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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkin_Prize_for_Organic_Chemistry#:~:text=2013%3A%20Varinder%20Aggarwal | Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry | The Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry is a prestigious award established in 2008 by the Royal Society of Chemistry for sustained originality and achievement in research in any area of organic chemistry.
The prize is named after Sir William Henry Perkin (1838-1907), inventor of the first aniline dye, and is awarded on a biennial basis. The winner receives £5000, a medal and a certificate at an awards ceremony in November and undertakes a UK lecture tour.
== Winners ==
2009 (2009): Steven V. Ley, "for his outstanding creative work and innovative solutions in the art of organic synthesis"
2011 (2011): Stephen G. Davies, "for fundamental contributions that his research has made to the areas of stereocontrol in organometallic chemistry, asymmetric synthesis and total synthesis over 15 years"
2013 (2013): Varinder Aggarwal, "for his truly original contributions to the field of synthetic organic chemistry"
2015 (2015): Amos Smith, "for his continued outstanding contributions to new organic reaction development, complex natural product total synthesis, and new small molecules for medicinal chemistry"
2017 (2017): David A. Leigh, "for pioneering contributions to the synthesis and applications of complex catenanes, rotaxanes and molecular knots that underpin the field of artificial molecular machines"
2019 (2019): Sarah O'Connor, "for the discovery, enzymology and engineering of the biosynthetic pathways for complex natural products from plants."
== See also ==
List of chemistry awards
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sativasur#:~:text=Sativasur%20was%20properly%20founded%20on,%22Captain%20of%20the%20Sun%22. | Sativasur | Sativasur is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Northern Boyacá Province. It is approximately 132 km from Tunja, the capital of the department. Sativasur borders the municipalities Sativanorte in the north, Socotá in the east and Paz de Río in the south and west.
== History ==
Sativanorte and Sativasur were called Sátiva in the times before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca on the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of Colombia. Sátiva was inhabited during the Herrera Period and later ruled by the cacique of Tundama, today known as Duitama and part of the Muisca Confederation, the former country of the Muisca. The Spanish conquistadores who conquered the area in 1540 were Gonzalo Suárez Rendón and Hernán Pérez de Quesada. Sativasur was properly founded on January 30, 1720.
The names for Sativasur and Sativanorte are derived from the cacique Sátiva, which in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means: "Captain of the Sun".
== Economy ==
The main economical activities of the village are agriculture, livestock farming and mining.
== Gallery ==
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starr_Andrews | Starr Andrews | Starr Andrews (born June 23, 2001) is an American figure skater. She is the 2022 Skate Canada International silver medalist, 2019 International Challenge Cup silver medalist, 2019 Egna Trophy silver medalist, and finished fourth at the 2023 U.S. Nationals. She has finished in the top ten at three ISU Championships and is the first Black American woman to win a Grand Prix medal in the singles discipline.
Earlier in her career, Andrews is the 2017 U.S. national junior silver medalist.
== Personal life ==
Starr Andrews was born on June 23, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. She was home-schooled. She has a brother and two sisters, including Skylar, a gymnast, and Ashton, a baseball player. Their mother, Toshawa Andrews, has cardiac microvascular disease, which has led to a dozen heart attacks.
== Career ==
=== Early years ===
Andrews became interested in figure skating after her mother brought her to the ice rink when she was three. She recalled in 2018: "I wanted to get on the ice really, really bad, but I was too small, so I had to wait." She began learning to skate in 2005. A video of nine-year-old Andrews skating to Whip My Hair went viral after appearing on YouTube in December 2010. By March 2018, it had reached 53 million views.
Derrick Delmore became her coach around 2013. Andrews placed 6th on the novice level at the 2016 U.S. Championships.
=== 2016–17 season ===
Andrews decided to move up to the junior level, coached by Delmore and Peter Kongkasem in Lakewood, California and Riverside, California. Making her international debut, she won the junior ladies title at the Golden Bear of Zagreb in October 2016.
In January, she received the junior silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships. After Amber Glenn withdrew, Andrews was added to the U.S. team to the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. At the event, held in March, she qualified to the final segment by placing ninth in the short program and went on to finish twelfth overall.
=== 2017–18 season ===
Andrews began her season on the junior level, placing fifth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Austria. In December, making her senior international debut, she placed sixth at the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where she also obtained the minimum technical scores for both senior-level ISU Championships.
In January, Andrews finished sixth in the senior ladies' category at the 2018 U.S. Championships, having placed eighth in the short program and fifth in the free skate. She was assigned to the 2018 Four Continents, where she placed seventh, and the 2018 World Junior Championships, from which she withdrew. She was replaced by Emmy Ma.
=== 2018–19 season ===
In early August, Andrews competed at the 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy; she placed second in the short program with a personal best score but dropped to fifth after the free skate. In September, at the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, she ranked fifth in the short and seventh overall. She attempted the triple Axel in the free program, but her jump had a two-footed landing and was downgraded due to insufficient rotation. She made her Grand Prix debut in October at the 2018 Skate America and placed ninth in the short program, tenth in the free skate, and tenth overall. She was also invited to the 2018 Skate Canada International, where she placed fourth in the short program, ninth in the free skate, and seventh overall.
Andrews would place eighth at the 2019 U.S. Championships before going on to win silver at the 2019 International Challenge Cup and the 2019 Egna Spring Trophy.
=== 2019–20 season ===
Beginning on the Challenger series, Andrews placed fifth at both the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy and the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. On the Grand Prix, Andrews placed fourth in the short program at the 2019 Internationaux de France with a new personal best. Fifth in the free skate, she placed fifth overall.
Andrews finished sixth at the 2020 U.S. Championships. Finishing the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, Andrews placed eighth.
=== 2020–21 season ===
Andrews started her season competing at the ISP Points Challenge, a virtual US domestic competition. At the first opportunity, she placed fourth. She was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate America in Las Vegas, an event attended only by skaters training in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. She placed eighth.
Competing at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, Andrews placed twelfth.
=== 2021–22 season ===
Beginning the Olympic season on the Challenger series, Andrews placed fifth at the 2021 CS Autumn Classic International.
Following Bradie Tennell's withdrawal from the 2021 Skate America, Andrews was named to replace her. She placed tenth at the event. She finished in fifth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria. She had to withdraw from the 2021 Internationaux de France due to an injury in the warmup.
Andrews finished ninth at the 2022 U.S. Championships. This result earned her an assignment to the 2022 Four Continents Championships, where she came ninth as well. In the spring, she had surgery to treat supraventricular tachycardia, which she had experienced for almost a decade.
=== 2022–23 season: First Grand Prix medal ===
Andrews finished in sixth place at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to start the season. At her first Grand Prix assignment, the 2022 Skate Canada International, she finished fifth in the short program in a close field. She then "surprised" many by finishing second in the free skate, rising to take the silver medal. She became the first Black American woman to medal in singles in the Grand Prix era that began in 1995, and the second Black woman after Frenchwoman Surya Bonaly. Andrews noted the significance, saying "it is a huge deal for me. I am one of the few people of color in the sport, and to bring home a medal is even more special." Heading into the 2022 NHK Trophy, she planned to add a second flip to her free skate, having recovered from an ankle "tweak" that had necessitated lessening her content in the early events. Fifth in the short program, she dropped to ninth after the free skate, where she singled her planned second flip.
At the 2023 U.S. Championships, Andrews placed narrowly third in the short program. In the free skate she made two jump errors and was overtaken for the bronze medal by Amber Glenn, but she still won the pewter medal and stood on the senior podium for the first time in her career. She was the first African-American woman to stand on the US podium since Debi Thomas in 1988, which Andrews acknowledged as "amazing."
=== 2023–24 season ===
Andrews' preparation for the new season was first delayed while spending time preparing for a potential appearance at Coachella that ultimately did not come to fruition. She then had heart surgery to deal with atrial tachycardia, which she had been dealing with for a decade. She was ultimately able to begin work on her programs by July, but she did not feature in early domestic and international competitions due both to the delays and to an unrelated illness. She finally debuted at the Kings Cup International in early October, winning the silver medal.
Beginning on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate Canada International, she finished sixth in the short program. Jump problems in the free skate dropped her to eighth place. She went on came tenth at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo.
Competing at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia, Andrews won the bronze medal.
At the 2024 U.S. Championships, Andrews was ninth in the short program but delivered a strong fifth-place free skate and moved up to sixth overall.
=== 2024–25 season ===
Andrews began the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fifth at the 2024 Cranberry Cup International and tenth at the 2024 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. In late November, she competed at the 2025 Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, where she won the silver medal, thus qualifying for the U.S. Championships. She then went on to win gold at the 2024 Santa Claus Cup.
At the 2025 U.S. Championships, Andrews placed a disappointing twelfth in the short program but delivered a solid free skate, placing fifth in that segment and finishing in sixth place overall. She then closed the season with a fourth-place finish at the 2025 International Challenge Cup.
=== 2025–26 season ===
In preparation for the season, Andrews recorded the vocals for the track, "Turning Page," used for her free skate.
Andrews opened her season by competing on the 2025–26 Challenger Series, placing seventh at the 2025 CS Nepela Memorial and twelfth at the 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy.
In November, Andrews announced that the 2025–26 figure skating season was her last as a singles skater and that she intended to switch disciplines and pursue pair skating beginning with the 2026–27 season. Selected as a host pick for 2025 Skate America, Andrews delivered two clean programs, earning a new personal best free skate and combined total score and placing fifth overall.
== Programs ==
== Competitive highlights ==
== Detailed results ==
=== Senior level ===
=== Junior level ===
== References ==
== External links ==
Starr Andrews at the International Skating Union
Starr Andrews - National Team: Figure Skating - U.S. Figure Skating
Starr Andrews at Team USA
Official website |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Atlantic_University | Pan-Atlantic University | Pan-Atlantic University is a private, non-profit educational institution in Lekki, Lagos State.
== Timeline ==
The university had its origin as the Lagos Business School (LBS), established in 1991. The federal government approved the university as Pan-African University in 2002, and the LBS became its first school. The Ajah Campus was completed in 2003 and in 2010 work began on the Ibeju-Lekki campus.
The School of Media and Communication (SMC) was approved in 2006 by the Pan-Atlantic University Council in recognition of the critical role of this sector in shaping societal values and cultural life. The School evolved directly from the Centre for Media and Communication.
In September 2011 the university launched the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art, a website created by Jess Castellote, a Spanish architect that includes over 400 works from 81 artists, including pioneering Nigerian artists such as Aina Onabolu and Bruce Onobrakpeya and emerging artists such as Richardson Ovbiebo and Babalola Lawson.
In November and December 2011 the EDC, for the first time, marked the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), with a series of events in Lagos.
Many Nigerians have ambitions to start a business, and the conference was extremely well-attended.
EDC has been the GEW host for Nigeria since then. The University's Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) works with the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide the SME Toolkit Nigeria. This gives free business management information and training to small businesses.
In July 2011 British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, discussing aid, trade and democracy. He spoke in favor of an African free trade area, and of increased trade with Britain.
In May 2013 its name was changed to Pan-Atlantic University, in order to avoid confusion with the Pan-African University of the African Union.
On 17 November 2014 the University launched its first ever undergraduate programmes in its new campus at Ibeju-Lekki.
On 19 October 2019 the Pan-Atlantic University's Art museum, Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art
officially opened to the public with two simultaneous inaugural exhibitions.
== Partnership ==
Pan Atlantic University partnered with an environmental sustainability organization, in the planting of trees across the university.
=== Vocational training ===
Pan Atlantic University partnered with master card foundation to train Ten thousand women in business and vocational training.
== Ranking ==
In February 2024 Pan Atlantic University was ranked 54th in Nigeria.
== Notable alumni ==
Yomi Owope
Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Ibukun Awosika
Seyi Makinde
Femi Adesina
Ubong King
Gbenga Daniel
Gbemi Olateru Olagbegi
Ijeoma Onyeator
Femi Jacobs
Kemi Lala Akindoju
Ibidunni Ighodalo
Olalekan Olude
Jadesola Osiberu
Morayo Afolabi-Brown
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nallah_Mar | Nallah Mar | Nallah Mar or Mar Canal (also known as Mar Kol) was a navigational canal running through the old city of Srinagar in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It connected the Brari Nambal lagoon to the Khushal Sar lake and thus provided navigability between the Dal and Aanchar lakes. It was filled up and converted to a road in the 1970s. Once regarded as the lifeline of the city, it served vital functions in transportation, drainage, and urban life by linking Brari Nambal with Khushal Sar and other water bodies. Lined with stonework and arched bridges, its banks supported a bustling network of workshops, ghats, and stilted homes. However, in the 1970s, the canal was filled to create a road through the old city, an act now widely viewed as an ecological misstep that disrupted Srinagar’s water system and contributed to increased flood risks.
== History ==
The canal was built during the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin of the Shah Mir dynasty (popularly known in Kashmir as 'Budshah'). It was considered as a lifeline of the city even up to the early part of the 20th century. However, with the arrival of motor transport, it gradually lost its sheen. As such, it was filled up to pave way for a road through the old city. The filling up of the canal is considered an ecological disaster as it led to the choking up of Brari Nambal and in turn affected the entire water system of the city. In the 1970s, Nallah Mar was filled in and converted into a road to accommodate increasing road traffic, reflecting urban infrastructure priorities of the time but resulting in loss of drainage function and worsened flood risk. The culverting of the canal severely disrupted the hydrology of Brari Nambal and the Dal-Anchar waterway system.
== Architecture ==
Nallah Mar, also known as Mar Kol, was a historic canal originally constructed to connect Brari Nambal lagoon with Khushal Sar and other water bodies serving both navigation and flood control purposes. It was lined with flattened stones and brick paving and featured numerous arched bridges such as Nowpora, Bohri, Saraf, Qadi, and Rajouri Kadals over its winding course through Old Srinagar. The canal's banks were once lined with workshops and waterfront houses set on stilts, with ghats where locals bathed, washed, and socialized creating a vibrant urban fabric along the water.
== Maps ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Wani, Arif Shafi (14 March 2015). "Filling of Mar Canal a blunder". Greater Kashmir.
"Budshah's Nallai Mar". Kashmir Life. 13 April 2017.
Naqash, Rayan (7 August 2017). "Gently down the Jhelum: Is water transport in Kashmir a practical option?". Scroll.in.
Qayoom, Sheikh (21 September 2014). "Jammu and Kashmir floods: Is nature saying "back off"?". The News Minute. IANS.
"How Human Greed Robbed Kashmir". Kashmir Observer. 27 April 2016.
Draboo, Anisa (15 September 2014). "Man vs nature: Srinagar's flood misery has been heightened by bad planning". The Times of India.
Punjabi, Riyaz (5 February 2020). "Remembering Nallah Mar: Lost Artery of the Dal Lake". Kashmir Trends. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
== External links == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynne_Neilly#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20Neilly%20was%20the,hosted%20by%20the%20Magenta%20Foundation.&text=Elliot%20Page%20requested%20that%20Neilly,photographer%20who%20was%20also%20transgender. | Wynne Neilly | Wynne Neilly (born 1990) is a Canadian artist and photographer based in Toronto, focused on photographing queer and transgender people.
== Life ==
Neilly attended the Image Arts program at Ryerson University, graduating in 2012. He began creating works of portraiture in the early 2010s. He is based in Toronto.
Neilly is queer and transmasculine. In 2018, he described his maleness as "really only based on my physical appearance", stating that "there is a lot more to me and my gender identity."
== Work ==
Neilly's work is largely focused on exploring gender and sexuality, and specifically "the queer and trans body".
In 2014, when he was 24, a photo taken by him was on the cover of Original Plumbing. The photo was part of a larger series titled Female to "Male", focused on gender transitioning and specifically on Neilly's own transition.
In 2015, Neilly was the winner of the "Flash Forward" photography competition hosted by the Magenta Foundation.
Elliot Page requested that Neilly be the one to photograph him for the cover of Time in 2021 after Page's transition, because he wanted a photographer who was also transgender. When Neilly received an email from a Time photo editor, he initially thought it was fake, having believed that the COVID-19 pandemic ended his career. He photographed Page on March 5, 2021, for the March 29 – April 5 issue of Time; it was the first time a transgender man was featured on the magazine's cover. He later told Ryerson University's publication that "[it] really meant the world to me to be able to help [Page] tell his story".
Neilly has cited Catherine Opie as his "number one photographic inspiration", along with other inspirations including Cassils, Michelle Groskopf, and Robert Mapplethorpe.
== Exhibitions ==
Neilly's work has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Southern Norway Art Museum, and the Ryerson Image Centre.
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John%27s_Church,_Gateshead_Fell#:~:text=It%20replaced%20an%20organ%20made,Aidan's%20Church%2C%20Blackhill%2C%20Consett. | St John's Church, Gateshead Fell | St John's Church, Gateshead Fell, is in Church Road, Sheriff Hill, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Gateshead, the archdeaconry of Sunderland, and the diocese of Durham. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission. The church stands at the highest point in Gateshead.
== History ==
Section 12 of the Gateshead Inclosure Act 1809 (49 Geo. 3. c. cxxxv) set aside an acre of land at Gateshead Fell to build a church, and another act of Parliament passed the same day, the Gateshead Fell Church Act 1809 (49 Geo. 3. c. cxvi) decreed that there be a church built on it. A grant of £1,000 (equivalent to £110,000 in 2023) was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission. Designed by John Ions, the foundation stone was laid by Rev. John Collinson, at a "lofty eminence" on Sour Milk Hill, on 13 May 1824. Building continued into the next year and the church was consecrated on 30 August 1825. The total cost was £2,742 (equivalent to £300,000 in 2023). In the 1990s alterations were carried out at the rear of the church to create meeting rooms, toilets, and a kitchen.
== Architecture ==
St John's is constructed in ashlar stone with a Welsh slate roof. Its architectural style is Gothic Revival. The plan of the church consists of a nave, a short chancel, and a west tower with a spire. The tower also has diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet. The windows along the sides of the church are lancets. The two-manual organ was made by Harrison and Harrison. It replaced an organ made in about 1929 by Blackett and Howden, and was installed in 2000. The organ was formerly in St Aidan's Church, Blackhill, Consett.
== See also ==
List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghulam_Ishaq_Khan | Ghulam Ishaq Khan | Ghulam Ishaq Khan (20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), commonly known by his initials GIK, was a Pakistani bureaucrat, politician and statesman who served as the seventh president of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993. He previously served as chairman of the Senate from 1985 to 1988 under president Zia-ul-Haq, and assumed the presidency in accordance with the constitutional line of succession following Zia's death .
Raised in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khan graduated from Peshawar University and entered the Indian Civil Service, opting for Pakistan after the independence in 1947. Appointed the first chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority by President Ayub Khan in 1961, Ghulam Ishaq also served as Finance Secretary from 1966 to 1970. A year later, he was appointed Governor of the State Bank by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, before being made Defence Secretary in 1975, assisting with Pakistan's atomic bomb programme. He was retained by President Zia-ul-Haq as Finance Minister in 1977, overseeing the country's highest GDP growth average. Elected Chairman of the Senate in 1985, Khan was elevated to the presidency after Zia's death in an air crash on 17 August 1988. He was elected president on 13 December, as the consensus candidate of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad and Pakistan People's Party.
The oldest person to serve as president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan played a hawkish role against Communist Afghanistan, while relations with the United States deteriorated following the Pressler amendment. Domestically, Khan's term faced challenges: ethnic riots flared in Karachi, and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto accused him of frustrating her government as part of an alliance with conservative opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and the post-Zia military establishment. Khan invoked the Eighth Amendment and dismissed Benazir's government after just 20 months, on charges of rampant corruption and misgovernance. Sharif was elected Prime Minister in 1990, but Khan dismissed his government on similar charges three years later. The Supreme Court overturned the dismissal, but the gridlock ultimately led to both men resigning in 1993. He was the founder of his namesake Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute.
Retiring from public service, Khan served as rector of the GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in his native province, dying from pneumonia in 2006. He is viewed contentiously by Pakistani historians; he is credited with personal austerity, but criticized for wielding an autocratic presidency that ousted two governments.
== Early life and education ==
Ghulam Ishaq Khan was born in Ismail Khel, a rural locality on the outskirts of Bannu District, both villages in the North-West Frontier Province of the British Indian Empire, now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. He was a Pashtun of the Bangash tribe. His family remains active in politics; his son-in-law is former federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan while another son-in-law is former Sindh minister and advisor, Irfanullah Khan Marwat. A granddaughter of his, Samar Haroon Bilour, was married to Haroon Bilour of the ANP and another to Omar Ayub Khan, the grandson of former military dictator Ayub Khan and son of politician Gohar Ayub Khan.
After his schooling in Bannu, Khan first attended the Islamia College before making transfer to Peshawar University. He obtained double BSc, in Chemistry and in Botany.
Initially looking for a university job, Khan joined the Indian Civil Service in 1941, serving in various provincial assignments on behalf of British India. After independence in 1947, Khan opted for Pakistan and was assigned to the bureaucracy of the provincial government of North-West Frontier Province in 1947. He took over the provincial secretariat as the secretary of the irrigation department, which he held until 1955.
== Initial public service ==
In 1956, Khan was appointed in the provincial government of Sindh as the Home Secretary, but was later appointed Secretary of Department of Development and Irrigation by the Sindh government. In 1958, he was elevated to federal government level, and assigned to the secretariat control of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), an appointment approved by the President Ayub Khan. Since 1958, Khan had been serving on the Board of Governors of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), before being elevated to chairman in 1961. As Chairman, he played a vital role in the construction and financial development of Mangla Dam and Warsak Dam.
In 1966, Khan left the chairmanship to be appointed the Federal Finance Secretary to the Government of Pakistan until 1970, which he relinquished to incoming Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After Pakistan's loss to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Khan was called to administer all retail and commercial services pertaining to the national economy tattered by war. In 1971, Bhutto appointed him Governor of State Bank of Pakistan when he was tasked to formulate and administer monetary and credit policy in accordance with Government policy with influence of socialism. In the latter position, he questioned the wisdom of many of the economic policies of then-Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was keen to intensify his nationalization and socialist influence in the financial institutions that marked the slow down of the economy.
== Defence Secretary (1975–77) ==
In 1975, Prime Minister Bhutto transferred him from Governor of the State Bank to the Ministry of Defence as Defence Secretary. It was a fortuitous move in that it brought him into close contact with the Pakistani military establishment and enabled him to closely manage the nuclear weapons program. Though an unusual assignment for a financial expert, this appointment made him a powerful bureaucrat in the country. During that time, Khan became closer to General Zia-ul-Haq and had later coveted for General Zia-ul-Haq's appointment as the chief of army staff.
As Defence Secretary, he helped manage Pakistan's atomic bomb project and had been directly associated with the program. Khan was a vehement supporter of the program and saw it as a "national priority". He backed the advocacy of theorist Abdul Qadeer Khan and helped establishing the Engineering Research Laboratories in Kahuta. He headed the Uranium Coordination Board (UCB) which consisted of AGN Kazi, Munir Ahmad and Agha Shahi. Khan recommended S A Nawab for the Hilal-i-Imtiaz medal in recognition of Nawab's work in establishing Khan Research Laboratories. Later, in the 1980s Khan helped consolidate the efforts at ERL under Lt. Gen. Zahid Ali Akbar as its first military director. He approved the survey by field officer, Brigadier Akbar in 1976. Khan also helped secure the funds for the ERL and lobbying for General Akbar's promotion as the Engineer-in-Chief in 1980. Khan cemented close relations with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and Munir Ahmad Khan, and remained Qadeer Khan's staunch loyal.
His involvement and support earned him the nickname "Mr Nuke" by the U.S. diplomats, while the new media dubbed him as "Baba Atom Bomb". On the contrary, Khan did not have the directorial role in the atomic bomb program until Munir Ahmad Khan retired. However, he maintained complete logistic and operational control over ERL project from the time of its inception using Major General S A Nawab who reported to Ghulam Ishaq at the Ministry of Defence. After Munir Ahmad Khan took retirement from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), President Ghulam Ishaq Khan eventually consolidated the entire program under the civic-military control, and supervised the classified projects of the program.
== Minister of Finance (1977–85) ==
After Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted in a staged coup d'état in 1977, Khan played a crucial role in the event of stabilizing chief of army staff General Zia-ul-Haq, in Bhutto's capacity. After meeting with the military leadership at the JS HQ, Khan reportedly marked that: "this action was going to harm the country, but since it could not be reversed, they should do their best to salvage whatever they could." He was immediately elevated as Finance Minister by General Zia-ul-Haq, who acted as the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). A team of economic experts and technocrats were assembled in the management of Khan, giving him the authority over the Planning Commission, Economic Coordination Committee, and Executive Committee of the Space Research Council. Khan worked towards controlling the national economy while harnessing the damaged Private sector. In 1977, Khan endorsed General Haq's bid for becoming the President of Pakistan, who tightened the grip of martial law in the country.
In the 1980s, Khan backed the implementation of the economic Islamization by introducing the risk-free interest rate system as well as establishing the corporatization in the industrial sector. Khan managed the revenue collection and provided the modern shape in the state–owned enterprises (SOEs) that were established in a nationalization in the 1970s. His policies and economic expertise ultimately resulted in the improvement in GDP and GNP progress, helping Pakistan's economy become among the fastest-growing in South Asia.
He maintained his ties with the nuclear society and gave strong priority for the nuclear deterrence as channelling financial funds for the development of the atomic bomb projects. Khan gave tax free status to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). In 1983, Khan was among the invited secret dignitaries who witnessed the first Cold fission test, Kirana-I; along with attendees General Zahid Ali (E-in-C), General KM Arif (COAS), AVM MJ O'Brian (AOC)), and Munir Ahmad (Chair PAEC). In 1984, Khan supported the referendum for Islamization held by President Zia.
== Senate Chairman (1985–88) ==
After the non-partisan general elections held in 1985, Khan was succeeded by Mahbub ul Haq– an economist. Khan decided to participate in the upcoming indirect senate elections as an independent. In 1985, he became the Chairman of the Senate and remained intact in that capacity until 1988.
After the controversial and mysterious aviation accident occurred in Bahawalpur, Khan appeared on national television and announced the death of General Zia-ul-Haq. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, Khan was the second in the line of succession to the President of Pakistan. However, General Mirza Aslam Beg called out for the general elections in 1988. Until the elections, Khan served as an acting president in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession.
== President of Pakistan (1988–93) ==
Reaching the mutual understanding with the leftist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Khan participated in presidential elections on a PPP platform. Khan secured 608 votes in the elections, competing against four other candidates; he was also supported by the conservative IDA led by Nawaz Sharif. At the time of assuming the office of president, he became the oldest president of Pakistan.
As president, Khan was marred with political struggle with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who attempted for pushing the bill to reverse the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. Furthermore, Khan was in a conflict with Prime Minister Bhutto in two areas; the appointment of the military chiefs of staff and the Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Khan consolidated his position in controlling the nuclear deterrence program, keeping all the control over its direction. Problems arose when Prime Minister Bhutto made contact with Munir Ahmad and Abdul Qadeer Khan over the program's direction, which frustrated Khan. Economic growth slowed down and introduction of the US Embargo on Pakistan caused a great economic panic in the country. In the 1990s, Khan and Bhutto failed to arrest the 30% fall in the value of ₨. from 21 to 30 to the US $.
Khan struggled to control the law and order in the country after witnessing the Soviet troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan. Although, he maintained an ally of the United States.
=== Judicial and military appointments ===
Soon after assuming the presidency, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan's conflict arise with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's invalid and inappropriate appointments in nation's court system, which were primarily political rather than meeting merit. Many of Benazir government's recommendations for judicial appointments were voided and the judicial appointments made by the President himself became a controversial issue in the nation.
The appointments of chiefs of staff in the command of the military was another issue where the President Khan was in conflict with the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989. President Khan also confirmed Admiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik as the Chief of Naval staff and raised no objections.
Although, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan confirmed the nomination of Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey as Chairman joint chiefs and General Mirza Aslam Beg as chief of army staff in 1988, President Khan notably used his presidential powers to retain Admiral Sirohey as Chairman joint chiefs and defused any attempts made by Prime Minister Bhutto for General Beg as the new chairman joint chiefs to control the military.
In 1990, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan reportedly denied the term extension of General Mirza Aslam Beg despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's urging. He also raised objections and further vetoed the appointment of Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul, former DG ISI, as Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army. Instead, he favoured appointing General Asif Nawaz as Chief of Army Staff. On the advice of Prime Minister Sharif, he confirmed Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze as Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force.
=== Dismissal of Bhutto and Sharif governments ===
As economic and law and order crises deepened, Khan used the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan to dismiss Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's government over corruption charges and deteriorating law and order situation and called fresh elections. After holding the general elections in 1993, he supported Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister and his IDA government.
Problems with Sharif arose with the issue of reversing the Eighth Amendment when Sharif tried to pass the bill. Eventually, he used the same Amendment to dismiss Sharif's government on similar charges. However, Sharif retaliated by bringing a lawsuit against him in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. President Khan's attempt to use the Eighth Amendment was deemed illegal by the Court and Sharif was reinstated as the Prime Minister. The political deadlock persisted and after the joint intervention of the judiciary and the military, both Khan and Sharif were forced to resign.
== Philanthropy, retirement and death ==
In 1988, Khan founded the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, which runs programmes in engineering, science and technology. The university was established with the financial support from the BCCI. He invited A Q Khan who took the professorship of physics and delegated Asghar Qadir, a PAEC mathematician, to take professorship in mathematics.
He again negotiated with the PPP for the presidency but eventually dropped as a candidate in favour of Farooq Leghari in general elections held in 1993. He retired from the national politics and avoided contact with international and domestic news media. He died on 27 October 2006, after a bout of pneumonia.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Profile Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Story of Pakistan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan taking oath as the President of Pakistan
In depth history of Khan's presidency
BBC News report of his death
"Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away" Report on the Dawn Newspaper website
Chacko, Arun (31 January 1992). "With President Ghulam Ishaq Khan losing ground, new equations are being thrashed out". India Today. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Rubiano_S%C3%A1enz | Pedro Rubiano Sáenz | Pedro Rubiano Sáenz (Spanish: [ˈpeðɾo ru'βjano 'saens]; 13 September 1932 – 15 April 2024) was a Colombian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Bogotá from 1995 to 2010. He was Bishop of Cúcuta from 1972 to 1983, and Archbishop of Cali from 1985 to 1994 after two years as coadjutor there. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2001.
== Biography ==
=== Early life and ordination ===
Pedro Rubiano Sáenz was born in Cartago, Colombia, on 13 September 1933, the fourth of six sons born to Pedro Rubiano and Tulia Sáenz. He attended the Colegio de María Auxiliadora and the Colegio Ramírez, then the Diocesan College of Santa Teresita in the Bitaco neighborhood, and then at the minor seminaries of Cali and Popayán. He studied at the seminary in Popayán and the Université Laval in Quebec, where he earned his licentiate in sacred theology. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Cali on 8 July 1956 from Bishop Julio Caicedo y Téllez. He then studied at Catholic University in Washington and at the Institute for Social Studies of Santiago de Chile. He fulfilled a variety of pastoral assignments in the 15 years following his ordination, including chaplain of the Marco Fidel Suárez Military Aviation School, the Santa Librada national school, and the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios clinic. He was pastor and founder of the parishes of San Pedro Claver and Nuestra Señora de la Providencia. By 1971 he was pastoral vicar of the archdiocese and vice-rector of the Major School "Santiago di Cali".
=== Bishop and archbishop ===
On 2 June 1971, Pope Paul VI named him bishop of Cúcuta. He received his episcopal consecration on 11 July 1972 in Cali from Archbishop Angelo Palmas, Nuncio to Colombia. Pope John Paul II appointed him Coadjutor Archbishop of Cali on 26 March 1983 and he succeeded as archbishop there on 7 February 1985.
From 1983 to 1989 he was vice president of the International Commission for Migration and Refugees based in Geneva. From April 1990 to January 1991, he was apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Popayán.
Pope John Paul transferred him to the metropolitan see of Bogotá on 27 December 1994. He was installed there on 11 February 1995. On 12 October 1995, he was made a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants. One of his most significant initiatives was the creation of the Archdiocesan Food Bank, which continued to operate as long as he lived.
On 4 August 1995, he established the National Conciliation Commission in the hope that a broad and diverse coalition might help resolve Colombia's political divisions and end armed conflict.
Rubiano Sáenz was elected to a three-year term as president of the Colombian Bishops Conference in 1990 and re-elected in 1993.
=== Cardinal ===
Pope John Paul made Rubiano Sáenz Cardinal-Priest of Trasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo in the consistory of 21 February 2001. He was made a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education on 15 May 2001 and his membership on the Pontifical Council for Migrants was renewed on 18 May 2001.
In 2002, he was elected to another term as president of the Colombian Bishops Conference. He was also president of the economic committee of the Episcopal Council of Latin America (CELAM) from May 2003 to July 2007.
In 2003, he oversaw the creation of three new suffragan dioceses from the territory of the Archdiocese of Bigotá: Engativá, Fontibón and Soacha.
Rubiano Sáenz was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2006, as Colombia's Constitutional Court considered an abortion rights case, Rubiano Sáenz warned of the danger posed by a Latin American country breaking from the region's universal ban on abortion. He wrote: "The loss of one country will substantially weaken the pro-life fabric of all of Latin America. What begins as a small hole will end as a huge tear allowing much evil to come in." In May, after the Court ruled that abortion could not be punished in certain cases, he wrote that "decriminalizing abortion, even in the cases indicated by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, does not change either the seriousness of the fact or the moral judgment of abortion.... What is legal is not always moral."
On 31 January 2008, he mocked the idea that achieving peace between the government of Colombia and the FARC rebels required the intervention of Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez. He said: "The only thing left is to kneel down before Chavez! I believe we Colombians have dignity."
In July 2009, he advised Colombian president Álvaro Uribe against seeking a third term as president. He said: "Two terms is a lot. He has carried out important work for the good of the country and for peace. It would be better for him if after finishing his second term he left office and later on ran again."
Pope Benedict accepted Rubiano Sáenz's resignation as Archbishop of Bogotá on 8 July 2010, three years after he had submitted it.
Rubiano Sáenz was apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until the installation of his successor, Archbishop Rubén Salazar Gómez, on 13 August 2010.
=== Death ===
Rubiano Sáenz died at his residence in Bogotá on 15 April 2024 at the age of 91.
== Honors ==
Rubiano Sáenz was honoured with the following:
Order of Boyacá
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Order pro merito Melitensi
== See also ==
Catholic Church in Colombia
== References ==
== External links ==
"Rubiano Sáenz Card. Pedro". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_National_Park#History | Sequoia National Park | Sequoia National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres (631 sq mi; 163,519 ha; 1,635 km2) of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
The park is notable for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume. The General Sherman Tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world. The Giant Forest is connected by the Generals Highway to Kings Canyon National Park's General Grant Grove, home of the General Grant tree among other giant sequoias. The park's giant sequoia forests are part of 202,430 acres (316 sq mi; 81,921 ha; 819 km2) of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The parks preserve a landscape that was first cultivated by the Monache tribe, the southern Sierra Nevada before Euro-American settlement.
== Front country ==
Many park visitors enter Sequoia National Park through its southern entrance near the town of Three Rivers at Ash Mountain at 1,700 ft (520 m) elevation. The lower elevations around Ash Mountain contain the only National Park Service-protected California Foothills ecosystem, consisting of blue oak woodlands, foothills chaparral, grasslands, yucca plants, and steep, mild river valleys. Seasonal weather results in a changing landscape throughout the foothills with hot summer yielding an arid landscape while spring and winter rains result in blossoming wildflowers and lush greens. The region is also home to abundant wildlife: bobcats, foxes, ground squirrels, rattlesnakes, and mule deer are commonly seen in this area, and more rarely, reclusive mountain lions and the Pacific fisher are seen as well. The last California grizzly was killed in this park in 1922 (at Horse Corral Meadow). The California Black Oak is a key transition species between the chaparral and higher elevation conifer forest.
