was ferociously attacked by the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians (RAPM). Its stage premiere on 18 January 1930 opened to generally poor reviews and widespread incomprehension among musicians. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Shostakovich worked at TRAM, a proletarian youth theatre. Although he did little work in this post, it shielded him from ideological attack. Much of this period was spent writing his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which was first performed in 1934. It was immediately successful, on both popular and official levels. It was described as "the result of the general success of Socialist construction, of the correct policy of the Party", and as an opera that "could have been written only by a Soviet composer brought up in the best tradition of Soviet culture". Shostakovich married his first wife, Nina Varzar, in 1932. Difficulties led to a divorce in 1935, but the couple soon remarried when Nina became pregnant with their first child, Galina. First denunciation On 17 January 1936, Joseph Stalin paid a rare visit to the opera for a performance of a new work, Quiet Flows the Don, based on the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov, by the little-known composer Ivan Dzerzhinsky, who was called to Stalin's box at the end of the performance and told that his work had "considerable ideological-political value". On 26 January, Stalin revisited the opera, accompanied by Vyacheslav Molotov, Andrei Zhdanov and Anastas Mikoyan, to hear Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. He and his entourage left without speaking to anyone. Shostakovich had been forewarned by a friend that he should postpone a planned concert tour in Arkhangelsk in order to be present at that particular performance. Eyewitness accounts testify that Shostakovich was "white as a sheet" when he went to take his bow after the third act. The next day, Shostakovich left for Arkhangelsk, where he heard on 28 January that Pravda had published an editorial titled Muddle Instead of Music, complaining that the opera was a "deliberately dissonant, muddled stream of sounds...[that] quacks, hoots, pants and gasps." Shostakovich continued his performance tour as scheduled, with no disruptions. From Arkhangelsk he instructed Isaak Glikman to subscribe to a clipping service. The editorial was the signal for a nationwide campaign, during which even Soviet music critics who had praised the opera were forced to recant in print, saying they "failed to detect the shortcomings of Lady Macbeth as pointed out by Pravda". There was resistance from those who admired Shostakovich, including Sollertinsky, who turned up at a composers' meeting in Leningrad called to denounce the opera and praised it instead. Two other speakers supported him. When Shostakovich returned to Leningrad, he had a telephone call from the commander of the Leningrad Military District, who had been asked by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky to make sure that he was all right. When the writer Isaac Babel was under arrest four years later, he told his interrogators that "it was common ground for us to proclaim the genius of the slighted Shostakovich." On 6 February, Shostakovich was again attacked in Pravda, this time for his light comic ballet The Limpid Stream, which was denounced because "it jangles and expresses nothing" and did not give an accurate picture of peasant life on a collective farm. Fearful that he was about to be arrested, Shostakovich secured an appointment with the Chairman of the USSR State Committee on Culture, Platon Kerzhentsev, who reported to Stalin and Molotov that he had instructed the composer to "reject formalist errors and in his art attain something that could be understood by the broad masses", and that Shostakovich had admitted being in the wrong and had asked for a meeting with Stalin, which was not granted. The Pravda campaign against Shostakovich caused his commissions, concert appearances, and performances of his music to decline markedly. His monthly earnings dropped from an average of as much as 12,000 rubles to as little as 2,000. Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony, which had been scheduled to be premiered on 11 December 1936, was withdrawn and remained unperformed in its orchestral guise until 1961. Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was also suppressed. In the mid-1950s, Shostakovich composed a revised version with a new title, Katerina Izmailova, which premiered on 8 January 1963. More widely, 1936 marked the beginning of the Great Terror, in which many of Shostakovich's friends and relatives were imprisoned or killed. These included Tukhachevsky, executed 12 June 1937; his brother-in-law Vsevolod Frederiks, who was eventually released, but died before he returned home; his close friend Nikolai Zhilyayev, a musicologist who had taught Tukhachevsky; his mother-in-law, the astronomer Sofiya Mikhaylovna Varzar, who was sent to a camp in Karaganda; his friend the Marxist writer Galina Serebryakova, who spent 20 years in the gulag; his uncle Maxim Kostrykin (died); and his colleagues Boris Kornilov and Adrian Piotrovsky (executed). Shostakovich's daughter Galina was born during this period in 1936; his son Maxim was born two years later. Withdrawal of the Fourth Symphony The publication of the Pravda editorials coincided with the composition of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony. The work continued a shift in his style, owing to the influence of Mahler. The symphony gave Shostakovich compositional trouble, as he attempted to reform his style into a new idiom. He was well into the work when the Pravda article appeared. He continued to compose the symphony and planned a premiere at the end of 1936. Rehearsals began that December, but after a number of rehearsals, Shostakovich decided to withdraw the symphony from performance. According to Isaac Glikman, who had attended the rehearsals with the composer, the manager of the Leningrad Philharmonic persuaded Shostakovich to withdraw the symphony. Shostakovich did not repudiate the work and retained its designation as his Fourth Symphony. A reduction for two pianos was performed and published in 1946, and the work was finally premiered in 1961. In the months between the withdrawal of the Fourth Symphony and the completion of the Fifth on 20 July 1937, the only concert work Shostakovich composed was the Four Romances on Texts by Pushkin. Fifth Symphony and return to favor The composer's response to his denunciation was the Fifth Symphony of 1937, which was musically more conservative than his earlier works. Premiered on 21 November 1937 in Leningrad, it was a phenomenal success. The Fifth brought many to tears and welling emotions. Later, Shostakovich's purported memoir, Testimony, stated: "I'll never believe that a man who understood nothing could feel the Fifth Symphony. Of course they understood, they understood what was happening around them and they understood what the Fifth was about." The success put Shostakovich in good standing once again. Music critics and the authorities alike, including those who had earlier accused him of formalism, claimed that he had learned from his mistakes and become a true Soviet artist. In a newspaper article published under Shostakovich's name, the Fifth was characterized as "A Soviet artist's creative response to just criticism." The composer Dmitry Kabalevsky, who had been among those who disassociated themselves from Shostakovich when the Pravda article was published, praised the Fifth and congratulated Shostakovich for "not having given in to the seductive temptations of his previous 'erroneous' ways." It was also at this time that Shostakovich composed the first of his string quartets. His chamber works allowed him to experiment and express ideas that would have been unacceptable in his more public symphonies. In September 1937 he began to teach composition at the Leningrad Conservatory, which provided some financial security. Second World War In 1939, before Soviet forces attempted to invade Finland, the Party Secretary of Leningrad Andrei Zhdanov commissioned a celebratory piece from Shostakovich, the Suite on Finnish Themes, to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded through Helsinki. The Winter War was a bitter experience for the Red Army, the parade never happened, and Shostakovich never laid claim to the authorship of this work. It was not performed until 2001. After the outbreak of war between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1941, Shostakovich initially remained in Leningrad. He tried to enlist in the military but was turned away because of his poor eyesight. To compensate, he became a volunteer for the Leningrad Conservatory's firefighter brigade and delivered a radio broadcast to the Soviet people. The photograph for which he posed was published in newspapers throughout the country. His most famous wartime contribution was the Seventh Symphony. The composer wrote the first three movements in Leningrad and completed the work in Kuybyshev (now Samara), where he and his family had been evacuated. It remains unclear whether Shostakovich really conceived the idea of the symphony with the siege of Leningrad in mind. It was officially claimed as a representation of the people of Leningrad's brave resistance to the German invaders and an authentic piece of patriotic art at a time when morale needed boosting. The symphony was first premiered by the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra in Kuibyshev and was soon performed abroad in London and the United States. It was subsequently performed in Leningrad while the city was still under siege. The orchestra had only 14 musicians left, so the conductor Karl Eliasberg was forced to recruit anyone who could play an instrument as reinforcements. The family moved to Moscow in spring 1943. At the time of the Eighth Symphony's premiere, the tide had turned for the Red Army. As a consequence, the public, and most importantly the authorities, wanted another triumphant piece from the composer. Instead, they got the Eighth Symphony, perhaps the ultimate in sombre and violent expression in Shostakovich's output. To preserve Shostakovich's image (a vital bridge to the people of the Union and to the West), the government assigned the name "Stalingrad" to the symphony, giving it the appearance of mourning of the dead in the bloody Battle of Stalingrad. But the piece did not escape criticism. Its composer is reported to have said: "When the Eighth was performed, it was openly declared counter-revolutionary and anti-Soviet. They said, 'Why did Shostakovich write an optimistic symphony at the beginning of the war and a tragic one now? At the beginning, we were retreating and now we're attacking, destroying the Fascists. And Shostakovich is acting tragic, that means he's on the side of the fascists.'" The work was unofficially but effectively banned until 1956. The Ninth Symphony (1945), in contrast, was much lighter in tone. Gavriil Popov wrote that it was "splendid in its joie de vivre, gaiety, brilliance, and pungency!" But by 1946 it too was the subject of criticism. Israel Nestyev asked whether it was the right time for "a light and amusing interlude between Shostakovich's significant creations, a temporary rejection of great, serious problems for the sake of playful, filigree-trimmed trifles." The New York World-Telegram of 27 July 1946 was similarly dismissive: "The Russian composer should not have expressed his feelings about the defeat of Nazism in such a childish manner". Shostakovich continued to compose chamber music, notably his Second Piano Trio (Op. 67), dedicated to the memory of Sollertinsky, with a bittersweet, Jewish-themed totentanz finale. In 1947, the composer was made a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Second denunciation In 1948, Shostakovich, along with many other composers, was again denounced for formalism in the Zhdanov decree. Andrei Zhdanov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, accused the composers (including Sergei Prokofiev and Aram Khachaturian) of writing inappropriate and formalist music. This was part of an ongoing anti-formalism campaign intended to root out all Western compositional influence as well as any perceived "non-Russian" output. The conference resulted in the publication of the Central Committee's Decree "On V. Muradeli's opera The Great Friendship", which targeted all Soviet composers and demanded that they write only "proletarian" music, or music for the masses. The accused composers, including Shostakovich, were summoned to make public apologies in front of the committee. Most of Shostakovich's works were banned, and his family had privileges withdrawn. Yuri Lyubimov says that at this time "he waited for his arrest at night out on the landing by the lift, so that at least his family wouldn't be disturbed." The decree's consequences for composers were harsh. Shostakovich was among those dismissed from the Conservatory altogether. For him, the loss of money was perhaps the largest blow. Others still in the Conservatory experienced an atmosphere thick with suspicion. No one wanted his work to be understood as formalist, so many resorted to accusing their colleagues of writing or performing anti-proletarian music. During the next few years Shostakovich composed three categories of work: film music to pay the rent, official works aimed at securing official rehabilitation, and serious works "for the desk drawer". The latter included the Violin Concerto No. 1 and the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry. The cycle was written at a time when the postwar anti-Semitic campaign was already under way, with widespread arrests, including that of Dobrushin and Yiditsky, the compilers of the book from which Shostakovich took his texts. The restrictions on Shostakovich's music and living arrangements were eased in 1949, when Stalin decided that the Soviets needed to send artistic representatives to the Cultural and Scientific Congress for World Peace in New York City, and that Shostakovich should be among them. For Shostakovich, it was a humiliating experience, culminating in a New York press conference where he was expected to read a prepared speech. Nicolas Nabokov, who was present in the audience, witnessed Shostakovich starting to read "in a nervous and shaky voice" before he had to break off "and the speech was continued in English by a suave radio baritone". Fully aware that Shostakovich was not free to speak his mind, Nabokov publicly asked him whether he supported the then recent denunciation of Stravinsky's music in the Soviet Union. A great admirer of Stravinsky who had been influenced by his music, Shostakovich had no alternative but to answer in the affirmative. Nabokov did not hesitate to write that this demonstrated that Shostakovich was "not a free man, but an obedient tool of his government." Shostakovich never forgave Nabokov for this public humiliation. That same year he was obliged to compose the cantata Song of the Forests, which praised Stalin as the "great gardener". Stalin's death in 1953 was the biggest step toward Shostakovich's rehabilitation as a creative artist, which was marked by his Tenth Symphony. It features a number of musical quotations and codes (notably the DSCH and Elmira motifs, Elmira Nazirova being a pianist and composer who had studied under Shostakovich in the year before his dismissal from the Moscow Conservatory), the meaning of which is still debated, while the savage second movement, according to Testimony, is intended as a musical portrait of Stalin. The Tenth ranks alongside the Fifth and Seventh as one of Shostakovich's most popular works. 