At higher elevations in the front country, between 5,500 and 9,000 feet (1,700 and 2,700 m) in elevation, the landscape becomes montane forest-dominated coniferous belt. Found here are Ponderosa, Jeffrey, sugar, and lodgepole pine trees, as well as abundant white and red fir. Found here too are the giant sequoia trees, the most massive living single-stem trees on Earth. Between the trees, spring and summer snowmelts sometimes fan out to form lush, though delicate, meadows. In this region, visitors often see mule deer, Douglas squirrels, and American black bears, which sometimes break into unattended cars to eat food left by careless visitors. There are plans to reintroduce the bighorn sheep to this park.
== Back country ==
The vast majority of the park is road-less wilderness; no road crosses the Sierra Nevada within the park's boundaries. 84 percent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is designated wilderness and is accessible only by foot or by horseback. The majority was designated Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness in 1984 and the southwest portion was protected as John Krebs Wilderness in 2009.
== History ==
The area which now is Sequoia National Park shows evidence of Native American settlement as early as AD 1000. The area was first home to "Monachee" (Western Mono) Native Americans, who resided mainly in the Kaweah River drainage in the Foothills region of what is now the park, though evidence of seasonal habitation exists as high as the Giant Forest. Members of this tribe were permanent residents of the park, with a population estimate of around 2,000. In the summer the Tubatulabal Native Americans used the eastern part of the area (the Kern River drainage) as their summer hunting grounds. During this time, the Western Mono tribe would travel over the high mountain passes to trade with tribes to the East. To this day, pictographs can be found at several sites within the park, notably at Hospital Rock and Potwisha, as well as bedrock mortars used to process acorns, a staple food for the Monachee people.
=== European settlement ===
The first European settler to homestead in the area was Hale Tharp, who built a home out of a hollowed-out fallen giant sequoia log in the Giant Forest next to Log Meadow. Tharp arrived in 1858 to the region and encountered several groups of Native Americans, the largest being around 600 with several other smaller groups found at higher elevations. After becoming friendly with the Western Mono tribe, Tharp was shown the Giant Forest Sequoia Grove. After his settlement, more settlers came around 1860.
Shortly thereafter - between 1860 and 1863, epidemics of smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever killed the majority of the Native Americans living in the area. After this, the rest of the Native Americans left with the largest campsite (Hospital Rock) abandoned by 1865. During their time in the area, the Monachee used periodic fire burning to aid in hunting and agriculture. This technique played an important role in the ecology of the region and allowed for a "natural" vegetation cover development. After they left, Tharp and other settlers allowed sheep and cattle to graze the meadow, while at the same time maintaining a respect for the grandeur of the forest and led early battles against logging in the area. From time to time, Tharp received visits from John Muir, who would stay at Tharp's log cabin. Tharp's Log can still be visited today in its original location in the Giant Forest.
Tharp's attempts to conserve the giant sequoias were at first met with only limited success. In the 1880s, white settlers seeking to create a utopian society founded the Kaweah Colony, which sought economic success in trading Sequoia timber. Giant Sequoia trees, unlike their coast redwood relatives, were later discovered to splinter easily and therefore were ill-suited to timber harvesting, though thousands of trees were felled before logging operations finally ceased.
=== Park status ===
President Benjamin Harrison ultimately signed legislation that established the Sequoia National Park on 25 September 1890, becoming the second national park established in the United States, and ending logging in the area.
=== Buffalo Soldiers ===
Another consequence of the Giant Forest becoming Sequoia National Park was the shift in park employment. Prior to the incorporation by the National Park Service, the park was managed by US army troops of the 24th Regiment of Infantry and the 9th Regiment of Cavalry, better known as the Buffalo Soldiers. These segregated troops, founded in 1866, were African-American men from the South, an invaluable demographic to the military with the lowest rates of desertion. The Buffalo Soldiers completed park infrastructure projects as well as park management duties, helping to shape the role of the modern-day park ranger. The Buffalo Soldiers rose to this position due to a lack of funding for the park which led to an inability to hire civilians.
The third African American West Point graduate, Captain Charles Young led the cavalries of Buffalo Soldiers in the Sequoia and General Grant Parks. Young landed this post as a result of the segregation rampant throughout the Army: as a black man, he was not permitted to head any combat units. He did demonstrate his leadership capability through his initiatives in the national park delegating park infrastructure projects, hosting tourists and politicians, and setting a standard of a strong work ethic into his men. Young was also a prominent figure regarding the early conservation of Sequoia National Park. He greenlighted the dedication of trees in honor of prominent figures as a means of promoting their preservation. One such example is the Redwood dedicated to the escaped slave and activist, Booker T Washington. Young also argued to the Secretary of the Interior that the lack of enforcement of forest protection laws allowed the detrimental practices of logging and the popular tourist hobby of carving names into the redwoods to continue.
=== Sierra Club ===
An expansions occurred in 1978, when grassroots efforts, spearheaded by the Sierra Club, fought off attempts by the Walt Disney Company to purchase a high-alpine former mining site south of the park for use as a ski resort. This site known as Mineral King was annexed to the park. Its name dates back to early 1873 when the miners in the area formed the Mineral King Mining District. Mineral King is the highest-elevation developed site within the park and a popular destination for backpackers.
The national park was partially closed in September 2020 due to the SQF Complex Fire, and fully closed in mid-September through mid-December 2021 due to the KNP Complex Fire.
== Climate ==
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Sequoia National Park encompasses five climate types listed here from highest to lowest elevation; Tundra (ET), Mediterranean-influenced Subarctic climate (Dsc), Mediterranean-influenced warm-summer Humid continental climate (Dsb), Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb), and Hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). Precipitation also decreases with elevation. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone at Giant Forest Visitor Center (6,444 ft (1,964 m)) is 8a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 12.0 °F (−11.1 °C).
== Geology ==
Sequoia National Park contains a significant portion of the Sierra Nevada. The park's mountainous landscape includes the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, which rises to 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The Great Western Divide parallels the Sierran crest and is visible at various places in the park, for example, Mineral King, Moro Rock, and the Giant Forest. Peaks in the Great Western Divide rise to more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). Deep canyons lie between the mountains, including Tokopah Valley above Lodgepole, Deep Canyon on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River, and Kern Canyon in the park's backcountry, which is more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) deep for 30 miles (50 km).
Most of the mountains and canyons in the Sierra Nevada are composed of granitic rocks. These rocks, such as granite, diorite and monzonite, formed when molten rock cooled far beneath the surface of the earth. The molten rock was the result of a geologic process known as subduction. Powerful forces in the earth forced the landmass under the waters of the Pacific Ocean beneath and below an advancing North American Continent. Super-hot water driven from the subducting ocean floor migrated upward and melted rock as it proceeded. This process took place during the Cretaceous Period, 100 million years ago. Granitic rocks have a speckled salt-and-pepper appearance because they contain various minerals including quartz, feldspars and micas. Valhalla, or the Angel Wings, are prominent granitic cliffs that rise above the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.
The Sierra Nevada is a young mountain range, probably not more than 10 million years old. Forces in the earth, probably associated with the development of the Great Basin, forced the mountains to rise. During the last 10 million years, at least four ice ages have coated the mountains in a thick mantle of ice. Glaciers form and develop during long periods of cool and wet weather. Glaciers move very slowly through the mountains, carving deep valleys and craggy peaks. The extensive history of glaciation within the range and the erosion-resistant nature of the granitic rocks that make up most of the Sierra Nevada have together created a landscape of hanging valleys, waterfalls, craggy peaks, alpine lakes (such as Tulainyo Lake) and glacial canyons.
Park caves, like most caves in the Sierra Nevada of California, are mostly solutional caves dissolved from marble. Marble rock is essentially limestone that was metamorphosed by the heat and pressure of the formation and uplift of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. The batholith's rapid uplift over the past 10 million years led to a rapid erosion of the metamorphic rocks in the higher elevations, exposing the granite beneath; therefore, most Sierra Nevada caves are found in the middle and lower elevations (below 7,000 ft or 2,100 m), though some caves are found in the park at elevations as high as 10,000 ft (3,000 m) such as the White Chief cave and Cirque Cave in Mineral King. These caves are carved out of the rock by the abundant seasonal streams in the park. Most of the larger park caves have, or have had, sinking streams running through them.
The park contains more than 270 known caves, including Lilburn Cave which is California's longest cave with nearly 17 miles (27 km) of surveyed passages. The only commercial cave open to park visitors is Crystal Cave, the park's second-longest cave at over 3.4 miles (5.5 km). Crystal Cave was discovered on April 28, 1918, by Alex Medley and Cassius Webster. The cave is a constant 48 °F (9 °C), and is only accessible by guided tour.
Caves are discovered frequently in the park with the most recently discovered major cave being Ursa Minor in August 2006.
== Flora and fauna ==
Sequoia National Park encompasses many classifications of ecological zones, with the highest zone consisting of alpine tundra vegetation, then followed by California conifer forests, with chaparral at the lower elevations of the park.
In the early 2000s, lumber company, Sierra Pacific Industries, began creating a living gene bank of trees using seeds harvested from the park.
Animals that inhabit this park are coyote, badger, black bear, bighorn sheep, deer, fox, cougar, eleven species of woodpecker, various species of turtle, three species of owl, opossum, various species of snake, wolverine, beaver, various species of frog, and muskrat.
== Park attractions ==
In addition to hiking, camping, fishing, and backpacking, the following attractions are highlights with many park visitors:
Sherman Tree Trail An 0.8-mile roundtrip paved trail that descends from the parking lot to the base of the General Sherman Tree and meanders through a grove of giant sequoia trees.
Tunnel Log is a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park. The tree, which measured 275 feet (84 m) tall and 21 feet (6.4 m) in diameter, fell across a park road in 1937 due to natural causes. The following year, a crew cut an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall, 17-foot (5.2 m) wide tunnel through the trunk, making the road passable again.
Tokopah Falls The trail to Tokopah Falls starts just beyond the Marble Fork Bridge in Lodgepole Campground. It is an easy 1.7 mile (one way) walk along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to the impressive granite cliffs and waterfall of Tokopah Canyon. Tokopah Falls is 1,200 feet (370 meters) high, and is most impressive in early summer.
Crescent Meadow is a small, sequoia-rimmed meadow in the Giant Forest region of Sequoia National Park. This sierran montane meadow marks the western terminus of the High Sierra Trail, which stretches from the meadow across the Great Western Divide to Mount Whitney. Pioneer Hale Tharp homesteaded in this and nearby Log Meadow. Conservationist John Muir visited this meadow many times and called it the "Gem of the Sierra". The meadow lies at the end of a three-mile paved road which leaves the Generals Highway near the Giant Forest Museum.
Moro Rock is a granite dome located in the center of the park, at the head of Moro Creek, between Giant Forest and Crescent Meadow. A 351-step stairway, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is cut into and poured onto the rock, so that visitors can hike to the top. The stairway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The view from the rock encompasses much of the park, including the Great Western Divide. It has an elevation of 6,725 feet (2,050 m).
Campgrounds in the park include three in the foothills area: Potwisha (42 sites), Buckeye Flat (28 sites), and South Fork (10 sites). Four campgrounds are at higher, conifer-dominated elevations, ranging from 6,650 to 7,500 feet (2,000 to 2,300 m): Atwell Mill (21 sites), Cold Springs (40 sites), Lodgepole (214 sites), and Dorst Creek (204 sites).
Giant Forest Museum offers information about giant sequoias and human history in the forest. The historic museum was built in 1928 by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood.
== In popular culture ==
Apple's macOS Sequoia was named after Sequoia National Park.
== See also ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website of the National Park Service
Geologic Map of Southwestern Sequoia National Park – United States Geological Survey
Virtual reality scenes in Sequoia National Park
Lary M. Dilsaver and William C. Tweed, Challenge of the Big Trees – natural and human history of the park
The short film Giant Sequoia (1979) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Crane_Award_for_Distinguished_Service | Penny Crane Award for Distinguished Service | The Penny Crane Award for Distinguished Service is an award issued by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services. It was established in 2000 to recognise individuals who have made significant contributions to the Special Interest Group, and to computing in higher education.
== Recipients ==
Source: ACM
2000 – Jane Caviness
2001 – John H. (Jack) Esbin
2002 – John Bucher
2003 – Russell Vaught
2004 – Linda Hutchison
2005 – J. Michael Yohe
2006 – Jennifer Fajman
2007 – Dennis Mar
2008 – Jerry Smith
2009 – Robert Paterson
2010 – Lida Larsen
2011 – Leila Lyons
2012 – no recipient
2013 – Terris Wolff
2014 – Cynthia Dooling
2015 – Bob Haring-Smith
2016 – Phil Isensee
2017 – Tim Foley
2018 – Nancy Bauer
2019 – Kelly Wainwright
2022 – Melissa Bauer
2023 – Beth Rugg
== See also ==
See Qualifications and Nominations page, at the ACM SIGUCCS Web Page.
Penny Crane Award Web Page at ACM/SIGUCCS
Penny Crane memory book
List of computer science awards
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Miller_(actor)#:~:text=In%20March%202018%2C%20for%20his,nomination%20for%20Outstanding%20Lead%20Actor. | Billy Miller (actor) | William John Miller II (September 17, 1979 – September 15, 2023) was an American actor. He was recognized for his work on American soap operas, including his award-winning work as Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless and his dual portrayals of Jason Morgan and Drew Cain on General Hospital.
== Early life and education ==
William John Miller II was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas. As a child, Miller spent five years as a patient of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an organization he also supported.
Miller attended Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas, and the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, where he received a communications degree and was one of only twenty students in the film department's intensive Production Sequence.
== Career ==
After graduating from college, Miller moved out to Los Angeles where he began working in the mail room of Industry Entertainment. His first break into acting came after he signed on with the Wilhelmina modeling agency. He appeared in six commercials, including two for Electronic Arts' The Sims. He also did commercials for JCPenney, Pizza Hut and pokerparty.com.
At the age of 24, Miller screen-tested for As the World Turns, a soap opera on the CBS network; he lost the audition, citing bad management, and subsequently parted ways with his agency and management company. He took a two-year hiatus from acting after that experience.
In 2006, Miller returned to acting, starring in an episode of CSI: NY. A year later, he landed the role of Richie Novak, the murdering and blackmailing brother of Annie Lavery on All My Children, a soap opera on ABC. His first appearance was August 30, 2007. When news of the character's demise broke in August 2008, Miller began the audition process again. Barbara Bloom (Senior Vice President, Daytime, CBS Entertainment), Julie Hanan Carruthers (Executive Producer, All My Children), Marla Kanelos (former script writer, All My Children, now Associate Head Writer, The Young and the Restless) and, screen-test partners Peter Bergman and Elizabeth Hendrickson, were instrumental in his casting at The Young and the Restless, where he was cast in the role of Billy Abbott. Miller, who submitted the longest Emmy reel among all nominated performers (over 32 minutes long—an entire episode), was awarded for his work in an It's A Wonderful Life-styled episode of The Young and the Restless with his first nomination and win as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series on June 27, 2010 as well as June 14, 2013.
In 2011, he was nominated a second time in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for the same role. Miller also appears, as himself, in an independent film titled Remembering Nigel, which premiered at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival on November 25, 2009.
In August 2012, it was announced Miller would be appearing in primetime as a recurring cast member on The CW's Ringer. Miller was also cast as Gabe Watson in the Lifetime made-for-TV movie Fatal Honeymoon. In November 2013, it was announced Miller would depart the role of Billy; Miller's predecessor David Tom was named as his successor in the role. Miller called his decision to leave the role the "hardest thing" he had ever done.
On September 2, 2014, General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini announced on Twitter that Miller would join the cast as Jason Morgan. In March 2018, for his portrayal of Jason, Miller earned a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. In 2017, with the return of Steve Burton to the role of Jason, Miller's casting was retconned to that of his twin, Drew Cain. In July 2019, Miller announced his exit from the soap.
== Death ==
Miller died in Austin, Texas, on September 15, 2023. In a statement, Miller's mother, Patricia, revealed his death was due to suicide following his battles with bipolar depression: "He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years. He did everything he could to control the disease. He loved his family, his friends and his fans but in the end the disease won the fight and he surrendered his life."
The final autopsy report, conducted in November 2023 and released in the following month, concluded that Miller's death was a suicide resulting from "gunshot wound of head". Toxicology reports found the presence of "ethanol, cocaine, and its metabolites, diphenhydramine, and amphetamine". The report further detailed Miller had been found "with an apparent gunshot wound to the head", as well as "[M]ultiple letters indicating suicidal intent and instructions for others were found at the scene. A revolver chambered for .410 shotgun shells was found in the decedent's right hand."
== Filmography ==
== Awards and nominations ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Billy Miller at IMDb
Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas) Notable Alumni |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Spencer,_Baroness_Hunsdon#:~:text=She%20had%20three%20brothers%2C%20Sir,Katherine%20Spencer%2C%20and%20Alice%20Spencer. | Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon | Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon (29 June 1552 – 25 February 1618) was an English noblewoman, scholar, and patron of the arts. She was the inspiration for Edmund Spenser's Muiopotmos, was commemorated in one of the poet's dedicatory sonnets to The Faerie Queene, and was represented as "Phyllis" in the latter's pastoral poem Colin Clouts Come Home Againe. She herself translated Petrarch. Her first husband was George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, grandson of Mary Boleyn, elder sister of Anne Boleyn, mother of Queen Elizabeth I.
== Family ==
Elizabeth Spencer was born 29 June 1552 at Althorp, Northamptonshire, the second eldest daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp and his wife Katherine Kitson, the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson of Hengrave, Suffolk. She had three brothers, Sir John Spencer, Sir William Spencer, and Sir Richard Spencer; and three sisters, Anne Spencer, Baroness Mounteagle, Katherine Spencer, and Alice Spencer. In the year of her birth, Elizabeth's father held the office of High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, and the following year was Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire.
== Marriages ==
On 29 December 1574, by licence from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, Elizabeth married her first husband, George Carey, the eldest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan. As a grandson of Mary Boleyn, sister of Queen Anne Boleyn, George Carey was closely related to Queen Elizabeth I who held the Hunsdons in high favour. From 23 July 1596, when her husband succeeded to the title, Elizabeth was styled Baroness Hunsdon.
George Carey and Elizabeth Spencer had an only daughter, Elizabeth Carey (24 May 1576 – 23 April 1663), who married firstly, Sir Thomas Berkeley, son and heir apparent of Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, by whom she had issue. She married secondly, Sir Thomas Chamberlain. Like her mother, Lady Berkeley had scholarly interests and became a patron of the arts.
Elizabeth's husband, Baron Hunsdon died in 1603. Shortly before January 1613, she married her second husband, Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure.
== Patron of the arts ==
Elizabeth was a noted patron of the arts and a scholar. She translated Petrarch's works, She was the inspiration for Edmund Spenser's Muiopotmos in 1590, and she was represented as "Phyllis" in his pastoral poem Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, with her sisters Anne and Alice representing "Charyllis" and "Amaryllis". Elizabeth was also commemorated in one of Spenser's dedicatory sonnets to ‘’The Faerie Queen’’ :
"Ne may I, without
blot of endless blame,
You, fairest Lady leave out of this place,
Remembrance of your gracious nameWherewith that courtly garlond most ye graceAnd deck the world."
Besides Edmund Spenser, to whom she was distantly related, she was a patron of Thomas Nashe and the composer John Dowland, who mentions her in his First Book of Songs (1597).
Elizabeth's miniature portrait was painted by Nicholas Hilliard on an unknown date.
== Death ==
Elizabeth died on 25 February 1618, and was buried on 2 March in Westminster Abbey, London.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Gracia_Beery_Mack#:~:text=Mack%20was%20prolific%20in%20publications,American%20Home%20Economics%20Association%2C%201942) | Pauline Gracia Beery Mack | Pauline Gracia Beery Mack (December 19, 1891 – October 22, 1974) was an American chemist, home economist, and college administrator. Her research in calcium, nutrition, radiation, and bone density began during the 1930s, and culminated in work for NASA when she was in her seventies.
== Early life and education ==
Pauline Beery was born in Norborne, Missouri. She earned a degree in chemistry at the University of Missouri (1913). During World War I, Beery taught high school science in Missouri, before returning to graduate work. She was granted a master's degree in chemistry in 1919, from Columbia University. In 1932, at age 40, Beery finished her doctoral work at Penn State.
== Career ==
Pauline Beery taught chemistry in the home economics program at Penn State beginning in 1919. In 1941, she was appointed director of the Ellen H. Richards Institute at the Pennsylvania State University. In 1950 her work on calcium, nutrition, and bone density measurement was recognized with a Francis P. Garvan Medal from the American Chemical Society.
While her main work was in nutrition and physiology, she was also concerned with textiles, detergents, and dyes. She was technical advisor to the Pennsylvania Laundry Owners Association, and helped to develop the standards code of the Pennsylvania Association of Cleaners and Dyers.
Dr. Mack was prolific in publications during her Penn State years, with titles including Chemistry Applied to Home and Economy (1926), Stuff: The Science of Materials in the Service of Man (New York: Appleton, 1930), Colorfastness of Women's and Children's Wearing-Apparel Fabrics (American Home Economics Association, 1942), and Calories Make a Difference: Report of Studies on Three Groups of Children (Sugar Research Foundation, 1949). She also created and edited "Chemistry Leaflet," a magazine published by the Science Service.
In her later years, she became dean of the College of Household Arts and Sciences at Texas State College for Women, and built an exceptionally well-funded and well-regarded research program there during a decade as administrator (1952–1962). At age 70, she retired from administration to become a research director, working mainly on grants from NASA to understand the ways weightlessness might affect bone density. Her work resulted in a diet used to mitigate those effects. She was the first woman to receive a Silver Snoopy award for professional excellence.
== Personal life ==
Pauline Beery married botanist and printmaker Warren Bryan Mack in December 1923. She was widowed in 1952. Pauline Beery Mack retired from research due to ill health in 1973, and died the following year, at Denton, Texas.
== Legacy ==
Pauline Gracia Beery Mack's papers are in the Women's Collection Archives, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas, and at the Pennsylvania State University Libraries. Her grave is at the Centre County Memorial Park in State College, Pennsylvania.
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Shearer, Benjamin (1997). Notable women in the physical sciences : a biographical dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313293030. OCLC 433367323.
Grinstein, Louise; Rose, Rose K.; Rafailovich, Miriam (1993). Women in chemistry and physics : a biobibliographic sourcebook. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313273827. OCLC 476611813.
== External links ==
Laboratory exercises for Chemistry in Home Economics course at Pennsylvania State University taught by Pauline Beery Mack at Science History Institute Digital Collections
Pauline Beery Mack papers, 1922-1950 Archived December 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine at Penn State University Libraries
Pauline Beery Mack papers at Texas Woman's University |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Mitchell_(actor) | Benjamin Mitchell (actor) | Benjamin Mitchell (born 7 July 1979), is
a New Zealand actor best known for his role as Dr. TK Samuels in the soap opera Shortland Street.
== Biography ==
Mitchell was born and raised in Hamilton. He is the oldest of three children, and left home at 15.
He is of Māori descent, of Tainui iwi (tribe). He attended secondary school at St John's College, Hamilton, New Zealand.
A personal trainer and winner of Mr. New Zealand in 1999, Mitchell moved to Auckland in 2000 to pursue an acting career. His first role was as a reporter on Shortland Street in 2000. This was followed by parts on shows including Power Rangers: Ninja Storm and Outrageous Fortune.
In 2006, Mitchell joined the cast of Shortland Street as young doctor TK Samuels. Described as one of Shortland Street's "most recognisable faces," Mitchell has gained "great popularity throughout New Zealand, especially with female viewers."
In 2007 Mitchell starred alongside Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley in the film Love Has No Language, a "big budget" New Zealand-Australian co-production released in 2008. He also appeared in the independent New Zealand feature I'm Not Harry Jenson.
Mitchell speaks fluent Te Reo Māori, and lent his support to Māori Language Week campaigns in 2006 and 2008.
Since 2023, Mitchell has worked in construction.
== Personal life ==
Mitchell has three children with partner Kate - daughters Sofia and Mila, and son, Nico.
In 2015 he was publicly shamed for parking in a disabled car parking space.
== Filmography ==
Father (1990)
Mr. Nice Guy (1997)
Reporter (2000)
Stingers (TV series 2002)
Power Rangers Ninja Storm (TV series 2003)
Outrageous Fortune (TV series 2005)
An Aggressive Gift (short 2008)
Love Has No Language (2008)
The Shoe Box (short 2009)
I'm Not Harry Jenson. (2009)
Curry Munchers (2011)
Shortland Street (TV series 2006–2023)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Pork Pie (film) (2017)
== References ==
== External links ==
Benjamin Mitchell profile - Official Shortland Street website
Ben Mitchell at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Anderssen | Adolf Anderssen | Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879) was a German chess master. He won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862, but lost matches to Paul Morphy in 1858, and to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866. Accordingly, he is generally regarded as having been the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, and leading active player from 1862 to 1866, although the title of World Chess Champion did not yet exist.
Anderssen became the most successful tournament player in Europe, winning over half the events he entered, including the very strong Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament. He achieved most of these successes when he was over the age of 50.
Anderssen is famous today for his brilliant sacrificial attacking play, particularly in the Immortal Game (1851) and the Evergreen Game (1852). He was an important figure in the development of chess problems, driving forward the transition from the "Old School" of problem composition to the elegance and complexity of modern compositions. He was also one of the most likeable of chess masters and became an elder statesman of the game, to whom others turned for advice or arbitration.
== Background and early life ==
Anderssen was born in Breslau (now called Wrocław, Poland), in the Prussian Province of Silesia, in 1818. He lived there for most of his life, sharing a house with and supporting his widowed mother and his unmarried sister. Anderssen never married. He graduated from the public gymnasium (high school) in Breslau and then attended university, where he studied mathematics and philosophy. After graduating in 1847 at the age of 29, he took a position at the Friedrichs-Gymnasium in Breslau as an instructor and later as professor of Mathematics. Anderssen lived a quiet, stable, responsible, respectable middle-class life. His career was teaching mathematics, while his hobby and passion was playing chess.
When Anderssen was nine years old, his father taught him how to play chess. Anderssen said that as a boy, he learned the strategy of the game from a copy of William Lewis' book Fifty Games Between Labourdonnais and McDonnell (1835).
== Chess career ==
=== First steps ===
Anderssen first came to the attention of the chess world when he published Aufgabe für Schachspieler ("Task for chess players"), a collection of 60 chess problems, in 1842. He continued to publish problems for many years, both in magazines and as a second collection in 1852. These brought him to the attention of the "Berlin Pleiades" group, which included some of the strongest players of the time, and he played matches against some of them. Anderssen's development as a player was relatively slow, largely because he could spare neither the time nor the money to play many matches against strong players. Nevertheless, by 1846 he was able to put up a good fight against another Pleiades member, Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, who may have been the world's strongest player at the time. In 1846, he became the editor of the magazine Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft (later called Deutsche Schachzeitung) when its founder Ludwig Bledow, one of the Berlin Pleiades, died. Anderssen held this post until 1865.
=== London 1851 ===
In 1848, Anderssen drew a match with the professional player Daniel Harrwitz. On the basis of this match and his general chess reputation, he was invited to represent German chess at the first international chess tournament, to be held in London in 1851. Anderssen was reluctant to accept the invitation, as he was deterred by the travel costs. However, the tournament's principal organizer, Howard Staunton, offered to pay Anderssen's travel expenses out of his own pocket if necessary, should Anderssen fail to win a tournament prize. Anderssen accepted this generous offer.
Anderssen's preparations for the 1851 London International Tournament produced a surge in his playing strength: he played over 100 games in early 1851 against strong opponents including Carl Mayet, Ernst Falkbeer, Max Lange and Jean Dufresne. The 1851 International Tournament was a knock-out event in which pairs of competitors played short matches, and Anderssen won it by beating Lionel Kieseritzky, József Szén, Staunton and Marmaduke Wyvill – by margins of at least two games in every case. His prize was two-thirds of the total prize fund of £500, i.e. about £335; that is equivalent to about £240,000 ($370,200) in 2006's money. When Anderssen and Szén found they were to play each other, they agreed that, if either won the tournament, the other would receive one-third of the prize; this does not appear to have been considered in any way unethical.
Although most chess books regard Wilhelm Steinitz as the first true world champion, one of the organizers of the 1851 London International Tournament had said the contest was for "the baton of the World's Chess Champion". In fact Anderssen was not described as "the world champion", but the tournament established Anderssen as the world's leading chess player. The London Chess Club, which had fallen out with Staunton and his colleagues, organised a tournament that was played a month later and included several players who had competed in the International Tournament. The result was the same – Anderssen won.
=== Morphy match, 1858 ===
Opportunities for tournament play remained rare, and Anderssen was reluctant to travel far because of the expense. In his one recorded tournament between 1851 and 1862, a one-game-per-round knock-out tournament at Manchester in 1857, he was eliminated in the second round. Then in late 1858, he was beaten 8–3 by the American champion Paul Morphy in a famous match held in Paris, France (two wins, two draws, seven losses). Although Anderssen knew as well as anyone how to attack, Morphy understood much better when to attack and how to prepare an attack. Morphy had recently scored equally convincing wins in matches against other top-class players: Johann Löwenthal, the Rev. John Owen and Daniel Harrwitz. Morphy returned to the United States in 1859, however, and soon afterwards announced his retirement from serious chess, making Anderssen once again the strongest active player.
Anderssen played the curious opening move 1.a3 in three games of his match against Morphy, and broke even with it (one loss, one draw, one win). This opening move, now referred to as Anderssen's Opening, has never been popular in serious competition.
=== Other games 1851–1862 ===
Shortly after the 1851 London International Tournament, Anderssen played his two most famous games, both casual encounters which he won by combinations that involved several sacrifices. In the first, as White against Lionel Kieseritzky in London on 21 June 1851, just after the International Tournament (1851) and now called the "Immortal Game", he sacrificed a bishop, both rooks and finally his queen. In the second, played in Berlin in 1852 as White against Jean Dufresne and now called the "Evergreen Game", the total sacrifice was more modest, but still exceeded a queen and a minor piece.
After the match with Morphy, Anderssen played two matches against Ignác Kolisch, one of the leading players of the time, who later became a wealthy banker and patron of chess. Anderssen drew their match in 1860 and narrowly won in 1861 (5/9; won four, drew two, lost three; Kolisch was ahead at the half-way stage).
=== London 1862 ===
Anderssen won the London 1862 chess tournament, the first international round-robin tournament (in which each participant plays a game against each of the others) with a score of twelve wins out of thirteen games. He lost only one game, to the Rev. John Owen, and finished two points ahead of Louis Paulsen, who had the best playing record in the early 1860s. Morphy had retired from chess at this time, so Anderssen was again generally regarded as the world's leading active player.
Shortly after the tournament, he played a match against tournament runner-up Paulsen, ending in a draw (3 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws). In 1864, he drew another match (3 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws) against Berthold Suhle, who was a strong player and respected chess writer.
=== Steinitz match, 1866 ===
In 1866, Anderssen lost a close match with 30-year-old Wilhelm Steinitz (six wins, eight losses, and no draws; Steinitz won the last two games). Although Steinitz is now known for inventing the positional approach to chess and demonstrating its superiority, the 1866 match was played in the attack-at-all-costs style of the 1850s and 1860s. This is generally seen as the point at which Steinitz succeeded Anderssen as the world's leading active player. Although ideas of a contest for the world championship had been floating around since the 1840s, the 1866 Anderssen–Steinitz match was not defined as being for the world championship, and many were opposed to the claim of such a title while Morphy was retired from chess and still alive. Furthermore, Anderssen remained dominant both in top tournaments and in personal matches against Zukertort until 1871.
=== 1866–1879 ===
By this time tournaments were becoming more frequent, and the round-robin format was adopted. At the same time, Anderssen, after losing the match to Morphy in 1858 and to Steinitz in 1866, rededicated himself to chess, particularly studying both endgames and positional play. The result was that Anderssen, in his early fifties, was playing the finest chess of his career. As a result, Anderssen compiled a very successful tournament record in the late stages of his career: five first places, two second places, two third places; and a sixth place in the final year of his life, when his health was failing. One of his first places was ahead of Steinitz, Gustav Neumann, Joseph Henry Blackburne, Louis Paulsen and several other very strong players at the Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament. In terms of the number of leading players present, this could be regarded as one of the top 20 tournaments ever. One of Anderssen's third places was at the strong Vienna 1873 tournament, when he was 55. About half of Anderssen's tournament successes came at championships of the different regional German Chess Federations; but these were open to all nationalities, and most of them had a few top ten or even top five competitors. Anderssen usually beat Zukertort in matches, but his dominance came to an end in 1871.
The Leipzig 1877 tournament was organised in his honour and named the "Anderssen-Feier" (Anderssen Celebration); Anderssen finished second in the tournament behind Louis Paulsen.
Still at Leipzig, Anderssen lost a match against tournament winner Louis Paulsen (three wins, one draw, and five losses). Matches were Anderssen's relative weakness; his only match win in this period was in 1868, against the 26-year-old Johann Zukertort (eight wins, one draw, and three losses).
== Assessment ==
=== Playing strength and style ===
Anderssen was very successful in European tournaments from 1851 to early 1878, taking first prize in over half of the events in which he played. His only recorded tournament failures were a one-game-per-round knock-out event in 1857 and sixth place at Paris 1878 when his health was failing and he had only about a year to live. His match record was much weaker: out of the 12 that he played, he won only two, drew four and lost six.
Although outclassed by Morphy, and to a lesser extent by Steinitz, Anderssen has been called the first modern chess master.
Arpad Elo, inventor of the Elo rating system, retroactively calculated ratings through history, and estimated that Anderssen was the first player with a rating over 2600. Chessmetrics ranks Anderssen as one of the top two players for most of the period from 1859 to 1873, and as the strongest player in the world seven months distributed between 1860 and 1870.
Steinitz rated Anderssen as one of the two greatest attacking players of his time: "We all may learn from Morphy and Anderssen how to conduct a king's-side attack, and perhaps I myself may not have learnt enough." Although Anderssen is regarded as a member of the "heroic" attacking school, he was not in favour of mindless aggression, for example he said: "Move that one of your pieces, which is in the worst plight, unless you can satisfy yourself that you can derive immediate advantage by an attack", a principle more recently labelled "Makogonov's rule". According to Fine, his approach to development was haphazard and he totally failed to understand why Morphy won.
Anderssen's home town was so proud of him that in 1865 Breslau University awarded him an honorary doctorate.
=== Influence on chess ===
Due to the perceived beauty of its attacking style, some of Anderssen's games, such as the Immortal Game and the Evergreen Game, are among the most famous in chess history.
The "heroic" attacking school of play to which Anderssen belonged was eclipsed by Steinitz' positional approach – by 1894 it was generally acknowledged that the only way to beat Steinitz was to apply Steinitz' principles.
Anderssen has had a more enduring influence on chess problem composition. He started composing in the last years of the "Old School", whose compositions were fairly similar to realistic over-the-board positions and featured spectacular key moves, multiple sacrifices and few variations. He was one of the most skillful composers of his time, and his work forms an early stage of the "Transition Period", between the mid-1840s and the early 1860s, when many of the basic problem ideas were discovered, the requirement for game-like positions was abandoned and the introduction of composing competitions (the first of which was in 1854) forced judges to decide on what features were the most desirable in a problem.
Outside the field of chess problems, Anderssen was not a prolific author. He edited the magazine Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft (later called Deutsche Schachzeitung) from 1846 to 1865, however, and was co-editor with Gustav Neumann of Neue Berliner Schachzeitung from 1864 to 1867.
=== Personality ===
Steinitz wrote: "Anderssen was honest and honourable to the core. Without fear or favour he straightforwardly gave his opinion, and his sincere disinterestedness became so patent....that his word alone was usually sufficient to quell disputes...for he had often given his decision in favour of a rival..." On the other hand, Reuben Fine, a 20th-century player, wrote, "There is a curious contrast between his over-the-board brilliance and his uninspired safety-first attitude in everyday affairs."
== Death ==
Anderssen died on 13 March 1879, in his home town. The Deutsche Schachzeitung noted his death in 1879 with a nineteen-page obituary. His cause of death was a heart attack. Bombing raids during World War II damaged his grave in Breslau. After the war, the city became part of Poland and is now known under its Polish name Wrocław. In 1957, the Polish Chess Federation decided to re-bury Anderssen in a new grave at the Osobowice Cemetery.
== Tournament results ==
== Match results ==
== See also ==
List of chess games
== References ==
== Further reading ==
The World's Great Chess Games by Reuben Fine; Dover; 1983. ISBN 0-486-24512-8
Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992). The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
Kasparov, Garry (2003). My Great Predecessors, Part I. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-330-6. Some material on Anderssen in the first chapter.
von Gottschall, Hermann (2006) [reprint of 1912 edition]. Adolf Anderssen, der Altmeister deutscher Schachspielkunst. Elibron Classics. ISBN 0-543-77333-7. Classical standard biography on Anderssen (only in German).
World Chess Champions by Edward G. Winter, editor. 1981. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.
== External links ==
Adolf Anderssen player profile and games at Chessgames.com
Anderssen Memorial Tournament
Anderssen's matches (Archived 2009-10-24; Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Powell_(stunt_performer) | Joe Powell (stunt performer) | Joe Powell (21 March 1922 – 30 June 2016) was an English stuntman and actor. He was known as the "daddy of British stuntmen".
== Early life and career ==
Powell was born in Shepherd's Bush, London.
He joined the British Army and served in the 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers Cadet Corps. He enjoyed soldiering, and soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, when he was still only 17, he joined the Grenadier Guards. To break the monotony of drill and PT he took up boxing with the regimental team, but as the war progressed he was selected for No 4 Special Service (Commando) unit, taking part in the 1942 raid on Dieppe, during which he was briefly knocked out, and in the D-Day invasion.
In 1946, he met with the actor Dennis Price which led to him getting a job as an extra at Pinewood Studios. He was sparring at the London's Polytechnic Boxing Club and soon became a founding partner in a stunt team by Captain Jock Easton.
Powell performed stuntwork in many films, including The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Longest Day (1962), Cleopatra (1963), Zulu (1964), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). He also participated in several James Bond films.
Powell is listed by The Guardian as having performed one of the ten-best film stunts ever.
== Personal life and family ==
Powell was twice married, first to Marguerite and after to Juliet. Powell was survived by four sons and a daughter. He was the brother of Eddie Powell, also a film stuntman.
== Publications ==
Powell also published a book on his life known as The Life and Times of a Fall Guy.
== See also ==
List of English actors
List of English writers
List of people from London
== References ==
== External links ==
Joe Powell at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman_of_the_Senate_of_Pakistan | Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan | The chairman of the Senate of Pakistan (Urdu: صدر ایوانِ بالا, romanized: s̤adr-e Aiwān-e-Bālā) is the president-chair of the Senate of Pakistan. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, the chairman is a presiding official and the Senate must choose a chairman and deputy chairman for a time interval of three years.
During the president's absence, the chairman of the Senate is empowered with the duties of the presidency; in rare events involving the absence of the chairman, the presidential duties are usually held by the speaker of the National Assembly. The chairman of the Senate is the first in the line of succession to the president of Pakistan, ahead of the speaker of the National Assembly.
The first chairman of the Senate was Habibullah Marwat, while Wasim Sajjad remains the longest-serving chairman. Senator Yusuf Raza Gilani elected to Senate in the April 2 election, is the current chairman of the Senate, having assumed office on 9 April 2024.
== Role and responsibilities ==
The office of Chairman of the Senate is created by Article 60(1) of the Chapter 2 in Part III of the Constitution of Pakistan:
After the Senate has been duly constituted, it shall, at its first meeting and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a chairman and a Deputy chairman and, so often as the office of chairman or Deputy chairman becomes vacant, the Senate shall elect another member as chairman or, as the case may be, Deputy chairmanThe term of office of the chairman or Deputy chairman shall be 3 years from the day on which he enters upon his office.
The main purpose for the creation of the Senate was to give equal representation to all the federating units since the membership of the National Assembly was based on the population of each four province. Equal provincial membership in the Senate, thus, balances the provincial inequality in the National Assembly and dispels doubts and apprehension, if any, regarding deprivation and exploitation.
The role of the Senate is to promote national cohesion and harmony and to alleviate fears of the smaller provinces regarding domination by any one province because of its majority, in the National Assembly.
The Senate acts as a legislative institution that represents the provinces and territories of the country and promotes a feeling of equality, peace and good understanding between them, which is so essential for the growth and prosperity of a nation.
Thus, the Senate in Pakistan, over the years, has emerged as an essential organ and a stabilizing factor of the federation.
== History ==
After the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the first Constituent Assembly, elected in December 1945 in undivided India, was assigned the task of framing the constitution of Pakistan. This assembly passed the Objectives Resolution on 12 March 1949, laying down principles which later became substantive part of the constitution. However, before it could accomplish the task of framing the constitution, it was dissolved in 1954. Thereafter, the governor-general convened the Second Constituent Assembly in 1955, which framed and passed the first constitution of Pakistan on 29 February 1956. That constitution was promulgated on 23 March 1956, which provided for a parliamentary form of government with a unicameral legislature. However, from 14 August 1947 to 1 March 1956 the Government of India Act, 1935, was retained as the constitution of Pakistan.
On 7 October 1958, martial law was promulgated and the constitution abrogated. The military government appointed a Constitution Commission in February 1960 which framed the 1962 Constitution. That constitution provided for a presidential form of government with a unicameral legislature. The 1962 Constitution was abrogated on 25 March 1969. The civil government, which came to power in December 1971 pursuant to 1970 elections, gave the nation an interim constitution in the year 1972.
In 1973, the constitutional conventional framed the comprehensive constitution which was rectified on 12 April and promulgated on 14 August 1973. Retired Senior Justice Habibullah Khan Marwat was elected its first chairman and remained until 1977. The 1973 Constitution also provided a parliamentary system of government with a bicameral legislature: the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). The membership of the Senate, which was originally 45, was raised to 63 in 1977 and to 87 in 1985. In 2002, the membership rose to 100 through the legal framework enforced on 21 August 2002. Now there are 104 members.
== Relationship between constituents of the Parliament ==
The Parliament of Pakistan consists of the president and the two legislative houses: National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).
The president is elected by members of both Houses of the Parliament and the four provincial assemblies. The president may be removed from office or impeached through a resolution, passed by not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Parliament in a joint sitting of the two Houses, convened for the purpose. In case the office of the president becomes vacant for any reason, the chairman, or if he is unable to perform the functions of the office of the president, the speaker, acts as president till such time that a president is elected. Same is the case when the president by reason of absence from Pakistan or any other cause is unable to perform his functions.
== List of chairmen of the Senate ==
Independent
Muslim League (N)
Muslim League (Q)
Pakistan Peoples Party
Balochistan Awami Party
== Timeline ==
== See also ==
Parliament of Pakistan
== References ==
== Public domain sources ==
Senate of Pakistan |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allopurinol | Allopurinol | Allopurinol is a medication used to decrease high blood uric acid levels. It is specifically used to prevent gout, prevent specific types of kidney stones and for the high uric acid levels that can occur with chemotherapy. It is taken orally (by mouth) or intravenously (injected into a vein).
Common side effects when used orally include itchiness and rash. Common side effects when used by injection include vomiting and kidney problems. While not recommended historically, starting allopurinol during an attack of gout appears to be safe. In those already on the medication, it should be continued even during an acute gout attack. While use during pregnancy does not appear to result in harm, this use has not been well studied. Allopurinol is in the xanthine oxidase inhibitor family of medications.
Allopurinol was approved for medical use in the United States in 1966. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Allopurinol is available as a generic medication. In 2023, it was the 45th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 14 million prescriptions.
== Medical uses ==
=== Gout ===
Allopurinol is used to reduce urate formation in conditions where urate deposition has already occurred or is predictable. The specific diseases and conditions where it is used include gouty arthritis, skin tophi, kidney stones, idiopathic gout; uric acid lithiasis; acute uric acid nephropathy; neoplastic disease and myeloproliferative disease with high cell turnover rates, in which high urate levels occur either spontaneously, or after cytotoxic therapy; certain enzyme disorders which lead to overproduction of urate, for example: hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, including Lesch–Nyhan syndrome; glucose 6-phosphatase including glycogen storage disease; phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase, phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate amidotransferase; adenine phosphoribosyltransferase.
It is also used to treat kidney stones caused by deficient activity of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase.
=== Tumor lysis syndrome ===
Allopurinol was also commonly used to treat tumor lysis syndrome in chemotherapeutic treatments, as these regimens can rapidly produce severe acute hyperuricemia; however, it has gradually been replaced by urate oxidase therapy. Intravenous formulations are used in this indication when people are unable to swallow medication.
=== Inflammatory bowel disease ===
Allopurinol cotherapy is used to improve outcomes for people with inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease who do not respond to thiopurine monotherapy. Cotherapy has also been shown to greatly improve hepatoxicity side effects in treatment of IBD. Cotherapy invariably requires dose reduction of the thiopurine, usually to one-third of the standard dose depending upon the patient's genetic status for thiopurine methyltransferase.
=== Psychiatric disorders ===
Allopurinol has been tested as an augmentation strategy for the treatment of mania in bipolar disorder. Meta-analytic evidence showed that adjunctive allopurinol was superior to placebo for acute mania (both with and without mixed features). Its efficacy was not influenced by dosage, follow-up duration, or concurrent standard treatment.
=== Cardiovascular disease ===
There is a correlation between uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease and mortality, and so allopurinol has been explored as a potential treatment to reduce risk of cardiac disease. However, the data is inconsistent and conflicting, and the use of allopurinol for use in cardiovascular disease is controversial. Independently of its effects on uric acid, it may also have effects on oxidative stress and inflammation.
=== Veterinary use ===
Allopurinol is commonly used in the veterinary treatment of leishmaniosis.
== Side effects ==
Because allopurinol is not a uricosuric, it can be used in people with poor kidney function. However, for people with impaired kidney function, allopurinol has two disadvantages. First, its dosing is complex. Second, some people are hypersensitive to the drug; therefore, its use requires careful monitoring.
Allopurinol has rare but potentially fatal adverse effects involving the skin. The most serious adverse effect is a hypersensitivity syndrome consisting of fever, skin rash, eosinophilia, hepatitis, and worsened renal function, collectively referred to as DRESS syndrome. Allopurinol is one of the drugs commonly known to cause Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, two life-threatening dermatological conditions. More common is a less-serious rash that leads to discontinuing this drug.
More rarely, allopurinol can also result in the depression of bone marrow elements, leading to cytopenias, as well as aplastic anemia. Moreover, allopurinol can also cause peripheral neuritis in some patients, although this is a rare side effect. Another side effect of allopurinol is interstitial nephritis.
== Drug interactions ==
Drug interactions are extensive, and are as follows:
Azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine: Azathioprine is metabolised to 6-mercaptopurine which in turn is inactivated by the action of xanthine oxidase - the target of allopurinol. Giving allopurinol with either of these drugs at their normal dose will lead to overdose of either drug; only one-quarter of the usual dose of 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine should be given;
Didanosine: plasma didanosine Cmax and AUC values were approximately doubled with concomitant allopurinol treatment; it should not be co-administered with allopurinol and if it must be, the dose of should be reduced and the person should be closely monitored.
Allopurinol may also increase the activity or half-life of the following drugs, in order of seriousness and certainty of the interaction:
Ciclosporin
Coumarin anticoagulants, such as warfarin (reported rarely, but is serious when it occurs)
Vidarabine
Chlorpropamide
Phenytoin
Theophylline
Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, bleomycin, procarbazine, mechlorethamine
Co-administration of the following drugs may make allopurinol less active or decrease its half-life:
Salicylates and medicines that increase the secretion of uric acid
furosemide (see more on diuretics below)
Co-administration of the following drugs may cause hypersensitivity or skin rash:
Ampicillin and amoxicillin
Diuretics, in particular thiazides, especially in renal impairment
Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors)
== Pharmacology ==
A common misconception is that allopurinol is metabolized by its target, xanthine oxidase, but this action is principally carried out by aldehyde oxidase. The active metabolite of allopurinol is oxipurinol, which is also an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase. Allopurinol is almost completely metabolized to oxipurinol within two hours of oral administration, whereas oxipurinol is slowly excreted by the kidneys over 18–30 hours. For this reason, oxipurinol is believed responsible for the majority of allopurinol's effect.
=== Mechanism of action ===
Allopurinol is a purine analog; it is a structural isomer of hypoxanthine (a naturally occurring purine in the body) and is an inhibitor of the enzyme xanthine oxidase. Xanthine (1H-Purine-2,6-dione) oxidase is responsible for the successive oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and subsequently uric acid, the product of human purine metabolism. In addition to blocking uric acid production, inhibition of xanthine oxidase causes an increase in hypoxanthine and xanthine. While xanthine cannot be converted to purine ribonucleotides, hypoxanthine can be salvaged to the purine ribonucleotides adenosine and guanosine monophosphates. Increased levels of these ribonucleotides may cause feedback inhibition of amidophosphoribosyl transferase, the first and rate-limiting enzyme of purine biosynthesis. Allopurinol, therefore, decreases uric acid formation and may also inhibit purine synthesis.
=== Pharmacogenetics ===
The HLA-B*5801 allele is a genetic marker for allopurinol-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). The frequency of the HLA-B*5801 allele varies between ethnicities: Han Chinese and Thai populations have HLA-B*5801 allele frequencies of around 8%, as compared to European and Japanese populations, who have allele frequencies of around 1.0% and 0.5%, respectively. The increase in risk for developing allopurinol-induced SJS or TEN in individuals with the HLA-B*5801 allele (as compared to those who do not have this allele) is very high, ranging from a 40-fold to a 580-fold increase in risk, depending on ethnicity. As of 2011 the FDA-approved drug label for allopurinol did not contain any information regarding the HLA-B*5801 allele, though FDA scientists did publish a study in 2011 which reported a strong, reproducible and consistent association between the allele and allopurinol-induced SJS and TEN. However, the American College of Rheumatology recommends screening for HLA-B*5801 in high-risk populations (e.g. Koreans with stage 3 or worse chronic kidney disease and those of Han Chinese and Thai descent), and prescribing patients who are positive for the allele an alternative drug. The Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) guidelines state that allopurinol is contraindicated in known carriers of the HLA-B*5801 allele.
== History ==
Allopurinol was first synthesized and reported in 1956 by Roland K. Robins (1926–1992), in a search for antineoplastic agents. Allopurinol inhibits the breakdown (catabolism) of the thiopurine drug mercaptopurine, and was later tested by Wayne Rundles in collaboration with Gertrude Elion's lab at Wellcome Research Laboratories to see if it could improve treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia by enhancing the action of mercaptopurine. However, no improvement in leukemia response was noted with mercaptopurine-allopurinol co-therapy, so that work turned to other compounds and the team then started testing allopurinol as a potential therapeutic for gout. Allopurinol was first marketed as a treatment for gout in 1966.
== Society and culture ==
=== Formulations ===
Allopurinol is sold as an injection for intravenous use and as a tablet.
=== Brands ===
Allopurinol has been marketed in the United States since 19 August 1966, when it was first approved by FDA under the trade name Zyloprim. Allopurinol was marketed at the time by Burroughs Wellcome. Allopurinol is a generic drug sold under a variety of brand names, including Allohexal, Allosig, Milurit, Alloril, Progout, Ürikoliz, Zyloprim, Zyloric, Zyrik, and Aluron.
== See also ==
Lesinurad/allopurinol, a fixed-dose combination drug
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Dean L (March 2016). "Allopurinol Therapy and HLA-B*58:01 Genotype". In Pratt VM, McLeod HL, Rubinstein WS, Scott SA, Dean LC, Kattman BL, et al. (eds.). Medical Genetics Summaries. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). PMID 28520356.
== External links ==
Allopurinol pathway on PharmGKB |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Biswas_(politician)#:~:text=He%20died%20on%2026%20March,wife%20Gita%20and%20daughter%20Ajanta. | Anil Biswas (politician) | Anil Biswas (2 March 1944 – 26 March 2006), often referred to as Keru, was an Indian communist politician. He was the secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and member of the party's politburo beginning in 1998 until his death in 2006.
== Early life ==
Biswas born in a middle class Mahishya family of Darermath village near Karimpur, Nadia district, to Ashutosh Biswas and Prafulla Kumari Debi. He lost his father at a tender age. While in high school he was attracted to the Left movement in the area. in 1961 he joined the Krishnagar Government College and came under the influence of Marxist leaders like Harinarayan Adhikari and Dinesh Majumdar and also became an active member of the Students' Federation of India. He was a student leader in College elections. After taking an Honours degree in Political science, he shifted to Kolkata to pursue his academic career.
== Politics ==
He became the full-fledged party member of the CPI(M) in 1965. In the same year he was arrested under the Defence of India Rules 1962 and was imprisoned for 11 months. From jail custody he completed the master's degree in political science. In 1969, he became a whole timer of the party and began his party work as a journalist in the Ganashakti, the party's daily organ.
Biswas was elected to the CPIM West Bengal state committee in 1978 and elected to the state secretariat in 1982. Biswas remained closely associated with Ganashakti and edited it between 1983 and 1998. It was during his editorship the newspaper reached the height of circulation. Biswas became member of the Central Committee of the party in the year of 1985. "It was due to his guidance that the Ganashakthi became a full-fledged and comprehensive newspaper," CPIM said in homage to Biswas.
In 1998, he became a member of the Polit Bureau. He was mentored by Pramod Dasgupta.
In 1998, took charge as the secretary of the State committee after his predecessor Sailen Dasgupta resigned owing to ill-health and old age. He was reelected as state secretary in 2002 and 2005.
He was the editor of Marxbadi Path (The Road of the Marxist), the theoretical quarterly in West Bengal.
He was known to be a deft strategist and the brain behind the party's important decisions in West Bengal politics. In one of his genius decisions, he influenced the party to name Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as Chief Minister of West Bengal replacing Jyoti Basu before the 2000 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections. This was a strategically shrewd decision because people of West Bengal were frustrated by the same Chief Minister for more than 20 years. It got the Left front a huge victory in spite of strong opposition from Mamata Banerjee's TMC. Because of Anil Biswas' organized election tactics as the State General Secretary in the 2006 West Bengal Assembly Election, the opposition reduced to significantly small number of seats. He used to manage the media and the ground-workers so well that he knew the pulse of the general public in and out. It is largely believed that the demise of Anil Biswas and other important ground-leaders such as Subhas Chakraborty paved the way for the opposition to come into power replacing the Left Front.
== Death ==
He died on 26 March 2006 after being hospitalised by a brain haemorrhage on 18 March. His body was donated to NRS Medical College and Hospital according to his last wishes. He is survived by his wife Gita and daughter Ajanta.
== References ==
== Sources ==
Obituary on sify.com
"Anil Biswas dead" - The Hindu article dated 26 March 2006
"CPI(M) leader Anil Biswas dead" - Hindustan Times article dated 26 March 2006
"Homage to Comrade Anil Biswas"
"Anil Biswas: Farewell Beloved Comrade!" People's Democracy article dated 2 April 2006 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civil_Wars#2011 | The Civil Wars | The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, their style blended folk, country, and Americana, characterized by haunting harmonies and poignant lyrics.
The duo gained recognition with their debut album Barton Hollow in 2011, which won two Grammy Awards. Their eponymous second album was released in 2013 and further solidified their success. They won two additional Grammy Awards before their breakup in 2014.
== History ==
=== 2008–2010: Formation ===
Both Williams and White had solo careers prior to meeting at a songwriting workshop in Nashville in 2008. Williams had recorded several moderately successful albums and was signed as a songwriter to Warner/Chappell; White had independently released The Long Goodbye—which was originally set to be released through a deal with Capitol Records—and was writing for EMI Music. At the workshop, approximately 25 songwriters were assembled by music publishers to write radio singles for an unnamed band later identified as the country group Gloriana. Williams and White were randomly paired to write together, and quickly discovered an affinity. In a 2012 interview, Williams said that "when he started singing it was like I knew where he was going to go before he went there." In the same interview, White said that when he and Williams "started singing together, there was this weird click; it was like there was a dance going where I knew I could lead her but she could lead me, too." Following the workshop, White and Williams made immediate plans to meet again. They wrote the song "Falling" during their first session, which took place at Williams' house.
Looking for a name for the project, Williams came up with the Civil Wars, which has no historical meaning, but rather is based on the quote "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle" attributed to Ian Maclaren. According to Williams, "as I was thinking about the music we make, that sense of battle seemed applicable." The duo performed for the first time as The Civil Wars at the French Quarter Cafe in Nashville on April 7, 2009. Williams' former producer Charlie Peacock was in attendance, and impressed by their dynamics and on-stage chemistry, began working with them the following day.
On April 8, 2009, Shalom Aberle recorded The Civil Wars' second live show, opening for Will Hoge at Eddie's Attic. Eight of the songs that were recorded that night were on Live at Eddie's Attic, which was released on June 30, 2009 as a free download on The Civil Wars' website. In addition to a live and demo version of "Falling", the record included "Poison & Wine", covers of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love", and Sade's "No Ordinary Love", and "If I Didn't Know Better", which was later covered in an episode of Nashville. Released through Sensibility Music, a recording, marketing, licensing and management company established by Williams and her husband, Civil Wars manager Nate Yetton, Live at Eddie's Attic had been downloaded more than 700,000 times as of 2014.
In November 2009, "Poison & Wine" was used in its entirety as a needle drop during a pivotal montage at the end of the ninth episode of season six of Grey's Anatomy. At the time, the song was available only on Live at Eddie's Attic. White, Williams and Yetton found out about the placement only four days prior to the episode's airing. They uploaded the newly recorded version of the song to iTunes, and created a music video for "Poison & Wine" in an afternoon. As the video was being put online, Williams and White were watching the Grey's Anatomy episode, and the uploading was completed almost to the second that the last note of the song played. Through Grey's Anatomy, The Civil Wars were exposed to a substantial national audience, which included Taylor Swift, who declared her love for The Civil Wars via Twitter. "Poison & Wine" was released a week after Grey's Anatomy aired, and debuted at #4 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart.
The duo toured consistently throughout 2009 and 2010.
=== 2011–2012: Barton Hollow ===
Williams, White, and Peacock returned to the Art House to record The Civil Wars debut album, Barton Hollow, which was released on February 1, 2011. Recorded in the studio's sanctuary and in the more conventional Studio A Live Room, the production was built around vocals, acoustic guitar and piano, with drums, percussion and overdubs largely absent. Aided in part by a January appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and support from Swift, Hillary Scott of Lady A, and Sara Bareilles, Barton Hollow was the #1 downloaded album on iTunes the week it was released. It also charted at #1 on the Billboard Digital Albums chart, #1 on the Billboard Folk Albums chart, #2 on the Rock Albums Chart, and at #10 on the Billboard 200.
Barton Hollow received significant critical acclaim. The BBC wrote "A timeless, anachronistic record, Barton Hollow could be from 30 years ago, or it could be from 30 years hence. What’s certain, though, is that you truly feel it in the here and now," while the New York Daily News wrote "With care and delicacy, they curate their notes, stitching together a sound that's sharp, arch and almost achingly fine." The album appeared on the "Best of 2011" lists for NPR Music, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly, among others, and it was listed at #9 in the "Top 10 of Everything in 2011" in Time.
For most of the year, White and Williams toured the US and Canada non-stop. In May and June, they toured with Adele, who wrote on her blog, "I have the complete honour of having a band called The Civil Wars on the tour at the moment. They are by far the BEST live band I have EVER seen." They toured with Adele in Europe later in the year, prior to the international release of Barton Hollow. By October, Barton Hollow, which was released independently through Sensibility, had sold more than 195,000 copies. In November, The Civil Wars put out a 4-song EP, Tracks in the Snow.
The Civil Wars were nominated for a 2011 Country Music Association Award in the Vocal Duo of the Year category, and in the Duo/Group of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year categories for the Americana Music Awards. They received the Vanguard Award at the 49th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards, Also in 2011, Williams and White teamed with Taylor Swift and T-Bone Burnett to write "Safe & Sound", a track for The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond. The song, performed by The Civil Wars and Swift, and produced by Burnett, was written and recorded in a single day. It was released on iTunes in the US December 26.
White and Williams again began 2012 on tour. In February in Los Angeles, The Civil Wars won two Grammy Awards for Barton Hollow: Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. They performed part of "Barton Hollow" on the Grammy telecast, and introduced Swift, who played "Mean." In March, Barton Hollow was released internationally and Williams and White completed their first European tour.
Later in the year, just as Barton Hollow was certified gold in the US, they began working on their second full-length album with Charlie Peacock, which they wrote while on the road at the suggestion of Rick Rubin, who also produced a track for the album. On October 28, White and Williams began their first extensive tour in the UK and Europe. On November 6, after a performance at the Roundhouse in London, they announced that they were cancelling the remaining tour dates, due to "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition." They offered no further explanation, although in a 2013 interview with The New York Times, Williams said their last performances were "excruciating."
=== 2013–2014: The Civil Wars and separation ===
In January, Williams and White released The Civil Wars: Unplugged on VH1 exclusively through iTunes. The seven-song album was recorded when The Civil Wars did a VH1 Unplugged set in early 2012. In February, Williams, White, Swift and Burnett won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written For Visual Media for "Safe & Sound", which was also nominated for a Golden Globe. The following month, it was announced that The Civil Wars had teamed with Burnett to record the soundtrack for A Place at the Table, a documentary that examined the role hunger plays in the lives of American families. Burnett and The Civil Wars recorded 14 new songs—together and separately—for the soundtrack. The proceeds from the soundtrack, recorded in Austin in 2011, were donated to the Participant Foundation. It was released on February 26.
The Civil Wars, the album that White and Williams had begun recording with Peacock in mid-2012, was released in August through Sensibility/Columbia. White remained at his home in Florence, Alabama with his wife and four children, while Williams and Peacock did interviews to support the release. Peacock said that the strain was evident from the start of the recording process, and that White and Williams seemed to be pulling in different directions. Williams disclosed that she and White hadn't spoken since the record was completed. The album entered the US Billboard charts and the digital charts at No. 1, and debuted in the UK at No. 2. Barton Hollow—which spent five weeks in the Top 40—moved to the top position on the catalog charts. Between the Bars, a four-song EP that covered Elliott Smith's title track, Portishead's "Sour Times", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and The Romantics' "Talking in Your Sleep" was released in the late 2013.
In February 2014, White and Williams won their fourth Grammy, this time for the track "From This Valley" from The Civil Wars. It won for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The Civil Wars announced that they would permanently part ways on August 5, and offered a free download of "You Are My Sunshine" as a parting gift. Williams wrote: "I am saddened and disappointed by the ending of this duo, to say the very least. JP is a tremendous musician, and I will always be grateful for the music we were able to create together." White's statement read: "I would like to express sincere thanks to all who were a part of the arc of The Civil Wars—from the beginning, to the end, and all points in between."
=== Post separation ===
In 2023, they individually participated in a re-recording of "Safe & Sound" with Taylor Swift, credited under their individual names.
In June 2025, they released “The One that Got Away (The Best of the Civil Wars),” a greatest hits album.
== Discography ==
Barton Hollow (2011)
The Civil Wars (2013)
== Awards and nominations ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Sensibility Music |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochiquito_Volcanic_Group | Cochiquito Volcanic Group | The Cochiquito Volcanic Group is a small volcanic group of volcanoes north of the town of Buta Ranquil in Argentina. The main peak is Volcán Cochiquito, a stratovolcano of estimated Pleistocene–Holocene age. There are eight satellite cones in the volcanic field, including Volcán Sillanegra (a pyroclastic cone complex) and Volcán Ranquil del Sur (a small stratovolcano).
== See also ==
List of volcanoes in Argentina
== Sources ==
"Cochiquito Volcanic Group". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Sisulu#:~:text=9%20External%20links-,Early%20life,Zwelakhe%2C%20Lindiwe%2C%20and%20Nonkululeko. | Max Sisulu | Max Vuyisile Sisulu (born 23 August 1945) is a South African politician and businessman who was Speaker of the National Assembly from May 2009 to May 2014. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was a member of the party's National Executive Committee from December 1994 to December 2017.
Born in Soweto, Sisulu is the son of anti-apartheid activists Albertina and Walter Sisulu. Between 1963 and 1990, at the height of apartheid, he lived outside of South Africa with the exiled ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. An economist by training, he was the ANC's head of economic planning from 1986 to 1990, and he remained influential in ANC economic policymaking in subsequent decades.
In April 1994, in South Africa's first democratic elections, Sisulu was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament. For much of the First Parliament, he was the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Then, from February 1997 to November 1998, he served as Chief Whip of the Majority Party. However, he resigned from his seat in November 1998 to work in business, first at Denel and later at Sasol.
He did not return to Parliament until the April 2009 general election, pursuant to which he was elected as the Speaker. He was the first man to serve as Speaker since the end of apartheid, and the first black man ever to serve as Speaker in the South African Parliament. He served in the office throughout the Fourth Parliament but was replaced by Baleka Mbete after the May 2014 general election.
== Early life ==
Sisulu was born on 23 August 1945 in Soweto. He was the eldest of five children born to Albertina and Walter Sisulu, who were prominent anti-apartheid activists in the African National Congress; his younger siblings were Mlungisi, Zwelakhe, Lindiwe, and Nonkululeko. In 1963, when he was aged 19, he and his mother were arrested and detained after his father went into hiding. Shortly after his release, he left South Africa for exile; his father, meanwhile, was apprehended by police later that year and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
== Exile and early career ==
Leaving South Africa via Gaborone, Botswana, Sisulu travelled to Tanzania, where he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe. Over the next decade, he spent stints in various regions of Africa and Europe. Among other things, he completed a master's degree in political economy from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow in 1969, a senior military training course in Skhodnya, Soviet Union in 1972, and a one year-research fellowship at the University of Amsterdam in 1985. He also spent a period as the ANC's representative in Budapest. From 1986 to 1990, he was stationed at the ANC's headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, where he was head of the ANC's Department of Economic Planning.
In 1990, Sisulu returned to South Africa amid the negotiations to end apartheid. The following year, he became the founding director of the Director of the National Institute of Economic Policies, an ANC think-tank based in Johannesburg. In addition, in 1993, he completed Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
== First Parliament: 1994–1998 ==
In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in April 1994, Sisulu was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament. He was also appointed as the inaugural chairperson of the portfolio committee that was tasked with oversight of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the ANC's flagship economic and social policy; Sisulu had helped draft the policy itself. During the same period, Sisulu rose in the ANC: he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) for the first time at the party's congress in 1994, and in 1997 he was elected both to the NEC and to the smaller National Working Committee (NWC) at the next congress in 1997.
In February 1997, he was appointed as the second Chief Whip of the Majority Party, succeeding Arnold Stofile. Upon taking office, he announced a plan to restore and upgrade the status of Parliament's RDP committee. He also introduced academic training programmes for Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff. However, his tenure as whip was brief: he resigned from Parliament in November 1998 to enter the corporate world.
== Corporate hiatus: 1998–2009 ==
He was deputy chief executive officer of Denel from 1998 to 2001 and then group general manager of Sasol from 2003 to 2006. Thereafter he held various directorships, including at African Rainbow Minerals.
During this period, Sisulu remained active in the ANC; he was re-elected to the NEC, and re-appointed to the NWC, both in December 2002 and then in December 2007. He was particularly prominent as the chairperson of the NEC's Subcommittee on Economic Transformation, and the Mail & Guardian said that he brought "serious business nous" and "much-needed technical expertise" to the NWC.
== Fourth Parliament: 2009–2014 ==
In the April 2009 general election, Sisulu returned to the National Assembly, ranked 39th on the ANC's party list. When Parliament opened on 6 May, he was elected unopposed to replace Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde as the Speaker of the National Assembly, with Nomaindia Mfeketo as his deputy. He was nominated to the position by Andrew Mlangeni. The first man to hold the office since 1994, he used his acceptance speech to urge members to "resist the urge" to call him Madam Speaker. He served as Speaker throughout the Fourth Parliament, during which time he was "widely respected" for his fairness and levity. He also oversaw the establishment of the parliamentary budget office.
Simultaneously, Sisulu continued to serve as chairperson of the ANC NEC's Subcommittee on Economic Transformation until after the party's 53rd National Conference in December 2012, when Enoch Godongwana was elected to take over the position. The same conference re-elected Sisulu to his fifth term on the NEC, though he did not return to the NWC.
=== Nkandlagate ===
The end of Sisulu's term as Speaker was partly consumed by the so-called Nkandlagate scandal, which concerned state-funded upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead. In March 2014, shortly before the end of the parliamentary term, the Public Protector released a report which concluded that Zuma had benefitted unduly from the upgrades and should be required to repay the state. Opposition parties said that Sisulu was responsive to their requests for the Public Protector's report to be tabled in the National Assembly, and Sisulu ultimately announced that he would establish an ad hoc parliamentary committee to consider the report. Opposition politician Lindiwe Mazibuko welcomed his decision as a "bold move" and "a victory for Parliament, the constitution and accountability".
There were later reports – disputed by the ANC – that Sisulu had been rebuked by the party for establishing the committee. Although the ad hoc committee initially intended to complete its work before the end of the parliamentary term, it did not do so.
=== Departure ===
In the May 2014 general election, Sisulu was ranked 14th on the ANC's party list, but the ANC announced that Baleka Mbete would replace him as Speaker. Steven Friedman and others suggested that the move indicated that the ANC wanted to exert stricter partisan control of the Speaker's office and of Parliament. Sisulu was sworn in as an ordinary Member of Parliament on 21 May, but he resigned from his seat eight days later when he failed to gain appointment to Zuma's cabinet. Observers were surprised by his exclusion, but the ANC strenuously denied rumours that he was being punished for having instigated the Nkandla investigation.
== Retirement ==
After leaving Parliament, Sisulu remained active in the ANC. In 2016, he emerged as a critic of President Zuma, first expressing public dissatisfaction in April in the aftermath of the Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker judgment. Later that year he called – both in public and during an ANC NEC meeting – for Zuma's resignation. He also said publicly that Zuma's failure to support Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was "bloody foolish", and he attended a civil society march in support of Gordhan in Pretoria. Sisulu served the remainder of his five-year term as a member of the NEC, but he was not re-elected at the next national conference in December 2017.
On 31 January 2018, he was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Harmony Gold.
== Personal life ==
In 1966, Sisulu married Mercy Vutela, the daughter of activist Greta Ncapayi; she had been his high school sweetheart and reunited with him in exile in Moscow. Their son, Mlungisi, became a diplomat in the South African embassies to Khartoum and Prague; he died of cerebral malaria in London, England in January 2008, aged 40. Sisulu's first marriage was shortlived. His second child, Shaka, was born in 1979 to Makhosazana Msimang, Mendi Msimang's daughter, and went on to become an activist and media personality.