1953 also saw a stream of premieres of the "desk drawer" works. During the forties and fifties, Shostakovich had close relationships with two of his pupils, Galina Ustvolskaya and Elmira Nazirova. In the background to all this remained Shostakovich's first, open marriage to Nina Varzar until her death in 1954. He taught Ustvolskaya from 1939 to 1941 and then from 1947 to 1948. The nature of their relationship is far from clear: Mstislav Rostropovich described it as "tender". Ustvolskaya rejected a proposal of marriage from him after Nina's death. Shostakovich's daughter, Galina, recalled her father consulting her and Maxim about the possibility of Ustvolskaya becoming their stepmother. Ustvolskaya's friend Viktor Suslin said that she had been "deeply disappointed" in Shostakovich by the time of her graduation in 1947. The relationship with Nazirova seems to have been one-sided, expressed largely in his letters to her, and can be dated to around 1953 to 1956. He married his second wife, Komsomol activist Margarita Kainova, in 1956; the couple proved ill-matched, and divorced five years later. In 1954, Shostakovich wrote the Festive Overture, opus 96; it was used as the theme music for the 1980 Summer Olympics. (His '"Theme from the film Pirogov, Opus 76a: Finale" was played as the cauldron was lit at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.) In 1959, Shostakovich appeared on stage in Moscow at the end of a concert performance of his Fifth Symphony, congratulating Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for their performance (part of a concert tour of the Soviet Union). Later that year, Bernstein and the Philharmonic recorded the symphony in Boston for Columbia Records. Joining the Party The year 1960 marked another turning point in Shostakovich's life: he joined the Communist Party. The government wanted to appoint him General Secretary of the Composers' Union, but to hold that position he was required to attain Party membership. It was understood that Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party from 1953 to 1964, was looking for support from the intelligentsia's leading ranks in an effort to create a better relationship with the Soviet Union's artists. This event has variously been interpreted as a show of commitment, a mark of cowardice, the result of political pressure, or his free decision. On the one hand, the apparat was undoubtedly less repressive than it had been before Stalin's death. On the other, his son recalled that the event reduced Shostakovich to tears, and that he later told his wife Irina that he had been blackmailed. Lev Lebedinsky has said that the composer was suicidal. From 1962, he served as a delegate in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Once he joined the Party, several articles he did not write denouncing individualism in music were published under his name in Pravda. By joining the party, Shostakovich also committed himself to finally writing the homage to Lenin that he had promised before. His Twelfth Symphony, which portrays the Bolshevik Revolution and was completed in 1961, was dedicated to Lenin and called "The Year 1917". Around this time, his health began to deteriorate. Shostakovich's musical response to these personal crises was the Eighth String Quartet, composed in only three days. He subtitled the piece "To the victims of fascism and war", ostensibly in memory of the Dresden fire bombing that took place in 1945. Yet like the Tenth Symphony, the quartet incorporates quotations from several of his past works and his musical monogram. Shostakovich confessed to his friend Isaak Glikman, "I started thinking that if some day I die, nobody is likely to write a work in memory of me, so I had better write one myself." Several of Shostakovich's colleagues, including Natalya Vovsi-Mikhoels and the cellist Valentin Berlinsky, were also aware of the Eighth Quartet's biographical intent. Peter J. Rabinowitz has also pointed to covert references to Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen in it. In 1962 Shostakovich married for the third time, to Irina Supinskaya. In a letter to Glikman, he wrote, "her only defect is that she is 27 years old. In all other respects she is splendid: clever, cheerful, straightforward and very likeable." According to Galina Vishnevskaya, who knew the Shostakoviches well, this marriage was a very happy one: "It was with her that Dmitri Dmitriyevich finally came to know domestic peace... Surely, she prolonged his life by several years." In November he made his only venture into conducting, conducting a couple of his own works in Gorky; otherwise he declined to conduct, citing nerves and ill health. That year saw Shostakovich again turn to the subject of anti-Semitism in his Thirteenth Symphony (subtitled Babi Yar). The symphony sets a number of poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the first of which commemorates a massacre of Ukrainian Jews during the Second World War. Opinions are divided as to how great a risk this was: the poem had been published in Soviet media, and was not banned, but remained controversial. After the symphony's premiere, Yevtushenko was forced to add a stanza to his poem that said that Russians and Ukrainians had died alongside the Jews at Babi Yar. In 1965 Shostakovich raised his voice in defence of poet Joseph Brodsky, who was sentenced to five years of exile and hard labor. Shostakovich co-signed protests with Yevtushenko, fellow Soviet artists Kornei Chukovsky, Anna Akhmatova, Samuil Marshak, and the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. After the protests the sentence was commuted, and Brodsky returned to Leningrad. Later life, and death In 1964 Shostakovich composed the music for the Russian film Hamlet, which was favorably reviewed by The New York Times: "But the lack of this aural stimulation—of Shakespeare's eloquent words—is recompensed in some measure by a splendid and stirring musical score by Dmitri Shostakovich. This has great dignity and depth, and at times an appropriate wildness or becoming levity". In later life, Shostakovich suffered from chronic ill health, but he resisted giving up cigarettes and vodka. Beginning in 1958 he suffered from a debilitating condition that particularly affected his right hand, eventually forcing him to give up piano playing; in 1965 it was diagnosed as poliomyelitis. He also suffered heart attacks the following year and again in 1971, and several falls in which he broke both his legs; in 1967 he wrote in a letter: "Target achieved so far: 75% (right leg broken, left leg broken, right hand defective). All I need to do now is wreck the left hand and then 100% of my extremities will be out of order." A preoccupation with his own mortality permeates Shostakovich's later works, such as the later quartets and the Fourteenth Symphony of 1969 (a song cycle based on a number of poems on the theme of death). This piece also finds Shostakovich at his most extreme with musical language, with 12-tone themes and dense polyphony throughout. He dedicated the Fourteenth to his close friend Benjamin Britten, who conducted its Western premiere at the 1970 Aldeburgh Festival. The Fifteenth Symphony of 1971 is, by contrast, melodic and retrospective in nature, quoting Wagner, Rossini and the composer's own Fourth Symphony. Shostakovich died of heart failure on 9 August 1975. A civic funeral was held; he was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow. Even before his death he had been commemorated with the naming of the Shostakovich Peninsula on Alexander Island, Antarctica. Despite suffering from Motor Neurone Disease (or ALS) from as early as the 1960s, Shostakovich insisted upon writing all his own correspondence and music himself, even when his right hand was virtually unusable. Shostakovich himself left behind several recordings of his own piano works; other noted interpreters of his music include Emil Gilels, Mstislav Rostropovich, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Maria Yudina, David Oistrakh, and members of the Beethoven Quartet. His last work was his Viola Sonata, which was first performed officially on 1 October 1975. Shostakovich's musical influence on later composers outside the former Soviet Union has been relatively slight, although Alfred Schnittke took up his eclecticism and his contrasts between the dynamic and the static, and some of André Previn's music shows clear links to Shostakovich's style of orchestration. His influence can also be seen in some Nordic composers, such as Lars-Erik Larsson. Many of his Russian contemporaries, and his pupils at the Leningrad Conservatory were strongly influenced by his style (including German Okunev, Sergei Slonimsky, and Boris Tishchenko, whose 5th Symphony of 1978 is dedicated to Shostakovich's memory). Shostakovich's conservative idiom has grown increasingly popular with audiences both within and outside Russia, as the avant-garde has declined in influence and debate about his political views has developed. Music Overview Shostakovich's works are broadly tonal and in the Romantic tradition, but with elements of atonality and chromaticism. In some of his later works (e.g., the Twelfth Quartet), he made use of tone rows. His output is dominated by his cycles of symphonies and string quartets, each totaling 15. The symphonies are distributed fairly evenly throughout his career, while the quartets are concentrated towards the latter part. Among the most popular are the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies and the Eighth and Fifteenth Quartets. Other works include the operas Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Nose and the unfinished The Gamblers, based on the comedy by Gogol; six concertos (two each for piano, violin and cello); two piano trios; and a large quantity of film music. Shostakovich's music shows the influence of many of the composers he most admired: Bach in his fugues and passacaglias; Beethoven in the late quartets; Mahler in the symphonies; and Berg in his use of musical codes and quotations. Among Russian composers, he particularly admired Modest Mussorgsky, whose operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina he reorchestrated; Mussorgsky's influence is most prominent in the wintry scenes of Lady Macbeth and the Eleventh Symphony, as well as in satirical works such as "Rayok". Prokofiev's influence is most apparent in the earlier piano works, such as the first sonata and first concerto. The influence of Russian church and folk music is evident in his works for unaccompanied choir of the 1950s. Shostakovich's relationship with Stravinsky was profoundly ambivalent; as he wrote to Glikman, "Stravinsky the composer I worship. Stravinsky the thinker I despise." He was particularly enamoured of the Symphony of Psalms, presenting a copy of his own piano version of it to Stravinsky when the latter visited the USSR in 1962. (The meeting of the two composers was not very successful; observers commented on Shostakovich's extreme nervousness and Stravinsky's "cruelty" to him.) Many commentators have noted the disjunction between the experimental works before the 1936 denunciation and the more conservative ones that followed; the composer told Flora Litvinova, "without 'Party guidance' ... I would have displayed more brilliance, used more sarcasm, I could have revealed my ideas openly instead of having to resort to camouflage." Articles Shostakovich published in 1934 and 1935 cited Berg, Schoenberg, Krenek, Hindemith, "and especially Stravinsky" among his influences. Key works of the earlier period are the First Symphony, which combined the academicism of the conservatory with his progressive inclinations; The Nose ("The most uncompromisingly modernist of all his stage-works"); Lady Macbeth, which precipitated the denunciation; and the Fourth Symphony, described in Grove's Dictionary as "a colossal synthesis of Shostakovich's musical development to date". The Fourth was also the first piece in which Mahler's influence came to the fore, prefiguring the route Shostakovich took to secure his rehabilitation, while he himself admitted that the preceding two were his least successful. In the years after 1936, Shostakovich's symphonic works were outwardly musically conservative, regardless of any subversive political content. During this time he turned increasingly to chamber works, a field that allowed him to explore different and often darker ideas without scrutiny. While his chamber works were largely tonal, they gave Shostakovich an outlet for sombre reflection not welcomed in his more public works. This is most apparent in the late chamber works, which portray what Grove's Dictionary calls "world of purgatorial numbness"; in some of these he included tone rows, although he treated these as melodic themes rather than serially. Vocal works are also a prominent feature of his late output, setting texts often concerned with love, death and art. Jewish themes Even before the alleged Stalinist anti-Semitic campaigns in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Shostakovich showed an interest in Jewish themes. He was intrigued by Jewish music's "ability to build a jolly melody on sad intonations". Examples of works that included Jewish themes are the Fourth String Quartet (1949), the First Violin Concerto (1948), and the Four Monologues on Pushkin Poems (1952), as well as the Piano Trio in E minor (1944). He was further inspired to write with Jewish themes when he examined Moisei Beregovski's 1944 thesis on Jewish folk music. In 1948, Shostakovich acquired a book of Jewish folk songs, from which he composed the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry. He initially wrote eight songs meant to represent the hardships of being Jewish in the Soviet Union. To disguise this, he added three more meant to demonstrate the great life Jews had under the Soviet regime. Despite his efforts to hide the real meaning in the work, the Union of Composers refused to approve his music in 1949 under the pressure of the anti-Semitism that gripped the country. From Jewish Folk Poetry could not be performed until after Stalin's death in March 1953, along with all the other works that were forbidden. Self-quotations Throughout his compositions, Shostakovich demonstrated a controlled use of musical quotation. This stylistic choice had been common among earlier composers, but Shostakovich developed it into a defining characteristic of his music. Rather than quoting other composers, Shostakovich preferred to quote himself. Musicologists such as Sofia Moshevich, Ian McDonald, and Stephen Harris have connected his works through their quotations. One example is the main theme of Katerina's aria, Seryozha, khoroshiy moy, from the fourth act of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. It accompanies Katerina as she reunites with her lover Sergei. The aria's beauty comes as a breath of fresh air in the intense, overbearing tone of the scene. This goes well with the dialogue, as Katerina visits her lover in prison. The theme is made tragic when Sergei betrays her and finds a new lover upon blaming Katerina for his incarceration. More than 25 years later, Shostakovich quoted this theme in his eighth string quartet. In the midst of this quartet's oppressive and somber themes, the only light and cheerful moment is when the cello introduces the Seryozha theme about three minutes into the fourth movement. The quotation uses Katerina's hope amid misery as a means to demonstrate the hope of those oppressed by fascists. This theme emerges once again in his 14th string quartet. As in the eighth, the cello introduces the theme, but for an entirely different purpose. The last in Shostakovich's "quartet of quartets", the fourteenth serves to honor the cellist of the Beethoven String Quartet, Sergei Shirinsky. Rather than reflecting the original theme's intentions, the quotation serves as a dedication to Shirinsky. Posthumous publications In 2004, the musicologist Olga Digonskaya discovered a trove of Shostakovich manuscripts at the Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow. In a cardboard file were some "300 pages of musical sketches, pieces and scores" in Shostakovich's hand. "A composer friend bribed Shostakovich's housemaid to regularly deliver the contents of Shostakovich's office waste bin to him, instead of taking it to the garbage. Some of those cast-offs eventually found their way into the Glinka. ... The Glinka archive 'contained a huge number of pieces and compositions which were completely unknown or could be traced quite indirectly,' Digonskaya said." Among these were Shostakovich's piano and vocal sketches for a prologue to an opera, Orango (1932). They were orchestrated by the British composer Gerard McBurney and premiered in December 2011 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Criticism According to McBurney, opinion is divided on whether Shostakovich's music is "of visionary power and originality, as some maintain, or, as others think, derivative, trashy, empty and second-hand". William Walton, his British contemporary, described him as "the greatest composer of the 20th century". Musicologist David Fanning concludes in Grove's Dictionary that "Amid the conflicting pressures of official requirements, the mass suffering of his fellow countrymen, and his personal ideals of humanitarian and public service, he succeeded in forging a musical language of colossal emotional power." Some modern composers have been critical. Pierre Boulez dismissed Shostakovich's music as "the second, or even third pressing of Mahler". The Romanian composer and Webern disciple Philip Gershkovich called Shostakovich "a hack in a trance". A related complaint is that Shostakovich's style is vulgar and strident: Stravinsky wrote of Lady Macbeth: "brutally hammering ... and monotonous". English composer and musicologist Robin Holloway described his music as "battleship-grey in melody and harmony, factory-functional in structure; in content all rhetoric and coercion." In the 1980s, the Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen was critical of Shostakovich and refused to conduct his music. For instance, he said in 1987: Shostakovich is in many ways a polar counter-force for Stravinsky. [...] When I have said that the 7th symphony of Shostakovich is a dull and unpleasant composition, people have responded: "Yes, yes, but think of the background of that