In September 1986, he married Elinor Sisulu, a writer whom he had met in Amsterdam in 1985. She later published a biography of her parents-in-law.
== References ==
== External links ==
Mr Max Vuyisile Sisulu at People's Assembly
Appearances on C-SPAN |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersin_Province | Mersin Province | Mersin Province (Turkish: Mersin ili), formerly İçel Province (İçel ili), is a province and metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. Its area is 16,010 km2, and its population is 1,916,432 (2022). The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of four municipalities and district governorates: Akdeniz, Mezitli, Toroslar and Yenişehir. Next largest is Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. The province is considered to be a part of the geographical, economical and cultural region of Çukurova, which covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay.
== Etymology ==
The province is named after its biggest city Mersin. Mersin was named after the aromatic plant genus Myrsine (Greek: Μυρσίνη, Turkish: mersin) in the family Primulaceae, a myrtle that grows in abundance in the area. The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi has recorded in his Seyahatnâme that there was also a clan named Mersinoğulları in the area.
== Geography ==
Ninth biggest province of Turkey by land area, Mersin consists 2,02% of Turkey. 87% of the land area is mountain, leading up to the rocky heights of the central Taurus Mountains, the highest peak is Medetsiz (3,584 m) in the Bolkar range, and there are a number of important passes over to central Anatolia. There are many high meadows and small plains between 700 and 1500m.
The coastal strip has many large areas of flatland, formed from soil brought down by rivers and streams running off the mountains. This is fertile land, the largest area being the plain of Tarsus. The largest rivers are the Göksu and the Berdan (Göksu Calycadnus and Berdan Cydnus of antiquity), but there are many small streams running into lakes, reservoirs or the Mediterranean sea. Mersin has 321 km of coastline, much of it sandy beach. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean; very hot and rainless in summer, mild and wet in winter. The winter rains can be very heavy and flooding is a problem in many areas, but it never snows on the coast, only in the mountainous areas.
== History ==
In antiquity, this coast was part of Cilicia, named for a Phoenician or Assyrian prince that had settled here. Trade from Syria and Mesopotamia over the mountains to central Anatolia passed through here, through the Cilician Gates. The geographer Strabo, described the region as being divided into "Rugged Cilicia" (Cilicia Trachea, Κιλικία Τραχεία in Greek) and "Flat Cilicia" (Cilicia Pedias, Κιλικία Πεδιάς). The capital of both sections of Cilicia was Tarsus and Mersin was its seaport. The Seljuks later captured it from the Byzantines and it then came under the Crusaders then the Seljuks again and finally the Ottomans captured it and it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until 1922.
== Administration ==
The province of Mersin until 1933 didn't include the western territories of the modern province, which then constituted the separate İçel province, with Silifke as its administrative center. In 1933, the provinces of Mersin and İçel were merged. The new province was named "İçel" and the city of Mersin was made its capital. The province was renamed to "Mersin" on 28 June 2002.
=== Districts ===
Mersin province is divided into thirteen districts four of which are actually included within the municipality of Mersin city (shown in boldface letters).
Akdeniz
Anamur
Aydıncık
Bozyazı
Çamlıyayla
Erdemli
Gülnar
Mezitli
Mut
Silifke
Tarsus
Toroslar
Yenişehir
== Demographics ==
About 50% of the population of the province is younger than 24 years of age. 68% were born in Mersin. The literacy rate is 89%. About 43% of the male population and about 27% of the female population graduated from middle school. Infant mortality is 0.48%. Urban population growth rate is 2.42%. Population density is 117 as of November 2020.(In the table below, the four second-level municipalities are merged within Mersin proper.)
== Economy ==
The city of Mersin is one of busiest cities in Turkey. Due to the economic activity in this part of Turkey generated by the GAP Project Mersin is Turkey's biggest Mediterranean port, and also hosts an oil refinery and a free trade zone; there are a number of factories along the road between Mersin and Adana, manufacturing glass, detergents, fertilizers and many more. With all this activity a modern city has grown with a university and other major amenities.
=== Tourism ===
Mersin does not have the huge volume of tourists enjoyed by neighbouring Antalya or the Aegean coast, but Turkish people do come to this coast, especially now that the hotels have air-conditioning, and perhaps more to the mountain country behind where there are healing mineral water springs. In summer the hills are a popular retreat from the high humidity and extreme heat on the coast. West of Mersin includes bays, and little islands. Yacht touring is a tourism income in these areas.
== Places of interest ==
The city of Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul, whose house and well are sites of Christian pilgrimage.
Alahan Monastery
Silifke - ancient Seleucia in Isauria, buildings include the church of Aya Tekla, the first female saint.
The ancient Roman town of Soloi-Pompeiopolis, now within the city. About Mersin
The ancient Roman town of Anemurium, adjacent to the modern town of Anamur.
Another ancient city of Elaiussa Sebaste, 55 km from the city of Mersin.
Castles including Mamure, Kızkalesi and Namrun.
Yerköprü Waterfall
Mersin Naval Museum
== Towns and other geographic features ==
=== Towns ===
=== Archaeological and historical ===
=== Museums ===
=== Other ===
=== Gallery ===
== See also ==
List of populated places in Mersin Province
== Notes ==
== External links ==
University of Mersin
Mersin Technoscope
Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in English)
Mersin Chamber of Shipping (in English) Archived 2008-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
Mersin Photographic society (in English)
Mersin Free Zone |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Shpiller | Natalia Shpiller | Natalia Dmitrevna Shpiller, sometimes spelled Natalia Spiller, Natalya Shpiller, Natalʹja Špiller, or Natalʹia Shpiller, (Russian: Ната́лья Дми́триевна Шпи́ллер, Ukrainian: Ната́лія Дми́трівна Шпі́ллер; 7 September 1909 – 20 July 1995) was a Soviet lyric soprano of Czech ethnicity who was a leading opera singer at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow from the 1930s through the 1950s. Beloved by Joseph Stalin, she was frequently used by him for performances at the Moscow Kremlin to impress visiting dignitaries. A People's Artist of Russia, a Lenin Prize recipient, and the winner of multiple Stalin Prizes, she was a voice teacher on the faculty of the Gnessin State Musical College from 1950 through 1995. Two Stalin Prizes first degree (1943, 1950). Stalin Prize second degree (1941).
== Life and career ==
Born in Kyiv, Russian Empire, Shpiller was trained at the Kyiv Conservatory, where she was a pupil of AP Schperling. She made her professional debut at the Samara State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kuybyshev Square in Samara, Russia in 1931, remaining there as a resident artist through 1934. In 1935 she became a resident artist at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, remaining a principal artist at that theatre through 1958. She continued to occasionally perform at the Bolshoi as a guest artist into the 1960s. Her repertoire at that opera house included Antonida in Mikhail Glinka's A Life for the Tsar, Countess Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust, Marfa in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, Mathilde in Gioachino Rossini's William Tell, Micaela in Carmen, Tatiana in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugen Onegin, Volkhova in Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko, Tsarevna Swan-Bird in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and the title roles in Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Tchaikovsky's Iolanta.
Russian dictator Joseph Stalin loved Shpiller's singing voice, and frequently requested her to perform at banquets held at the Moscow Kremlin for foreign diplomats. In 1940 she performed the role of Sieglinde in a concert version of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre at the Kremlin for a gala held in honor of visiting German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, an event through which Stalin hoped to cement friendship between Russia and Nazi Germany. In 1941 she was one of the first recipients of the USSR State Prize. She was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1943 and 1950. In 1947 she was named a People's Artist of Russia, and in 1951 she was awarded the Lenin Prize. She was also granted permission to travel abroad four times during her career, a rare opportunity for Russian artists of that era.
For forty-five years she taught on the singing faculty at the Gnessin State Musical College. She began her career there as a lecturer in 1950 and was made a full professor in 1963. During her tenure she was head of the college's department of opera training from 1964 through 1975, and then head of the voice faculty from 1975 through 1979. She continued to teach on the singing faculty up until her death in 1995.
She died in Moscow on 20 July 1995. Her husband was the cellist Sviatoslav Knushevitsky.
== References ==
== External links ==
Biography of Natalia Shpiller at the Bolshoi Theatre (in Russian) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_for_Industry_-_Derek_Birchall_Award | Materials for Industry - Derek Birchall Award | The Materials for Industry – Derek Birchall Award is awarded biennially to an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the application of materials chemistry in industry. The recipient of the award is chosen by an independent committee consisting of experts from both the Materials Chemistry Division (MCD) and industry. The award is given by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the chosen winner is rewarded with a monetary prize of £2000. The award was discontinued in 2020.
== Award History ==
The award was established in 2008, in honour of work carried out by British inventor and materials chemist Derek Birchall (born 1930).
== Awardees ==
Source: RSC
2009 (2009): Patrick McGrail, University of Sheffield
2013 (2013): Professor John W. Goodby, University of York
2015 (2015): Professor Tobin Marks, Northwestern University
2017 (2017): Professor Karl Coleman, Durham University
2019 (2019): Professor Andrew Mills, Queen's University, Belfast
== See also ==
List of chemistry awards
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_(Miranda_Lambert_album)#Release_and_promotion | Platinum (Miranda Lambert album) | Platinum is the fifth studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Miranda Lambert. It was released on June 3, 2014, by RCA Nashville.
Lambert wrote or co-wrote eight of the album's 16 tracks while working with a host of session musicians and songwriters, as well as guest performers Little Big Town, The Time Jumpers, and Carrie Underwood. The album was produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, and Glenn Worf.
Platinum debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Lambert's first to top the chart, while selling 180,000 copies in its first week. It received widespread critical acclaim and earned Lambert a Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as a CMA Award and ACM Award in the same category. The album was certified platinum for sales of one million copies in the United States.
== Writing and recording ==
Lambert wrote or co-wrote eight of the album's 16 tracks. The album features collaborations with Little Big Town ("Smokin' and Drinkin'") and The Time Jumpers ("All That's Left"), as well as a duet with Carrie Underwood on "Somethin' Bad". It was recorded in sessions at Cyclops Sound in Los Angeles, Dave's Room in Hollywood, and the Nashville-based studios Ronnie's Place, Ben's Studio, Sound Stage Studios, St. Charles Studio, and The House.
== Release and promotion ==
Platinum was released by RCA Nashville on June 3, 2014. It debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts while selling 180,000 copies in the United States, becoming the highest first-sales week of Lambert's career. It was also her first album to reach the top of the Billboard 200, and marked her fifth consecutive number-one debut on the Top Country Albums, making her the first artist in the history of the chart to start her career with five number-one albums. It debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with first-week sales of 9,300 copies. On February 1, 2016, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By September 2016, the album had sold 850,000 copies in the US.
Four singles were released in promotion of the album: the lead single "Automatic", the top-20 hit "Little Red Wagon", "Smokin' and Drinkin'", and "Somethin' Bad". Lambert debut the latter song with Underwood at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards on May 18, 2014, and performed it again on June 4, during the CMT Music Awards. In support of Platinum, she embarked on a concert tour of North America in mid 2014, featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett as her opening acts.
== Critical reception ==
Platinum was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on 11 reviews.
In a review published by Cuepoint, Robert Christgau hailed Platinum as the year's most daring and consummate big-budget record, featuring "apolitical de facto feminism at its countriest". The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica found it "vivacious, clever and slickly rowdy", showing Lambert had finally become "a sophisticated radical, a wry country feminist and an artist learning to experiment widely but also with less abrasion". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said the record was shrewdly produced with Lambert's attempts at modern pop songs sequenced ahead of the more authentic country material, while Will Hermes wrote in Rolling Stone that Lambert incorporated both traditional and alternative elements from country into her homespun, feminine perspective. Spin magazine's Dan Hyman was less enthusiastic, singling out the collaborations on "Smokin' and Drinkin'" and "Something Bad" as contrived appeals to pop audiences on what was an otherwise consistent and carefully crafted record.
At the end of 2014, Platinum was voted the 12th-best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice. Christgau, the poll's creator, named it the year's second best record in his year-end list for The Barnes & Noble Review. The album was also ranked fifth and nineteenth best by Rolling Stone and Spin, respectively. At the 2014 CMA Awards, it won in the "Album of the Year" category. It also earned Lambert the Best Country Album award at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015.
== Track listing ==
== Personnel ==
=== Musicians ===
=== Production ===
== Charts ==
== Certifications ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Platinum at Discogs (list of releases) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Kufuor#:~:text=to%20child%20transmission.-,Death,at%20the%20age%20of%2087. | Theresa Kufuor | Theresa Aba Kufuor (née Mensah; 25 October 1935 – 1 October 2023) was the wife of John Kufuor, the second President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, and First Lady of Ghana from 2001 to 2009. She was a nurse and midwife.
== Early life and education ==
Kufuor, the youngest child in her family, was born Theresa Mensah on 25 October 1935. Her older brother was the economist and New Patriotic Party politician, Joseph Henry Mensah.
She started her education at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana. She later went to London, where she was educated as a Registered General Nurse, in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing. Edinburgh, Scotland.
After further study at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford and Paddington General Hospital, London, she qualified as a State Certified Midwife with a Certificate in Premature Nursing.
== Personal life ==
Theresa married John Kufuor when he was at age 23 after they met at a Republic Day Anniversary Dance in London in 1961. They got married in 1962. She had five children with John Kufuor, former president of Ghana; J. Addo Kufuor, Nana Ama Gyamfi, Saah Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor and Owusu Afriyie Kufuor. She was a mother of five, and a grandmother of eight. She was a devout Roman Catholic.
Despite being the first lady of Ghana for eight years between 2001 and 2009, she managed to maintain a low profile in the political arena. In 2007 she pushed for policy changes in the Government's white paper on Educational Reforms towards the implementation of UNESCO's Free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) program for kindergarten children.
Kufuor founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), a non-governmental organisation operating in Ghana and Canada that supports work in prevention of mother to child transmission.
=== Death ===
Theresa Kufuor died at her home in Peduase on 1 October 2023, at the age of 87.
==== Funeral Rite ====
On November 16, the funeral for Theresa Aba Kufuor, the former First Lady, took place at Accra's State House. The ceremony included hymns and tributes, followed by the transportation of her remains to Kumasi for the final stage of the three-day funeral at Heroes Park, culminating in her burial in the Ashanti Regional capital.
== Honours ==
On 25 October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI conferred on her husband President John Kufuor, the Papal Award of Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great, for his dedicated service to mankind and the Catholic Church in general. Theresa Kufuor, on her part, was awarded the Papal Award Dame of St Gregory the Great for her commitment to the plight of poor children and their mothers.
== See also ==
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings
First Lady of Ghana
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi_National_Open_University#Convocations_in_the_past | Indira Gandhi National Open University | Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a public open and distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of ₹20 million, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 (IGNOU Act 1985). IGNOU, operated by the Government of India is the world's largest university, with enrollment of over 3,000,000 students. It provides 333 academic programs through its 21 Schools of Studies, supported by a network of 67 Regional Centres and 2,257 Learner Support Centres (LSCs).
IGNOU has achieved an all-time high in total registrations, reaching 753,286 for the 2023–24 period (covering the admission cycle of July 2023 and January 2024). Of these, 352,354 students enrolled in bachelor's degree programs, with the Bachelor of Arts (BAG) being the most popular, garnering 109,840 registrations.
IGNOU had started a decentralisation process by setting up five zones: north, south, east, west and north-east. The Ministry of Education
has entrusted the responsibility of developing a Draft Policy on Open and Distance Learning and Online Courses to IGNOU. IGNOU also partners up with other organizations to launch courses. IGNOU offers a BBA in Retail distance learning course in association with Retailers Association of India (RAI).
== History ==
Dipanshu Sharma, the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare organized a seminar on 'Open University' in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the UGC, and the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO. After the seminar recommendation, an open university in India was established on an experimental basis. Starting in 1974, the Government of India appointed an eight-member working group on the open university, the leading role was given to G. Parthasarathi, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The working group recommended that an open university be established through an act of Parliament as soon as possible. They stressed the importance of the university having jurisdiction over the entire country, ensuring that once it is fully operational, students in even the most remote areas can access its educational resources and degrees (Working Group Report, 1974).
To support effective instructional and management processes for the open university, the working group proposed several key measures, including: a streamlined admission process, age relaxation policies, the development of comprehensive reading materials, the creation of core groups of scholars in various disciplines, the establishment of study centers, the implementation of curricular programs, and opportunities for live interaction with instructors. Following these recommendations, the Union Government prepared a draft bill for the establishment of a National Open University; however, progress on this initiative was delayed for various reasons.
In 1985, the Union Government made a policy statement for the establishment of a national open university. A Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Education to chalk out the plan of action for the National Open University. On the basis of the report of the Committee, the Union Government introduced a bill in Parliament. In August 1985, both the Houses of Parliament passed the bill. Subsequently, the Indira Gandhi National Open University came into existence on 20 September 1985, named after the late prime minister.
In 1989, the first Convocation was held and more than 1,000 students graduated and were awarded their diplomas. IGNOU audio-video courses were the first broadcast by radio and television in 1990 and IGNOU awarded degrees received full recognition by the University Grants Commission in 1992 as being equivalent to those of other universities in the country.
In 1999, IGNOU launched the first virtual campus in India, beginning with the delivery of Computer and Information Sciences courses via the Internet.
As of 2011 IGNOU has served over three million students in India and 40 other countries abroad. These are the UAE, the UK, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Ethiopia, Namibia, Kenya, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Fiji, France, Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Liberia, West Indies, Samoa, Lesotho, Malawi, Switzerland, Nigeria, Mongolia, and Zambia.
IGNOU is actively engaged in various initiatives through the SANKALP project in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The university has signed a MoU with the Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, to provide training for civil service aspirants from SC/ST backgrounds. Additionally, IGNOU has established a knowledge partnership with the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) of the Government of India and has set up a Centre for Modern Indian Languages to promote Indian languages. The university's refresher courses have received recognition from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The university has introduced audiobooks for its Self-Learning Materials (SLMs) in management courses and has recorded promotional materials for its programmes in regional languages, including 23 recognized regional languages for the MBA programme. IGNOU has also signed an MoU with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide opportunities through skill-based courses, launching three such courses. Another MoU with the Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education & Development (DTNBWED) aims to provide training for workers in both organized and unorganized sectors. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, the university has adopted over 90 villages, and as part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, 74 lectures have been completed. Notably, IGNOU's Regional Centre in Aizawl has been awarded the Government Online Excellence Award by the Department of Information and Communication Technology, Government of Mizoram.
IGNOU was founded to serve the Indian population by means of distance and open education, providing quality higher education opportunities to all segments of society. It also aims to encourage, coordinate and set standards for distance and open education in India, and to strengthen the human resources of India through education. Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource center, and serves to promote and maintain standards of distance education in India. IGNOU hosts the Secretariats of the SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and the Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET), initially supported by UNESCO.
== Languages ==
The IGNOU offers education in undergraduate degree in different Modern Indian Language (MIL): Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Meitei (Manipuri), and Nepali.
== International Presence ==
Established in 1996, the International Division of IGNOU, originally the International Cell, focuses on promoting collaborations with international educational institutions and inter-governmental agencies to enhance global access to higher education. It operates on a four-fold approach of collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and competition, providing comprehensive support services to overseas and foreign students in India, including admission, examination, and degree awarding. The division also serves as the nodal center for online programs for international students and coordinates international delegations and visits to the University.
On an international scale, IGNOU has formed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) and MoU with the Open University of Kenya and maintains a strong presence in 88 countries, including 19 African nations connected through e-Vidyabharti and e-Arogya Bharti (e-VBAB) project of Ministry of External Affairs, offering 51 programmes. Afghanistan was also included later. Additionally, the University has signed Memoranda of Collaboration (MoC) with Baikal State University of Russia, the Financial University of Moscow, and the Hellenic Open University (HOU) of Greece. Further, to promote its online programs internationally, it has introduced the Overseas Facilitator scheme and signed Memoranda of Agreement with 14 existing Overseas Study Centres in the first phase. Recently, MoAs were also signed with ICA Education Pvt. Ltd. in Nepal and the Centre for Open and Distance Education in Kenya. The university is also offering a Hindi Awareness Program in collaboration with the Central Hindi Directorate (CHD) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), with registration from 42 countries in its latest third batch. Furthermore, IGNOU operates 14 online facilitation centres and offers 168 programs (including 44 online programmes) through 25 Overseas Study Centres across 15 foreign countries, with a cumulative international student enrollment of approximately 92,000.
== Schools ==
IGNOU has 21 schools of studies as listed below :-
School of Agriculture (SOA)
School of Humanities (SOH)
School of Social Sciences (SOSS)
School of Sciences (SOS)
School of Education (SOE)
School of Continuing Education (SOCE)
School of Engineering and Technology (SOET)
School of Management Studies (SOMS)
School of Health Sciences (SOHS)
School of Computer and Information Sciences (SOCIS)
School of Law (SOL)
School of Journalism and New Media Studies (SOJNMS)
School of Gender and Development Studies (SOGDS)
School of Tourism and Hospitality Service Management (SOTHSM)
School of Interdisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies (SOITS)
School of Social Work (SOSW)
School of Vocational Education and Training (SOVET)
School of Extension and Development Studies (SOEDS)
School of Foreign Languages (SOFL)
School of Translation Studies and Training (SOTST)
School of Performing and Visual Arts (SOPVA)
== Accreditation and recognition ==
IGNOU has been granted the authority to confer degrees by Clause 5(1)(iii) of the IGNOU Act 1985. IGNOU is also recognised as a Central University by the University Grants Commission of India (UGC). The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) recognises IGNOU conferred degrees as on par with the degrees conferred by its members and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recognises the Master of Computer Applications and Master of Business Administration program of IGNOU.
In 1993, IGNOU was designated by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) as its first Centre of Excellence for Distance Education empowered "to actively participate in Commonwealth co-operative endeavors to identify, nurture, and strengthen open learning institutions throughout the Commonwealth, particularly in the Third World ..".
IGNOU also operates as an accreditor for open university and distance education systems in India through the Distance Education Council (DEC). Authority to do so is granted under Clause 16 and Statute 28 of the IGNOU Act 1985.
IGNOU is accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with the highest grade of A++.
== Notable alumni ==
Osthatheos Issac – Syriac Orthodox bishop
Celina Jaitly – Indian actress
Vaani Kapoor – Indian actress
Deepika Padukone – Indian actress
Chethana Ketagoda – Sri Lankan actress
Barun Mazumder – Indian journalist
Ashok Khemka – Indian bureaucrat
K. Vijay Kumar – IPS officer
K. H. Hussain – Indian designer
Abhay Sopori – Indian musician
Gyaneswar Patil – Indian politician
Karthika Naïr – Indian poet
B. Devendhira Poopathy – Indian poet and writer
V. S. R. Murthy – Indian military officer
Biswatosh Sengupta – Indian academic
Ashraful Hussain – Indian social activist and politician
Arjun Munda – former Chief Minister of Jharkhand
Aman Raj – Indian golfer
Kulwant Singh – former Indian army general
Vineet Verma – Indian film director
Deepak Kapoor – 22nd chief of Indian army
Manoj Pande – Indian railway officer
A. G. Perarivalan – Indian assassin
Pushpa Preeya – Indian social activist
Sudipta Chakraborty – Indian actress
Aditya Bandopadhyay – LGBTQ rights activist
Swapna Patker – Indian film producer
Shiv Kumar Rai – Indian journalist
== See also ==
List of universities in India
Universities and colleges in India
Education in India
Education in Delhi
Distance Education Council
University Grants Commission (India)
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
[1] |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Gqabi#:~:text=In%201976%20he%20became%20co%2Dchairman%2C%20with%20Martin%20Ramokgadi%2C%20of%20the%20clandestine%20ANC%20organisation%20in%20Johannesburg%2C%20known%20as%20the%20Main%20Machinery | Joe Gqabi | Joe Nzingo Gqabi (6 April 1929 – 31 July 1981) was a South African African National Congress activist who was the ANC's chief representative in Zimbabwe at the time of his assassination by the South African Defence Force in Harare (then Salisbury), Zimbabwe, in 1981.
== Early life ==
Gqabi was born on 6 April 1929 in Aliwal North in what is now known as Joe Gqabi District Municipality. His first language was Xhosa.
== Political activity ==
In the 1950s Gqabi was a journalist for New Age, during which time he was in frequent contact with ANC leader Walter Sisulu. As a member of the South African Communist Party and UMkhonto we Sizwe he was sent for guerilla training in China in the early 1960s. He was captured with 28 fellow members who were undergoing military training in Rhodesia and deported back to South Africa, where he was sentenced to two years' jail for leaving the country illegally and then ten years for crimes under the Sabotage Act, after which he was jailed at Robben Island.
He rejoined the ANC after being released from jail in 1975. In 1976 he became co-chairman, with Martin Ramokgadi, of the clandestine ANC organisation in Johannesburg, known as the Main Machinery. During this time, the South African security services attempted to assassinate him by placing a bomb in his car, but it was discovered before it could detonate. He was arrested again after the Soweto uprising (Oliver Tambo later asserted that he served as an intermediary between the ANC and the South African Students' Movement there) but the police, with little evidence, were unable to make a case against him. He was released in 1977, left for Botswana and then went to Zimbabwe after its independence in 1980.
== Death ==
He was assassinated by the South African Defence Force on 31 July 1981 in Ashdown Park, Salisbury (now Harare), Zimbabwe. His body was repatriated to South Africa in 2004 and he was reburied in Aliwal North on 16 December 2004.
== Honours ==
He was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in silver by the South African government. The Joe Gqabi District Municipality was named in his honour.
Order of Luthuli (Silver) (OLS)
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laila_Ali#Television_work | Laila Ali | Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super middleweight titles, and the IWBF light heavyweight title. Ali is widely regarded by many within the sport as one of the greatest female professional boxers of all time. She is the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali.
== Early life ==
Laila Amaria Ali was born December 30, 1977, in Miami Beach, Florida, the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porché. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She was raised as a Muslim, but later left Islam despite her father's initial disapproval. Ali was a manicurist at age 16. Her turbulent childhood of arrests and abuse led to her to living in a group home for girls. She graduated from California's Santa Monica College with a business degree. She owned her own nail salon before she began boxing. According to Ali, her father opposed her decision to become a boxer due to his Muslim faith; in an interview she said, "My father first of all, did not believe that women should be boxing. My father was Muslim, I'm not. He was a little bit of a male chauvinist in a way."
== Boxing career ==
Ali began boxing when she was 18 years old, after having first noticed women's boxing when watching a Christy Martin fight. She first publicized her decision to become a professional boxer in a Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer. When she first told her father, Muhammad Ali that she was planning to box professionally, he was unhappy about her entering such a dangerous profession. In her first match, on October 8, 1999, the 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m), 166-pound (75 kg), 21-year-old Ali boxed April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana. They fought at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino on the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York. Although this was Ali's first match, many journalists and fans attended, largely because she was Muhammad Ali's daughter.
Attention to Ali's ring debut was further boosted because it occurred on the eve of what was supposed to be the first male-female professional bout ever to be sanctioned by a US state boxing commission – later ruled an exhibition. As WomenBoxing.com explains: "The near-alignment of the two events focused more attention on female professional boxing than there had been since Christy Martin's 1996 pay-per-view fight with Deirdre Gogarty." Ali knocked out Fowler – described by WomenBoxing.com as an "out-of-shape novice" – in the first round. Ali also won her second match by a TKO with only 3 seconds left on the clock. In that match her opponent was 5'4" Shadina Pennybaker, from Pittsburgh, who was making a pro debut after earning a 2–1 record as an amateur. They fought at the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia.
Ali captured nine wins in a row and many boxing fans expressed a desire to see her square off in a boxing ring with George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. On the evening of June 8, 2001, Ali and Frazier finally met. The fight was nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV in allusion to their fathers' famous fight trilogy. Ali won by a majority judges' decision in eight rounds (79–73, 77–75, 76–76). Frazier-Lyde ended the fight with a swollen eye while Ali had a fractured left collarbone and a bloodied nose. This match by Ali and Frazier was the first main-event pay-per-view match between two women. After a year's hiatus, on June 7, 2002, Ali beat Shirvelle Williams in a six-round decision.
She won the IBA title with a second-round knockout of Suzette Taylor on August 17, 2002, in Las Vegas. On November 8, she retained that title and unified the crown by adding the WIBA and IWBF belts with an eight-round TKO win over her division's other world champion, Valerie Mahfood, in Las Vegas. Ali stopped a bloodied Mahfood in eight rounds. On June 21, 2003, Mahfood and Ali fought a rematch, this time in Los Angeles. Once again bloodied by Ali, Mahfood lost by TKO in six rounds while trying to recover her world title. Nevertheless, Ali suffered a bad cut on her right eyelid for the first time in her career, inflicted by Mahfood. Ali also suffered a bloodied nose for the second time in her career during this fight, the first being in Ali's fight with Frazier-Lyde two years previously. On August 23, 2003, Ali fought her original inspiration, Christy Martin, beating Martin by a knockout in four rounds. On July 17, 2004, Ali retained her world title, knocking out Nikki Eplion in four rounds.
On July 30, 2004, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds, in her father's native city of Louisville, Kentucky. This fight was part of the undercard for the fight in which Mike Tyson was surprisingly knocked out by fringe contender Danny Williams. On September 24, 2004, Ali added the IWBF Light Heavyweight title to her resume by beating Gwendolyn O'Neil (whom she had earlier canceled a fight against) by a knockout in three rounds, at Atlanta, Georgia. On February 1, 2005, in Atlanta, Ali scored a commanding and decisive eighth-round technical knockout over Cassandra Geiggar in a ten-round fight.
On June 11, 2005, on the undercard to the Tyson-Kevin McBride fight, Ali defeated Erin Toughill in round three to remain undefeated and won the World Boxing Council title in addition to defending her WIBA crown. She was the second woman to win a WBC title (Jackie Nava was the first). Toughill and Ali disliked each other, and prior to the fight Toughill joked about Ali. Ali promised she would punish Toughill, much like her father did with Ernie Terrell back in 1967. On December 17, 2005, in Berlin, Ali fought and defeated Åsa Sandell by TKO in the fifth round. Following Ali's hard right to Sandell's face with 17 seconds remaining in Round 5, Sandell was struck by numerous undefended shots to her head. The referee stopped the bout with 12 seconds remaining. Muhammad Ali was in attendance and kissed his daughter.
While a guest on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith on June 7, 2006, Ali announced that she would be making a world tour, and said that she was looking forward to fighting Ann Wolfe in October 2006. However, the fight with Wolfe never materialized. Instead, on November 11, 2006, Ali fought and defeated Shelley Burton by TKO in the fourth round. Ali was rescheduled to fight O'Neil in Cape Town, on August 5, 2006, but Ali pulled out amid allegations of fraud. The match eventually took place in South Africa on February 2, 2007. Ali defeated O'Neil in the first-round by technical knockout. It was Ali's last professional fight.
== Professional boxing record ==
== Championships and accomplishments ==
2012: AOCA Awakening Outstanding Contribution Award
2005/2007: WBC World Super Middleweight title (two defenses)
2002/2007: WIBA World Super Middleweight title (five defenses)
2004: IWBF Female Light Heavyweight title
2002/2004: IWBF Female Super Middleweight title (two defenses)
2002/2004: IBA Female Super Middleweight title (four defenses)
== Television work ==
In 2000, Ali played herself in an episode of The Jersey called "Bat Girl" in which Morgan Hudson (played by Courtnee Draper) turns to her in order to get a little more of a perspective as she learns the true meaning of girl power. In 2002, she appeared as herself on the UPN sitcoms One on One and Girlfriends. In early 2002, Ali appeared in a boxing role for the music video "Deny" by Canadian hard rock band Default. The video gained airplay on music channels including MTV2 and MMUSA. In 2004, Ali appeared on the George Lopez show, where she owned a gym, as well as on Real Husbands of Hollywood.
In mid-2007, Ali was a participant in season four of the American version of the television show Dancing with the Stars; she had no previous dancing experience. She and her professional dancing partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were widely praised by the judges, receiving the first "10" from judge Len Goodman for their rumba. They came in third place in the competition, losing to Apolo Anton Ohno (with Julianne Hough) and Joey Fatone (with Kym Johnson).
Dancing with the Stars performances
Ali hosted the revival of American Gladiators alongside Hulk Hogan. The show premiered in January 2008. Ali and the cast of American Gladiators appeared on the NBC show Celebrity Family Feud (Roker) in an episode that aired on July 8, 2008. Ali joined the CBS team as a contributing correspondent on The Early Show with her first appearance in early January 2008.
She hosted The N's Student Body, a reality show on The N. Ali also appeared in a 2007 episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!, titled "Train", in a brief dance number, and on Love That Girl, episode 3.4, "Fighting Shape".
In 2012, Ali was picked to co-host Everyday Health with Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca. The show aired on ABC Saturday mornings and profiled everyday people living with health issues, who aspired to not let their issues keep them from helping others or doing extraordinary things. The show lasted for one season. Also in 2012, Ali appeared in a Kohl's commercial with a tag line, "I box to win; I shop to win.". Ali was a contestant on the NBC celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes from August 2012 to September 2012.
On February 4, 2013, Ali appeared on the NBC reality series, The Biggest Loser in the episode "Lead By Example". In the episode, she boxed alongside Dolvett Quince's team, consisting of Jackson Carter, Joe Ostaszewski and Francelina Morillo. In March 2013, Ali started appearing as a co-host on multiple episodes of the E! talk show series Fashion Police filling in for Giuliana Rancic, who was on maternity leave. In May 2013, Ali once again filled in for Rancic, who had other commitments and was unable to attend the show.
In May 2014, Ali participated in an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap. She swapped places with singer Angie Stone and tried to instill healthier habits on the family. In April 2013, Ali participated in two episodes of Chopped: All Stars, making it to the final round, competing for a favorite charity. In September 2013, Ali began hosting All In with Laila Ali, a new show in the CBS Saturday morning lineup "CBS Dream Team". The following year, she began hosting Late Night Chef Fight on the cable network FYI. In 2014, she appeared in the film Falcon Rising. She was a participant of The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as The Apprentice 15 and The Celebrity Apprentice 8) but terminated after 11th task.
Since 2017, Ali has been the host of the DIY series Home Made Simple on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
In 2019, Ali participated in the second season of The Masked Singer as "Panda". She was eliminated at the end of her episode. Before her official unmasking, Panda was jokingly revealed to be Homer Simpson in a promotion for The Simpsons, another primetime FOX series.
In 2020, Ali voiced herself in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "The Crown Jewel of Boxing."
== Personal life ==
In 2002, she wrote (with co-author David Ritz) the book Reach! Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power. In this book, she confides that she felt isolated at times because of her father's fame. Ali has also spent some time in jail, and describes her arrests and the physical abuse she experienced in jail. Ali married Johnny "Yahya" McClain on August 27, 2000. McClain became Ali's manager and helped guide her career. In late 2005, Ali and McClain divorced and McClain quit managing Ali.
On July 23, 2007, Ali married former NFL player Curtis Conway in Los Angeles. They have two children together: a son born in August 2008, and a daughter born in April 2011. Ali is the stepmother of Conway's three children. Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan credited Ali with saving his life by telephoning him when he was depressed and suicidal. Ali is the sister-in-law of professional mixed martial artist Kevin Casey, who is married to her sister Hana.
== Bibliography ==
Ali, Laila; Ritz, David (2002). Reach!: Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power. Hyperion. ISBN 0786868554.
== See also ==
List of female boxers
== References ==
== General sources ==
NetGlimse.com (2009). Laila Ali – Biography . Retrieved October 8, 2010 from Laila Ali Biography, Bio, Profile, pictures, photos from Netglimse.com
CBS Interactive (2010). Laila Ali FOLLOWS BOXING CAREER OF LEGENDARY FATHER MUHAMMAD ALI. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from Laila Ali FOLLOWS BOXING CAREER OF LEGENDARY FATHER MUHAMMAD ALI | Jet | Find Articles at BNET
Andrew Rooney. (2003). Years of Minutes. New York: Essay Productions. Retrieved from NetLibrary database.
Boxing. (2003). In Black Firsts. Retrieved from Boxing | Black Firsts - Credo Reference.
Lexis Nexis. (2009). Laila Ali. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis database.
== External links ==
Laila Ali Archived March 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at Awakening Fighters Archived April 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
Boxing record for Laila Ali from BoxRec (registration required)
Laila Ali at IMDb
Hossili, Peter (June 1, 2007). "Laila Ali—I'm a Stronger Puncher Than My Father Was".
Adams, Audrey (2012). "Talk with Audrey". Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2015. Interview with Laila Ali about hosting Everyday Health TV
Biography from the International Boxing Hall of Fame |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jeffersons#:~:text=Bentley%20also%20had%20a%20bad,J%22. | The Jeffersons | The Jeffersons is an American sitcom television series created by Norman Lear, which aired on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting eleven seasons and 253 total episodes. Starring Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley, the show revolved around a prosperous African-American couple who live in a high-rise apartment in Manhattan, New York City. The show is a spin-off of All in the Family, on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of the Bunkers.
== Premise ==
The show focuses on George and Louise Jefferson, a prosperous black couple who have been able to move from Queens to Manhattan owing to the success of George's dry-cleaning chain, Jefferson Cleaners. The show was launched as the second (and longest running) spin-off of All in the Family (after Maude), on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. The show was the creation of Norman Lear. The Jeffersons eventually evolved into more of a traditional sitcom, but episodes occasionally focused on serious issues such as alcoholism, racism, suicide, gun control, being transgender, the KKK, and adult illiteracy. The epithets nigger and honky were used occasionally, especially during the earlier seasons.
The Jeffersons had one spin-off, titled Checking In. The series was centered on the Jeffersons' housekeeper, Florence, who takes a job as cleaning management at a hotel. Checking In lasted only four episodes, after which Florence returned to The Jeffersons with the story that the hotel had burned down in a fire. The Jeffersons also shared continuity with the sitcom E/R, which featured Lynne Moody, who made a guest appearance in one episode of The Jeffersons. Sherman Hemsley guest-starred as George in two episodes of the series, which lasted for one season. The cancellation of The Jeffersons cleared the way for Marla Gibbs, who played Florence Johnston on the series, to move on to the NBC sitcom 227 in the fall of 1985, a year earlier than scheduled.
The Jeffersons ended in controversy after CBS abruptly canceled the series without allowing for a proper series finale. The cast was not informed until after the July 2, 1985, episode, "Red Robins"; actor Sherman Hemsley, who portrayed George Jefferson, said he learned that the show was canceled by reading it in the newspaper. Isabel Sanford (Louise Jefferson), who heard about the cancellation through her cousin who read it in the tabloids, publicly stated that she found the cancellation with no proper finale to be disrespectful on the network's part. Per an article in the May 8, 1985, Los Angeles Times, the series was cancelled by announcement at the CBS network "upfront" presentation the day before, nearly two months before the airing of the final episode. Actor Franklin Cover, who played Tom Willis, also heard about the cancellation while watching Entertainment Tonight.
The cast reunited in a stage play based on the sitcom. In season 5 episode 17 of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, titled "Will Is from Mars" (1995), the Jeffersons made a guest appearance as a couple in therapy class. In the 1996 series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the Jeffersons made a guest appearance as the buyers of the Banks family house. In an episode of Tyler Perry's House of Payne in 2011, Sherman Hemsley and Marla Gibbs reprised their roles of George Jefferson and Florence Johnston.
In 1985, Hemsley and Sanford (who was older than her TV husband by 21 years) made a special joint guest appearance in the Canale 5 comedy show Grand Hotel as the Jeffersons, acting with Italian actors Paolo Villaggio, the comic duo Franco & Ciccio, and Carmen Russo. They were guests in the fictional hotel and their voices were dubbed by Italian actors Enzo Garinei (George) and Isa di Marzio (Louise), who also dubbed their characters for the full series. As of 2023, the members still alive from the main cast include Marla Gibbs, Berlinda Tolbert, Damon Evans, and Jay Hammer.
== Series development ==
Louise Jefferson, played by Isabel Sanford, first appeared in the All in the Family episode "Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood", which was broadcast on March 2, 1971. The episode, the eighth of the series, centers on Louise, her son Lionel, and her husband George moving next door to Archie and Edith Bunker in the working-class section of Queens. Lionel, played by Mike Evans, first appeared in "Meet the Bunkers", the premiere episode of All in the Family.
Norman Lear created the character of George Jefferson specifically for Hemsley. Lear originally intended for George to appear in the first season of the series, but Hemsley was starring in the Broadway musical Purlie at the time, and Lear decided to postpone introduction of the character until Hemsley was available. Lear created the character of Henry Jefferson, George's younger brother, who was portrayed by Mel Stewart which replaced George with Henry in the series's scripts until Purlie finished its run. Denzel Washington auditioned for an unspecified role, but his agent convinced him not to do it. Henry played as George when Louise felt embarrassed that George did not want to be in Archie Bunker's house due to prejudice. George was introduced in the episode "Henry's Farewell", and Hemsley and Stewart share their only scene together in its final minutes. The episode marked the final appearance of Henry throughout the series.
The idea of the Jeffersons "moving on up" came after three members of the Black Panthers who were fans of Lear's productions visited Lear's CBS office, raising issues with the creator over the portrayal of Black people on television, including his Maude spin-off series Good Times. "Every time you see a Black man on the tube, he is dirt poor, wears shit clothes, can't afford nothing," Lear recalled in his autobiography. Lear consulted with his associate Al Burton on the concept.
George, Louise, and Lionel continued to appear on All in the Family until 1975, when the spin-off The Jeffersons, also created by Lear, premiered. The characters of Lionel's multiracial fiancée, Jenny, and her family, all of whom first appeared in the 1974 All in the Family episode "Lionel's Engagement", were also written into the new series. However, the roles were all recast, with Berlinda Tolbert taking over the role of Jenny, veteran actor Franklin Cover playing her father, Tom Willis, whose first name was changed from Louis, as it was in their first All in the Family appearance, and Roxie Roker as her mother, Helen. Roker was asked during a casting interview if she would be comfortable with her character having a white husband. In response she showed a picture of her husband, Sy Kravitz, who was white.
== Synopsis ==
During the January 11, 1975 episode of All in the Family, titled "The Jeffersons Move Up", Edith Bunker gave a tearful good-bye to her neighbor Louise Jefferson as her husband George, their son Lionel, and she moved from a working-class section of Queens, New York, into the luxurious Colby East, a fictional high-rise apartment complex on East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Jeffersons premiered the following week, on January 18, 1975.
George's career as a dry-cleaner began in the first season of All in the Family in the third episode "Archie's Aching Back" (though the character himself did not appear on-camera). After his car was rear-ended by a bus, he filed a civil action and won $5000, enough to open his first store in Queens. At the beginning of The Jeffersons, he was operating five stores throughout New York City, with another two opening during the following seasons.
Louise made friends with Tom and Helen Willis, an interracial couple with two adult children of their own (whom George derided as "zebras"): son Allan (played by Andrew Rubin in the first-season finale, and by Jay Hammer throughout season 5), a white-passing college drop-out; and daughter Jenny, an aspiring fashion designer. Jenny and Lionel became a couple, married on December 24, 1976, and later became the parents of a daughter, Jessica (played by Ebonie Smith). Lionel and Jenny experienced marital issues as evidenced in a two-part season 8 episode "The Separation", and divorced in the final season two-parter "Sayonara".
Marla Gibbs portrayed the role of Florence Johnston, the Jeffersons' back-talking, tough, wisecracking, and devoutly religious housekeeper. Florence often teased George, mostly about his short stature and receding hairline. One episode featured George requesting Florence to insult him, in order to get to a prospective business partner who was fond of her wisecracks.
Paul Benedict arrived as Harry Bentley, an amiable, kind, loyal yet eccentric British next-door neighbor, who worked as an interpreter at the United Nations. A frequent sight-gag of the show was George slamming the door in Bentley's face mid-conversation, usually during one of Bentley's stories which George invariably perceived as boring. Bentley also had a bad back, and frequently needed George to walk on it. He also became known for addressing the Jeffersons as "Mr. J" and "Mrs. J".
Zara Cully played George's mother, Olivia "Mother" Jefferson, who constantly disparaged her daughter-in-law. Cully, who had first appeared in the 1974 All in the Family episode "Lionel's Engagement", reprised her role. She appeared regularly in the first two seasons, but made sporadic appearances over the next two years, much thinner due to a severe case of pneumonia. Cully was written out in season 4 due to her death in 1978, from lung cancer. No episode was centered on Mother Jefferson's death, but it was occasionally mentioned in future episodes that she had died.
Ned Wertimer played their tip-hungry doorman, Ralph Hart, throughout the series. He was known for constantly stalling at the Jeffersons' door with his hand out waiting for a tip. Most of the cast usually didn't respond, but George almost always gave in. He also used it in a blackmail manner, usually requiring George to pay more in order to keep his mouth shut about something such as a stock tip. Ralph was also known for making up stories of him struggling to fulfill the Jeffersons' request to get more tips.
Danny Wells played Charlie, the owner and a bartender of a nearby bar to the Jeffersons apartment building. The cast commonly visited the bar for a drink or to attend a party. Charlie was also revealed to be an alcoholic in the season 11 episode "A Secret in the Back Room", in which Charlie is in denial, but the Jeffersons eventually get him to admit to his problem and advise him to get some help. His alcohol problem isn't referenced anymore throughout the series, but it is assumable Charlie overcame it.
=== Cast changes ===
Mike Evans ("Lionel") left the show after the first season; his replacement was Damon Evans (no relation), who took over the role until halfway through the fourth season. Damon Evans's last episode was "Lionel Gets the Business".
Mike Evans and Tolbert returned in the 1979–1980 season, with Tolbert's character, Jenny, pregnant with a daughter named Jessica. However, Mike Evans appeared for only one more season, along with Tolbert. The Jeffersons' sixth season peaked at No. 8 in the summer of 1980. The characters of Lionel and Jenny were written out by stating that they had marital problems, the result of which became a two-part episode storyline as the series' eighth-season premiere. The series' eighth season was the first African-American sitcom in years (since Sanford and Son) to peak in the top 5 (the series' eighth season debuted at No. 3).
Evans and Tolbert appeared in the two-part episode together; Evans made his final appearance in two episodes during the series' eleventh and final season. Tolbert became a regular guest star throughout the rest of the series. In the spring of 1981, Paul Benedict left the show for a season and a half, returning in the final two seasons of the series. However, the ratings sank below the top 30, and The Jeffersons aired its last episode, "Red Robins", on July 2, 1985.
== Cast ==
=== Main ===
=== Recurring ===
Ned Wertimer as Ralph Hart
Danny Wells as Charlie Clark
Ebonie Smith as Jessica Jefferson (season 11)
=== Notable guest appearances ===
Source
== Episodes ==
The Jeffersons had many two-part episodes, either over two consecutive weeks, or aired as an hour-long episode.
== Theme song ==
Ja'Net DuBois and Jeff Barry co-wrote The Jeffersons theme song, "Movin' On Up", which was sung by DuBois with a gospel choir.
The song was created after DuBois approached Norman Lear, suggesting she expand upon her brief roles on Good Times and explore a music-related project. In response, Lear suggested she try writing a theme song for a new show he was developing about a dry cleaner. Initially, DuBois struggled with the composition until her mother encouraged her to draw from her personal dream of providing her mother with a comfortable retirement. Inspired by that idea, DuBois wrote the song. When Lear heard it, he was amazed at how perfectly it captured the essence of The Jeffersons—despite the fact that he hadn't fully explained the show's concept to her. Lear went on to develop a full arrangement of the song to serve as the show's theme.
== Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings ==
The Jeffersons changed time slots at least 15 different times during its 11-year run, unusual for a popular long running series. The most common time slot was on Sunday night.
In its first season (1974–75), the show ranked at number four, surpassed by its parent series All in the Family (which landed at number one for the fifth year in a row). The show's ratings for the following two seasons placed it in the Top 30, but during the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons (the show's fourth and fifth seasons), it fell out of the top 30, ranking 52nd in Season 4 and 49th in Season 5.
It returned to the Top 10 in 1979–80, and at the end of the 1981–82 season, The Jeffersons finished third overall, only surpassed by fellow CBS series Dallas and 60 Minutes. The series would remain among the Top 20 for the next two seasons.
== Daytime reruns ==
The series was rebroadcast on CBS from February 4, 1980, to September 25, 1981.
== Home media ==
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first six seasons of The Jeffersons on DVD in Region 1 between 2002 and 2007.
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including The Jeffersons. They subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD on May 20, 2014.
On August 8, 2014, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; they subsequently released the complete series on DVD in a 33-disc collection on December 9, 2014.
On April 28, 2015, Shout! released season 7 on DVD in Region 1. Season 8 was released on August 11, 2015.
== Awards and nominations ==
The Jeffersons received 14 Emmy Award nominations and won two awards. Marla Gibbs received nominations in Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series each year from 1981 to 1985, Sherman Hemsley received nomination in Best Actor in 1984, and Larry M. Harris won the Emmy for Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series in 1983.
Isabel Sanford was nominated for 7 consecutive Best Actress Emmys, from 1979-85. Her win in 1981 made her the first African-American actress to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and the second to win any Emmy Award; Gail Fisher, who played Peggy on the TV show Mannix, preceded her in 1970. Sanford was also the recipient of five of the eight Golden Globe Awards nominations the program received.
=== Criticism ===
Gregory Kane, journalist for The Baltimore Sun, called the series "demeaning" in 1999, criticizing Hemsley's "pimp roll walk", bigotry, loud mouth and low intelligence. "I hereby declare The Jeffersons stereotypical fare that depicts blacks in a buffoonish manner."
== Reunion Tour ==
In 1993, Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, Roxie Roker, Franklin Cover, and Marla Gibbs reunited for "The Jeffersons Live: The Movin' On Up Tour," AKA "The Best of the Jeffersons Live." The stage show included recreations of the episodes "A Whole Lot of Trouble," "Social Insecurity," and "My Wife... I Think I'll Keep Her." The tour began in Detroit, Michigan for a six-city stop, and eventually Roker dropped out, but Berlinda Tolbert (Jenny) and Ned Wertimer (Ralph) reprised their roles for the Los Angeles staging in 1994.
== 2019 special ==
On May 22, 2019, ABC broadcast Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, produced by Lear and Jimmy Kimmel and starring Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, Kerry Washington, Ellie Kemper. Marla Gibbs reprised her role as Florence Johnston.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Mitchell, Gordon Whitey (2008). Hackensack to Hollywood: My Two Show Business Careers. BearManor Media: Albany, NY; ISBN 1-59393-121-2.
Moriarty, Jay (2020). Honky in the House: Writing & Producing The Jeffersons. Antler Publishing, LA, CA ISBN 978-1-7330795-8-7.
Newcomb, Horace (ed.) (1997). Encyclopedia of Television. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers: Chicago, IL; ISBN 1-884964-26-5.
== External links ==
The Jeffersons at IMDb
The Jeffersons at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Clare_Adams#:~:text=She%20graduated%20with%20a%20BS,University%20of%20Colorado%20in%201979. | Jeanne Clare Adams | Jeanne Clare Adams (June 15, 1921 – April 21, 2007) was an American computer scientist. She was Chairman of the ANSI X3J3 Fortran Standards Committee that "developed the controversial Fortran 8X proposal".
She graduated with a BS in economics from the University of Michigan in 1943, and an MS in telecommunications and electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1979. From 1943-1946 she worked as a systems analyst for the Army Air Corps and from 1947-1949 as a research statistician at Harvard University. Her longest held position was at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, from 1960 to 1981, serving from 1984 to 1997 as deputy head of the Computing Division. Adams was also chair of the International Standards Organization Committee on Programming Languages (TC97/SC5), now ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 and the ANSI Fortran Standards Committee (X3J3). Adams wrote reference manuals for computer equipment such as the CYBER 205.
== Selected publications ==
Adams, Jeanne C., Walter S. Brainerd, and Charles H. Coldberg, Programmer's Guide to Fortran 90, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1990.
Adams, Jeanne C., Walter S. Brainerd, J. Martin, B. Smith, and J. Wagener, Fortran 90 Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterolophia_exigua | Pterolophia exigua | Pterolophia exigua is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Stephan von Breuning in 1938.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Edward_Gibbon | Cecil Edward Gibbon | Cecil Edward Gibbon (Urdu: سیسل ایڈورڈ گبن) was a Pakistani politician who served as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1955 to 1958.
== Early life and education ==
Gibbon was born in 1906 in Allahabad, British India, to an Anglo-Indian family and received his education at St. Joseph's College, Nainital, and St. Edmund's College, Shillong.
== Career ==
Gibbon began his career in 1938 when he became the President of the All-India Anglo-Indian Association in Hyderabad. He joined the Indian National Congress but had criticisms of its approach.
In 1941, Gibbon worked in the Government of India's Food Department in Punjab and later became the president of the Anglo-Indian community's Punjab chapter. In 1946, he was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly and served as the Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister Khizar Hayat Tiwana.
In 1947, Gibbon supported the creation of Pakistan, resulting in his expulsion from the Congress and the Anglo-Indian Association. He co-founded the Anglo-Pakistan Association and was one of the three Punjab Assembly legislators who voted for Pakistan's creation on 23 June 1947. The main reason for Gibbon's support for Pakistan was the promise of separate electorates (see Communal Award) for Christians, thereby freeing the Anglo-Indians from the dominance of the Hindu majority.
Gibbon was a member of the first and second Punjab Assemblies and the National Assembly, participating in debates on various legislative matters. He was the lone non-Muslim representative from Punjab in the Second Constituent Assembly, and alongside Peter Paul Gomez of East Bengal, were the only Christian members in that body. He also served as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan and advocated for separate electorates for minorities, especially displaced Christian families. However, Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy passed the Electoral Amendment Bill of 1957, formally abolishing separate electorates for non-Muslim minorities of the country. He remained as the Speaker of the National Assembly until 1958, when he retired from politics on being accused of corruption. Following the imposition of military rule under Ayub Khan, Gibbon emigrated out of the country.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umesh_Reddy | Umesh Reddy | Umesh Reddy (born 1969) is a serial killer and serial rapist from India. He confessed to killing 18 women, and was convicted in 9 cases. The police believe that he raped at least 20 women in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. They also suspect that several of his crimes have not been reported, because the victims feared social stigma.
The Karnataka High Court sentenced Reddy to death in 2009, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court of India in 2011. After Reddy filed a mercy petition, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to a 30-year sentence in 2022.
== Early life ==
Umesh Reddy was born BA Umesh in 1969, in Basappa Malige, a village in Chitradurga district, Karnataka.
After being selected in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir. While on duty as a guard at the house of a commandant, he attempted to rape the commandant's daughter. He then fled to Chitradurga district. In 1996, he managed to join the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police, who were not aware of his background in CRPF. Reddy had been charged in a road rage incident, but the local DAR inspector chose to ignore this "petty case". Reddy completed his police training in Madhya Pradesh, and then returned to Karnataka.
== Crimes ==
Reddy carefully selected his victims. He usually targeted housewives between 11 am and 3 pm, when there would be no men at home. He would gain entry into the victims' house on the pretext of asking for water or an address. He then threatened them with a knife, forced them to remove their clothes, tied them up, and raped them. He often choked his victims, and raped them while they were unconscious. After the rape, Reddy killed his victims and removed their jewellery to make the crime appear like a robbery. He then escaped with the victim's undergarments. Reddy was found wearing women's lingerie under his clothes, whenever the police arrested him.
In November 1996, Reddy attempted to rape a high school girl, who was walking at KEB Colony in Chitradurga. The girl hit him with a stone and managed to escape. On 6 December 1996, Reddy allegedly raped and murdered 16-year-old Roopa, when she was returning to her house in the same locality. The next month, he was arrested and dismissed from service, when his first victim identified him at a Republic Day police parade by chance.
Reddy, along with four others, was charged with Roopa's murder, and remanded to judicial custody (later, in 2004, he was acquitted in this case due to lack of sufficient evidence). A court asked him to be shifted to Bellary jail. In March 1997, while the Chitradurga police were handing him over to the Bellary prison authorities, Reddy escaped. He then killed an income tax officer's wife in Bangalore, a girl in Ahmedabad, two girls in Baroda and a widow in Kunigal.
Reddy would steal lingerie put up for drying in the backyards of houses. On 7 July 1997, he was arrested by Peenya police for stealing women's undergarments. When the police raided his room, they recovered a gunny bag full of lingerie. At the time of his arrest in Peenya, he told the police that his name was "Ramesh". Reddy escaped within 24 hours while being transferred to the MICO Layout police station for interrogation in another case. The police initially tried to hush up his escape, but Reddy's father filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court. Two police personnel were then suspended, and a lookout notice was issued in the name of Ramesh.
On 28 February 1998, Reddy raped and murdered 37-year-old widow Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah in Peenya. The police believe that he repeatedly had sex with the dead body. When her 8-year-old son Suresh returned from school, he saw Reddy in his house. Reddy told the boy that an evil spirit had entered his mother's body, so he had tied her to the window grill. He then fled saying that he was going to get a doctor. Reddy then attempted to rape another woman in Peenya. When the woman raised the alarm, he tried to escape by jumping from the first floor of the house. He sprained his ankle, and was caught by the neighbours, who handed him over to the police.
In 1999, Reddy once again escaped from the police custody near Hirekerur. Before he could commit any crime, he was arrested by inspector Nyame Gowda, in Chikkaballapur.
On the night of 3–4 March 2002, Reddy escaped from police custody again, while being transferred from Bellary to Bangalore in a KSRTC bus. The District Armed Reserve (DAR) personnel of Bellary, who accompanied him, claimed that he was handcuffed at the time, but Reddy denied this when he was arrested two months later. He stated that he bought rum and chicken for the policemen, and earned their trust. When the bus stopped at a dhaba near Hiriyur bypass, he requested the policemen to remove his handcuffs on the pretext that he needed to answer the call of nature. Once free, he ran into the fields and escaped.
Over the next two months, Reddy raped three girls in Davangere, Hubli-Dharwad and Pune. He also stole three mobile phones and two credit cards. He worked as a waiter in a Pune hotel. He stole cash and clothes from there, and then fled to Dharwad.
On 17 May 2002, Reddy arrived in Bangalore from Tumkur, and left his luggage in the cloakroom at the Yeshwanthpur railway station. Around 8 am, he visited a salon in Yeshwanthpur area, to get a haircut and a clean shave. As he entered the salon, an auto-rickshaw driver Sathyavelu recognized him from a newspaper photograph and an earlier court appearance. The driver called his elder brother Rajendran from a telephone booth and asked him to fetch the police. Meanwhile, he kept a vigil outside the salon. When Reddy exited the salon and started walking towards the railway station, Sathyavelu tipped off the police and followed him. Inspector Nagaraja Urs intercepted Reddy near Sharief Nagar and arrested him. At first, Reddy claimed to be somebody else but admitted that he was the serial killer, after being taken to the police station. The police rewarded the driver with ₹ 20,000. Reddy was found wearing a bra and panties. His baggage, seized from the cloakroom, contained several women's garments: 18 pairs of panties, 10 bras, 8 churidars, 6 saris, 4 blouses and 2 nighties.
== Death sentence ==
Reddy was tried and convicted in 9 cases, including the rape of Jayashree Subbaiah. He was acquitted in 11 cases due to lack of sufficient evidence. On 26 October 2006, Judge K Sukanya of the Bengaluru city fast-track court gave him multiple sentences including a death sentence, a 7-year sentence plus ₹ 25,000 fine and a 10-year sentence plus ₹ 25,000 fine. Reddy tried to win the judge's mercy by saying that he wanted to study and take care of his mother, but the judge did not relent. Since the death sentence was the heaviest sentence, the case was referred to the High Court as per procedure.
On 4 October 2007, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court also convicted Reddy, but the judges differed on the death sentence. Justice V G Sabhahit upheld the death penalty, but Justice Ravi B Naik advocated rigorous imprisonment for life with no scope for amnesty. A third judge, Justice S. R. Bannurmath, was appointed to resolve the tie. On 18 February 2009, Bannurmath upheld the death sentence, and thus, the High Court confirmed the death penalty for Umesh Reddy. On 1 February 2011, the Supreme Court also upheld the death sentence. Justices Altamas Kabir and A K Pathak argued that Reddy was incapable of rehabilitation, and that his rape and murder of Jayashree fell under "rarest of the rare" category, a requirement for capital punishment in India.
Reddy immediately filed a mercy petition before the President of India. On 7 May 2012, the Government of Karnataka rejected Reddy's mercy plea. Subsequently, the President of India also rejected his mercy petition on 12 May 2013. Reddy then filed a fresh petition, following which on 4 November 2022, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to 30 years imprisonment.
== In popular culture ==
The Kannada language movie Umesh (2013) is a fictionalized version of Umesh Reddy's life. Khatarnak or Khataranak Umesh Reddy (2013), another Kannada movie, was also based on Umesh Reddy's life. His character was also portrayed by Adi Lokesh in Dandupalya 2 & Dandupalya 3, where he is seen as one of the inmates of Dandupalya gang in Hindalga Prison.
A 3 episodes documentary called "Beast of Bangalore: Indian Predator" was released on Netflix on 16th December 2022 depicting Umesh's heinous crimes. The documentary included interviews with local police officials, victims and associates who helped Umesh in some of his crimes.
== See also ==
List of serial killers by country
== References ==
== External links ==
B.A.Umesh vs Regr.Gen.High Court Of Karnataka on 1 February 2011 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_French_presidential_election | 1958 French presidential election | The 1958 French presidential election was the first held under the French Fifth Republic, on 21 December. It was the sole presidential election by electoral college (gathering the members of the French Parliament, the general councils, the overseas assemblies, as well as tens of thousands of mayors, deputy mayors and municipal councillors) under the Fifth Republic. To win, a candidate was required to receive over 50% of the vote. This system was used solely for this election, as it was abolished following a 1962 referendum.
Charles de Gaulle, who became President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) after the May 1958 crisis amid the Algerian War, won in a landslide victory in the first round of voting with 78.5% of the votes cast, against Georges Marrane of the French Communist Party and Albert Châtelet of the Union of Democratic Forces. De Gaulle took office on 8 January 1959; following the 1962 referendum, he established direct universal suffrage for presidential elections, starting in 1965, which saw him win reelection to a second term.
== Background ==
The election took place during the Algerian War and after the May 1958 crisis, which led to General Charles de Gaulle's return to power. On June 1, 1958, after having been President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic at the end of the Second World War, "the General", at the request of President René Coty, became President of the Council of Ministers. Three months later, at the end of September, he had the Constitution of the Fifth Republic adopted by referendum, with 82.6% of "yes" votes.
The conditions for General de Gaulle's return to power - the investiture of his government by the National Assembly in a context of high tension - were denounced by a section of the left, notably the French Communist Party (PCF), which saw it as a "coup d'état". The Radical Party and the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) entered the government, with the socialist leader Guy Mollet being Minister of State, but opposition to support for de Gaulle within these parties quickly led to schisms. This is how the coalition of the Union of the Democratic Forces (UFD) was created, which brought together figures such as Pierre Mendès France, a radical dissident, and François Mitterrand (UDSR).
The vote also took place during the Cold War. As such, the PCF, the leading party in France after the Second World War were concerned the public opinion was increasingly rejecting the Eastern Bloc and appeared to be losing momentum while systematically supporting the USSR.
The legislative elections of November 1958 were marked by a victory for the Gaullist right and by a historic decline in the number of left-wing deputies, notably communists - only 10 were elected, a great loss from the 150 elected in 1956. With less than 2% of the votes, the UFD did not obtain any seats.
== Terms ==
Article 6 of the 1958 Constitution indicates that the President of the Republic is elected for seven years "by an electoral college comprising members of Parliament, general councils and assemblies of overseas territories , as well as elected representatives of municipal councils" , the latter differing according to the size of the municipalities. The two-round majority single-member constituency system is retained by article 7.
Due to the large number of sparsely populated communes in France, the electoral college mainly favours rural areas or the "France du seigle et de la châtaigne" (France of rye and chestnuts), according to the expression of Georges Vedel. Indeed, communes with fewer than 4,000 inhabitants have three times more delegates than towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
The order of the November 7, 1958 organic law specifies the voting procedures. It provides that candidates must have collected, at least twelve days before the first round, 50 signatures from the electoral college. These electors vote in the capital of their department of election. If no candidate has obtained the majority of votes cast, a second round is planned within eight days.
The choice not to impose direct universal suffrage resulted from a compromise with the opponents of de Gaulle, who feared too great a break with the Fourth Republic. Furthermore, the French colonial Empire was expected to vote almost exclusively for the General, which predestined the latter to extremely high scores in the colonies if direct universal suffrage had been chosen.
== Candidates ==
On December 13, 1958, when a duel between the right (Charles de Gaulle) and the communist left (Georges Marrane) was expected, the Provisional Constitutional Commission (Constitutional Council) announced that Albert Châtelet, honorary dean of the Paris Faculty of Sciences, had also gathered the necessary signatures to run. This candidacy, submitted just before the deadline on the initiative of Daniel Mayer, was supported by the UFD, which stated that it “opposed the dangerous simplification that tends to present French politics as a battle between two blocs.”
== Campaign ==
The academic Jean-François Condette sums up the situation of the two candidates facing Charles de Gaulle as follows: "Georges Marrane is identified by his political label, the designated representative of the communist danger who, in the midst of the Cold War, must serve as a foil. Albert Châtelet, for his part, is presented as 'the dean', a respectable but outdated figure, an academic lost in politics" .
The fact that Charles de Gaulle was the clear favorite due to his prestige and his position, as well as the voting method, did not give rise to an intense or media-heavy campaign. Albert Châtelet, while believing that "de Gaulle and the communists contain the seeds of civil war", refused to campaign, recognizing that his candidacy was "symbolic and principled".
== Results ==
=== Analysis ===
As widely predicted, General de Gaulle easily obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, which did not require a second round. In Metropolitan France alone (i.e., excluding Algeria and the overseas territories), the 74,391 votes cast were distributed as follows: 77.5% for the winner, 13.6% for Georges Marrane and 8.9% for Albert Châtelet .
Although the President of the Council won in all the departments, his victory was not considered humiliating for his opponents. The communist candidate achieved his best scores in his party's strongholds, particularly Nord-Pas-de-Calais , while Albert Châtelet came second in 39 metropolitan departments , notably in the socialist and radical strongholds located in the south of France.
== See also ==
List of indirect presidential elections in France
Presidency of Charles de Gaulle
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_Parker#Honours_and_recognition | Cornelia Parker | Cornelia Ann Parker (born 14 July 1956) is an English visual artist, best known for her sculpture and installation art.
== Life and career ==
Parker was born in 1956 in Cheshire, England. Her childhood with a mentally fragile mother and a violent father had a strong influence on her. Her German mother was a nurse in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War; her British grandfather fought in the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.
Parker studied at the Gloucestershire College of Art and Design (1974–1975) and Wolverhampton Polytechnic (1975–1978). She received her MFA from Reading University in 1982 and honorary doctorates from the University of Wolverhampton in 2000, the University of Birmingham (2005), the University of Gloucestershire (2008) and the University of Manchester (2017).
In 1997, Parker was shortlisted for the Turner Prize along with Christine Borland, Angela Bulloch, and Gillian Wearing (who won the prize). She was Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester 2015–2018 and between 2016 and 2019 was Visiting Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She was appointed Honorary Fellow at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 2020.
Cornelia Parker's first solo museum exhibition was at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston in 2000. In 2019 she had a survey exhibition at MCA Sydney. A major survey exhibition of her work opened at Tate Britain in May 2022.
She has one daughter, Lily, with her former husband Jeff McMillan, and lives and works in London.
== Work ==
Parker is best known for large-scale installations such as Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991) – first shown at the Chisenhale Gallery in Bow, East London – for which she had a garden shed blown up by the British Army and suspended the fragments as if suspending the explosion process in time. In the centre was a light which cast the shadows of the wood dramatically on the walls of the room. This inspired an orchestral composition of the same name by Joo Yeon Sir.
In contrast, in 1997 at the Turner Prize exhibition, Parker exhibited Mass (Colder Darker Matter) (1997), suspending the charred remains of a church that had been struck by lightning in Texas. Eight years later, Parker made a companion piece "Anti-Mass" (2005), using charcoal from a black congregation church in Kentucky, which had been destroyed by arson. Hanging Fire (Suspected Arson) (1999) is another example of Parker's suspended sculptures, featuring charred remains of an actual case of suspected arson.
The Maybe (1995) at the Serpentine Gallery, London, was a performance piece conceived by Tilda Swinton, who lay, apparently asleep, inside a vitrine. She asked Parker to collaborate with her on the project, and to create an installation in which she could sleep. Swinton's original idea was to lie in state as Snow White in a glass coffin, but through the collaboration with Parker the idea evolved into her appearing as herself and not as an actor posing as a fictional character. Parker filled the Serpentine with glass cases containing relics that belonged to famous historical figures, such as the pillow and blanket from Freud's couch, Mrs. Simpson's ice skates, Charles Dickens' quill pen and Queen Victoria's stocking. A version of the piece was later re-performed in Rome (1996) and then MoMA, New York (2013) without Parker's involvement.
Avoided Object is an ongoing series of smaller works which have been developed in liaison with various institutions, including the Royal Armouries, British Police Forces, Colt Firearms and Madame Tussauds.
Parker has made other interventions involving historical artworks. In 1998 in her solo show at the Serpentine Gallery she exhibited the backs of Turner paintings (Room for Margins) as works in their own right, she wrapped Rodin's The Kiss sculpture in Tate Britain with a mile of string (2003) as her contribution to the 2003 Tate Triennial Days Like These at Tate Britain. The intervention was titled The Distance (A Kiss With String Attached). She re-staged this piece as part of her mid-career retrospective at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, in 2015 and at Tate Britain in 2022.
Subconscious of a Monument (2005) is composed of fragments of dry soil suspended on wires from the gallery ceiling. These lumps are the now-desiccated clay which was removed from beneath the Leaning Tower of Pisa in order to prevent its collapse.
These "avoided" objects have often had their identities transformed by being burned, shot, squashed, stretched, drawn, exploded, cut, or simply dropped off cliffs. Cartoon deaths have long held a fascination for Parker: "Tom being run over by a steamroller or Jerry riddled with bullet holes." Sometimes the object's demise has been orchestrated, or it may have occurred accidentally or by natural causes. According to Parker:They might be 'preempted' objects that have not yet achieved a fully formed identity, having been plucked prematurely from the production line like Embryo Firearms 1995. They may not even be classified as objects: things like cracks, creases, shadows, dust or dirt The Negative of Whispers 1997: Earplugs made with fluff gathered in the Whispering Gallery, St Paul's Cathedral). Or they might be those territories you want to avoid psychologically, such as the backs, underbellies or tarnished surfaces of things."Another example of this work is Pornographic Drawings (1997), using ink made by the artist who used solvent to dissolve (pornographic) video tape, confiscated by HM Customs and Excise.
I resurrect things that have been killed off... My work is all about the potential of materials—even when it looks like they've lost all possibilities.