symphony." Such an attitude does no good to anyone. Salonen has since performed and recorded several of Shostakovich's works, including leading the world premiere of Orango, but has dismissed the Fifth Symphony as "overrated," adding that he was "very suspicious of heroic things in general." Shostakovich borrows extensively from the material and styles both of earlier composers and of popular music; the vulgarity of "low" music is a notable influence on this "greatest of eclectics". McBurney traces this to the avant-garde artistic circles of the early Soviet period in which Shostakovich moved early in his career, and argues that these borrowings were a deliberate technique to allow him to create "patterns of contrast, repetition, exaggeration" that gave his music large-scale structure. Personality Shostakovich was in many ways an obsessive man: according to his daughter he was "obsessed with cleanliness". He synchronised the clocks in his apartment and regularly sent himself cards to test how well the postal service was working. Elizabeth Wilson's Shostakovich: A Life Remembered indexes 26 references to his nervousness. Mikhail Druskin remembers that even as a young man the composer was "fragile and nervously agile". Yuri Lyubimov comments, "The fact that he was more vulnerable and receptive than other people was no doubt an important feature of his genius." In later life, Krzysztof Meyer recalled, "his face was a bag of tics and grimaces." In Shostakovich's lighter moods, sport was one of his main recreations, although he preferred spectating or umpiring to participating (he was a qualified football referee). His favorite football club was Zenit Leningrad (now Zenit Saint Petersburg), which he would watch regularly. He also enjoyed card games, particularly patience. Shostakovich was fond of satirical writers such as Gogol, Chekhov and Mikhail Zoshchenko. Zoshchenko's influence in particular is evident in his letters, which include wry parodies of Soviet officialese. Zoshchenko noted the contradictions in the composer's character: "he is ... frail, fragile, withdrawn, an infinitely direct, pure child ... [but also] hard, acid, extremely intelligent, strong perhaps, despotic and not altogether good-natured (although cerebrally good-natured)." Shostakovich was diffident by nature: Flora Litvinova has said he was "completely incapable of saying 'No' to anybody." This meant he was easily persuaded to sign official statements, including a denunciation of Andrei Sakharov in 1973. His widow later told Helsingin Sanomat that his name was included without his permission. But he was willing to try to help constituents in his capacities as chairman of the Composers' Union and Deputy to the Supreme Soviet. Oleg Prokofiev said, "he tried to help so many people that ... less and less attention was paid to his pleas." When asked if he believed in God, Shostakovich said "No, and I am very sorry about it." Orthodoxy and revisionism Shostakovich's response to official criticism and whether he used music as a kind of covert dissidence is a matter of dispute. He outwardly conformed to government policies and positions, reading speeches and putting his name to articles expressing the government line. But it is evident he disliked many aspects of the regime, as confirmed by his family, his letters to Isaak Glikman, and the satirical cantata "Rayok", which ridiculed the "anti-formalist" campaign and was kept hidden until after his death. He was a close friend of Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky, who was executed in 1937 during the Great Purge. It is also uncertain to what extent Shostakovich expressed his opposition to the state in his music. The revisionist view was put forth by Solomon Volkov in the 1979 book Testimony, which claimed to be Shostakovich's memoirs dictated to Volkov. The book alleged that many of the composer's works contained coded anti-government messages, placing Shostakovich in a tradition of Russian artists outwitting censorship that goes back at least to Alexander Pushkin. He incorporated many quotations and motifs in his work, most notably his musical signature DSCH. His longtime musical collaborator Yevgeny Mravinsky said, "Shostakovich very often explained his intentions with very specific images and connotations." The revisionist perspective has subsequently been supported by his children, Maxim and Galina, although Maxim said in 1981 that Volkov's book was not his father's work. Volkov has further argued, both in Testimony and in Shostakovich and Stalin, that Shostakovich adopted the role of the yurodivy or holy fool in his relations with the government. Other prominent revisionists are Ian MacDonald, whose book The New Shostakovich put forward further revisionist interpretations of his music, and Elizabeth Wilson, whose Shostakovich: A Life Remembered provides testimony from many of the composer's acquaintances. Musicians and scholars including Laurel Fay and Richard Taruskin contest the authenticity and debate the significance of Testimony, alleging that Volkov compiled it from a combination of recycled articles, gossip, and possibly some information directly from the composer. Fay documents these allegations in her 2002 article 'Volkov's Testimony reconsidered', showing that the only pages of the original Testimony manuscript that Shostakovich had signed and verified are word-for-word reproductions of earlier interviews he gave, none of which are controversial. Against this, Allan B. Ho and Dmitry Feofanov have pointed out that at least two of the signed pages contain controversial material: for instance, "on the first page of chapter 3, where [Shostakovich] notes that the plaque that reads 'In this house lived [Vsevolod] Meyerhold' should also say 'And in this house his wife was brutally murdered'." Recorded legacy In May 1958, during a visit to Paris, Shostakovich recorded his two piano concertos with André Cluytens, as well as some short piano works. These were issued on LP by EMI and later reissued on CD. Shostakovich recorded the two concertos in stereo in Moscow for Melodiya. Shostakovich also played the piano solos in recordings of the Cello Sonata, Op. 40 with cellist Daniil Shafran and also with Mstislav Rostropovich; the Violin Sonata, Op. 134, in a private recording made with violinist David Oistrakh; and the Piano Trio, Op. 67 with violinist David Oistrakh and cellist Miloš Sádlo. There is also a short newsreel of Shostakovich as soloist in a 1930s concert performance of the closing moments of his first piano concerto. A color film of Shostakovich supervising the Soviet revival of The Nose in 1974 was also made. Awards Belgium: Member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (1960) Denmark: Léonie Sonning Music Prize (1973) Finland: Wihuri Sibelius Prize (1958) Soviet Union: Hero of Socialist Labour (1966) Order of Lenin (1946, 1956, 1966) Order of the October Revolution (1971) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1940) People's Artist of the USSR (1954) People's Artist of the RSFSR (1948) International Peace Prize (1954) Lenin Prize (1958 – for the 11th symphony "1905") Stalin Prize (1941 – for Piano Quintet; 1942 – for the 7th ("Leningrad") Symphony; 1946 – for Piano Trio no. 2; 1950 – for Song of the Forests and The Fall of Berlin; 1952 – for 10 poems for chorus) USSR State Prize (1968 – for the poem "The Execution of Stepan Razin" for bass, chorus and orchestra) Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1974 – for the 14th string quartet and choral cycle "Fidelity") Shevchenko National Prize (1976 (posthumously)) – for opera "Katerina Izmailova" United Kingdom: Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society (1966) In 1962, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture for Khovanshchina (1959). See also Music written in all major and/or minor keys Sinyavsky–Daniel trial The Noise of Time – a novel concerning Shostakovich by English author Julian Barnes. Notes Citations References - (2nd ed. - Kindle) Faber and Faber. 2010. . External links Complete catalogue of works, with many additional comments by Sikorski The Shostakovich Debate: Interpreting the composer's life and music University of Houston Moderated Discussion List: Dmitri Shostakovich and other Russian Composers 1906 births 1975 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Russian male musicians People from Saint Petersburg Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Moscow Conservatory faculty Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Saint Petersburg Conservatory faculty Sixth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Seventh convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Eighth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Ninth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Heroes of Socialist Labour People's Artists of Azerbaijan People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Stalin Prize winners Lenin Prize winners Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR winners Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Recipients of the USSR State Prize Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists Composers for piano Composers for viola Jazz-influenced classical composers Male classical pianists Male film score composers Male opera composers Modernist composers Operetta composers String quartet composers Russian anti-fascists Russian atheists Russian ballet composers Russian classical pianists Russian film score composers Russian male classical composers Russian opera composers Soviet people of Belarusian descent Soviet people of Polish descent Soviet atheists Soviet classical pianists Soviet film score composers Soviet male classical composers Soviet opera composers Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union Deaths from lung cancer Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon in 1980. The group consists of a trio of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting) and Andy Fletcher (keyboards). Depeche Mode released their debut album, Speak & Spell, in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Founding member Vince Clarke left after the release of the album; they recorded A Broken Frame as a trio. Gore took over as main songwriter and later, in 1982, Alan Wilder replaced Clarke, establishing a lineup that continued for 13 years. The band's last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band's June 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In early 1990, they released Violator, an international mainstream success. The following album Songs of Faith and Devotion, released in 1993, was also a success, though the band's internal struggles during recording and touring resulted in Wilder's departure in 1995. Depeche Mode have had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 Top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in its list of the "50 Bands That Changed the World!" Depeche Mode also rank No. 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In December 2016, Billboard named Depeche Mode the 10th Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and 2018, and were inducted as part of the Class of 2020. History Formation and debut album (1977–1981) Depeche Mode's origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China, later influenced by the Cure, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar. Fletcher would later recall, "Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in." In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an "Ultravox rip-off band", The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1978–79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In March 1980, Clarke and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar and Fletcher on bass. Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke heard Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), whose output inspired him to make electronic music. Clarke and Fletcher then converted to an electronic act, working odd jobs in order to buy synthesizers, or borrowing them from friends; they were soon joined by Martin Gore as a third instrumentalist. Fletcher has listed OMD, the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kraftwerk, the Human League, and punk rock as influences on the three men. Dave Gahan joined the band later in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local Scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of David Bowie's "Heroes", and Depeche Mode was born. Gahan's and Gore's favourite artists included Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sparks, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads and Iggy Pop. Gahan's persona onstage was influenced by Dave Vanian, frontman of The Damned. Gahan has also credited David Bowie, James Brown, Elvis Presley and Prince as influences. When explaining the choice for the new name, taken from French fashion magazine Dépêche Mode, Gore said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that." However, the right translation of the magazine's name (and hence the band's) is "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update" (dépêche, "dispatch" or "news report", from Old French despesche/despeche, and mode or "fashion"). Gore recalled that the first time the band played as Depeche Mode was a school gig in May 1980. There is a plaque commemorating the gig at the James Hornsby School in Basildon, where Gore and Fletcher were pupils. The band made their recording debut in 1980 on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell. The band made a demo tape but, instead of mailing the tape to record companies, they would go in and personally deliver it. They would demand the companies play it; according to Dave Gahan, "most of them would tell us to fuck off. They'd say 'leave the tape with us' and we'd say 'it's our only one'. Then we'd say goodbye and go somewhere else." According to Gahan, prior to securing their record contract, they were receiving offers from all the major labels. Phonogram offered them "money you could never have imagined and all sorts of crazy things like clothes allowances". While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band was approached by Daniel Miller, an electronic musician and founder of Mute Records, who was interested in their recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was their first single, "Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981. It reached number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded their second single, "New Life", which climbed to number 11 in the UK charts and got them an appearance on Top of the Pops. The band went to London by train, carrying their synthesisers all the way to the BBC studios. The band's next single was "Just Can't Get Enough". The synth-pop single became the band's first UK top ten hit. The video is the only one of the band's videos to feature Vince Clarke. Depeche Mode's debut album, Speak & Spell, was released in October 1981 and peaked at number ten on the UK album charts. Critical reviews were mixed; Melody Maker described it as a "great album … one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please the fans who just can't get enough", while Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album "PG-rated fluff." Clarke departs and Wilder joins (1981–1982) Clarke began to voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking, saying "there was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions". Clarke also said he was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was "bullshit to be quite honest." Gahan went on to say he "suddenly lost interest in it and he started getting letters from fans asking what kind of socks he wore." In November 1981, Clarke publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode. Soon afterwards, Clarke joined up with blues singer Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (or Yaz in the United States). Initial talk of Clarke's continuing to write material for Depeche Mode ultimately amounted to nothing. According to third-party sources, Clarke offered the remaining members of Depeche Mode the track "Only You", but they declined. Clarke, however, denied in an interview that such an offer ever took place saying, "I don't know where that came from. That's not true." The song went on to become a UK Top 3 hit for Yazoo. Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff" for Speak & Spell, became the band's main lyricist. In late 1981, the band placed an anonymous ad in Melody Maker looking for another musician: "Name band, synthesise, must be under twenty-one." Alan Wilder, a classically trained keyboardist from West London, responded and, after two auditions and despite being 22 years old, was hired in early 1982, initially on a trial basis as a touring member. Wilder would later be called the "Musical Director" of the band, responsible for the band's sound until his departure in 1995. As producer Flood would say, "[Alan] is sort of the craftsman, Martin's the idea man and [Dave] is the attitude." In January 1982, the band released "See You", their first single without Clarke, which managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in the UK charts, reaching number six. The following tour saw the band playing their first shows in North America. Two more singles, "The Meaning of Love" and "Leave in Silence", were released ahead of the band's second studio album, on which they began work in July 1982. Daniel Miller informed Wilder that he was not needed for the recording of the album, as the core trio wanted to prove they could succeed without Vince Clarke. A Broken Frame was released that September, and the following month the band began their 1982 tour. A non-album single, "Get the Balance Right!", was released in January 1983, the first Depeche Mode track to be recorded with Wilder. Construction Time Again (1983) For its third album, Construction Time Again, Depeche Mode worked with producer Gareth Jones, at John Foxx's Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios in West Berlin (where much of David Bowie's trilogy of seminal electronic albums featuring Brian Eno had been produced). The album saw a dramatic shift in the group's sound, due in part to Wilder's introduction of the Synclavier and E-mu Emulator samplers. By sampling the noises of everyday objects, the band created an eclectic, industrial-influenced sound, with similarities to groups such as the Art of Noise and Einstürzende Neubauten (the latter becoming Mute labelmates in 1983). "Everything Counts" rose to number six in the UK, also reaching the top 30 in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. Wilder contributed two songs to the album, "The Landscape Is Changing" and "Two Minute Warning". In September 1983, to promote Construction Time Again, the band launched a European concert tour. Some Great Reward and growing international success (1984–1985) In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success in Europe and Australia. This changed in March 1984, when they released the single "People Are People". The song became a hit, reaching No. 2 in Ireland and Poland, No. 4 in the UK and Switzerland, and No. 1 in West Germany – the first time a DM single topped a country's singles chart – where it was used as the theme to West German TV's coverage of the 1984 Olympics. Beyond this European success, the song also reached No. 13 on the US charts in mid-1985, the first appearance of a DM single on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 20 hit in Canada. "People Are People" became an anthem for the LGBT community, regularly played at gay establishments and gay pride festivals in the late 1980s. Sire, the band's North American record label, released a compilation of the same name which included tracks from A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again as well as several B-sides. On the American tour, the band was, according to Gore, "shocked by the way the fans were turning up in droves at the concerts". He said that although the concerts were selling well, Depeche Mode struggled to sell records. In September 1984, Some Great Reward was released. Melody Maker claimed that the album made one "sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose." In contrast to the political and environmental subjects addressed on the previous album, the songs on Some Great Reward were mostly concerned with more personal themes such as sexual politics ("Master and Servant"), adulterous relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice ("Blasphemous Rumours"). Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad, "Somebody" — such songs would become a feature of all following albums. "Somebody" was released as a double A-side with "Blasphemous Rumours", and was the first single with Gore on lead vocal. Some Great Reward became the first Depeche Mode album to enter the US album charts, and made the Top 10 in several European countries. The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg was the band's first video release, almost an entire concert from their 1984 Some Great Reward Tour. In July 1985, the band played their first-ever concerts behind the Iron Curtain, in Budapest and Warsaw. In October 1985, Mute released a compilation, The Singles 81→85 (Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US), which included the two non-album hit singles "Shake the Disease" and "It's Called a Heart" along with their B-sides. In the United States, the band's music first gained prominence on college radio and modern rock stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles, KQAK ("The Quake") in San Francisco, WFNX in Boston and WLIR on Long Island, New York, and hence they appealed primarily to an alternative audience who were disenfranchised with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco hell'" on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp contrast to how the band was perceived in Europe, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs. In Germany, France, and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols and regularly featured in European teen magazines, becoming one of the most famous synth-pop bands in the mid-'80s. Black Celebration (1986) Depeche Mode's musical style shifted slightly again in 1986 with the release of their fifteenth single, "Stripped", and its accompanying album Black Celebration. Retaining their often imaginative sampling and beginning to move away from the "industrial pop" sound that had characterised their previous two LPs, the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound. Gore's lyrics also took on a darker tone and became more pessimistic. The music video for "A Question of Time" was the first to be directed by Anton Corbijn, beginning a working relationship that continues to the present. Corbijn has directed 20 of the band's videos (the latest being 2017's "Where's the Revolution"). He has also filmed some of their live performances and designed stage sets, as well as most covers for albums and singles starting from Violator. Music for the Masses and 101 (1987–1988) For 1987's Music for the Masses, the band's sound and working methods continued to develop. It was the first time they worked with a producer not related to Mute Records. Dave Bascombe was called to assist with the recording sessions; although, according to Alan Wilder, Bascombe's role ended up being more that of engineer. In making the album, the band largely eschewed sampling in favour of synthesizer experimentation. While chart performance of the singles "Strangelove", "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Behind the Wheel" proved to be disappointing in the UK, they performed well in countries such as Canada, Brazil, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, often reaching the top 10. Record Mirror described Music for the Masses as "the most accomplished and sexy Mode album to date". The album also reached No. 35 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The Music for the Masses Tour began 22 October 1987. On 7 March 1988, with no previous announcement that they would be the headlining act, Depeche Mode played in the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, East Berlin, becoming one of the few Western groups to perform in the Communist East Germany. They also performed concerts in Budapest and Prague in 1988, both Communist also at the time. The world tour ended 18 June 1988 with a concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Paid attendance of 60,453 was the highest in eight years for the venue. Its massive success marked a breakthrough for the band in the United States.. The event was documented in 101, a concert film by D. A. Pennebaker and its accompanying soundtrack album. The film is notable for its portrayal of fan interaction. Alan Wilder came up with the title, noting that it was the 101st and final performance of the tour. On 7 September 1988, Depeche Mode performed "Strangelove" at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Violator and worldwide fame (1989–1991) In mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan with producer Flood and engineer François Kevorkian. The initial result of this session was the single "Personal Jesus." Prior to its release, a marketing campaign was launched with advertisements placed in the personals columns of UK regional newspapers with the words "Your own personal Jesus." Later, the ads included a phone number one could dial to hear the song. The resulting furor helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers to date. In the United States, it was their first gold single and their first Top 40 hit since "People Are People", eventually becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in Warner Records' history up to that point. Released in January 1990, "Enjoy the Silence" reached number six in the UK (the first Top 10 hit in that country since "Master And Servant"). A few months later it reached number eight in the U.S. and earned the band a second gold record, and it won Best British Single at the 1991 Brit Awards. To promote their new album, Violator, the band held an in-store autograph signing at Wherehouse Entertainment in Los Angeles. The event attracted approximately 20,000 fans and turned into a near riot. Some attendees were injured while being pressed against the store's glass by the crowd. As an apology to those injured, the band released a limited edition cassette tape to fans in Los Angeles, distributed through radio station KROQ (the sponsor of the Wherehouse event). Violator was the first Depeche Mode album to enter the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, reaching Number 7 and staying 74 weeks in the chart. It was certified triple platinum in America. Two more singles from the album — "Policy of Truth" and "World in My Eyes" — were hits in the UK, with the former also charting in the US. The World Violation Tour saw the band play several stadium shows in the US. 42,000 tickets were sold within four hours for a show at Giants Stadium, and 48,000 tickets were sold within half-an-hour of going on sale for a show at Dodger Stadium. An estimated 1.2 million fans saw this tour worldwide. In 1991, Depeche Mode contribution "Death's Door" was released on the soundtrack album for the film Until the End of the World. Film director Wim Wenders had challenged musical artists to write music the way they imagined they would in the year 2000, the setting of the movie. Songs of Faith and Devotion and Wilder's departure (1992–1995) The members of Depeche Mode regrouped in Madrid in January 1992, Dave Gahan had become interested in the new grunge scene sweeping the U.S. and was influenced by the likes of Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden and Nirvana. In 1993, Songs of Faith and Devotion, again with Flood producing, saw them experimenting with arrangements based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars and live drums (played by Alan Wilder, whose debut as a studio drummer had come on the Violator track "Clean") as on synthesizers. Live strings, uilleann pipes and female gospel vocals were other new additions to the band's sound. The album debuted at number one in both the UK and the US, only the sixth British act to achieve such a distinction to date. The first single from the album was the grunge-influenced "I Feel You." The gospel influences are most noticeable on the album's third single, "Condemnation." Interviews given by the band during this period tended to be conducted separately, unlike earlier albums, where the band was interviewed as a group. The Devotional world tour followed, documented by a concert film of the same name. The film was directed by Anton Corbijn, and in 1995 earned the band their first Grammy nomination. The band's second live album, Songs of Faith and Devotion Live, was released in December 1993. The tour continued into 1994 with the Exotic Tour, which began in February 1994 in South Africa, and ended in April in Mexico. The final leg of the tour, consisting of more North American dates, followed shortly thereafter and ran until July. As a whole, the Devotional Tour is to date the longest and most geographically diverse Depeche Mode tour, spanning fourteen months and 159 individual performances. Q magazine described the 1993 Devotional Tour as "The Most Debauched Rock'n'Roll Tour Ever." According to The Independent, the "smack-blasted" Gahan "required cortisone shots just to perform, borderline alcoholic Gore suffered two stress-induced seizures, and Andrew Fletcher's deepening depression resulted, in the summer of 1994, in a full nervous breakdown." Fletcher declined to participate in the second half of the Exotic Tour due to mental instability; he was replaced on stage by Daryl Bamonte, who had worked with the band as a personal assistant since the beginning of their career in 1980. In June 1995, Alan Wilder announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode, explaining: He continued to work on his personal project Recoil, releasing a fourth album (Unsound Methods) in 1997. Ultra (1996–2000) Despite Gahan's increasingly severe personal problems, Gore tried repeatedly during 1995 and 1996 to get the band recording again. However, Gahan would rarely turn up to scheduled sessions, and when he did, it would take weeks to get any vocals recorded; one six-week session at Electric Lady in New York produced just one usable vocal (for "Sister of Night"), and even that was pieced together from multiple takes. Gore was forced to contemplate breaking the band up and considered releasing the songs he had written as a solo album. In mid-1996, after his near-fatal overdose, Gahan entered a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program to battle his addiction to cocaine and heroin. With Gahan out of rehab in 1996, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer Tim Simenon. Preceded by two singles, "Barrel of a Gun" and "It's No Good", the album Ultra was released in April 1997. The album debuted at No. 1 in the UK (as well as Germany), and No. 5 in the US. The band did not tour in support of the album, with Fletcher quoted as saying: "We're not fit enough. Dave's only eight months into his sobriety, and our bodies are telling us to spend time with our families." As part of the promotion for the release of the album, they did perform two short concerts in London and Los Angeles, called "Ultra Parties". Ultra spawned two further singles, "Home" and "Useless". A second singles compilation, The Singles 86–98, was released in 1998, preceded by the new single "Only When I Lose Myself", which had been recorded during the Ultra sessions. In April 1998, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Cologne to announce The Singles Tour. The tour was the first to feature two backing musicians in place of Alan Wilder—Austrian drummer Christian Eigner and British keyboardist Peter Gordeno. Exciter (2001–2004) In 2001, Depeche Mode released Exciter, produced by Mark Bell (of techno group LFO). Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album, influenced by IDM and glitch. "Dream On", "I Feel Loved", "Freelove" and "Goodnight Lovers" were released as singles in 2001 and 2002. Critical response to the album was mixed, with reasonably positive reviews from some magazines (NME, Rolling Stone and LA Weekly), while others (including Q magazine, PopMatters, and Pitchfork) derided it as sounding underproduced, dull and lacklustre. In March 2001, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Valentino Hotel in Hamburg to announce the Exciter Tour. The tour featured 84 performances for over 1.5 million fans in 24 countries. The concerts held in Paris at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy were filmed and later released in May 2002 as a live DVD entitled One Night in Paris. In October 2002 the band won the first-ever Q magazine "Innovation Award". In 2003, Gahan released his first solo album, Paper Monsters, and toured to promote the record. Also released in 2003 was Gore's second solo album Counterfeit². Fletcher founded his own record label, Toast Hawaii, specialising in promoting electronic music. A new remix compilation album, Remixes 81–04, was released in 2004, featuring new and unreleased promo mixes of the band's singles from 1981 to 2004. A new version of "Enjoy the Silence", remixed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, "Enjoy the Silence 04", was released as a single and reached No. 7 on the UK charts. Playing the Angel (2005–2007) In October 2005, the band released their 11th studio album Playing the Angel. Produced by Ben Hillier, the album peaked at No. 1 in 18 countries and featured the hit single "Precious". This is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lyrics written by Gahan and, consequently, the first album since 1984's Some Great Reward featuring songs not written by Gore. "Suffer Well" was the first ever post-Clarke Depeche Mode single not to be written by Gore (lyrics by Gahan, music by Philpott/Eigner). The final single from the album was "John the Revelator", an uptempo electronic track with a running religious theme, accompanied by "Lilian", a lush track that was a hit in many clubs all over the world. To promote Playing the Angel, the band launched Touring the Angel, a concert tour of Europe and North America that began in November 2005 and ran for nine months. During the last two legs of the tour Depeche Mode headlined a number of festivals including the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the O2 Wireless Festival. In total, the band played to more than 2.8 million people across 31 countries and the tour was one of the highest grossing and critically acclaimed tours of 2005/06. Speaking about the tour, Gahan praised it as "probably the most enjoyable, rewarding live shows we've ever done. The new material was just waiting to be played live. It took on a life of its own. With the energy of the crowds, it just came to life." Two shows at Milan's Fila Forum were filmed and edited into a concert film, released on DVD as Touring the Angel: Live in Milan. A "best-of" compilation was released in November 2006, entitled The Best Of, Volume 1 featuring a new single "Martyr", an outtake from the Playing the Angel sessions. Later that month Depeche Mode received the MTV Europe Music Award in the Best Group category. In December 2006, iTunes released The Complete Depeche Mode as its fourth ever digital box-set. In August 2007, during promotion for Dave Gahan's second solo album, Hourglass, it was announced that Depeche Mode were heading back in studio in early 2008 to work on a new album. Sounds of the Universe (2008–2011) In May 2008, the band returned to the studio with producer Ben Hillier to work on some songs that Martin Gore had demoed at his home studio in Santa Barbara, California. Later that year it was announced that Depeche Mode were splitting from their long-term US label, Warner Music, and signing with EMI Music worldwide. The album was created in four sessions, two in New York and two in Santa Barbara. A total of 22 songs were recorded, with the standard album being 13 songs in length while many of the others were released in subsequent deluxe editions. In 2009, Depeche Mode allowed their likeness to be used in Valve's Left 4 Dead 2. On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced that the band's 12th studio album would be called Sounds of the Universe. The album was released in April 2009, also made available through an iTunes Pass, where the buyer received individual tracks in the weeks leading up to official release date. Andy Fletcher says the idea for their iTunes Pass was a combination of the band's and iTunes': "I think the digital and record companies are starting to get their act together. They were very lazy in the first 10 years when downloads came in. Now they're collaborating more and coming up with interesting ideas for fans to buy products." The album went to number one in 21 countries. Critical response was generally positive and it was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Alternative Album category. "Wrong" was the first single from the album, released digitally in February 2009. Subsequent singles were "Peace" and the double A-side "Fragile Tension / Hole to Feed". In addition, "Perfect" was released as a promotional-only (non-commercial) single in the United States. On 23 April 2009, Depeche Mode performed for the television program Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the famed corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, drawing more than 12,000 fans, which was the largest audience the program had seen since its 2003 premiere, with a performance by Coldplay. In May 2009, the band embarked on a concert tour in support of the album – called Tour of the Universe; it had been announced at a press conference in October 2008 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. There was a warm up show in Luxembourg and it officially started on 10 May 2009 in Tel Aviv. The first leg of the tour was disrupted when Dave Gahan was struck down with gastroenteritis. During treatment, doctors found and removed a low grade tumour from the singer's bladder. Gahan's illness caused 16 concerts to be cancelled, but several of the shows were rescheduled for 2010. The band headlined the Lollapalooza festival during the North American leg of the tour. The tour also took the band back to South America for the first time since 1994's Exotic Tour. During the final European leg, the band played a show at London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, where former member Alan Wilder joined Martin Gore on stage for a performance of "Somebody". In total the band played to more than 2.7 million people across 32 countries and the tour was one of the most profitable in America in 2009. The concerts held at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain were filmed and later released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc release entitled Tour of the Universe: Barcelona 20/21.11.09. In March 2010, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the ECHO Awards in Germany. On 6 June 2011, as the final commitment to their contract with EMI, the band released a remix compilation album, entitled Remixes 2: 81–11 that features remixes by former members Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder. Other remixers involved with the project were Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Röyksopp, Karlsson & Winnberg of Miike Snow, Eric Prydz, Clark and more. A new remix of "Personal Jesus" by Stargate, entitled "Personal Jesus 2011", was released as a single on 30 May 2011, in support of the compilation. Depeche Mode contributed their cover of the U2 song "So Cruel" to the tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered honouring the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby, a 1991 album by U2. The compilation CD was released with the December 2011 issue of Q. Delta Machine (2012–2015) In October 2012 during a press conference in Paris, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher announced plans for a new album and a 2013 worldwide tour starting from Tel Aviv and continuing in Europe and North America. Martin Gore revealed that Flood mixed the album, marking the producer's first studio collaboration with the band since 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion. In December 2012, the band officially announced signing a worldwide deal with Columbia Records and releasing a new album in March 2013. On 24 January 2013, it was confirmed that the album was titled Delta Machine. "Heaven", the debut single from Delta Machine was released commercially on Friday 1 February 2013 (although not in the UK). The release date in the UK was pushed back to 18 March 2013 (17 March 2013 on iTunes). The physical release still bore the Mute Records logo, even though the band have now severed ties with their long standing label. Andy Fletcher mentioned in an interview this was due to their "devotion" to the label and with the band's insistence. In March, the band announced North American dates to its Delta Machine summer tour, starting 22 August from Detroit and ending 8 October in Phoenix. In June, other European dates were confirmed for early 2014. The final gig of Delta Machine Tour took place in Moscow (Russia) on 7 March 2014, at Olimpiski venue. That month, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the ECHO Awards in Germany. Also they were nominated at the category "Album des Jahres (national oder international)" for Delta Machine, but lost against Helene Fischer's Farbenspiel. On 8 October 2014, the band announced Live in Berlin, the new video and audio release filmed and recorded at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany in November 2013 during the Delta Machine Tour. It was released on 17 November 2014 worldwide. In a 2015 Rolling Stone interview celebrating the 25th anniversary of Violator, Martin Gore stated that Johnny Cash's cover of "Personal Jesus" is his favorite cover version of a Depeche Mode song. Spirit (2016–present) On 25 January 2016, Martin Gore announced a projected return to the recording studio in April, with both Gore and Gahan having already written and demoed new songs. In September, the official Depeche Mode Facebook page hinted at a new release, later confirmed by the band to be a music video compilation, Video Singles Collection, scheduled for release in November by Sony. In October 2016, the band announced that their fourteenth album, titled Spirit and produced by James Ford, would be released in spring 2017. "Where's the Revolution", the lead single from Spirit, was released 3 February 2017, along with its lyric video. The official video was published a week later, on 9 February. The Global Spirit Tour officially kicked off on 5 May 2017 with a performance in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Friends Arena. The first leg of the tour covered European countries only, ending with a final stadium show in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the Cluj Arena. The second leg of the tour covered North America and returned to Europe. The North America leg of the tour kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 23 August, at the USANA Amphitheatre. The band remained in North America until 15 November when they left for Dublin to resume the European leg. The band ended the tour in Europe with two sold-out shows on 23 and 25 July 2018 in Berlin, Germany, at the Waldbühne. In September 2019, the band announced that Spirits in the Forest, a documentary that was partially filmed during these shows, would be released in theatres for one night only, 21 November 2019. On 7 November 2020, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Style and influences Original bandleader Clarke was responsible for transforming the fledgling Depeche Mode from a conventional rock outfit into an electronic music act. Clarke attributes his shift in musical ambitions to Wirral group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who were also influential on Fletcher and Gore. Gore has named the electronic quartet Kraftwerk as a primary influence on the band, stating, "My dream was to combine the emotion of Neil Young or John Lennon transmitted by Kraftwerk's synthesizers. Soul music played by electronic instruments." Band members have also cited David Bowie, The Clash, Roxy Music and Brian Eno, Elvis Presley, the Velvet Underground, Fad Gadget, Suicide, and the blues. Depeche Mode were considered a teen pop band during their early period in the UK, and interviewed in teen pop magazines such as Smash Hits. Following the departure of Clarke, their music began to take on a darker tone, establishing a darker sound in the band's music, as Gore assumed lead songwriting duties. Gore's lyrics include themes such as sex, religion, and politics. Gore has stated he feels lyrical themes which tackle issues related to solitude and loneliness are a better representation of reality, whereas he finds "happy songs" fake and unrealistic. At the same time, he asserts that the band's music contains "an element of hope." Depeche Mode's music has mainly been described as synth-pop, new wave, electronic rock, dance-rock, alternative rock and pop rock. The band also experimented with various other genres throughout its career, including avant-garde, electronica, pop, soul, techno, industrial rock and heavy metal. Legacy Depeche Mode have released a total of 14 studio albums, 10 compilation albums, six live albums, eight box sets, 13 video albums, 71 music videos, and 54 singles. They have sold over 100 million records and played live to more than 30 million fans worldwide. The band has had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart, and one US and two UK number-one albums. In addition, all of their studio albums have reached the UK Top 10 and their albums have spent over 210 weeks on the UK Charts. In 2006 music critic Sasha Frere-Jones claimed that "the last serious English influence was Depeche Mode, who seem more and more significant as time passes." Depeche Mode's releases have been nominated for five Grammy Awards: Devotional for Best Long Form Music Video; "I Feel Loved" and "Suffer Well", both for Best Dance Recording; Sounds of the Universe for Best Alternative Album; and "Wrong" for Best Short Form Music Video. In addition, Depeche Mode have been honoured with a Brit Award for "Enjoy the Silence" in the Best British Single category, the first-ever Q Innovation Award, and an Ivor Novello Award for Martin Gore in the category of International Achievement. Depeche Mode were called "the most popular electronic band the world has ever known" by Q, "one of the greatest British pop groups of all time" by The Sunday Telegraph, and "the quintessential eighties techno-pop band" by Rolling Stone and AllMusic. They were ranked No. 2 on Electronic Music Realm's list of The 100 Greatest Artists of Electronic Music, ranked No. 158 on Acclaimed Music's list of Top 1000 Artists of All Time and Q included them on their list of "50 bands that changed the world". In an interview in 2009, Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr argued that Depeche Mode and U2 were the only contemporaries of his band which could be said to have "stayed constantly relevant". Muse's Matt Bellamy said, "I can understand the association [with Muse], because they're a band that never really fitted in exactly with the music of their time. They had their own thing, their own style, own sound. I respect them very much." During Depeche Mode's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Coldplay's Chris Martin remarked, "sonically, they were and are about throwing away all the rulebooks." Arcade Fire's Win Butler added, "I feel like their music still sounds like it could come out 20 years from now. Depeche were able to take that spirit and spread it, which is really kind of a sacred responsibility." Influence Several major artists have cited the band as an influence, including: Arcade Fire, The Killers, Nine Inch Nails, Chvrches, The Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay, Muse, No Doubt, A Perfect Circle, Marilyn Manson, Linkin Park, The Crystal Method, Fear Factory, La Roux, Gotye, Rammstein, a-ha, Tegan and Sara (on Sainthood) and Paul van Dyk. Depeche Mode contemporaries Pet Shop Boys and Gary Numan have also cited the band as an influence. Colombian singer Shakira described Enjoy The Silence as the song that first sparked her passion for pop music. The dark themes and moods of Depeche Mode's lyrics and music have been enjoyed by several heavy metal artists, and the band influenced acts such as Marilyn Manson and Deftones. They have also been named as an influence on Detroit techno and indie rock. Philanthropy Early in their career, Depeche Mode was dismissive of benefit concerts such as Live Aid. Gore himself stated, "If these bands really care so much, they should just donate the money and let that be it. Why can't they do it without all the surrounding hype?". Since 2010 the band has applied their celebrity and cultural longevity to help promote and raise funds for several notable charity endeavours. They lent their support to high-profile charities such as MusiCares, Cancer Research UK and the Teenage Cancer Trust. The band has also supported the Small Steps Project, a humanitarian organization based in the United Kingdom, aiming to assist economically disadvantaged children into education. They have partnered with Swiss watchmaker Hublot to support Charity: Water, aimed at the provision of clean drinking water in developing countries. Such collaboration led to the release of two different limited edition watches, the Hublot Big Bang Depeche Mode in 2017 and The Singles Limited Edition series based from the Big Bang model in 2018. The proceeds helped raise $1.7 million for Charity:Water. In 2014, the partnership hosted a gala and fundraiser at the TsUM building in Moscow, raising $1.4 million for the charity. Band members Current members Andy Fletcher– keyboards, backing vocals, bass guitar (1980–present) Martin Gore– keyboards, backing and lead vocals, guitars (1980–present) Dave Gahan– lead vocals (1980–present) Touring musicians Christian Eigner– drums, keyboards (1997–present) Peter Gordeno– keyboards, bass guitar, piano, backing vocals (1998–present) Former members Vince Clarke– keyboards, lead and backing vocals, guitars (1980–1981) Alan Wilder– keyboards, piano, drums, backing vocals (1982–1995; one-off show in 2010) Timeline Discography Speak & Spell (1981) A Broken Frame (1982) Construction Time Again (1983) Some Great Reward (1984) Black Celebration (1986) Music for the Masses (1987) Violator (1990) Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) Ultra (1997) Exciter (2001) Playing the Angel (2005) Sounds of the Universe (2009) Delta Machine (2013) Spirit (2017) Awards and nominations Tours 1980: Composition of Sound Tour 1981: New Life Tour 1981–82: Speak and Spell Tour 1982: See You Tour 1982–83: Broken Frame Tour 1983–84: Construction Time Again Tour 1984–85: Some Great Reward Tour 1986: Black Celebration Tour 1987–88: Music for the Masses Tour 1990: World Violation Tour 1993: Devotional Tour 1994: Exotic Tour/Summer Tour '94 1997: Ultra 1998: The Singles Tour 86>98 2001: Exciter Tour 2005–06: Touring the Angel 2009–10: Tour of the Universe 2013–14: The Delta Machine Tour 2017–18: Global Spirit Tour See also List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart References Bibliography Further reading External links 1980 establishments in England Brit Award winners MTV Europe Music Award winners British musical trios British synth-pop new wave groups Columbia Records artists Dance-rock musical groups Electronic rock musical groups English alternative rock groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups from Essex Mute Records artists Sire Records artists Reprise Records artists Virgin Records artists Hansa Records artists Sonet Records artists

David (; ) is described in the Hebrew Bible as a king of the United Monarchy of Israel and Judah. In the Books of Samuel, David is a young shepherd and harpist who gains fame by slaying the giant Goliath, a champion of the Philistines in southern Canaan. David becomes a favorite of the first king of united Israel, Saul, and forges a close friendship with Jonathan, a son of Saul. Paranoid that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and operate as a fugitive for several years. After Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle against the Philistines, a 30-year-old David is anointed king over all of Israel and Judah, following which he conquers the city of Jerusalem, establishes it as Israel's capital, and takes the Ark of the Covenant into the city to be the centre-point of worship in the Israelite religion. According to the biblical narrative, David commits adultery with Bathsheba, leading him to arrange the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. David's son Absalom later schemes to overthrow him and, during the ensuing rebellion, David flees Jerusalem, but returns after Absalom's death to continue his reign over Israel and Judah. He desires to construct a temple to Yahweh in which to house the Ark but, because he shed much blood, Yahweh denies David the opportunity to do so. David rules as king of the Israelites until his death at age 70, prior to which he chooses Solomon, a son born to him and Bathsheba, to be his successor instead of Adonijah, his eldest surviving son. He is honored in prophetic literature as an ideal king and the forefather of the future Hebrew Messiah, and many psalms are ascribed to him. Historians of the Ancient Near East agree that David probably lived around 1000 BCE, but there is little else that is agreed on about him as a historical figure. The Tel Dan stele, a Canaanite-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damascus in the late-9th/early-8th centuries BCE to commemorate his victory over two enemy kings, contains the Hebrew-language phrase Beit David (), which most scholars translate as "House of David". The Mesha stele, erected by king Mesha of Moab in the 9th century BCE, may also refer to the "House of David", but this is disputed. Apart from this, all that is known of David comes from biblical literature, the historicity of which is doubtful, and there is little detail about David that is concrete and undisputed. David is richly represented in post-biblical Jewish written and oral tradition, and is discussed in the New Testament. The early Christians interpreted the life of Jesus in light of references to the Hebrew Messiah and to David; Jesus is described as being descended from David in the gospels of Matthew and of Luke. The biblical character of David has inspired many interpretations in art and literature over centuries. In the Quran and hadith, David is mentioned as a prophet-king of Allah. Biblical account Family The First Book of Samuel and the First Book of Chronicles both identify David as the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, the youngest of eight sons. He also had at least two sisters, Zeruiah, whose sons all went on to serve in David's army, and Abigail, whose son Amasa went on to serve in Absalom's army, Absalom being one of David's younger sons. While the Bible does not name his mother, the Talmud identifies her as Nitzevet, a daughter of a man named Adael, and the Book of Ruth claims him as the great-grandson of Ruth, the Moabite, by Boaz. David is described as cementing his relations with various political and national groups through marriage. In 1 Samuel 17:25, it states that King Saul had said that he would make whoever killed Goliath a very wealthy man, give his daughter to him and declare his father's family exempt from taxes in Israel. Saul offered David his oldest daughter, Merab, a marriage which David respectfully declined. Saul then gave Merab in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. Having been told that his younger daughter Michal was in love with David, Saul gave her in marriage to David upon David's payment in Philistine foreskins (ancient Jewish historian Josephus lists the dowry as 100 Philistine heads). Saul became jealous of David and tried to have him killed. David escaped. Then Saul sent Michal to Galim to marry Palti, son of Laish. David then took wives in Hebron, according to 2 Samuel 3; they were Ahinoam the Yizre'elite; Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; Maacah, the daughter of Talmay, king of Geshur; Haggith; Abital; and Eglah. Later, David wanted Michal back and Abner, Ish-bosheth's army commander, delivered her to David, causing her husband (Palti) great grief. The Book of Chronicles lists his sons with his various wives and concubines. In Hebron, David had six sons: Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah. By Bathsheba, his sons were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. David's sons born in Jerusalem of his other wives included Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama and Eliada. Jerimoth, who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of his sons in 2 Chronicles 11:18. His daughter Tamar, by Maachah, is raped by her half-brother Amnon. David fails to bring Amnon to justice for his violation of Tamar, because he is his firstborn and he loves him, and so, Absalom (her full brother) murders Amnon to avenge Tamar. Although Absalom did avenge his sister's defilement, ironically he showed himself not to be very much different from Amnon; as Amnon had sought the advice of Jonadab in order to rape 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]. Despite the great sins they had committed, David showed grief at the deaths of his sons, weeping twice for Amnon [2 Samuel 13:31–26] and weeping seven times for Absalom. Narrative God is angered when Saul, Israel's king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice and later disobeys a divine command both to kill all of the Amalekites and to destroy their confiscated property. Consequently, God sends prophet Samuel to anoint a shepherd, David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, to be king instead. After God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul, his servants recommend that he send for a man skilled in playing the lyre. A servant proposes David, whom the servant describes as "skillful in playing, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him." David enters Saul's service as one of the royal armour-bearers and plays the lyre to soothe the king. War comes between Israel and the Philistines, and the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul's army, declares that he can defeat Goliath. Refusing the king's offer of the royal armour, he kills Goliath with his sling. Saul inquires the name of the young hero's father. Saul sets David over his army. All Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him ("What else can he wish but the kingdom?"). Saul plots his death, but Saul's son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his father's schemes and David flees. He goes first to Nob, where he is fed by the priest Ahimelech and given Goliath's sword, and then to Gath, the Philistine city of Goliath, intending to seek refuge with King Achish there. Achish's servants or officials question his loyalty, and David sees that he is in danger there. He goes next to the cave of Adullam, where his family joins him. From there he goes to seek refuge with the king of Moab, but the prophet Gad advises him to leave and he goes to the Forest of Hereth, and then to Keilah, where he is involved in a further battle with the Philistines. Saul plans to besiege Keilah so that he can capture David, so David leaves the city in order to protect its inhabitants. From there he takes refuge in the mountainous Wilderness of Ziph. Jonathan meets with David again and confirms his loyalty to David as the future king. After the people of Ziph notify Saul that David is taking refuge in their territory, Saul seeks confirmation and plans to capture David in the Wilderness of Maon, but his attention is diverted by a renewed Philistine invasion and David is able to secure some respite at Ein Gedi. Returning from battle with the Philistines, Saul heads to Ein Gedi in pursuit of David and enters the cave where, as it happens, David and his supporters are hiding, "to attend to his needs". David realises he has an opportunity to kill Saul, but this is not his intention: he secretly cuts off a corner of Saul's robe, and when Saul has left the cave he comes out to pay homage to Saul as the king and to demonstrate, using the piece of robe, that he holds no malice towards Saul. The two are thus reconciled and Saul recognises David as his successor. A similar passage occurs in 1 Samuel 26, when David is able to infiltrate Saul's camp on the hill of Hachilah and remove his spear and a jug of water from his side while he and his guards lie asleep. In this account, David is advised by Abishai that this is his opportunity to kill Saul, but David declines, saying he will not "stretch out [his] hand against the Lord's anointed". Saul confesses that he has been wrong to pursue David and blesses him. In 1 Samuel 27:1–4, Saul ceases to pursue David because David took refuge a second time with Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. Achish permits David to reside in Ziklag, close to the border between Gath and Judea, from where he leads raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, but leads Achish to believe he is attacking the Israelites in Judah, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites. Achish believes that David had become a loyal vassal, but he never wins the trust of the princes or lords of Gath, and at their request Achish instructs David to remain behind to guard the camp when the Philistines march against Saul. David returns to Ziklag and saves his wives and the citizens from the Amalekites. Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle, and David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, and war ensues until Ish-Bosheth is murdered. With the death of Saul's son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all of Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of David's sons. Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David stating, "your throne shall be established forever". David wins additional victories over the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites and king Hadadezer of Aram-Zobah, after which they become tributaries. His fame increase as a result, earning the praise of figures like king Toi of Hamath, Hadadezer's rival. During a siege of the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David remains in Jerusalem. He spies a woman, Bathsheba, bathing and summons her; she becomes pregnant. The text in the Bible does not explicitly state whether Bathsheba consented to sex. David calls her husband, Uriah the Hittite, back from the battle to rest, hoping that he will go home to his wife and the child will be presumed to be his. Uriah does not visit his wife, however, so David conspires to have him killed in the heat of battle. David then marries the widowed Bathsheba. In response, Nathan, after trapping the king in his guilt with a parable that actually described his sin in analogy, prophesies the punishment that will fall upon him, stating "the sword shall never depart from your house." When David acknowledges that he has sinned, Nathan advises him that his sin is forgiven and he will not die, but the child will. In fulfillment of Nathan's words, the child born of the union between David and Bathsheba dies, and another of David's sons, Absalom, fueled by vengeance and lust for power, rebels. Thanks to Hushai, a friend of David who was ordered to infiltrate Absalom's court to successfully sabotage his plans, Absalom's forces are routed at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, and he is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree where, contrary to David's order, he is killed by Joab, the commander of David's army. David laments the death of his favourite son: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" until Joab persuades him to recover from "the extravagance of his grief" and to fulfill his duty to his people. David returns to Gilgal and is escorted across the River Jordan and back to Jerusalem by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. When David is old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king. Bathsheba and Nathan go to David and obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba's son Solomon as king, according to David's earlier promise, and the revolt of Adonijah is put down. David dies at the age of 70 after reigning for 40 years, and on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to take revenge on his enemies. Psalms The Book of Samuel calls David a skillful harp (lyre) player and "the sweet psalmist of Israel." Yet, while almost half of the Psalms are headed "A Psalm of David" (also translated as "to David" or "for David") and tradition identifies several with specific events in David's life (e.g., Psalms 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142), the headings are late additions and no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty. Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from Abimelech (or King Achish) by pretending to be insane. According to the parallel narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to leave, exclaiming, "Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" Historicity Tel Dan Stele The Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993, is an inscribed stone erected by Hazael, a king of Damascus in the late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE. It commemorates the king's victory over two enemy kings, and contains the phrase , bytdwd, which most scholars translate as "House of David". Other scholars have challenged this reading, but it is likely that this is a reference to a dynasty of the Kingdom of Judah which traced its ancestry to a founder named David. Mesha Stele Two epigraphers, André Lemaire and Émile Puech, hypothesised in 1994 that the Mesha Stele from Moab, dating from the 9th century, also contain the words "House of David" at the end of Line 31, although this was considered as less certain than the mention in the Tel Dan inscription. In May 2019, Israel Finkelstein, Nadav Na'aman, and Thomas Römer concluded from the new images that the ruler's name contained three consonants and started with a bet, which excludes the reading "House of David" and, in conjunction with the monarch's city of residence "Horonaim" in Moab, makes it likely that the one mentioned is King Balak, a name also known from the Hebrew Bible. Later that year, Michael Langlois used high-resolution photographs of both the inscription itself, and the 19th-century original squeeze of the then still intact stele to reaffirm Lemaire's view that line 31 contains the phrase "House of David". Replying to Langlois, Na'aman argued that the "House of David" reading is unacceptable because the resulting sentence structure is extremely rare in West Semitic royal inscriptions. Bubastite Portal at Karnak Besides the two steles, Bible scholar and Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen suggests that David's name also appears in a relief of Pharaoh Shoshenq, who is usually identified with Shishak in the Bible. The relief claims that Shoshenq raided places in Palestine in 925 BCE, and Kitchen interprets one place as "Heights of David", which was in Southern Judah and the Negev where the Bible says David took refuge from Saul. The relief is damaged and interpretation is uncertain. History of interpretation in the Abrahamic religions Rabbinic Judaism David is an important figure in Rabbinic Judaism, with many legends around him. According to one tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. David's adultery with Bathsheba is interpreted as an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and the Talmud states that it was not adultery at all, quoting a Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. Furthermore, according to Talmudic sources, the death of Uriah was not to be considered murder, on the basis that Uriah had committed a capital offense by refusing to obey a direct command from the King. However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David expressed remorse over his transgressions and sought forgiveness. God ultimately forgave David and Bathsheba but would not remove their sins from Scripture. In Jewish legend, David's sin with Bathsheba is the punishment for David's excessive self-consciousness who had besought God to lead him into temptation so that he might give proof of his constancy as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who successfully passed the test) whose names later were united with God's, while David eventually failed through the temptation of a woman. According to midrashim, Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David. Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven. Christianity The Messiah concept is fundamental in Christianity. Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment ("the anointed one", as the title Messiah had it), the "son of David" became in the last two centuries BCE the apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom. This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus "by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man". The early Church believed that "the life of David foreshadowed the life of Christ; Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd; the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are typical of the five wounds; the betrayal by his trusted counsellor, Ahitophel, and the passage over the Cedron remind us of Christ's Sacred Passion. Many of the Davidic Psalms, as we learn from the New Testament, are clearly typical of the future Messiah." In the Middle Ages, "Charlemagne thought of himself, and was viewed by his court scholars, as a 'new David'. [This was] not in itself a new idea, but [one whose] content and significance were greatly enlarged by him". Western Rite churches (Lutheran, Roman Catholic) celebrate his feast day on 29 December or on 6 October, Eastern-rite on 19 December. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord. Middle Ages In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages, David was made a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry. His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of David in the Nine Worthies was popularised firstly through literature, and was thereafter adopted as a frequent subject for painters and sculptors. David was considered as a model ruler and a symbol of divinely-ordained monarchy throughout medieval Western Europe and Eastern Christendom. David was perceived as the biblical predecessor to Christian Roman and Byzantine emperors and the name "New David" was used as an honorific reference to these rulers. The Georgian Bagratids and the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia claimed a direct biological descent from him. Likewise, kings of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty frequently connected themselves to David; Charlemagne himself occasionally used the name of David as his pseudonym. Islam David (Arabic: داوود Dā'ūd or Dāwūd) is an important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the Israelites. David is mentioned several times in the Quran with the Arabic name داود, Dāwūd or Dā'ūd, often with his son Solomon. In the Quran David killed Goliath (Q2:251), a giant soldier in the Philistine army. When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforced it (Q38:20). David was made God's "vicegerent on earth" (Q38:26) and God further gave David sound judgment (Q21:78; Q37:21–24, Q26) as well as the Psalms, regarded as books of divine wisdom (Q4:163; Q17:55). The birds and mountains united with David in uttering praise to God (Q21:79; Q34:10; Q38:18), while God made iron soft for David (Q34:10), God also instructed David in the art of fashioning chain mail out of iron (Q21:80); this knowledge gave David a major advantage over his bronze and cast iron-armed opponents, not to mention the cultural and economic impact. Together with Solomon, David gave judgment in a case of damage to the fields (Q21:78) and David judged the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber (Q38:21–23). Since there is no mention in the Quran of the wrong David did to Uriah nor any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative. Muslim tradition and the hadith stress David's zeal in daily prayer as well as in fasting. Quran commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous Stories of the Prophets elaborate upon David's concise quranic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms as well as his beautiful recitation and vocal talents. His voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God. Historical criticism Literary criticism Biblical literature and archaeological finds are the only sources that attest to David's life. Some scholars have concluded that this was likely compiled from contemporary records of the 11th and 10th centuries BCE, but that there is no clear historical basis for determining the exact date of compilation. Other scholars believe that the Books of Samuel were substantially composed during the time of King Josiah at the end of the 7th century BCE, extended during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), and substantially complete by about 550 BCE. Old Testament scholar Graeme Auld contends that further editing was done even after then—the silver quarter-shekel which Saul's servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 "almost certainly fixes the date of the story in the Persian or Hellenistic period" because a quarter-shekel was known to exist in Hasmonean times. The authors and editors of Samuel drew on many earlier sources, including, for their history of David, the "history of David's rise" and the "succession narrative". The Book of Chronicles, which tells the story from a different point of view, was probably composed in the period 350–300 BCE, and uses Samuel and Kings as its source. Biblical evidence indicates that David's Judah was something less than a full-fledged monarchy: it often calls him negid, meaning "prince" or "chief", rather than melek, meaning "king"; the biblical David sets up none of the complex bureaucracy that a kingdom needs (even his army is made up of volunteers), and his followers are largely related to him and from his small home-area around Hebron. Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations is available. A number of scholars consider the David story to be a heroic tale similar to King Arthur's legend or Homer's epics, whereas others think that such comparisons are questionable. Others hold that the David story is a political apology—an answer to contemporary charges against him, of his involvement in murders and regicide. The authors and editors of Samuel and Chronicles did not aim to record history, but to promote David's reign as inevitable and desirable, and for this reason there is little about David that is concrete and undisputed. Some other studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured David as a brutal tyrant, a murderer and a lifelong vassal of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath; Steven McKenzie argues that David came from a wealthy family, was "ambitious and ruthless" and a tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his own sons. Joel S. Baden has described him as "an ambitious, ruthless, flesh-and-blood man who achieved power by any means necessary, including murder, theft, bribery, sex, deceit, and treason. William G. Dever described him as "a serial killer". Jacob L. Wright has written that the most popular legends about David, including his killing of Goliath, his affair with Bathsheba, and his ruling of a United Kingdom of Israel rather than just Judah, are the creation of those who lived generations after him, in particular those living in the late Persian or Hellenistic periods. Isaac Kalimi wrote about the tenth century BCE that: "Almost all that one can say about King Solomon and his time is unavoidably based on the biblical texts. Nevertheless, here also one cannot always offer conclusive proof that a certain biblical passage reflects the actual historical situation in the tenth century BCE, beyond arguing that it is plausible to this or that degree." Archaeologic criticism Isaac Kalimi wrote in 2018 that: "No contemporaneous extra-biblical source offers any account of the political situation in Israel and Judah during the tenth century BCE, and as we have seen, the archaeological remains themselves cannot provide any unambiguous evidence of events." Lester L. Grabbe wrote in 2017 that: "The main question is what kind of settlement Jerusalem was in Iron IIA: was it a minor settlement, perhaps a large village or possibly a citadel but not a city, or was it the capital of a flourishing – or at least an emerging – state? Assessments differ considerably …" John Haralson Hayes and James Maxwell Miller wrote in 2006: "On the other hand, if one is not convinced in advance by the biblical profile, then there is nothing in the archaeological evidence itself to suggest that much of consequence was going on in Palestine during the tenth century BCE, and certainly nothing to suggest that Jerusalem was a great political and cultural center." Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman have stated that the archaeological evidence shows that Judah was sparsely inhabited and Jerusalem no more than a small village. The evidence suggested that David ruled only as a chieftain over an area which cannot be described as a state or as a kingdom, but more as a chiefdom, much smaller and always overshadowed by the older and more powerful kingdom of Israel to the north. They posited that Israel and Judah were not monotheistic at the time, and that later seventh-century redactors sought to portray a past golden age of a united, monotheistic monarchy in order to serve contemporary needs. They noted a lack of archeological evidence for David's military campaigns and a relative underdevelopment of Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, compared to a more developed and urbanized Samaria, capital of Israel during the 9th century BCE. Amihai Mazar has written that the United Monarchy of the 10th century BCE can be described as a "state in development". He has also compared David to Labaya, a Caananite warlord living during the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten. While Mazar believes that David reigned over Israel during the 11th century BCE, he argues that much of the Biblical text is “literary-legendary nature”. According to William G. Dever, the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon are reasonably well attested, but "most archeologists today would argue that the United Monarchy was not much more than a kind of hill-country chiefdom". Amélie Kuhrt acknowledges that "there are no royal inscriptions from the time of the united monarchy (indeed very little written material altogether), and not a single contemporary reference to either David or Solomon," but she concludes, "Against this must be set the evidence for substantial development and growth at several sites, which is plausibly related to the tenth century." Kenneth Kitchen reaches a similar conclusion, arguing that "the physical archaeology of tenth-century Canaan is consistent with the former existence of a unified state on its terrain." The view of Davidic Jerusalem as a village has been challenged by Eilat Mazar's excavation of the Large Stone Structure and the Stepped Stone Structure in 2005. Eilat Mazar proposed that these two structures may have been architecturally linked as one unit, and that they date back to the time of King David. Mazar supports this dating with a number of artifacts; including pottery, two Phoenician-style ivory inlays, a black-and-red jug, and a radiocarbon dated bone; dated to or around the 10th century. Amihai Mazar, Avraham Faust, Nadav Na'aman and William G. Dever have also argued in favour of the 10th century BCE dating and have responded to challenges against it. In 2010, archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced the discovery of part of the ancient city walls around the City of David which she believes date to the tenth century BCE. According to Mazar, this would prove that an organized state did exist in the 10th century. Scholars such as Israel Finkelstein, Lily Singer-Avitz, Ze'ev Herzog and David Ussishkin do not accept these conclusions. Finkelstein does not accept the dating of these structures to the 10th century BCE, based in part on the fact that later structures on the site penetrated deep into underlying layers, that the entire area had been excavated in the early 20th century and then backfilled, that pottery from later periods was found below earlier strata, and that consequently the finds collected by E. Mazar cannot necessarily be considered as retrieved in situ. Aren Maeir said in 2010 that he has seen no evidence that these structures are from the 10th century BCE, and that proof of the existence of a strong, centralized kingdom at that time remains "tenuous." Excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa by archaeologists Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor found an urbanized settlement radiocarbon dated dating to the 10th century, which supports the existence of an urbanised kingdom. Following such discovery, the Israel Antiquities Authority stated, "The excavations at Khirbat Qeiyafa clearly reveal an urban society that existed in Judah already in the late eleventh century BCE. It can no longer be argued that the Kingdom of Judah developed only in the late eighth century BCE or at some other later date." However, the techniques and interpretations to reach some conclusions related to Khirbet Qeiyafa have been criticized by other scholars, such as Israel Finkelstein and Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University, who have, instead, proposed that the city is to be identified as Philistine. In 2018, Avraham Faust and Yair Sapir stated that a Canaanite site at Tel Eton, about 30 miles from Jerusalem, was taken over by a Judahite community by peaceful assimilation, and transformed from a village into a central town at some point in the late 11th or early 10th century BCE. This transformation used some ashlar blocks in construction, which they argued supports the United Monarchy theory. Art and literature Literature Literary works about David include: 1517 The Davidiad is a neo-Latin epic poem by the Croatian national poet, Roman Catholic priest, and Renaissance humanist Marko Marulić (whose name is sometimes Latinized as "Marcus Marulus"). In addition to the small portions that attempt to recall the epics of Homer, The Davidiad is heavily modeled upon Virgil's Aeneid. This is so much the case that Marulić's contemporaries called him the "Christian Virgil from Split." The philologist Miroslav Marcovich also detects, "the influence of Ovid, Lucan, and Statius" in the work. 1681–82 Dryden's long poem Absalom and Achitophel is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for his satire of the contemporary political situation, including events such as the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and the Exclusion Crisis. 1893 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have used the story of David and Bathsheba as a foundation for the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Crooked Man. Holmes mentions "the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba" at the end of the story. 1928 Elmer Davis's novel Giant Killer retells and embellishes the biblical story of David, casting David as primarily a poet who managed always to find others to do the "dirty work" of heroism and kingship. In the novel, Elhanan in fact killed Goliath but David claimed the credit; and Joab, David's cousin and general, took it upon himself to make many of the difficult decisions of war and statecraft when David vacillated or wrote poetry instead. 1936 William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! refers to the story of Absalom, David's son; his rebellion against his father and his death at the hands of David's general, Joab. In addition it parallels Absalom's vengeance for the rape of his sister Tamar by his half-brother, Amnon. 1946 Gladys Schmitt's novel David the King was a richly embellished biography of David's entire life. The book took a risk, especially for its time, in portraying David's relationship with Jonathan as overtly homoerotic, but was ultimately panned by critics as a bland rendition of the title character. 1966 Juan Bosch, a Dominican political leader and writer, wrote David: Biography of a King, as a realistic portrayal of David's life and political career. 1970 Dan Jacobson's The Rape of Tamar is an imagined account, by one of David's courtiers Yonadab, of the rape of Tamar by Amnon. 