In 2009, for the opening of Jupiter Artland, a sculpture park near Edinburgh, Parker created a firework display titled Nocturne: A Moon Landing containing a lunar meteorite. Therefore, the moon "landed on Jupiter". The following year Parker made Landscape with Gun and Tree for Jupiter Artland, a nine-metre-tall cast iron and Corten steel shotgun leaning against a tree. It was inspired by the painting Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough, where Mr Andrews poses with a gun slung over his arm. The shotgun used in the piece is a facsimile of the one owned by Robert Wilson, one of the founders of Jupiter Artland.
For the Folkestone Triennial in 2011, Parker created The Folkestone Mermaid, her version of one of the popular tourist attractions in Copenhagen, The Little Mermaid. Through a process of open submission, Parker chose Georgina Baker, 38 year old mother of two, Folkestone born and bred. Unlike the idealised Copenhagen version, this is a life-size, life-cast sculpture, celebrating womankind.
To celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, Parker created Magna Carta (An Embroidery), a hand-embroidered representation of the Wikipedia article on Magna Carta as it was on 15 June 2014, completed in 2015. Embroiderers included members of the Embroiderers Guild, HM prisoners, Peers, MP's, judges, human rights lawyers, a US ambassador and his staff, and various public figures including Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Jimmy Wales, Jarvis Cocker and Doreen Lawrence.
Whilst Magna Carta (An Embroidery) was on display at the British Library, Parker presented One More Time, a Terrace Wires commission for St Pancras International Station, London, co-presented by HS1 Ltd. and the Royal Academy of Arts.
In 2016 Parker became the first female artist to be commissioned to create a new work for the Roof Garden of the Met in New York. Transitional Object (PsychoBarn) is a scaled-down replica of the house from the 1960 Hitchcock film Psycho and was constructed using a salvaged red barn.
Parker continued her work as a curator for the Found exhibition for The Foundling Museum, which incorporated sixty-eight artists from an array of creative disciplines, as well as contributing her own piece, A Little Drop of Gin. This limited-edition print, nicknamed 'mother's ruin', was a photogravure using a 1750s gin glass and droppings of gin. Parker was named Artist of the Year in the 2016 Apollo Awards for her involvement and contributions in the art world.
Parker appeared in the BBC Four television series What Do Artists Do All Day?, a BBC Scotland production, first broadcast in 2013. In the programme she talks about her life and work. In May 2015, Parker was included in the Brilliant Ideas series broadcast by Bloomberg TV in which she reveals her inspirations and discusses some of her best-loved works. In summer 2016, BBC One broadcast "Danger! Cornelia Parker" as part of the TV series Imagine. In autumn 2016 she was included in Gaga for Dada, a programme to mark the 100th anniversary of Dada, presented by Vic Reeves. She also contributed to the BBC Four production Bricks! broadcast on 21 September 2016, marking the 40th anniversary of Carl Andre's sculpture Equivalent VIII, better known as "The Tate Bricks".
On 1 May 2017 Parker was chosen as the official election artist for the 2017 United Kingdom general election; she was the first woman to take on that role.
In 2017, Parker made a series of blackboard drawings with the collaboration of 5- to 10-year-old schoolchildren from Torriano Primary School. The children were asked by the artist to copy out news headlines collected from various UK and US newspapers. "At that age, children have a barely formed view of the news and world affairs—they don't yet have a vote, but the political turmoil unfolding in their young lives will have a profound effect on their futures."
In November 2019 Parker opened her first major retrospective exhibition in Australia at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney for the Tenth Sydney International Art Series.
In May 2022 Parker exhibited 100 artworks at Tate Britain in her largest solo exhibition to date. She showed several of her films, Chomskian Abstract 2007, Made in Bethlehem 2012, War Machine 2015, American Gothic 2016, Left, Right & Centre 2017, Election Abstract 2018, Thatcher’s Finger 2018 and Flag 2022. Tabish Khan, reviewing the exhibition for Culture Whisper, said "Conceptual art can often be seen as abstruse but Cornelia Parker is able to make it accessible and playful, yet she also adds a level of intelligent rigour to her work that challenges us to think about the wider world we live in. It’s precisely what conceptual art should be."
In May 2023, her photograph "Snap" was used as the cover artwork for the Peter Gabriel song "Four Kinds of Horses".
In November 2024, Parker's glass rendition of the chandelier featured in Van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait was suspended in the Procuratie Vecchie in St Mark's Square, Venice. This work was created as part of Murano Illumina il Mondo (“Murano Lights Up the World”) and was the first time in living memory that artworks were permitted to be displayed in the colonnade.
== Curatorial ==
In 2011 Parker curated an exhibition titled Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain for the Collections Gallery at the Whitechapel Gallery in London using selected works from the Government Art Collection arranged as a colour spectrum.
For the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2014, Parker curated the Black and White Room which included a number of well-known artists who she thought should be future Royal Academicians.
In 2016, as part of her Hogarth Fellowship at the Foundling Museum, Parker curated a group exhibition titled FOUND presenting works from over sixty artists from a range of creative disciplines, asked to respond to the theme of "found", reflecting on the museum's heritage.
== Honours and recognition ==
In 2010 Parker was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts, London and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. In 2000, 2005 and 2008 and 2017 she received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Gloucestershire and Manchester respectively.
Parker won the Artist of the Year Apollo Award in 2016. Other shortlisted artists were Carmen Herrera, David Hockney, Ragnar Kjartansson, Jannis Kounellis and Helen Marten.
Parker was named the official Election Artist for the 2017 general election in the United Kingdom. In this role she observed the election campaign leading up to the vote on 8 June, and was required to produce a piece of art in response. Parker created two films and a series of 14 photographic works as a result of this commission, which were previewed on BBC Newsnight on 2 February 2018 and made available online via the UK Parliament website prior to an exhibition in Westminster Hall.
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.
== Politics ==
In politics, prior to the 2015 general election, she was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.
== See also ==
Art of the United Kingdom
Book Works
== References ==
== External links ==
Tate: Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View
Tate: Cornelia Parker: Talking Art Cornelia Parker interviewed by writer and curator Lisa LeFeuvre. 31 May 2008
Tateshots: Cornelia Parker's 'Folkestone Mermaid' The artist talks about her work for Folkestone Triennial 2011. 23 June 2011
Sculptor and Artist Cornelia Parker (video)
IMAGINE: DANGER! Cornelia Parker First Broadcast July 2016, the artist discusses her work with Alan Yentob |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macanal | Macanal | Macanal is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Neira Province. The urban centre is located in the Tenza Valley in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at an elevation of 1,680.3 metres (5,513 ft) but parts of the municipality reach elevations of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). It borders Campohermoso in the east, Almeida in the west, Garagoa in the north and in the south Santa María and Chivor.
== Etymology ==
The name Macanal is either derived from the Chibcha word Macana, meaning garrote, or from the Macana palm tree (Wettinia kalbreyeri).
== History ==
The area of Macanal was part of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca. The zaque of Hunza ruled over Macanal.
Modern Macanal was founded on May 4, 1807.
== Tourism ==
Macanal, is known for its natural beauty, eco-tourism, and outdoor activities. Key attractions include the Chivor Reservoir, popular for kayaking, fishing, and kite surfing, as well as nearby waterfalls and hiking trails. The area is a haven for birdwatching, with diverse native and migratory species. Visitors can also enjoy rural tourism and local festivals that celebrate the region's culture. With its tranquil environment and focus on sustainable travel, Macanal offers a unique escape for nature and adventure enthusiasts.
== Festivals ==
The Reinado del Agua in Macanal, Boyaca, is a cultural and tourist event that celebrates the municipality's water resources, highlighting its connection with the Chivor Reservoir. This event features parades, folk performances, sports activities, and musical events, with a focus on environmental awareness and promoting water conservation. Additionally, it includes typical gastronomy and handicrafts, strengthening cultural identity and attracting sustainable tourism.
== Geology ==
The Macanal Formation, an organic shale, outcrops near and has been named after Macanal.
== Economy ==
Main economical activities of Macanal are agriculture; coffee (Coffea arabica), bananas, maize, beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), yuca, sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), avocadoes, papayas, mangoes, guayaba and cucumbers (Cucumis sativus and Cyclanthera pedata), livestock farming and mining (gypsum and emeralds).
== Climate ==
== Gallery ==
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bear_(TV_series) | The Bear (TV series) | The Bear is an American comedy-drama series created by Christopher Storer for FX on Hulu. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's Italian beef sandwich shop. The regular cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, and Edwin Lee Gibson.
All episodes of the first season were released on FX on Hulu on June 23, 2022; the second season was released on June 22, 2023. In November 2023, the series was renewed for a third season, which was released on June 26, 2024. Ahead of the third-season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which released on June 25, 2025. The series was renewed for a fifth season in July 2025.
The series has received critical acclaim for its writing, directing, performances, technical quality, and production values. Despite being classified as comedy-drama, the series eschews comedic elements as it progresses into more conflicting psychological drama with accuracy of realism, dysfunctional relationships and workplace tension, exploring its approach to subject matter such as suicide and trauma.
The Bear has received many accolades, including twenty-one Primetime Emmy Awards (including Outstanding Comedy Series) and five Golden Globe Awards (including Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy). The series' continued categorization as a comedy at certain award ceremonies, particularly in later seasons, has generated controversy.
== Premise ==
Talented haute cuisine chef Carmen "Carmy" Anthony Berzatto inherits his family's Italian beef sandwich shop after his older brother, Michael's suicide. He goes home to Chicago to run it, leaving behind his world of working in Michelin-starred restaurants. He is left to deal with his brother's unresolved debts, a rundown kitchen, and an unruly staff, while dealing with his own pain and family trauma.
== Cast and characters ==
=== Main ===
Jeremy Allen White as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing Italian beef restaurant, The Original Beef of Chicagoland (more commonly known as "The Beef"); later he converts The Beef to a fine dining restaurant called The Bear.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard "Richie" Jerimovich, Michael's best friend, the de facto manager of the restaurant; later maître d'hôtel of The Bear.
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney "Syd" Adamu, a talented young chef who joins The Beef as its new sous-chef under Carmy.
Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks, The Beef's bread-baker-turned-pastry-chef, spurred on by Sydney and Carmy's mentoring.
Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero, an acerbic and stubborn line cook who embraces the opportunity to train professionally.
Abby Elliott as Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto, Carmy and Michael's sister, the reluctant co-owner and business manager of The Beef/The Bear.
Matty Matheson as Neil Fak (season 2–present, recurring season 1), a childhood friend of the Berzattos, and sometime handyman for the restaurant.
Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim (season 4, recurring seasons 1–3), a Somali veteran line cook at The Beef who is close with Tina.
=== Recurring ===
=== Guest ===
== Episodes ==
The storyline of The Bear is subdivided into parts marked by onscreen title cards. The Part II title card appears in the first episode of season 2 and the Part III title card appears in the first episode of season 3.
=== Season 1 (2022) ===
=== Season 2 (2023) ===
=== Season 3 (2024) ===
=== Season 4 (2025) ===
== Production ==
Most of the episodes are roughly half an hour, but running time ranges from the 20-minute "Review" of season one to the 70-minute "Bears" of season four.
=== Development ===
FX ordered a pilot for The Bear in March 2021, to be written and directed by series creator Christopher Storer. FX then greenlit the series in October 2021 for a 2022 premiere date. The sandwich shop interior is copied from the Chicago shop Mr. Beef on Orleans Street, in River North. Storer was a frequent patron and is a friend of Christopher Zucchero, the shop's current owner who inherited it from his late father.
In July 2022, the series was renewed for a ten-episode second season. In November 2023, it was renewed for a third season. In March 2024, the series was renewed for a fourth season. Parts of the fourth season were filmed during filming for the third season, with production set to restart in 2025. In July 2025, it was renewed for a fifth season.
=== Notable production staff ===
The Bear's costume designer is Courtney Wheeler. Ally Vickers heads the hair department. The show's culinary producer, responsible for the food of The Bear, is Courtney Storer, sister of creator Chris Storer. The Chicago-based prop master is Laura Roeper, sister of Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper. The production designer is Merje Veski. The art director is Lisa Korpan. Eric Frankel heads the set decoration department.
The show's primary cinematographer is Andrew Wehde. A-camera operator Gary Malouf and B-camera operator Chris Dame had both worked with Storer and Wehde on past projects. Scott D. Smith has led the Emmy-winning sound mixing team since the pilot episode. Steve "Major" Giammaria is the supervising sound editor. Evan Benjamin is the sound editor for dialogue. The film editors who cut the episodes are Joanna Naugle and Adam Epstein.
=== Music ===
The Bear has a soundtrack of 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s alternative and mainstream rock classics, chosen by Storer and executive producer Josh Senior. Several songs featured on the show include Chicago-based Wilco with "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", "Impossible Germany", "Via Chicago", and "Handshake Drugs", Radiohead's "Let Down", Van Morrison's "Saint Dominic's Preview", Pearl Jam's "Animal" and "Come Back", Sufjan Stevens' "Chicago", John Mayer's "Last Train Home", Refused's "New Noise", The Breeders' "Saints", Erasure's "A Little Respect", The Replacements' "Bastards of Young", Counting Crows' "Have You Seen Me Lately?", Genesis' "In Too Deep", Nine Inch Nails' "The Day the World Went Away", John Mellencamp's "Check It Out", R.E.M.'s "Oh My Heart", "Strange Currencies" and "Finest Worksong", Weezer's "The Christmas Song", The Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm", Led Zeppelin's "That's the Way", Oasis's "Stay Young" and Taylor Swift's "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "Long Live (Taylor's Version) and "Style (Taylor's Version)". The show's principal composers are Chicagoans Jeffrey "JQ" Qaiyum and Johnny Iguana, whose instrumentals play primarily over "back of house" scenes.
== Release ==
The Bear premiered on FX on Hulu in the United States on June 23, 2022, and became available internationally in the Star hub on Disney+. The 10-episode second season was released on June 22, 2023. Along with other Hulu content, The Bear became available to stream on Disney+ in the United States via the Hulu hub on December 6, 2023. The third season was released on June 26, 2024. The fourth season was released on June 25, 2025.
== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
The Bear has received critical acclaim. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the overall series holds a 93% rating. On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the overall series has received a score of 83 out of 100.
==== Season 1 ====
For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 82 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Like an expertly confected sandwich, The Bear assembles a perfect melange of ingredients and stacks them for optimal satisfaction—and thankfully keeps the crust-iness for extra flavor." Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critic reviews.
The American Film Institute named it one of the ten best television programs of the year. The Guardian named it number one of the best 100 TV shows of 2022 and described it as "the best workplace drama since Mad Men". The Bear appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for The A.V. Club, BBC, People, and TVLine, among others.
==== Season 2 ====
On Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 113 critic reviews are positive for the second season. The site's critical consensus reads, "Instead of reinventing the menu, The Bear's second season wisely opts to toss its lovable characters into another frying pan of adversity, lets 'em cook, and serves up yet another supremely satisfying dish." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 43 critic reviews.
For the second year in a row, the American Film Institute named The Bear one of the ten best television programs of the year. The Bear appeared on many publications' lists of the best TV shows of 2023, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and People, among others.
==== Season 3 ====
On Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 104 critics gave the third season a positive review. The website's critics consensus states, "Having set an exceedingly high standard of excellence for itself, The Bear spends its third season simmering, stewing, and giving off an aroma that whets the appetite." The website also reported that the season was "as audacious as ever" and it "still seems to continue delivering compelling and often intense television with performances that are so dependably brilliant that they're not even mentioned in most of the reviews. Instead, at this point in a show's life, it's easier to find faults in its sameness or changes, or in its attempts to repeat or outdo itself." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 based on 45 critic reviews.
==== Season 4 ====
On Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 84 critics gave the fourth season a positive review. The website's critics consensus reads, "After simmering for too long, The Bear's fourth season finally turns the heat back up with a renewed sense of urgency, serving a rich meal despite tiresome wait times between courses." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews.
=== Accolades ===
==== Genre classification ====
The classification of The Bear as a comedy in certain award ceremonies, specifically the Primetime Emmys, has attracted criticism, given its dramatic style and focus on heavy topics. Proponents of the series' categorization as "comedy" argue that the show unfolds as a dark comedy marked by ridiculous situations and comedic timing, relies on the comedic effect inherent to chaos, is a comedy of errors and is heavily characterized by back-and-forth banter or snark.
In 2024, the series became the most-nominated series in comedy categories at the Emmys with 23 nominations, surpassing 30 Rock which had 22 nominations in 2009. However, it went on to lose the award for Outstanding Comedy Series, which it had been heavily favored to win, to Hacks, with The Hollywood Reporter suggesting that there was an insult among voters over its continued classification as a comedy. In June 2025, Vulture published an article, claiming that "an undercurrent of industry resentment" over the show's lack of comedic content lead to its 2024 Comedy Series Emmy loss.
=== Viewership ===
==== Season 1 ====
The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which monitors real-time data from 5 million users in the U.S. for original and acquired streaming programs and movies across subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services, reported that The Bear was the second-most-streamed program during the week of July 13. It later rose to become the most-streamed program for the week of July 22, before ranking as the seventh most-streamed during the week of July 27. JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users around the world, estimated that The Bear was the second most-streamed series in the U.S. during the week ending July 3. It maintained the same position during the week ending July 17. FX announced that the first season of The Bear was the most-watched comedy series in the network's history.
==== Season 2 ====
FX reported that the second season of The Bear was the most-watched season premiere in the network's history. Reelgood calculated that The Bear was the second most-streamed program in the U.S. during the week of June 22. It later rose to first place during the week of June 29. JustWatch reported that The Bear was the most-streamed series in the U.S. during the week ending June 25. Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, announced that The Bear was the eighth most-watched streaming original television series of 2023.
==== Season 3 ====
The season 3 premiere of The Bear garnered 5.4 million views in its first four days of streaming, marking the best performance for an FX premiere on Hulu and the most-watched season premiere for any scripted series on the platform. This viewership represents a 24% increase over the season 2 premiere and accounts for streaming on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S., and Disney+ in available international territories. The Bear achieved the third-largest season premiere for Hulu overall and the biggest Hulu on Disney+ premiere since the bundle's launch on March 27. Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, calculated that The Bear was watched for 1,233 million minutes from June 24—30. It surpassed its previous peak of 1.01 billion minutes recorded shortly after the premiere of its second season the previous year. JustWatch reported that The Bear was the third most-streamed show in the United States in 2024, while in Canada, it ranked as the second most-streamed show of the year.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
The Bear at FX
The Bear at Hulu
The Bear at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki_Smith | Kiki Smith | Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS, feminism, and gender, while recent works have depicted the human condition in relationship to nature. Smith lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and in the Hudson Valley.
== Early life and education ==
Smith's father was artist Tony Smith and her mother was actress and opera singer Jane Lawrence. Although her work takes a very different form than that of her parents, early exposure to her father's process of making geometric sculptures allowed her to experience Modernism's formal craftsmanship firsthand. Her childhood experience in the Catholic Church, combined with a fascination for the human body, shaped her artwork conceptually.
Smith moved from Germany to South Orange, New Jersey, as an infant in 1955. That same year, her sisters, Seton Smith and Beatrice (Bebe) Smith, were born in Newark, New Jersey. Smith subsequently attended Columbia High School, but left to attend Changes, Inc. Later, she was enrolled at Hartford Art School in Connecticut for eighteen months from 1974 to 1975. She then moved to New York City in 1976 and joined Collaborative Projects (Colab), an artist collective. The influence of this radical group's use of unconventional materials can be seen in her work. For a short time in 1984, she studied to be an emergency medical technician and sculpted body parts. By 1990, she began to craft human figures.
== Work ==
=== Themes ===
Prompted by her father's death in 1980, and the subsequent death of her sister the underground actress Beatrice "Bebe" Smith, due to AIDS in 1988, Smith began an ambitious investigation of mortality and the physicality of the human body. She has gone on to create works that explore a wide range of human organs; including sculptures of hearts, lungs, stomach, liver and spleen. Related to this was her work exploring bodily fluids, which also had social significance as responses to the AIDS crisis (blood) and women's rights (urine, menstrual blood, feces).
=== Film ===
In 1984 Smith finished a definitively unfinished feminist no wave super8 film, begun in 1981, entitled Cave Girls. It was co-directed by Ellen Cooper.
=== Printmaking ===
Smith has experimented with a wide range of printmaking processes. Some of her earliest print works were screen-printed dresses, scarves and shirts, often with images of body parts. In association with Colab, Smith printed an array of posters in the early 1980s containing political statements or announcing Colab events, such as her The Island of Negative Utopia poster done for ABC No Rio in 1983. In 1988 she created All Souls, a fifteen-foot screen-print work featuring repetitive images of a fetus, an image Smith found in a Japanese anatomy book. Smith printed the image in black ink on 36 attached sheets of handmade Thai paper.
MoMA and the Whitney Museum both have extensive collections of Smith's prints. In the Blue Prints series, 1999, Kiki Smith experimented with the aquatint process. The Virgin with Dove was achieved with an airbrushed aquatint, an acid resist that protects the copper plate. When printed, this technique results in a halo around the Virgin Mary and Holy Spirit.
=== Sculpture ===
Mary Magdelene (1994), a sculpture made of silicon bronze and forged steel, is an example of Smith's non-traditional use of the female nude. The figure is without skin everywhere but her face, breasts and the area surrounding her navel. She wears a chain around her ankle; her face is relatively undetailed and is turned upwards. Smith has said that when making Mary Magdalene she was inspired by depictions of Mary Magdalene in Southern German sculpture, where she was depicted as a "wild woman". Smith's sculpture "Standing" (1998), featuring a female figure standing atop the trunk of a Eucalyptus tree, is a part of the Stuart Collection of public art on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. Another sculpture, “Lilith” (1994), a bronze woman with glass eyes, is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Lilith is an arresting figure, hanging upside down on a wall of the gallery.
In 2005, Smith's installation, Homespun Tales won acclaim at the 51st Venice Biennale. Lodestar, Smith's 2010 installation at the Pace Gallery, was an exhibition of free-standing stained glass works painted with life-size figures.
=== Commissions ===
After five years of development, Smith's first permanent outdoor sculpture was installed in 1998 on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
In 2010, the Museum at Eldridge Street commissioned Smith and architect Deborah Gans to create a new monumental east window for the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, a National Historic Landmark located on New York's Lower East Side. This permanent commission marked the final significant component of the museum's 20-year restoration and was topped off with an exhibition of site-specific sculptures by Smith in a 2018 show entitled Below the Horizon: Kiki Smith at Eldridge.
For the Claire Tow Theater above the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Smith conceived Overture (2012), a little mobile made of cross-hatched planks and cast-bronze birds.
In 2019, Smith conceived Memory, a site specific installation for the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art on the Greek island of Hydra.
=== Artist books ===
She has created unique books, including:
Fountainhead (1991); The Vitreous Body (2001); and Untitled (Book of Hours) (1986).
=== Tapestries ===
Since the early 2010s Smith has created twelve 9 x 6 ft. Jacquard tapestries, published by Magnolia Editions. In 2012, Smith showed a series of three of these woven editions at the Neuberger Museum of Art. In early 2019, all twelve were exhibited together as part of "What I saw on the road" at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy. Smith notes that the tapestries provide an opportunity to work at a larger scale ("I never thought I could make a picture so big") and to work with color, which she does not frequently do otherwise.
=== Mosaics ===
In 2022, Smith to created a series of five giant mosaics for Manhattan train station at Grand Central Madison station, located beneath the Grand Central Terminal. The mosaics are titled River Light, The Water's Way, The Presence, The Spring, and The Sound (all 2022).
== Collaborations ==
Smith was an active member of Collaborative Projects and ABC No Rio; participating in many Potato Wolf broadcasts and the Cardboard Air Band. Smith collaborated with David Wojnarowicz on her first solo exhibition, Life Wants to Live, at The Kitchen. During this period (the early 1980s), Smith collaborated and co-directed with Ellen Cooper on a group collaboration with many young women associated with the Bush Tetras and Colab for her 1984 No Wave underground film Cave Girls. Later she collaborated with poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge to produce Endocrinology (1997), and Concordance (2006), and with author Lynne Tillman to create Madame Realism (1984). She has worked with poet Anne Waldman on If I Could Say This With My Body, Would I. I Would. Smith also collaborated on a performance featuring choreographer Douglas Dunn and Dancers, musicians Ha-Yang Kim, Daniel Carter, Ambrose Bye, and Devin Brahja Waldman, performed by and set to Anne Waldman's poem Jaguar Harmonics.
== Exhibitions ==
In 1980, Smith participated in the Colab organized exhibition The Times Square Show. In 1982, Smith received her first solo exhibition, Life Wants to Live, at The Kitchen. Since then, her work has been exhibited in nearly 150 solo exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide and has been featured in hundreds of significant group exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial, New York (1991, 1993, 2002); La Biennale di Firenze, Florence, Italy (1996-1997; 1998); and the Venice Biennale (1993, 1999, 2005, 2009).
Past solo exhibitions have been held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (1996–97); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1996–97); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (1997–98); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (1998); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (1998); Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson (1999); St. Louis Art Museum (1999-2000); and the International Center for Photography (2001).
In 1996, Smith exhibited in a group show at SITE Santa Fe, along with Kara Walker.
In 2005, "the artist's first full-scale American museum survey" titled Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005 debuted at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Then an expansion came to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis where the show originated. At the Walker, Smith coauthored the catalogue raisonné with curator Siri Engberg.
The exhibition traveled to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and finally to La Coleccion Jumex in Ecatepec de Morelos outside Mexico City. In 2008, Smith gave Selections from Animal Skulls (1995) to the Walker in honor of Engberg.
In 2016, the Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University, in collaboration with the Lennie Pierro Memorial Arts Foundation, hosted Kiki and Seton Smith: A Sense of Place.
Smith participated in the 2017 Venice Biennale, Viva Arte Viva, from May 13 – November 16, 2017.
In 2018, Smith took part in Frieze Sculpture (part of Frieze Art Fair, where her work Seer (Alice I), Timothy Taylor (gallery), was presented in Regent's Park, London, England, from July 4 – October 7, 2018.
Also in London in 2018, an exhibition of Smith's tapestries, sculpture and works on paper was presented at the Timothy Taylor (gallery) from September 13 – October 27. Woodland was produced in collaboration with Magnolia Editions.
In 2019, the Deste Foundation's Project Space at the Slaughterhouse on Hydra island featured Memory, a site specific exhibition.
In 2019 The 11 Conti – Monnaie de Paris presented the first solo show of Smith by a French public institution.
In 2019 the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna, Austria, presented a solo show of Smith entitled "Processions", presenting about sixty works from the last three decades.
== Other activities ==
In 2023, Smith served on the jury that chose Sarah Lucas as first winner of the New Museum's $400,000 Hostetler/Wrigley Sculpture Award.
== Recognition ==
Smith's many accolades also include the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award from Purchase College School of the Arts (2010), Women in the Arts Award from the Brooklyn Museum (2009), the 50th Edward MacDowell Medal (2009), the Medal Award from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2006), the Athena Award for Excellence in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design (2006), the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine (2000), and Time Magazine's "Time 100: The People Who Shape Our World" (2006). Smith was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, in 2005.
In 2012, Smith received the U.S. State Department Medal of Arts from Hillary Clinton. Pieces by Smith adorn consulates in Istanbul and Mumbai. After being chosen speaker for the annual Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Lecture Series in Contemporary Sculpture and Criticism in 2013, Smith became the artist-in-residence for the University of North Texas Institute for the Advancement of the Arts in the 2013–14 academic year.
In 2016, Smith was awarded the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.
== References ==
Adams, Laurie Schneider, Ed. A History of Western Art Third Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2001.
Berland, Rosa JH. "Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005." C Magazine: International Contemporary Art, 2007.
Engberg, Siri, Linda Nochlin, and Marina Warner, Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980–2005 (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005).
Posner, Helaine, with an interview by Christopher Lyon, Kiki Smith (Monacelli Press, New York), 2005.
Alan W. Moore and Marc Miller, eds., ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery (Collaborative Projects (Colab), NY, 1985).
== Footnotes ==
== External links ==
Media related to Kiki Smith at Wikimedia Commons
Kiki Smith talks with Joseph Nechvatal about her Cave Girls film and The ABC No Rio Cardboard Air Band at Hyperallergic
Kiki Smith at Barbara Gross Galerie
Biography, interviews, essays, artwork images and video clips from PBS series Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century (2003)
Interview with Kiki Smith
Museum of Biblical Art - Biblical Art in a Secular Century: Selections, 1896-1993 featuring Kiki Smith Processional Crucifix from Saint Peter's Church, New York, NY
'Kiki Smith video interview'
Kiki Smith: Prints, Books and Things at MoMA
Jewel, an excerpt of Smith's 1997 film in the AVI format
Heyoka magazine Interview Archived May 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine with John Lekay
Kiki Smith: "Life Wants to Live" (1:33) published at Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine
Kiki Smith Galerie Lelong & Co. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anant_Geete# | Anant Geete | Anant Gangaram Geete (born 2 June 1951) is an Indian politician and was the Union Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises during 2014 - 2019 in Narendra Modi cabinet. He is also a former Union Cabinet Minister for Power (Aug 2002 to May 2004). He is a member of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) political party in Maharashtra, India.
He was elected six times to the Lok Sabha. In the 2009 general election, he defeated the then sitting MP and former Cabinet Minister A.R.Antulay, by a margin of 145,000 votes to win from the Raigad, Maharashtra. In the 2014 general election, he held his seat in Raigad by a margin of 2,110 votes over nearest rival, Sunil Tatkare who was then the Minister for Water Resources in Maharashtra but lost it in 2019 by a margin of 31,740 votes. He has earlier represented the Ratnagiri constituency in Maharashtra for four terms from 11th Lok Sabha to 14th Lok Sabha.
== Early life ==
He was born in Tisangi, a village in Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra.
== Political career ==
=== Positions held in public life ===
== See also ==
First Modi ministry
== References ==
== External links ==
Election Commission of India, General Elections, 2009 (15th LOK SABHA)
Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
Shiv Sena releases first list of candidates – Sakaal Times |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glipa_alboscutellata | Glipa alboscutellata | Glipa alboscutellata is a species of beetle in the genus Glipa. It was described in 1934.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Critical_Role_episodes | List of Critical Role episodes | Critical Role episodes split by campaign and then by year, as well as one-shot episodes.
== Series overview ==
== Campaigns ==
=== Campaign one (2015–2017) ===
The Vox Machina campaign originated as the home game of the cast, played from 2012 to 2017; the show begins in medias res with the characters regrouping in the city of Emon after approximately 6 months apart and the streamed campaign picks up where the cast's original home game left off. While the adventures prior to the Kraghammer arc (2015) were not formally recorded, some shorter recordings have been released by the cast. This includes audio from the first session of the campaign, which was released as a segment in the third episode of the podcast All Work No Play. Additionally, Liam O'Brien released a recording of the magic carpet being discovered by the party. Episode 36 features a summary of the pre-series history, with artwork created by Wendy Sullivan Green and voice-overs provided by the cast. The comic book, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, is an adaptation of the group's game before the show. The animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, also adapts a canonic story that took place within the pre-stream time frame.
Campaign one originally broadcast live on the Geek & Sundry Twitch and YouTube channels between March 12, 2015, and October 12, 2017, for a total of 115 episodes. Starting in November 2016, it was also broadcast live on the Alpha streaming service from Legendary Digital Networks. The show on Alpha had a unique overlay that included "real-time character sheets, damage and heal animations, and visualizations". Campaign one's closed captions were transcribed by a fan group who submitted them to Geek & Sundry. Geek & Sundry then added these to the YouTube copies of episodes. The VODs have since been uploaded to Critical Role's own YouTube channel.
The episodes of campaign one spilt by year:
=== Campaign two (2018–2021) ===
The second campaign began on January 11, 2018, and follows the adventuring party known as The Mighty Nein. The story is set on the continent of Wildemount, which was briefly visited during the Vox Machina campaign. The Mighty Nein campaign is set about 20 years after Vox Machina's final battle against Vecna; it takes place at a time where tensions are very high between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty, two of Wildemount's major powers.
Prior to a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show had broadcast live, but has been pre-recorded since its return for episode 100 of Campaign Two. In May 2021, the cast announced that campaign two would end shortly, however, "the Mighty Nein's story wasn't finished". Collider reported that "Campaign 2 has spanned 100 hours of battle, 440 slain villains, and 530 total hours of dice-roll-driven adventuring. And that's not even counting the upcoming 7-hour finale". The finale aired on June 3, 2021; it was the longest episode at just over seven hours.
The episodes of campaign two split by year:
=== Campaign three (2021–2025) ===
The third campaign premiered on October 21, 2021 with a simulcast live in Cinemark Theatres along with the regular Twitch and YouTube livestream. Critical Role continued to be pre-recorded for the third campaign. Starting with the third campaign, the main campaign of Critical Role did not air new episodes on the last Thursday of every month; instead, other content by the studio aired in its time slot. The campaign is set on the continent of Marquet, which was briefly visited during the Vox Machina campaign. SyFy Wire highlighted that Marquet is "home to massive deserts, mountains, and even a volcano" and that it is "uncharted territory for the series".
The story is set immediately after Exandria Unlimited which took place 10 years after the events of the second campaign. Several cast members reprise their roles from Exandria Unlimited. The party, Bells Hells, gets drawn into the mystery surrounding the Apogee Solstice and Exandria's second moon Ruidus. In August 2024, Mercer started to seed the return of the players as their previous campaign parties within arcs in the third campaign. In October 2024, the cast then reprised their roles as the Mighty Nein while also role-playing as the Bells Hells. In November 2024, the cast also reprised their roles as Vox Machina in a concurrent arc focused on destroying the Malleus Key. The finale aired on February 6, 2025; at over eight and a half hours, it became the longest episode of the series.
The episodes of campaign three split by year:
=== Campaign four (2025–present) ===
The fourth campaign premiered on October 2, 2025 with Brennan Lee Mulligan as game master; it is not set in Exandria, but instead in the new setting of Aramán. Campaign four makes use of the 2024 revision to the 5th Edition ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons. The player cast has been expanded, adding Luis Carazo, Robbie Daymond, Aabria Iyengar, Whitney Moore and Alexander Ward. The earlier primary cast are all present as players, including Mercer. After the opening four sessions of the campaign, Mulligan split the players into three groups: the Soldiers, the Seekers, and the Schemers. The campaign then continued in a West Marches-style structure.
The episodes of campaign four split by year:
== Anthology and related series ==
=== Exandria Unlimited ===
Exandria Unlimited (ExU) is an anthology series and is a spin-off of the main Critical Role series. The first season premiered on June 24, 2021. That season is set in the city of Emon on the continent of Tal'Dorei 30 years after Campaign One and 10 years after Campaign Two. The season's game master is Aabria Iyengar. In March 2022, a two-part adventure sequel, Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, was released.
The second season, titled Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, premiered on May 26, 2022. It follows a group of heroes from the Age of Arcanum – an age 1,500 years before the Critical Role series – who attempt to prevent the Calamity. The third season, titled Exandria Unlimited: Divergence, premiered on February 13, 2025; it focuses on mortals rebuilding the world after the destruction of the Calamity. Brennan Lee Mulligan was the game master of both the Calamity and Divergence seasons.
=== The Re-Slayer's Take ===
The Re-Slayer's Take is an all-ages actual play podcast set in Exandria, featuring an adventurer group that was rejected from the monster hunting group, "The Slayer's Take". The cast consists of Jasmine Bhullar, Jasper William Cartwright, Caroline Lux, and Jasmine Chiong, with George Primavera and Nick Williams as Dungeon Masters. The first season premiered on May 20, 2024; the second season premiered on September 10, 2024.