1972 Stefan Heym wrote The King David Report in which the historian Ethan compiles upon King Solomon's orders "a true and authoritative report on the life of David, Son of Jesse"—the East German writer's wry depiction of a court historian writing an "authorized" history, many incidents clearly intended as satirical references to the writer's own time. 1974 In Thomas Burnett Swann's biblical fantasy novel How are the Mighty Fallen, David and Jonathan are explicitly stated to be lovers. Moreover, Jonathan is a member of a winged semi-human race (possibly nephilim), one of several such races coexisting with humanity but often persecuted by it. 1980 Malachi Martin's factional novel King of Kings: A Novel of the Life of David relates the life of David, Adonai's champion in his battle with the Philistine deity Dagon. 1984 Joseph Heller wrote a novel based on David called God Knows, published by Simon & Schuster. Told from the perspective of an aging David, the humanity—rather than the heroism—of various biblical characters is emphasized. The portrayal of David as a man of flaws such as greed, lust, selfishness, and his alienation from God, the falling apart of his family is a distinctly 20th-century interpretation of the events told in the Bible. 1993 Madeleine L'Engle's novel Certain Women explores family, the Christian faith, and the nature of God through the story of King David's family and an analogous modern family's saga. 1995 Allan Massie wrote King David, a novel about David's career that portrays the king's relationship to Jonathan as sexual. 2015 Geraldine Brooks wrote a novel about King David, The Secret Chord, told from the point of view of the prophet Nathan. Paintings 1599 Caravaggio David and Goliath c. 1610 Caravaggio David with the Head of Goliath 1616 Peter Paul Rubens David Slaying Goliath c. 1619 Caravaggio, David and Goliath Sculptures 1440? Donatello, David 1473–1475 Verrocchio, David 1501–1504 Michelangelo, David 1623–1624 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David Film David has been depicted several times in films; these are some of the best-known: 1951 In David and Bathsheba, directed by Henry King, Gregory Peck played David. 1959 In Solomon and Sheba, directed by King Vidor, Finlay Currie played an aged King David. 1961 In A Story of David, directed by Bob McNaught, Jeff Chandler played David. 1985 In King David, directed by Bruce Beresford, Richard Gere played King David. 1996 In Dave and the Giant Pickle Television 1976 The Story of David, a made-for-TV film with Timothy Bottoms and Keith Michell as King David at different ages. 1997 David, a TV-film with Nathaniel Parker as King David and Leonard Nimoy as the Prophet Samuel. 1997 Max von Sydow portrayed an older King David in the TV-film Solomon, a sequel to David. 2009 Christopher Egan played David on Kings, a re-imagining loosely based on the biblical story. King David is the focus of the second episode of History Channel's Battles BC documentary, which detailed all of his military exploits in the bible. 2012 Rei Davi, a Brazilian miniseries with Leonardo Brício as David. 2013 Langley Kirkwood portrayed King David in the miniseries The Bible. 2016 Of Kings and Prophets in which David is played by Olly Rix Music The traditional birthday song Las Mañanitas mentions King David as the original singer in its lyrics. 1738 George Frideric Handel's oratorio Saul features David as one of its main characters. 1921 Arthur Honegger's oratorio Le Roi David with a libretto by René Morax, instantly became a staple of the choral repertoire. 1964 Bob Dylan alludes to David in the last line of his song "When The Ship Comes In" ("And like Goliath, they'll be conquered"). 1983 Bob Dylan refers to David in his song "Jokerman" ("Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features"). 1984 Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" has references to David ("there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord", "The baffled king composing Hallelujah") and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof") in its opening verses. 1990 The song "One of the Broken" by Paddy McAloon, performed by Prefab Sprout on the album Jordan: The Comeback, has a reference to David ("I remember King David, with his harp and his beautiful, beautiful songs, I answered his prayers, and showed him a place where his music belongs"). 1991 "Mad About You", a song on Sting's album The Soul Cages, explores David's obsession with Bathsheba from David's perspective. 2000 The song "Gimme a Stone" appears on the Little Feat album Chinese Work Songs chronicles the duel with Goliath and contains a lament to Absalom as a bridge. Musical theater 1997 King David, sometimes described as a modern oratorio, with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken. Playing cards For a considerable period, starting in the 15th century and continuing until the 19th, French playing card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. In this context, the King of spades was often known as "David". Image gallery See also David and Jonathan David's Mighty Warriors David's Tomb Kings of Israel and Judah Large Stone Structure Midrash Shmuel (aggadah) Sons of David Notes References Sources Further reading External links Complete Bible Genealogy—David's family tree David engravings from the De Verda collection King David at the Christian Iconography web site The History of David, by William Caxton "David" by Kent Harold Richards at Bible Odyssey 11th-century BC Kings of Israel (united monarchy) 10th-century BC Kings of Israel (united monarchy) Ancient history of Jerusalem Angelic visionaries Bathsheba Biblical murderers Books of Samuel people Harpists Jewish poets People from Bethlehem Shepherds Warlords Jewish royalty Catholic saints Eastern Orthodox saints Anglican saints Tribe of Judah

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team plays its home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit. The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930. Amid financial struggles, the team was relocated to Detroit in 1934. The team was also renamed the Lions in reference to the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, the Tigers. The Lions won four NFL Championship Games between 1935 and 1957, all prior to the Super Bowl era. Since the 1957 championship, the franchise has won only a single playoff game during the 1991 season and holds the league's longest postseason win drought. They are the only franchise operational for the entirety of the Super Bowl era to not appear in the Super Bowl. Franchise history Logos and uniforms Aside from a brief change to scarlet and black from 1948 to 1950 instituted by then head coach Bo McMillin, which was influenced by his years as coach at Indiana, the Lions' uniforms have basically remained the same since they moved to Detroit in 1934–silver helmets, silver pants, and either blue or white jerseys. Glenn Presnell, the then last surviving member of the 1934 Lions, recalled that after the Portsmouth Spartans relocated to Detroit, team owner George A. Richards asked him and his wife to pick the Lions' colors from combinations that included red and white, orange and black, and blue and silver. The Presnells liked blue and silver the best, so Richards selected it. The blue used by the Lions is officially known as "Honolulu blue", which is inspired by the color of the waves off the coast of Hawaii. There have been minor changes to the uniform design throughout the years, such as changing the silver stripe patterns on the jersey sleeves, and changing the colors of the jersey numbers. "TV numbers", which are auxiliary uniform numbers to help TV broadcasters identify players from the line of scrimmage, were added to the jersey sleeves in 1956. White trim was added to the logo in 1970, with outlines (white on the blue jersey, silver on the white jersey) added to the numbers in 1972; the color arrangement on the numbers on the blue jerseys was reversed in 1982. The silver facemasks became blue in 1984. In 1998, the team wore blue pants with their white jerseys along with grey socks but dropped that combination after the season. In 1999, the "TV numbers" on the sleeves were moved to the shoulders. In 1994, every NFL team wore throwback jerseys, and the Lions' were similar to the jerseys used during their 1935 championship season. The helmets and pants were solid silver, the jerseys Honolulu blue with silver numbers and the jersey did not have "TV numbers" on the sleeves. The team wore solid blue socks and black cleats. The helmets also did not have logos, as helmets were simple leather back then. The Lions also wore 1950s-style jerseys during their traditional Thanksgiving Day games from 2001 to 2004 as the NFL encouraged teams to wear throwback jerseys on Thanksgiving Day. In 2003, the team added black trim to their logo and jerseys. The face masks on the helmet changed from blue to black with the introduction of the new color. In 2005, the team introduced an alternate, black, jersey. For 2008, the team dropped the black jersey in favor of a throwback uniform to commemorate the franchise's 75th anniversary. The throwback uniform became the team's permanent alternate jersey in 2009, replacing the former black alternate. The Lions officially unveiled a new logo and uniforms on April 20, 2009. The logo was given a flowing mane and fangs, while the typeface featured a modern font. On February 1, 2017, the Lions announced a new typeface, logo, and the complete removal of the color black from the team identity. While the previous logo was retained, the border was changed from black to silver. The Lions then unveiled the new uniforms on April 13, 2017, which include blue pants for the first time since 1998, and an alternate all-silver uniform; the facemasks also became chrome. The Lions also added the initials "WCF" to the left sleeve as a permanent tribute to William Clay Ford, who owned the team from 1963 until his death in 2014. The sleeve addition replaces the black "WCF" patch on the left breast that was added after Ford's death. On September 20, 2021, the Lions wore white pants with their road white uniforms against the Green Bay Packers. The white pants, which lacked striping, were previously worn during the "scarlet and black" era in the 1948 and 1949 seasons. Thanksgiving Day tradition In 1934, then team owner George A. Richards, who also was the owner of a major radio affiliate of the NBC Blue Network, WJR in Detroit, the forerunner to today's ABC, negotiated an agreement with NBC to carry his Thanksgiving games live across all of the network's stations. Since then, the tradition of the Lions playing on Thanksgiving has continued uninterrupted. Players of note Current roster Retired numbers Notes: 1 The No. 56 was unretired with Schmidt's blessing when the Lions acquired linebacker Pat Swilling from the New Orleans Saints. No player has worn it since Swilling left. 2 Posthumous. Hughes died of a heart attack during a game on October 24, 1971, and his No. 85 was withdrawn from circulation. Over the years, however, the number would return to circulation. Special cases The Lions retired No. 93 for the 2009 season after Corey Smith disappeared, presumed dead, when a boat he was fishing in with friends capsized off the Florida coast. The Lions also wore 93 decals on their helmets that season. The number was assigned to Kyle Vanden Bosch in 2010. Pro Football Hall of Fame members Pride of the Lions In 2009, the Pride of the Lions was established. The Pride of the Lions is the ring of honor for the franchise's greatest players. 75th Season All-Time Team On November 9, 2008, the Lions honored the 75th Season All-Time Team during halftime against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team was chosen via an online fan poll and selection committee. Bold indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Note: 1 Hanson was active at the time of the selection. Lions All-Time Team On September 29, 2019, the Lions honored their All-Time Team in celebration of the NFL's centennial during halftime against the Kansas City Chiefs. The team was chosen via fan voting, contributions from the Detroit Lions Legends Community, team executives, and select members of the media. Bold indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Note: 1 Muhlbach was active at the time of the selection. Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Staff Current staff Head coaches The Lions have had 30 head coaches throughout their franchise history. Their first head coach was Hal Griffin, who compiled a 5–6–3 (.464) overall record with the team of 1930. Wayne Fontes was the longest-tenured head coach in Lions history, serving from 1988 to 1996. The current head coach of the Lions is Dan Campbell, who was hired on January 20, 2021. Offensive coordinators Defensive coordinators Rivalries The Lions have had several division rivals in their existence. Their oldest rivals are the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, whom they have faced since 1930. The Minnesota Vikings have been in a division with Detroit ever since their inaugural season in 1961. Another notable longtime division opponent was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25 seasons from 1977 to 2001). The Lions also have a preseason rivalry with the Cleveland Browns, dubbed the Great Lakes Classic. The two teams have been playing for The Barge Trophy since 2002. The Lions and Browns had a solid rivalry in the 1950s, when they met four times for the NFL championship (Detroit won three of the matchups); they have met much less frequently during the regular season since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger due to the Browns' move to the AFC. Radio and television Radio The Lions' flagship radio station is WXYT-FM. Dan Miller does play-by-play, Lomas Brown does color commentary, and T. J. Lang is the sideline reporter. In 2015, the team announced that they were moving from WXYT-FM to WJR for the 2016 NFL season, ending a 20-year relationship with CBS Radio. The decision to part with WXYT was reportedly instigated by a demand by the team for the station to fire on-air personality Mike Valenti, who has had a history of making critical comments about the Lions during his drivetime show, as a condition of any future renewal. A CBS Radio spokesperson stated that their refusal was meant to maintain the station's integrity. The Lions' flagship station returned to WXYT-FM starting with the 2021 season. TV Preseason In 2015, WJBK took over from WXYZ-TV as the flagship station for Lions preseason games. In 2021, the announcers were Brandon Gaudin with play-by-play, Herman Moore with color commentary, and Dannie Rogers with sideline reports. Games are produced by Bally Sports Detroit. Regular season Regular season games are broadcast regionally on Fox, except when the Lions play an AFC team in Detroit, in which case the game airs regionally on CBS; however, since 2014, with the institution of the NFL's "cross flex" broadcast rules, any Lions game slated to air on Fox can be moved to CBS. The Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit is always televised nationally. In 2011, the Lions became the last NFC team to play on NBC's Sunday Night Football since the network began airing Sunday night games in 2006. Blackouts The Lions' winless performance in 2008 and 2–14 season in 2009, coupled with the effects of the Great Recession in Michigan, led to several local broadcast blackouts, as local fans did not purchase enough tickets by the 72-hour blackout deadline. The first blackout in the then seven-year history of Ford Field was on October 26, 2008, against the Washington Redskins. The previous 50 regular season home games had been sellouts. The second home game of the 2009 season in which the Lions broke the losing streak, also against the Redskins, was blacked out locally, as well as the comeback victory over the Cleveland Browns. The Lions had only one blackout in 2010, yet another Redskins game, which the Lions won 37–25. However, in 2015, the NFL suspended its blackout policies, meaning that all Lions games will be shown on local TV, regardless of tickets sold. Games were also often blacked out at the Lions' previous home, the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome, despite winning seasons and the success and popularity of star players such as Barry Sanders. Lions cheerleaders On June 13, 2016, the Lions announced their decision to add official cheerleaders to the organization. The team also announced that Rebecca Girard-Smoker, formerly the director of the Detroit Pistons dance team, would be the coach of the cheerleading squad. It marked the first time in over 40 years the team had an official cheerleading squad. The cheerleading squad is a part of the entertainment during football games, and active at community events. See also NFL on Thanksgiving Day History of the Portsmouth Spartans Notes and references Bibliography External links Detroit Lions at the National Football League official website Lions American football teams in Michigan Culture of Detroit National Football League teams American football teams established in 1934 Sports in Pontiac, Michigan 1934 establishments in Michigan