=== Wildemount Wildlings ===
Wildemount Wildlings is a spin-off of the main Critical Role series which premiered on April 3, 2025. The three episode limited series focuses on teenage campers at the Wildemount Wildlings Camp for Adventuring Kids and their two Mighty Nein camp counselors. The players are Eden Riegel, Aleks Le, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Libe Barer as new characters with Marisha Ray and Ashley Johnson reprising their Campaign 2 characters, Beauregard Lionett and Yasha Nydoorin respectively. The gamemaster is Sam Riegel; while this series is based on the Wildemount Wildlings themed game he runs for his children and their friends, the show is aimed at adults.
== One-shots ==
In addition to their main campaign series, Critical Role has also broadcast many one-shots – short adventures that take place within a single session of play. As of January 2025, seven of these one-shots are considered canonical. Most of the seven are epilogue episodes to one of the first two campaigns. The Search for Grog and The Search for Bob, however, cover events within the storyline of the last episode of Campaign 1 that required telling outside the time frame of the main show. Other one-shots have only a tangential relationship to the campaigns. These are set in the world of Exandria or feature established canon characters but are not considered canonical themselves. Still other one-shots have no connection at all with the campaigns or the world of Exandria. Some one-shots promote other intellectual properties commissioned by sponsors.
Academics Lisa Horton and David Beard, in the book The Routledge Handbook of Remix Studies and Digital Humanities, explained that Critical Role's one-shots "use pastiche, parody, and other forms of obvious remix", highlighting that Critical Role has "mashed-up Harry Potter with The Breakfast Club and Peter Pan with the Wizard of Oz, and the results are entertaining, but they live and die within a single evening". They argued while these one-shots are fun and "achieve positive fan response", the one-shots are also "unchallenging" and "uncomplicated" as "creative dead ends" in comparison to Critical Role's campaigns.
=== Canon ===
The following one-shots are listed as canonical parts of the official timeline.
=== Shared world or characters ===
These one-shots are set within the world of Exandria or feature established characters from the main campaigns. They are not, however, deemed canonical—having no impact on the main storyline.
=== Promotional ===
These one-shots were made as promotions for other properties or groups.
=== Daggerheart beta ===
These are one-shots which feature pre-release versions of the Daggerheart system published by Darrington Press, the tabletop game imprint for Critical Role Productions. Cheryl Teh of Business Insider noted that the Critical Role cast "appears to be embracing, once again, the funhouse chaos of its early-day Twitch streams" by returning to the livestream format for the Daggerheart episodes. Tara McCauley of The Escapist described the three episodes featuring The Menagerie adventuring party as a "one-shot-turned-short-campaign" which allowed Critical Role to "demonstrate Daggerheart and its open beta evolution with their signature actual play antics".
=== Other ===
These one-shots do not fit into the above categories—they are not set within Exandria, they are not promotional, nor do they showcase pre-release versions of Daggerheart.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna_Theatre#:~:text=The%20orchestra%20level%20consisted%20of,theatre's%20full%20capacity%20to%201%2C421. | Hanna Theatre | The Hanna Theatre is a theater at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is one of the original five venues built in the district, opening on March 28, 1921. The Hanna Theatre reopened in 2008 as the new home of Great Lakes Theater Festival after a major renovation by the classic theater company.
== Original structure ==
The Hanna Theatre was envisioned by industrialist and publisher Daniel Rhodes Hanna as part of a larger complex in memorial to his father, late U.S. Senator Mark A. Hanna, and was designed by architect Charles A. Platt. Faustinno Sampietro was responsible for most of the interior decorations, which included green and gold carpets, dark green seats, frescoed walls, a fireplace, and Louis XVI gilt furniture; the ceiling was coffered and was made up of circular and octagonal medallions, each of which contained gilded classical figures (including Cupid, Psyche, and Pegasus). The orchestra level consisted of 827 seats arranged in 24 rows, and the upper deck held 570 seats. Four rows in the mezzanine, ten rows in the upper balcony, and the box seats brought the theatre's full capacity to 1,421. The stage was forty feet in width and forty feet in depth, equipped with a thirty-six foot proscenium arch. Some idiosyncrasies exist in the layout: Dan Hanna insisted he wanted more room in between the fourth and fifth rows when he tested out a seat he meant to reserve for himself, and as a result there remained thirty-five inches in between these two rows instead of the standard thirty-one inches.
== Opening ==
On March 28, 1921, 1,500 people ventured out into the freezing cold temperatures to witness the new theatre's first production, William Faversham's adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. The lobby measured a little over twenty feet in each direction and was nothing in the way of spectacle compared to the State and Ohio Theatres, both of which had opened the previous month. At exactly 8:15 Cleveland orchestra director Max Faetkenheuer opened the show with the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the play began. During intermission, playwright Faversham gave an impromptu speech at the request of the theatre patrons.
=== Hanna Theatre's first season ===
The following is a list of productions that ran at the Hanna Theatre beginning in the spring of 1921:
The Prince and the Pauper adaptation by William Faversham
The Passing Show of 1919 by the Shubert Brothers
Smilin' Through by Allan Langdon Martin
Jim Jam by the Shubert Brothers
Pitter Patter by the Shubert Brothers
The Masquerader by John Hunter Booth
Midnight Rounders by the Shubert Brothers
Up in the Haymow by James Avery Hopwood
Fools Errant by Louis Evan Shipman
The most expensive seats cost three dollars.
== Theatre rivalry ==
When Dan R. Hanna died three months into the Hanna Theatre's first full season, the Shubert brothers (Sam, Lee, and J.J. Shubert) remained as lessees under the management of John S. Hale. Around the corner, the brother's biggest rival, Abraham Lincoln Erlanger, continued to lease the Hanna's largest competition, the Ohio Theatre. Under the management of Robert H. McLaughlin, a former newspaperman and press agent, the Ohio Theatre had already built a distinguished repertoire of high class theatre. The Hanna Theatre could not always stand up to such an impressive lineup (including plays such as The Merry Wives of Windsor, Lady, Be Good, and Strange Interlude) and often suffered for it.
== Ray Shepardson's vision ==
The Hanna Theatre closed in 1989, and soon after, Ray Shepardson left his job in the Cleveland public school system to launch a campaign to prevent the closed theater of Playhouse Square from being destroyed. His new vision for the Hanna was based on the concept of a cabaret theatre, which proved successful enough to generate funding by the Junior League and the Cleveland Foundation. By 1993 Ray Shepardson was nationally recognized as a theatre restoration expert, although he was not able to revive interest in the Hanna. The $38 million restoration drive he led mainly helped the larger Playhouse Square theatres, such as the State Theatre, thrive. For the brief time the Hanna did run as a cabaret theater, the interior was refurbished to meet the new needs. Tables and chairs replaced the usual theatre rows, although Shepardson insisted on preserving the theater's original, ornate décor.
== Restoration ==
The Hanna Theatre was fully restored and reopened in 2008 with the following changes:
Six styles of seating: regular house seating, private box, banquette, club, lounge, and bar; reduction to 550 person capacity
Multiple ticket-price points for each performance ($20 for lounge area and up to $60 for premium seats)
A three-part hydraulic thrust stage that can lower to create a traditional proscenium stage with a full orchestra pit
A computer controlled mechanical fly system structurally independent of the building to handle more weight, intended to raise and lower scenery
Renovated street-level entrance with a door from the balcony level to an elevator lobby in the Hanna Annex building to allow patrons covered access to a parking garage, and balcony access for disabled patrons
Registration with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System, in pursuit of a Silver rating, the third-highest rank
The $14.7 million renovation was meant to rejuvenate the house space and create a comfortable atmosphere for theatre patrons. The Hanna Theatre was the last Playhouse Square theater renovated, a process that began in 1981. Great Lakes Theater producing artistic director Charles Fee and director Bob Taylor were behind the designs for the new theater. The renovated Hanna Theatre opened on September 20, 2008.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Puerto_Rico | University of Puerto Rico | The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Universidad de Puerto Rico; often shortened to UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 44,200 students and approximately 4,450 faculty members. UPR has the largest and most diverse academic offerings in the commonwealth, with 472 academic programs of which 32 lead to a doctorate.
== History ==
In 1900, at Fajardo, the Escuela Normal Industrial (normal school) was established as the first higher education center in Puerto Rico. Its initial enrollment was 20 students and 5 professors. The following year it was moved to Río Piedras. On March 12, 1903, the legislature authorized founding of the University of Puerto Rico, and that day the "Escuela Normal" was proclaimed as its first department.
In 1908, the Morrill-Nelson Act was extended to Puerto Rico, making the university a "Land Grant College," which authorizes the use of federal land to establish colleges of agriculture, science and engineering. Two years later, in 1910, the College of Liberal Arts was established and the year following that the College of Agriculture at Mayagüez came into being. In 1912, the name was changed to College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
1913 – The Departments of Pharmacy and Law were established.
1923 – The University Act of 1923– the university reorganized administratively it independent Insular Department of Education, provides the Board of Trustees as the governing board, and make the position of Rector as the principal officer. In 1924 the governor appointed the first Rector.
1924 – The administrative structure and identity of the University of Puerto Rico becomes independent from the Department of Public Instruction.
1926 – The School of Commerce (later School of Business Administration) and the School of Tropical Medicine were established.
1927 – Opening of the first graduate program: the Master of Arts in Hispanic Studies.
1928 – The San Felipe Segundo hurricane struck the island of Puerto Rico and caused serious damage in the Río Piedras campus. Staff and faculty began a reconstruction effort.
1935 – The U.S. Congress extended to Puerto Rico the benefits of Bankhead-Jones Act, which provided funding for research and the construction of more buildings.
1936–1939 – Major structures in Spanish Renaissance style are built in the quadrangle in Río Piedras, including buildings such as the Tower Theatre.
1938 – Augusto Rodríguez composed the music and lyrics Arriví Francisco's Alma Mater, the university anthem.
1942 – Act No. 135 of May 7, 1942, amendment to the university, created the Higher Education Council as the governing board of the institution and regulator of the higher education system in Puerto Rico.
1946 – The university received accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
1966 – Act No. 1 of 1966, restructuring the university. The system change to three campuses-Río Piedras, Mayagüez and Medical Sciences.
1967 – Creation of the regional colleges: Arecibo, Cayey and Humacao. Five more were created in the following years: Ponce (1969), Bayamón (1971), Aguadilla (1972), Carolina (1973), and Utuado (1978).
1979 – WRTU-FM began broadcasting from the Río Piedras campus.
1998 – Act No. 186 of August 7, 1998, provides for the gradual autonomy of regional schools as provided by the Board of Trustees, to lead to eleven autonomous units.
2010–2011 University of Puerto Rico strikes where a series of strikes which occurred as a result of administrative budget cuts and an attempt to impose an $800 quota for students.
July 2010, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education placed the accreditation of the university on probation citing concerns about shortfalls in the governance of the institution. By the end of 2011, all 11 campuses had regained full accreditation after demonstrating significant progress in this area.
2017 – The UPR's staff organized a strike in opposition to budget cuts proposed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.
After the impact of Hurricane Maria the university suffered damages totaling over $175 million. The university system was still in the process of acquiring FEMA funding to repair damages and as a result still suffered from structural damage months after the hurricane. The hurricane also affected the process of accreditation since eight campuses where in non compliance according to of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The eleven campuses opened within two months of Hurricane Maria, offering a sense of structure and normalcy for professors and students.
2019– During Jorge Haddock tenure the university newspaper, Diálogo, after 32 years in print, was moved online and employees were laid off until only the editor and an assistant remained. They were reassigned, while the newspaper was moved from the central administration to the Arecibo campus.
2021 – In June the Financial Oversight and Management Board cut $94 million from the UPR budget which would have drastically affected the institutions ability to operate. The local government intervened and assigned the money necessary before the August semester commenced.
== Organization ==
=== Board of trustees ===
The board of trustees is the governing body of the University of Puerto Rico.
On April 30, 2013, governor Alejandro García Padilla signed into law Act 13 of 2014 enacted by the 17th Legislative Assembly. The act effectively replaced the incumbent board with an entirely new board. In 2017, the board was changed once again by governor Ricardo Rosselló.
=== Campuses ===
=== Presidents ===
=== Campus radio ===
The campus radio station is called "WRTU Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico", and it was established in 1980. This is a public radio station with diverse musical and news programming. Its broadcasts both in FM and online.
== Admissions ==
UPR has the highest selectivity index of all colleges and universities in Puerto Rico, it has also maintained a systemwide admission rate of 67% since 1997. Its enrollment rate has surpassed 90% during the past five academic years. In terms of tuition, the cost per credit is $157 per undergraduate credit and $300 per graduate credit. For perspective, in 2017 the undergraduate credit cost was $53 and the graduate credit cost was $172. The cost of undergraduate credit is expected to rise until it reaches $177 in 2027.
In recent years, the University of Puerto Rico has experienced a decrease in student enrollment numbers. According to the university's reports, during the academic year 2009-2010, a total of 52,791 students were enrolled across all campuses. However, by the academic year 2014-2015, this number had decreased to 47,314 students, and in the academic year 2022-2023, the university had an enrollment of 44,233 students across its 11 campuses.
== Research ==
The university has a classification of "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
On October 15, 2010, it was awarded over $25 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support research in nanotechnology. The organization within the University of Puerto Rico impacted is called Puerto Rico EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research). Since its creation 24 years ago, Puerto Rico EPSCoR has received over $180 million from NSF, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
On August 24, 2020, the university announced ten investigations for preventing and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 as part of $1.7 million the institution received from the local government.
== Rankings and notable facts ==
According to the QS world ranking 2022 published in 2021, the University of Puerto Rico ranks number 40 in Latin America having dropped from 37 in 2020, but still higher than previous rankings of 42 in 2018 and 62 in 2015.
As a system, the University of Puerto Rico placed in the 800–1000 bracket in the 2018 edition of QS World University Rankings. Times Higher Education also ranks it in the 801–1000 bracket in the world. UPR was ranked among the best 20 universities in Latin America by SCImago ranking in 2010. The University of Puerto Rico ranked 18th and University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez ranked 78th by Webometrics in Latin America. The UPR is the number one university in the Caribbean according to Webometrics.
The system's only school of engineering at the Mayagüez campus is accredited by ABET and graduates more than 600 engineers per year. The school was chosen as the top engineering school for Hispanics by Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology Magazine.
In 2020 the director of NASA grant consortium in Puerto Rico doctor Gerardo Moller, stated that 25% of the Hispanic employees hired by NASA are graduates of the UPR.
Research activity, measured in terms of external funds received, has grown exponentially since 1985, doubling every five years. In 2007–2008 the UPR received over $87 million for research.
== Notable alumni ==
== See also ==
School of Tropical Medicine
2010 University of Puerto Rico Strike
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
(in Spanish) Official website Archived 2014-10-25 at the Wayback Machine |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soat%C3%A1 | Soatá | Soatá is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia. Soatá is located on the western slopes of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range, at the northeast end of the Department of Boyacá. It is the capital of the Northern Boyacá Province. Soatá borders Boavita in the east, Tipacoque in the north, Susacón in the south and in the west it borders the municipality Onzaga of the department of Santander.
== Climate ==
== Etymology ==
Soatá in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means tillage of the Sun.
== History ==
Soatá was already populated during the Herrera Period and at the time of the Spanish conquest, Soatá was inhabited by the Muisca. The village was part of the rule of the cacique Tundama from the city with the same name, presently known as Duitama.
The inhabitants of Soatá are descendants of a mix of Muisca, Caribbean and Choques. Modern Soatá was founded by sergeant Juan Rodríguez Parra in 1545.
== Demographics and geography ==
In 2005 Soatá had a population of 8.730 inhabitants of which 63% living in the urban zone and 47% live in the eight subdivisions that comprise the rural area. The subdivisions (veredas) are: Los Molinos, La Laguna, Llano Grande, El Espinal, La Chorrera and La Costa.
The urban center of Soatá is located at an elevation of 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) above sea level.
== Economy ==
Its economy is of subsistence and it characterizes by agriculture and the cattle ranch in form of minifundios, standing out the cultures of the sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, tomatoes, maize, wheat, barley, fruit trees, dates and flowers.
The cattle sector is distinguished by the presence of goat, pigs and cows.
In the industrial sector, one stands out the production of bricks, floor pieces, canvas shoes, straw hats, panela and bee honey; it excels the elaboration of candies and treats. The production of dates has gained Soatá the title of city of the date palm of Colombia.
Soatá counts on tourist potential by the wealth of its cultural expressions, standing out its gastronomy, natural variety of landscapes and scenic places.
== Paleontology ==
In the Soatá Formation, a brown shale and siltstone sequence defined in and named after Soatá, fossil remains of the Pleistocene genera Neochoerus, Odocoileus and the species Haplomastodon waringi have been found.
== Tourism ==
Touristic sites of Soatá are:
Chicamocha Canyon
Pinzón Bridge
El Chorro
Soatá is becoming a popular destination for birders, as a number of Colombian endemic species can be found in the area, including Chestnut-bellied hummingbird, Niceforo's wren, Colombian mountain grackle and Apical flycatcher.
== Related to Soatá ==
Cayo Leonidas Peñuela
Lorenzo Cárdenas
== Festivals ==
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival
Torbellino's Festival
== Gallery ==
== References ==
== External links == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Island | Gough Island | Gough Island ( GOF), also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, is a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is approximately 400 km (250 mi) south-east of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago (which includes Nightingale Island and Inaccessible Island), 2,400 km (1,500 mi) north-east from South Georgia Island, 2,700 km (1,700 mi) west from Cape Town, and over 3,200 km (2,000 mi) from the nearest point of South America.
Gough Island is uninhabited, except for the personnel of a weather station (usually six people) that the South African National Antarctic Programme has maintained, with British permission, continually on the island since 1956. It is one of the most remote places with a constant human presence. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Gough and Inaccessible Islands" and one of the most important seabird colonies in the world.
== Name ==
The island was first named Ilha de Gonçalo Álvares on Portuguese maps. Gonçalo Álvares was a Portuguese explorer who discovered the island in 1505. Confusion of the unusual Portuguese saint name Gonçalo with Spanish Diego led to the misnomer Diego Alvarez Island in English-language sources from the 1800s to 1930s. However, the most likely explanation is that it was simply a misreading of "Is. de Go. Alvarez", the name by which the island is represented on some of the early charts, the "de Go" mutating into "Diego".
The name "Gough island" refers to the British mariner Captain Charles Gough of the Richmond, who sighted the island in 1732.
== History ==
The details of the discovery of Gough Island are unclear, but the most likely occasion is July 1505 by the Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares. Maps during the next three centuries named the island after him. On some later maps, this was erroneously given as Diego Alvarez.
According to some historians, the British merchant Anthony de la Roché was the first to land on the island, in the austral autumn of 1675.
Charles Gough rediscovered the island on 3 March 1732, thinking it was a new find. It had been named Gonçalo Álvares since 1505 after the captain of Vasco da Gama's flagship on his epic voyage to the east, and under this name, it was marked with reasonable accuracy on the charts of the South Atlantic during the following 230 or so years. Then, in 1732, Captain Gough of the British ship Richmond reported the discovery of a new island, which he placed 400 miles (640 km) to the east of Gonçalo Álvares. Fifty years later, cartographers realised that the two islands were the same, and despite the priority of the Portuguese discovery, and the greater accuracy of the position given by them, "Gough's Island" was the name adopted. It is still known by its old name Ilha de Gonçalo Álvares in Portuguese, though Portugal lays no claim to any of the islands in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago.
Sealers sometimes briefly inhabited the island in the 19th Century. The earliest known example is a sealing gang from the U.S. ship Rambler (Captain Joseph Bowditch) which remained on the island in the 1804–1805 season. The sealing era lasted from 1804 to 1910 during which 34 sealing vessels are known to have visited the island, one of which was lost offshore.
The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition on the Scotia made the first visit to the island by a scientific party on 21 April 1904, when William Speirs Bruce and others collected specimens. The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition also stopped at the island in 1922. There was a brief period of human occupation for two years from 1936 to 1938 when farming was done to hunt for birds, their eggs, and to extract driftwood, guano and apples. The 1955 Gough Expedition mapped out the internal geography of the island and also studied its biota over several months.
Gough Island was formally claimed in 1938 for the United Kingdom, during a visit by HMS Milford (L51) of the Royal Navy.
In 1995, the island was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2004, the site was extended to include Inaccessible Island, and the marine zone of Gough Island was extended from 3 to 12 nautical miles (5.6 to 22.2 km; 3.5 to 13.8 mi). The site was renamed Gough and Inaccessible Islands. The selection criteria for the site do not include its geomorphic interest. As it happens, Gough and Inaccessible Islands are included in a possible "serial trans-boundary nomination" for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which would include other volcanic sites in the Atlantic.
Gough Island is the only land outside South America from which the solar eclipse of 12 September 2034 (excluding partial phases), will be visible; the centre of the path of totality crosses over the island.
== Geography and geology ==
One of the most remote islands in the world, Gough Island is in the South Atlantic Ocean. While the central part of the island is a plateau, the western part has a highland with the peaks and cliffs rising over 350 metres. Gough Island is roughly rectangular with a length of 13 km (8.1 mi) and a width of 5 km (3.1 mi). It has an area of 65 km2 (25 sq mi) and rises to a highest point over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level. Glens cut deep into the inland mountains from the northern and eastern sides. Geological formations on the island are of volcanic origin.
Topographic features include its highest peak, Edinburgh Peak (2,986 ft (910 m)), as well as Hags Tooth, Mount Rowett, Sea Elephant Bay, Quest Bay, and Hawkins Bay.
Surrounding Gough are small satellite islands and rocks, such as Southwest Island, Saddle Island (to the South), Tristiana Rock, Isolda Rock (West), Round Island, Cone Island, Lot's Wife, Church Rock (North), Penguin Island (Northeast), and The Admirals (East).
The average temperature is 12 °C (54 °F) while the average rainfall is 3,000 mm (120 in). Snow falls in the highlands in winter.
=== Climate ===
According to the Köppen system, Gough Island features an oceanic climate (Cfb). Gough Island's maximum temperatures are between 11 °C (52 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F) during the day year-round, due to its isolated position far out in the South Atlantic. As a result, summers are never hot and are highly susceptible to cold fronts. The Atlantic is much cooler in the southern hemisphere than in the northern, but frosts are still very rare due to heavy cloud cover. Precipitation is high throughout the year, and sunshine hours are few. Snow frequently falls on the peaks and plateau all year round (with occurrences of summer snow on the 900-metre peaks), but is uncommon at sea-level.
== Fauna and flora ==
Gough and Inaccessible Island are a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic. In particular, it is host to almost the entire world population of the Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) and the Atlantic petrel (Pterodroma incerta). The island is also home to the almost flightless Gough moorhen, and the critically endangered Gough bunting.
=== Birds ===
The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for its endemic landbirds and as a breeding site for seabirds. Birds for which the IBA has conservation significance include northern rockhopper penguins (30,000 breeding pairs), Tristan albatrosses (1,500–2,000 pairs), sooty albatrosses (5,000 pairs), Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (5,000 pairs), broad-billed prions (1,750,000 pairs), Kerguelen petrels (20,000 pairs), soft-plumaged petrels (400,000 pairs), Atlantic petrels (900,000 pairs), great-winged petrels (5,000 pairs), grey petrels (10,000 pairs), great shearwaters (100,000 pairs), little shearwaters (10,000 pairs), grey-backed storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-faced storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-bellied storm petrels (10,000 pairs), Antarctic terns (500 pairs), southern skuas (500 pairs), Gough moorhens (2,500 pairs), and Gough buntings (3,000 individuals).
=== Mammals ===
Southern right whales migrate around the island, but the only mammals on it not introduced by humans are subantarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals, both of which breed on the beaches. House mice, which most likely arrived with early sealing crews, are still present (see Invasive species below) and have grown to be much larger than elsewhere as an example of the island rule.
=== Invasive species ===
==== Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens) ====
In 1998, a number of procumbent pearlwort (Sagina procumbens) plants were found on the island which are capable of dramatically transforming the upland plant ecosystem (as it has on the Prince Edward Islands). Eradication efforts are ongoing but are expected to require years of 'concerted effort'. By 2010, through removing plants manually with some soil and then treating the area with boiling water, it had been restricted to one small area of coastal cliffs. As a result, the seed load had been reduced in a decade by 3 orders of magnitude. This nevertheless could result in 200 plants germinating per square metre. To reduce the population further, a study indicated that a combination of soil removal and herbicide could be effective. A report in 2020 noted that continued removal was still needed as well as biosecurity measures to avoid re-introduction.
==== Other non-native plants ====
By 2020 the following non-native plants with potential to become invasive had been recorded recently on the island: Verbena bonariensis, Solanum tuberosum, Juncus effusus, Agrostis gigantea, Brassica rapa, and Cynodon dactylon.
==== House mice ====
In April 2007, researchers published evidence that predation by introduced house mice on seabird chicks is occurring at levels that might drive the Tristan albatross and the Atlantic petrel to extinction. As of October 2018, it is estimated that as many as 2,000,000 fewer eggs and chicks are being raised due to the impact of mice on the island, threatening the extinction of several species of seabirds that breed exclusively or nearly exclusively on Gough Island.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) awarded £62,000 by the UK government's Overseas Territories Environment Programme to fund additional research on the Gough Island mice and a feasibility study of how best to deal with them. This grant also paid for the assessment of a rat problem on Tristan da Cunha island. Trials for a method of eradicating the mice through baiting were commenced, and ultimately a £9.2 million eradication programme was planned, set to begin in 2020, with the island expected to be mouse-free by 2022. However, the start date was delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme used helicopters to drop cereal pellets containing the rodenticide brodifacoum. Gough has also been identified as the third-most important island in the world (out of 107 islands) to be targeted for the removal of non-native invasive mammals in order to save threatened species from extinction and to make major progress towards achieving global conservation targets. The proposed cull was criticised by the director of Animal Aid, stating, "We don't feel we have the right to choose some animals over others ... We don't agree with any culling for so-called conservation purposes. The conservation priority should be making sure wild spaces are protected, but allowing nature to do its thing."
As of December 2021, the head of the project to cull the population of mice considers this to have been a failure, since a living mouse was spotted after the completion of the project, which implied that there are other mice still alive on Gough. Nevertheless, the RSPB is planning a future restoration attempt by applying rodenticide bait, after doing some research to improve this operation.
== Weather station ==
A weather station has been operating on Gough Island since 1956. It is operated as part of the network of the South African Weather Service. Because cold fronts approach South Africa from the south-west, the Gough station is particularly important in forecasting winter weather. Initially it was housed in the station at The Glen, but moved in 1963 to the southern lowlands of the island (near 40°21′0″S 9°52′50″W) for better data collection.
=== Human presence ===
Each year, a new overwintering team arrives by ship from Cape Town (since 2012, on the S. A. Agulhas II) to staff the weather station and perform scientific research. The team for a particular year may be termed as "Gough" and an expedition number: For example, the 1956 team was designated "Gough 01", and the team for 2013 was "Gough 58". Each new team directly replaces the departing one, thereby maintaining a continual human presence on the island.
A team normally consists of:
A senior meteorologist
Two junior meteorologists
A radio technician
A medic
A diesel mechanic
A number of biologists (depending on ongoing research projects)
The team is supplied with enough food to last the whole year. People and cargo are landed either by helicopter, from a helideck-equipped supply ship, or by a fixed crane atop a cliff near the station (a place aptly called "Crane Point"). Several team members have died on the island.
== Maps ==
== See also ==
South African National Antarctic Programme – Government research programme
SANAE – South African National Antarctic Expedition
Marion Island – The larger of the Prince Edward Islands
S. A. Agulhas – South African ice-strengthened training ship and former polar research vessel
S. A. Agulhas II – Icebreaking polar supply and research ship
Nigel Morritt Wace – British Royal Marine, botanist and subantarctic guide
== References ==
== External links ==
www.goughisland.com – The Gough Island Restoration Project website
Gough Island Gallery
Facebook Groups – Gough Island team discussions
Gough and Inaccessible Islands – UNESCO wildlife reserve publication
Photographs of Gough Island – Flickr publication by Chantal van Staden. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kentridge | William Kentridge | William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. He is especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s, constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second's to two seconds' screen time. A single drawing will be altered and filmed this way until the end of a scene. These palimpsest-like drawings are later displayed along with the films as finished pieces of art.
Kentridge has created artwork as part of design of theatrical productions, both plays and operas. He has served as art director and overall director of numerous productions, collaborating with other artists, puppeteers and others in creating productions that combine drawings and multi-media combinations.
== Early life and career ==
Kentridge was born in Johannesburg in 1955 to Sydney Kentridge and Felicia Geffen, a Jewish family. Both were advocates (lawyers) who represented people marginalized by the apartheid system. He was educated at King Edward VII School in Houghton, Johannesburg. He showed great artistic promise from an early age, and began taking classes with charcoal at age eight. In 2016, he became perhaps the first artist to have a catalogue raisonné devoted exclusively to his juvenilia.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and African Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and then a diploma in Fine Arts from the Johannesburg Art Foundation. In the early 1980s, he studied mime and theatre at the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He originally hoped to become an actor, but said later: "I was fortunate to discover at a theatre school that I was so bad at being an actor [... that] I was reduced to an artist, and I made my peace with it." Between 1975 and 1991, he was acting and directing with Johannesburg's Junction Avenue Theatre Company. In the 1980s, he worked on television films and series as an art director.
== Work ==
Kentridge believed that being ethnically Jewish gave him a unique position as a third-party observer in South Africa. His parents were lawyers, well-known for their defence of victims of apartheid. The basics of South Africa's socio-political condition and history must be known to grasp his work fully, much the same as in the cases of such artists as Francisco Goya and Käthe Kollwitz.
Kentridge has practiced expressionist art, where form often alludes to content and vice versa. The feeling that is manipulated by the use of palette, composition and media, among others, often plays an equally vital role in the overall meaning as the subject and narrative of a given work. One must use one's gut reactions as well as one's interpretive skills to find meaning in Kentridge's work, much of which reveals very little content. Due to the sparse, rough and expressive qualities of Kentridge's handwriting, the viewer sees a sombre picture upon first glance, an impression that is perpetuated as the image illustrates a vulnerable and uncomfortable situation.
Aspects of social injustice that have transpired over the years in South Africa have often become fodder for Kentridge's pieces. Casspirs Full of Love, viewable at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, appears to be nothing more than heads in boxes to the average American viewer, but South Africans know that a casspir is a vehicle used to put down riots, a kind of a crowd-control tank.
The title, Casspirs Full of Love, written along the side of the print, is suggestive of the narrative and is oxymoronic. A casspir full of love is much like a bomb that bursts with happiness – it is an intangible improbability. The purpose of a machine such as this is to instil "peace" by force, but Kentridge noted that it was used as a tool to keep lower-class natives from taking colonial power and money.
=== Prints and drawings ===
By the mid-1970s, Kentridge was making prints and drawings. In 1979, he created 20 to 30 monotypes, which soon became known as the "Pit" series. In 1980, he executed about 50 small-format etchings which he called the "Domestic Scenes". These two extraordinary groups of prints served to establish Kentridge's artistic identity, an identity he has continued to develop in various media. Despite his ongoing exploration of non-traditional media, the foundation of his art has always been drawing and printmaking.
In 1986, he began a group of charcoal and pastel drawings based, very tenuously, on Watteau's The Embarkation for Cythera. These extremely important works, the best of which reflect a blasted, dystopic urban landscape, demonstrate the artist's growing consciousness of the flexibility of space and movement.
In 1996–1997, he produced a portfolio of eight prints titled Ubu Tells the Truth, based on Alfred Jarry's 1896 play Ubu Roi. These prints also relate to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission conducted in South Africa after the end of apartheid. One of the stark and somber prints from this portfolio, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art, is illustrated.
The Six Drawing Lessons, delivered as part of The Norton Lectures series at Harvard University in 2012, consider the work in the studio and the studio as a place of making meaning developed. A series of large drawings of trees in Indian ink on found encyclopedia pages, torn up and reassembled, analyzes the form of different trees indigenous to southern Africa. Drawn across multiple pages from books, each drawing is put together as a puzzle – the single pages first painted, then the whole pieced together.
"My drawings don't start with a 'beautiful mark'," writes Kentridge, thinking about the activity of printmaking as being about getting the hand to lead the brain, rather than letting the brain lead the hand. "It has to be a mark of something out there in the world. It doesn't have to be an accurate drawing, but it has to stand for an observation, not something that is abstract, like an emotion."
=== Animated films ===
Between 1989 and 2003, Kentridge made a series of nine short films, which he eventually gathered under the title 9 Drawings for Projection. In 1989, he began the first of those animated movies, Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris. The series runs through Monument (1990), Mine (1991), Sobriety, Obesity & Growing Old (1991), Felix in Exile (1994), History of the Main Complaint (1996), Weighing and Wanting (1997), and Stereoscope (1999), and Tide Table (2003).
In 2011, Kentridge released a tenth film in the series, Other Faces (2011).
For the series, he used a technique that would become a feature of his work – successive charcoal drawings, always on the same sheet of paper, contrary to the traditional animation technique in which each movement is drawn on a separate sheet. In this way, Kentridge's videos and films came to keep the traces of the previous drawings. His animations deal with political and social themes from a personal and, at times, autobiographical point of view, since the author includes his self-portrait in many of his works.
The political content and unique techniques of Kentridge's work have propelled him into the realm of South Africa's top artists. Working with what is in essence a very restrictive media, using only charcoal and a touch of blue or red pastel, he has created animations of astounding depth. A theme running through all of his work is his peculiar way of representing his birthplace. While he does not portray it as the militant or oppressive place that it was for black people, he does not emphasise the picturesque state of living that white people enjoyed during apartheid either; he presents instead a city in which the duality of man is exposed. In a series of ten short films, he introduces two characters – Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. These characters depict an emotional and political struggle that ultimately reflects the lives of many South Africans in the pre-democracy era.
In an introductory note to Felix In Exile, Kentridge writes,
"In the same way that there is a human act of dismembering the past there is a natural process in the terrain through erosion, growth, dilapidation that also seeks to blot out events. In South Africa this process has other dimensions. The very term 'new South Africa' has within it the idea of a painting over the old, the natural process of dismembering, the naturalization of things new."
Not only in Felix In Exile but in all his animated works, the concepts of time and change comprise a major theme. He conveys it through his erasure technique, which contrasts with conventional cel-shaded animation, whose seamlessness de-emphasizes the fact that it is actually a succession of hand-drawn images. This he implements by drawing a key frame, erasing certain areas of it, re-drawing them and thus creating the next frame. He is able in this way to create as many frames as he wants based on the original key frame simply by erasing small sections. Traces of what has been erased are still visible to the viewer; as the films unfold, a sense of fading memory or the passing of time and the traces it leaves behind are portrayed. Kentridge's technique grapples with what is not said, what remains suppressed or forgotten but can easily be felt.
In the ten films that follow Soho Eckstein's life, an increasing vehemence is placed on the health of the individual and contemporary South African society. Conflicts between anarchic and bourgeois individualistic beliefs, again a reference to the duality of man, indicate the idea of social revolution by poetically disfiguring surrounding buildings and landscapes. Kentridge states that, although his work does not focus on apartheid in a direct and overt manner, but on the contemporary state of Johannesburg, his drawings and films are certainly influenced by the brutalised society that resulted from the regime.
As for more direct political issues, Kentridge says his art presents ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted movements and uncertain endings, all of which seem like insignificant subtleties but can be attributed to most of the calamity presented in his work. In a mixed-media triptych entitled The Boating Party (1985), based on Renoir's painting of a similar name, the havoc caused by a seemingly-uninterested aristocracy is perhaps his most severe comment on the state of South Africa during apartheid. The languid diners sit at ease while the surrounding area is ravaged, torn and burned, a contrast that is reflected in his style and choice of colours.
In 1988, Kentridge co-founded Free Film-makers Co-Operative in Johannesburg. In 1999, he was appointed a film-maker by Stereoscope.
"Purely in the context of my own work," he wrote in a published playscript of his celebrated Ubu and the Truth Commission, "I would repeat my trust in the contingent, the inauthentic, the whim, the practical, as strategies for finding meaning. I would repeat my mistrust in the worth of Good Ideas. And state a belief that somewhere between relying on pure chance on the one hand, and the execution of a programme on the other, lies the most uncertain but the most fertile ground for the work we do [...]. I think I have shown that it is not the clear light of reason or even aesthetic sensibility which determines how one works, but a constellation of factors only some of which we can change at will."In 2001, Creative Time aired his film Shadow Procession on the NBC Astrovision Panasonic screen in Times Square.
=== Opera ===
Kentridge has been commissioned to create stage design and act as a theatre director in opera. His political perspective is expressed in his opera directions, which involves different layers: stage direction, animation movies, and influences of the puppet world. He has staged Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (Monteverdi), Die Zauberflöte (Mozart) and The Nose (Shostakovich). Following the last work, he collaborated with the French composer François Sarhan on a short show called Telegrams from the Nose, for which he made the stage and set design for the performance.
In November 2015 his "provocative and visually stunning new staging" of Berg's Lulu, premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, a co-production with the English National Opera and the Dutch National Opera. On 8 August 2017, William Kentridge's Wozzeck (Alban Berg) premiered at the Salzburg Festival and received enthusiastic reactions.
In 2023, Kentridge received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for the production of 'Sybil' at the Barbican Theatre, London.
=== Tapestries ===
Kentridge's protean artistic investigation continues in his series of tapestries begun in 2001. The tapestries stem from a series of drawings in which he conjured shadowy figures from ripped construction paper; he made a collage of these with the web-like background of nineteenth-century atlas maps. To adapt these figures as tapestry, Kentridge worked in close collaboration with the Johannesburg-based Stephens Tapestry Studio, mapping cartoons from enlarged photographs of the drawings and hand-picking dyes to colour the locally spun mohair (goat hair).
=== Sculpture ===
In 2009, Kentridge, in partnership with Gerhard Marx, created a 10m-tall sculpture for his home city of Johannesburg entitled Fire Walker. In 2012 his sculpture, Il cavaliere di Toledo, was unveiled in Naples. Rebus (2013), referring in title to the allusional device using pictures to represent words or parts of words, is a series of bronze sculptures that form two distinct images when turned to a certain angle; when paired in correspondence, for example, a final image – a nude – is created from two original forms – a stamp and a telephone.
=== Murals ===
In 2016, the anniversary of Rome's legendary founding in 753BC, Kentridge unveiled Triumphs and Laments, a monumental mural along the right bank of the river Tiber. The 550m-long frieze depicting a procession of more than 80 figures from Roman mythology to the present is Kentridge’s largest public work to date. To celebrate its launch, he and his long-time collaborator, the composer Philip Miller, devised a series of performances featuring live shadow play and more than 40 musicians.
== Family ==
Kentridge is married to Anne Stanwix, a rheumatologist, and they have three children. A third-generation South African of Lithuanian-Jewish heritage, he is the son of the South African lawyer Sydney Kentridge and the lawyer and activist Felicia Kentridge.
== Films ==
Kentridge's films were shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
== Exhibitions ==
2024 Sharjah Art Foundation
2025 Art Gallery of Alberta
2025 Hauser & Wirth, New York William Kentridge: A Natural History of the Studio
2025/6 Yorkshire Sculpture Park
== Collections ==
Kentridge's works are included in the following permanent collections: Honolulu Museum of Art, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), and the Tate Modern (London). An edition of the five-channel video installation The Refusal of Time (2012), which debuted at documenta 13, was jointly acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 2015, Kentridge gave the definitive collection of his archive and art – films, videos and digital works – to the George Eastman Museum, one of the world's largest and oldest photography and film collections.
== Awards ==
Kentridge's Five Themes exhibit was included in the 2009 Time 100, an annual list of the one hundred top people and events in the world. That same year, the exhibition was awarded First Place in the 2009 AICA (International Association of Art Critics Awards) Best Monographic Museum Show Nationally category.
In 2012, Kentridge was in residence at Harvard University invited to deliver the distinguished Charles Eliot Norton lectures in early 2012.
That same year, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
== Art market ==
Kentridge's artworks are among the most sought-after and expensive works in South Africa: "a major charcoal drawing by world-renowned South African artist William Kentridge could set you back some £250,000". Kentridge is represented by Goodman Gallery, Lia Rumma Gallery and Hauser & Wirth (since 2024). From 1999 to 2024, he worked with Marian Goodman Gallery.
The South African record for Kentridge is R6.6 million ($320,000), set at Aspire Art Auctions in Johannesburg in 2018. One of his bronze pieces reached $1.5 million at Sotheby's New York in 2013.
== Notes ==
== References ==
Cameron, Dan; Christov-Bakargiev, Carolyn; Coetzee, JM. William Kentridge. New York: Phaidon Press, 1999.
Christov-Bakargiev, Carolyn. William Kentridge. Societé des Expositions du Palais de Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, 1998.
Cole, William. "On Some Early Prints by William Kentridge", Print Quarterly vol. XXVI no. 3 (2009), 268–273.
Cole, William. "Privileged Access, Judiciously Shared. Matthew Kentridge, The Soho Chronicles: 10 Films by William Kentridge." Art Journal vol. 74, no. 4 (winter 2015).
Cole, William. The Juvenilia of William Kentridge: An Unauthorized Catalogue Raisonné. Sitges: Cole & Contreras, 2016.
Coumans, Sandra. "Geschichte und Identität. Black Box / Chambre noire von William Kentridge", Regiospectra Verlag Berlin, 2012.
Edmunds, Paul. "William Kentridge's SANG Retrospective", Artthrob: Contemporary Art in South Africa 65 (2003).
Greg Kucera Gallery. "William Kentridge". 2007.
Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield (2000). Contemporary African Art. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-20328-6.
Kentridge, William. "Director's Note". In Ubu and the Truth Commission, by Jane Taylor, viii-xv. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2007.
McCulloch, Samantha; Williams-Wynn, Christopher (2015). "Conflicts between context and content in William Kentridge: Five Themes: a case study of the Melbourne exhibition". Museum Management and Curatorship. 30 (4): 283–295. doi:10.1080/09647775.2015.1060866. ISSN 0964-7775. S2CID 142528621 – via Taylor & Francis.
Taylor, Jane. Ubu and the Truth Commission. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2007.
== External links ==
Kentridge Studio – Official site for William Kentridge
William Kentridge at Goodman Gallery
William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In Praise of Shadows: William Kentridge in the Collection 2014 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Artworks by William Kentridge
Interview with William Kentridge, by Lilian Tone
William Kentridge believes South Africa let Nelson Mandela down Archived 21 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Interview with William Kentridge, by Flavia Foradini, The Art Newspaper, online edition, 13 Dec 2013
How We Make Sense of the World. An interview with William Kentridge Video by Louisiana Channel
culturebase: William Kentridge |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Netrebko | Anna Netrebko | Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (Russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is a Russian operatic soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera and La Scala.
Discovered and promoted by Valery Gergiev, she began her career at the Mariinsky Theatre, collaborating with the conductor in the theater and performances elsewhere. She was noticed globally after playing Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the 2002 Salzburg Festival. She had been known for her rendition of lyric and coloratura soprano roles, yet later proceeded into heavier 19th-century romantic roles, such as Leonora in Il trovatore and the role of Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Since 2016, she has turned her focus to verismo repertoire.
She has been an exclusive artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 2003. She has won multiple Echo Klassik Awards, and was included on the Time 100 list in 2007. She was named a People's Artist of Russia in 2008, and an Austrian Kammersängerin in 2017.
== Early life and training ==
Netrebko was born in Krasnodar in a family of Kuban Cossack background. While studying at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Netrebko worked as a janitor at Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre. Later when she auditioned for the theatre, conductor Valery Gergiev, recognizing her from her prior work, subsequently became her vocal mentor.
== Career ==
=== Early career (1994–2001) ===
Under Gergiev's guidance, in 1994 Netrebko made her operatic stage debut at the Mariinsky at age 22 as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro despite initially being billed as Barbarina. In the same year, she also performed as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with the Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija under conductor David Milnes. She subsequently became associated with the Mariinsky Theatre.
In autumn 1995, Netrebko made her American debut with Lyudmila at the San Francisco Opera. Following this successful performance, she was enrolled in the Merola Opera Program in summer 1996 and became a frequent guest singer in San Francisco in the next seasons, performing in L'elisir d'amore (Adina), Betrothal in a Monastery, Idomeneo (Ilia), La bohème (Musetta), The Tsar's Bride (Marfa), Don Giovanni (Zerlina), Falstaff (Nannetta). In 1998, she performed Lyudmila when the Mariinsky production of the opera was presented at the Metropolitan Opera House, and made Salzburg Festival debut in Parsifal conducted by Gergiev. She sang her first Violetta in Verdi's La traviata in the same year in Saint Petersburg, and her first Amina in La sonnambula the following year. In October 1999, she performed Gilda in Rigoletto at the Washington National Opera.
=== Rise to fame (2002–2010) ===
Netrebko made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera company in February 2002, as Natasha in the Met premiere of Prokofiev's War and Peace, and performed as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Her international breakthrough came in August 2002, when she sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Salzburg Festival, where she would be particularly associated. In September 2002, she returned to the Royal Opera for Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, and in next two seasons for Don Giovanni and Rigoletto. She then returned to Washington National Opera for Ilia in Idomeneo. In 2003, she made her Vienna State Opera and Bavarian State Opera debuts, both with Violetta in La traviata. In November 2003, she made her Los Angeles Opera debut with Lucia di Lammermoor, and would return in 2005 for Roméo et Juliette and in 2006 for Manon.
In February 2004, she returned to Vienna for Don Giovanni, and was subsequently invited as the guest performer at the Vienna Opera Ball, where she returned in 2007. She then starred in a Japan tour of La bohème in Robert Carsen's staging as Musetta conducted by Seiji Ozawa, and subsequently returned to San Francisco Opera in the same role. After withdrawing from two engagements, citing exhaustion, she returned to scene in November in Metropolitan Opera's La bohème as Musetta. In summer 2005, she starred in the premiere of Willy Decker's new staging of La traviata in Salzburg, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. In December 2005, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera, and was featured in the premiere of Otto Schenk's new production of Don Pasquale and Japan tour of Don Giovanni in the same season.
In 2006, she sang Susanna in the new Claus Guth production of The Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg.
She sang Elvira in I puritani at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2007, and on 30 May 2007, Netrebko made her Carnegie Hall debut with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, which was originally scheduled on 2 March 2006 but she postponed due to not feeling artistically ready. She then performed Donna Anna at Covent Garden, but withdrew from some performances due to illness. She appeared at the Last Night of the Proms on 8 September of that year where she performed excerpts from La sonnambula and Giuditta, and the lied "Morgen!" by Richard Strauss with Joshua Bell. In the fall of 2007 she reprised her role as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera.
In December 2007 Netrebko was invited to honor Martin Scorsese at the 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, performing the aria "O mio babbino caro".In January 2008 she performed Violetta at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to triumphant acclaim on the opening night, opposite Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in performances conducted by Maurizio Benini. However, she cancelled three subsequent performances due to suffering a bronchial condition. In May 2008, she made her Paris Opera debut in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Opéra Bastille, with Joyce DiDonato as Romeo. In her first performance after her maternity leave, Netrebko sang Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor when it opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on 14 January 2009, in a production from the Scottish Opera led by John Doyle. She then sang the same role in January and February 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera. Netrebko appeared as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Royal Opera House in Spring 2009, and as Violetta in La traviata in June 2009 at the San Francisco Opera.
She presented the Deutscher Medienpreis 2009 to Chancellor Angela Merkel and sang Strauss' "Cäcilie" at the ceremony in Baden-Baden on 9 February 2010.
Through April and May 2010, she made a series of appearances at the Vienna State Opera in La bohème, Carmen, Manon. Originally scheduled in I puritani as well, she cancelled the appearance citing illness. She starred in Laurent Pelly's new Manon production at the Royal Opera, and sang Juliette at the Salzburg Festival. In October 2010, she returned to New York's Metropolitan Opera for Norina in Don Pasquale, the matinee performance on 13 November of which was broadcast nationwide by PBS.
=== Heavier roles (2011–2022) ===
On 2 April 2011, she sang the title role of Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Vienna State Opera for a sold-out premiere there, and the repeat performance on 5 April 2011 was broadcast live to cinemas around the world. On 7 December 2011, she opened the new season at La Scala in Milan, making her house debut, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She has the distinction of being invited to appear in three consecutive opening night new productions at the Metropolitan Opera: Anna Bolena in 2011, L'elisir d'amore in 2012, and Eugene Onegin in 2013. Her performance as Lady Macbeth in the Metropolitan's 2014 fall season's production of Macbeth, a revival of Adrian Noble's 2007 production, drew critical praise and demonstrated her voice is still expanding in range and volume. She continued her expansion into heavier Verdi roles at the Met the following year, singing the role of Leonora in Il trovatore to acclaim from both critics and audiences.
She participated in the gala concert inaugurating the Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage on 2 May 2013. She was invited to perform the Olympic Anthem, in Russian, at the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
In April 2016, Netrebko announced her withdrawal from productions of Bellini's Norma at the Royal Opera House's 2016/17 season and the Metropolitan Opera's 2017/18 season due to the change in her voice. The vacancies were filled respectively by Sonya Yoncheva and Sondra Radvanovsky.
She then made her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin at the Semperoper in Dresden, and then went to Saint Petersburg for the same role at the Mariinsky Theatre.
She made several role debuts in 2017, including the title role of Adriana Lecouvreur at Mariinsky Theatre in June, the title role of Aida at Salzburg Festival in August, and Maddalena in Andrea Chénier at La Scala in December. In 2018, she debuted as Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in April and performed at the Summer Night Concert Schönbrunn on 31 May.
In 2018, she performed in both gala concerts at the Red Square on 13 June and at the Bolshoi Theatre on 14 July, respectively commemorating the opening and closing of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 8 September 2018 she took part in the inauguration gala concert of Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow, which was streamed on Medici.tv. In February 2019, she opened the 2019 Vienna Opera Ball. She was featured in the opening ceremony of 2019 European Games in Minsk on 21 June and inaugurated the first concert season of the Congress Hall at the Yekaterinburg Expo on 30 August 2019.
In June 2020, Netrebko performed highlights from Verdi's Don Carlo in reduced concert form at the Semperoper as part of its "Aufklang!" series which reopened the theatre after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. She went on debuting at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples for semi-staged Tosca with Yusif Eyvazov and Ludovic Tézier. In September 2020 she had to self-isolate after her co-star in Don Carlo at the Bolshoi Theatre, Ildar Abdrazakov, was tested positive for COVID-19. She was soon hospitalized in Moscow, being treated for COVID-19-related pneumonia for about a week.
=== Boycott, March 2022 ===
On 26 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netrebko released a statement in which she voiced her opposition to the war but disagreed with forcing one to voice one's political opinion. Despite her statement, she faced pressure from performance institutions for failing to distance herself from Russian president Vladimir Putin. On 1 March 2022, she said she would "retire from concert life until further notice". Immediately prior to this announcement, she withdrew from opera productions in Milan and Zürich, while the Bavarian State Opera cancelled existing engagements with both her and Valery Gergiev. Two days later, the Metropolitan Opera removed her from the upcoming Turandot, replacing her with the Ukrainian Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role, and from Don Carlos in the 2023 season. The Berlin State Opera and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden also cancelled her appearances, with the latter not ruling out future cooperation. Finn McRedmond of The Irish Times said that such a "wholesale boycott of Russia" would be "a dangerous departure from Western values".
On 30 March 2022, Netrebko released another statement where she announced plans to resume her public performances from May 2022, and repeated her condemnation of the war in Ukraine, distancing herself from Putin.
I expressly condemn the war on Ukraine and my thoughts are with the victims of this war and their families. My position is clear. I am not a member of any political party nor am I allied with any leader of Russia. I acknowledge and regret that past actions or statements of mine could have been misinterpreted. In fact, I have met President Putin only a handful of times in my entire life, most notably on the occasion of receiving awards in recognition of my art or at the Olympics opening ceremony. I have otherwise never received any financial support from the Russian Government, and live and am a tax resident in Austria. I love my homeland of Russia and only seek peace and unity through my art. After taking my announced break, I will resume performing in late May, initially in Europe.
Netrebko was denounced as a traitor of Russia after her second statement, with her Russian performances cancelled and a Duma deputy suggesting that she resign from her Russian titles. Berlin State Opera manager Matthias Schulz later announced that he had been contacting Netrebko about performances scheduled in 2023.
In June 2022, Netrebko filed a labor grievance against the Met with the assistance of the American Guild of Musical Artists. In March 2023, an arbitrator ordered the Met to pay her over $200,000 for the cancelled performances while she pay a $30,000 penalty for making "highly inappropriate" statements following the invasion.
=== Later career ===
In April 2022, Netrebko stepped in for Maria Agresta in Manon Lescaut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Her solo concerts in May 2022 at the Philharmonie de Paris and La Scala were described by the press as "triumphant". During summer 2022, she sang Aida and Turandot at the Arena di Verona with critical acclaim. In September 2022, she opened the 2022/23 season of the Vienna State Opera, singing Mimi in La bohème. Her attendance was met with mostly applause and boos from some protesters.
In June 2023, she opened the 100th edition of Arena di Verona Festival as Aida from Verdi. On 24 July 2023, she made her debuts at the Théâtre Antique d'Orange, closing the Chorégies d'Orange festival with a Verdi Gala also featuring Yusif Eyvazov and conducted by Michelangelo Mazza.
In May 2024, Netrebko performed Puccini's Turandot at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden in a new production of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden with stage direction and scenic design by Daniela Kerck. A reviewer from the Frankfurter Rundschau wrote that her heavy soprano was precise in all registers, with a velvety middle range, and her acting responsive to the story-line.
=== Use of face-darkening makeup ===
Netrebko has often performed the titular character in Aida, an Ethiopian princess, with face-darkening makeup, including her role debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2017, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 2018—despite the opera company's 2015 pledge to eliminate the use of face-darkening makeup in its productions. In June 2019 she defended such choice in the comments under her Instagram post for a performance.
In July 2022, Netrebko and the Arena di Verona Festival faced heavy criticism for performing in blackface, following the release of publicity photos for a performance of Aida. Subsequently, American soprano Angel Blue canceled her upcoming performances of La traviata at the Festival, citing the company's insistence on maintaining the practice. Blue's cancellation initiated heated discussion. Yusif Eyvazov called Blue's decision "disgusting," while mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry offered a conciliatory perspective.
Other notable singers to have publicly spoken out against the use of blackface in Opera include the mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton who named Netrebko directly, and Stephanie Blythe, who suggested an abstention from performing operas that have typically featured white singers made up to appear as other ethnicities.
Responding to the controversy surrounding blackface, the Arena di Verona Festival claimed it is "very hard to change" the production to avoid the use of blackface (this staging dates from 2002). The Festival also stated that when Blue signed her contract for La traviata, this staging of Aida was already planned and she should already have known that blackface was to be used.
== Other activities ==
Netrebko serves as an honorary director of the Russian Children's Welfare Society and has featured in several editions of "Petroushka Ball", the major fund raiser of the charity. In 2007, she was announced to be an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages in Austria, and a sponsor for the Tomilino village in Russia. She has been supporting the association "projekt Anna - Kinderhilfe Kaliningrad e.V." since 2005, and became its patron in 2008. In May 2012, she and her then-partner Erwin Schrott jointly founded the charitable foundation "Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott 4 Kids", aiming to promote education, art, culture and youth welfare.
Netrebko made a cameo appearance as herself in the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
She has worn several designs by Austrian fashion designer Irina Vitjaz, who is a close friend of hers.
=== Political activity and relationship with Vladimir Putin ===
As of 2022, there has been a debate over her association with Russian president Vladimir Putin. In 2012 she appeared on a list of 499 celebrities endorsing Putin in the 2012 Russian presidential election alongside Valery Gergiev and Denis Matsuev. She later explained this as a gesture of recognition of Putin's support for the arts. After a blogger published that she also appeared on a declaration of support for Putin in 2018 she stated several times that she did not sign this declaration, that her name was kept from the 2012 list without her approval and that she did not even participate in the vote.
In 2011, she rejected claims that she and Putin had formerly been romantically involved, though she jokingly said "I'd have loved to have been ... he's a very attractive man. Such a strong, male energy."
In December 2014, she gave a ₽1,000,000 cheque to Oleg Tsaryov saying she was donating to the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, and posed alongside him with a flag of Novorossiya, a self-proclaimed confederation in Ukraine. Tsaryov is one of the individuals sanctioned by the European Union for his role in the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. Netrebko said in a statement, "I want to make clear, however, that this donation is not a political act."
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netrebko has held varying public stances. In late February, she said on social media that she opposed the invasion, but subsequently described people who forced her to express her political position as "human s***s" who "are as evil as blind aggressors." After her second statement on 30 March 2022, where she repeated her condemnation of the war in Ukraine, distancing herself from Putin. The Putin-controlled Russian Duma denounced her a traitor to her nation.
Since January 2023, she was among the public figures who were sanctioned by the Government of Ukraine.
On 15 May 2025, about 100 Vitsche Berlin supporters demonstrated outside the Berlin State Opera to condemn performances by Anna Netrebko in light of her ties to the Kremlin.
== Public image ==
Time magazine placed her on its Time 100 list in 2007. She was named one of the Beautiful People in 2013 by Paper.
== Personal life ==
Netrebko applied for Austrian citizenship in Vienna in March 2006. In response to the backlash in her native country, she cited the cumbersome and humiliating process of obtaining visas as a Russian citizen for her many performances abroad as the main reason for the decision. In late July, the Council of Ministers approved the application for her "special merits", despite the fact that she neither spoke German nor lived in Austria.
Netrebko started a relationship with Italian bass-baritone Simone Alberghini when they met during performances of Rigoletto at the Washington National Opera in 1999. She announced their engagement but did not consider marrying due to a busy schedule. In May 2007 their relationship was confirmed as ended.
In December 2007, Netrebko became engaged to Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, whom she first met during a collaboration in 2003. In April 2008, she announced their marriage, but their wedding never in fact took place. Their son, Tiago Aruã, was born on 5 September 2008 in Vienna. On 25 November 2013, the couple announced their separation, after several months of leading largely separate lives.
In February 2014, during rehearsals for a staging of Manon Lescaut in Rome, Netrebko began a relationship with Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov, her co-star in that opera. Five months later, the couple announced their engagement. They married in Vienna on 29 December 2015. Their official wedding ceremony took place at the Palais Coburg, and the following celebration at the Gartenpalais Liechtenstein welcomed 180 guests in attendance, including Plácido Domingo. Netrebko announced their separation on 26 June 2024.
Netrebko has apartments in Saint Petersburg, Vienna, and New York City. In 2008, upon her pregnancy, she looked for a new residence in Vienna. That year, she purchased and renovated a penthouse apartment at Franziskanerplatz. The renovation was not finished and she still lived in her original apartment by 2010. The building was evacuated in February 2010 due to acute danger of collapsing and only reopened two months later. In November 2009, she moved into a new apartment above Lincoln Square, Manhattan, where she combined two units for additional space.
== Awards and honors ==
=== Musical awards ===
Netrebko won 2006 Bambi Award in the classical music category. She was awarded the "World Star" of the BraVo International Professional Music Awards 2018.
She won the 2007 Singer of the Year and the 2008 Female Artist of Year in the Classical Brit Awards. She was identified by the journal Musical America as "a genuine superstar for the 21st century" and was named Musician of the Year for 2008. Netrebko was one of the recipients of Leading Ladies Award 2012 awarded by Madonna magazine. She received another Leading Ladies Award in the category of Culture in 2016. She was presented an Opera News Award in April 2016.
Netrebko won the "Female Singer of the Year" (Sängerin des Jahres) in the 2014 and 2016 Echo Klassik Award. She was awarded "Best Vocalist in Classical Music" at the Russian National Music Awards in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She won the Best Female Singer in the 2017 International Opera Awards. On 26 October 2018, the Metropolitan Opera Guild honored her on its annual luncheon. In 2020 she was awarded the Swedish Polar Music Prize and the Victoire d'honneur in the Victoires de la musique classique.
In September 2022, she received an "Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis" as Best Female Leading Role for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth” in Wiener Staatsoper.
=== State honors and others ===
In 2004, Netrebko was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation. In February 2008, she was named People's Artist of Russia. In May 2018, she received the Order of Friendship from the Azerbaijani president. In February 2017, the Austrian government named her Kammersängerin.
On 18 September 2021, Netrebko celebrated her 50th birthday with a concert held in the Kremlin in Moscow. The concert featured friends and stars as Eyvazov, Rolando Villazon, Plácido Domingo or Michael Volle. Putin congratulated from afar through Dmitri Peskov, because he had been exposed to Corona cases. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Arithmetic of Good charity fund, which helps orphans.
Asteroid 31104 Annanetrebko was named in her honor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 31 January 2018 (M.P.C. 108697).
== Recordings ==
== Opera roles ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
== See also ==
Teodor Currentzis, Russian Greek conductor
== External links ==
Official website
Reviews, articles, photos and future schedules for Anna Netrebko from The Opera Critic
Profile of Netrebko, The New York Times
Interview with Anna Netrebko on Opera Lively
Anna Netrebko at IMDb
Interview with Anna Netrebko, Stephen Costello, Peter Gelb on Anna Bolena, Charlie Rose, 10 October 2011
Anna Netrebko at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise | Black Tortoise | The Black Tortoise is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is usually depicted as a tortoise intertwined with a snake.
According to Eastern Han philologist Xu Shen, the character 武 (wǔ) meant 士 (shì "knight") in the Jianghuai dialect. So the English translation Black ~ Dark ~ Mysterious Warrior is a more faithful translation.
It represents the north, thus it is sometimes called Black Warrior of the North (北方玄武; Běifāng Xuánwǔ).
While neither character 玄 or 武 literally means tortoise or snake; but tortoises and snakes are known to hibernate during winter, so 玄武 as a whole represents the season of winter.
The image of intertwined tortoise and snake likely symbolizes a state of inner struggle.
In Japan, the characters 玄武 are pronounced as Genbu. It is said to protect Kyoto on the north side, being one of the four guardian spirits that protect the city. It is represented by the Kenkun Shrine, which is located on top of Mount Funaoka in Kyoto.
An important Taoist priest also has 玄武 Xuanwu as his clergy name. He is sometimes (as in Journey to the West) portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake.
== History ==
During the Han dynasty, people often wore jade pendants that were in the shape of turtles. Originally, there was a legend that said that turtles could not mate with other turtles, only snakes. This is why the Black Tortoise is depicted with a snake on its back.
The northern gates of Chinese palaces were often named after the Xuanwu. Most famously, the Incident at Xuanwu Gate, where Li Shimin killed his brothers Jiancheng and Yuanji and seized power in a coup, took place at the north gate of the Taiji Palace, in the north of Chang'an.
== Legends ==
In ancient China, the tortoise and the serpent were thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. The Min people custom of building turtle-shaped tombs may have had to do with the desire to place the grave under the influence of the Black Tortoise.
=== Xuanwu ===
In the classic novel Journey to the West, Xuanwu was a king of the north who had two generals serving under him, a "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General". This god had a temple in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei and there are now a "Tortoise Mountain" and a "Snake Mountain" on opposite sides of a river near Wuhan, Hubei's capital. Taoist legend has it that Xuanwu was the prince of a Chinese ruler but was not interested in taking the throne, opting instead to leave his parents at age 16 and study Taoism. According to the legend, he eventually achieved divine status and was worshiped as a deity of the northern sky.
Other Chinese legends also speak of how the "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General" came to be. During Xuanwu's study to achieve enlightenment and divine status, he was told that, in order to fully achieve divinity, he must purge all human flesh from his body. Since he had always eaten the food of the world, despite all his efforts, his stomach and intestines were still human. A god then came and changed his organs with divine ones. Once removed, the original stomach and intestines were said to have become a tortoise and a snake, respectively. The tortoise and snake became demons and terrorized people. Now divine, Xuanwu heard of this and returned to slay the monsters he had unleashed on the countryside. However, as the snake and tortoise showed remorse, he did not kill them but instead let them train under him to atone for their wrongdoings. They then became the Tortoise and Snake generals and assisted Xuanwu with his quests (another legend held that the mortal organs were tossed out to become Wuhan's Tortoise and Snake mountains).
According to another source, once Xuanwu had begun his study of the Way, he discovered that he must purge himself of all of his past sins to become a god. He learned to achieve this by washing his stomach and intestines in the river. Washing his internal organs, his sins dissolved into the water in a dark, black form. These then formed into a black tortoise and a snake who terrorized the country. Once Xuanwu learned of this, he returned to subdue them as in the other story.
== Seven Mansions of the Black Tortoise ==
As with the other three Symbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Black Tortoise. The names and determinative stars are:
== See also ==
Ao – the great turtle of early Chinese mythology
Bixi – the son of the Dragon King who supports Chinese stelæ
Cetus in Chinese astronomy – Cetus and Black Tortoise correspond on astrology, and both creatures possess affinities to waters and travel to underworlds to guide people
Dragon turtle – a similar creature
Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden
Gamera – the fictional kaiju being repeatedly referenced to the Black Tortoise
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
"Star Charts and Moon Stations"
The Black Tortoise of the North |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/91_Aegina | 91 Aegina | 91 Aegina (from Latin Aegīna, Aegīnēta) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer Édouard Jean-Marie Stephan on 4 November 1866. It was his second and final asteroid discovery. The first was 89 Julia. The asteroid's name comes from Aegina, a Greek mythological figure associated with the island of the same name.
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.17 years and an eccentricity of 0.105. The orbit of this object brings it to within 4.9 Gm of the dwarf planet Ceres, and the resulting gravitational interaction has been used to produce mass estimates of the latter. The cross-section size of the asteroid is 110 km and it has a rotation period of six hours. The surface coloring of 91 Aegina is very dark and this C-type asteroid has probably a primitive carbonaceous composition. Observation of absorption bands at wavelengths of 0.7 and 3 μm indicate the presence of hydrated minerals and/or ice grains on the surface.
== References ==
== External links ==
Lightcurve plot of 91 Aegina, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2009)
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
91 Aegina at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
91 Aegina at the JPL Small-Body Database |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stanhope,_1st_Baron_Stanhope | John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope | John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope (1545 – 9 March 1621) was an English courtier, politician and peer.
== Life ==
He was the third son of Sir Michael Stanhope, born in Yorkshire, but brought up in Nottinghamshire after his father's attainder for treason in 1552. His father's end did not apparently hinder his own career, and he is probably the John Stanhope who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Marlborough in the Parliament of 1572–1581, for Truro in 1586 and for Rochester in 1588.
At court, Stanhope was a Gentleman of the Queen's Privy Chamber. On 22 December 1589 he wrote from Richmond Palace to Lord Talbot, describing Queen Elizabeth's good health; "the Queen is so well as I assure you 6 or 7 galliards in a morning, besides music & singing, is her ordinary exercise."
At some point during his early career, Stanhope attached himself to the coat-tails of Sir Robert Cecil and subsequently proved a reliable ally, receiving in return a series of appointments. He was Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding and Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire for many years and a member of the Council of the North. In 1590, he was appointed Master of the King's Posts; and in 1596, he was knighted and appointed as Treasurer of the Chamber.
In 1597, Stanhope stood for election to Parliament as Member for Yorkshire, presumably assuming that with his own standing and Cecil's backing he would be certain of success, but they had not reckoned with the independence of the large electorate - Stanhope spent most of his time at court and no longer lived in Yorkshire, and despite his local roots, they may have considered him an outsider. According to Stanhope's supporters, his principal opponent, Sir John Savile, was backed by only "eight other gentlemen of any reckoning, but with a great number of clothiers and artificers"; but he was local and strongly connected with the clothing industry that provided many of the voters with their livelihood. Stanhope was defeated in a tumultuous election. After the Archbishop of York and other members of the Council of the North reported to the Privy Council that Savile had shown contempt for their authority, the council had him arrested, but they could not overturn the election result and were forced to release him in time to take his seat.
Meanwhile, Stanhope was hastily found a seat instead for Preston, a borough Cecil had in his gift as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He later sat for Northamptonshire in the Parliament of 1601 and for Newtown from 1604 until, on 2 May 1605, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Stanhope, of Harrington.
As one of Cecil's leading followers, it was rumoured in 1600 that Stanhope would soon become Lord Chancellor. Instead, he was provided for by being appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household. In 1603 he was appointed one of the "Commissioners to treat of a Union between England and Scotland", to settle the arrangements for the inheritance of the English throne by the king of Scotland, James VI; and in 1609, he became a member of the council of the Virginia Company.
He resigned the Treasurership of the Chamber and retired from his other posts in 1616 and died in 1621. He was succeeded in his peerage (and as Master of the King's Posts) by his son, Charles Stanhope.
== Family ==
Stanhope was twice married: first to Joan, daughter of William Knollys, by whom he had no issue; and second, on 6 May 1589, to Margaret, daughter of Henry Macwilliam, one of the queen's gentlemen pensioners. By her he had issue:
Charles, born in 1593, who succeeded as second baron but died without issue in 1675, when the title became extinct;
Elizabeth, who married Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet; and
Catherine, who married Robert, Viscount Cholmondeley.
Margaret died in 1640 and was buried alongside her husband at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
The later peers of the Stanhope family descend from the first baron's brother, Thomas.
== References ==
J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
== Notes ==
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Stanhope, John". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Justice_of_Bolivia | Supreme Court of Justice of Bolivia | The Supreme Court of Bolivia (Spanish: Corte Suprema de Justicia de Bolivia) was Bolivia's highest court from 1825 to 2012. It was located in Sucre, 410 kilometres to the south-east of La Paz, Bolivia's capital. The Court was created by the Supreme Decree (Decreto Supremo) of April 27, 1825, which transformed the Royal Audience of Charcas (Audiencia y Cancillería Real de La Plata de los Charcas) of imperial Spain into the Supreme Court of the newly independent country. The Supreme Court of Bolivia was officially inaugurated on July 16, 1827.
== Composition ==
The Supreme Court of Bolivia was composed of 12 ministers (judges) who served 10-year terms after election by the National Congress.
In 1827, Manuel María Urcullo became the first President of the Supreme Court of Bolivia. He was joined by Ministers (Judges) Mariano Guzmán, Juan de la Cruz Monje y Ortega, and Casimiro Olañeta. The following individuals were among the 56 ministers that served as the court's president:
José María Serrano
Casimiro Olañeta
José María Dalence
Manuel Sánchez de Velasco
Pantaleón Dalence
Belisario Boeto
Luis Paz
Ángel Sandóval
Mario C. Araoz
José Torrico Sierra
Manuel Durán Padilla
Raúl Romero Linares
Remberto Prado Montaño
Édgar Oblitas Fernández
Óscar Hassenteufel Salazar
Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé
Héctor Sandóval Parada
== Abolition ==
The court was superseded in January 2012 by the Supreme Court of Justice under the 2009 constitution.
== See also ==
Supreme Court of Justice (Bolivia)
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Fonzi | Dolores Fonzi | Dolores María Fonzi (born 19 July 1978) is an Argentine television, theatre and film actress. Several of her films have received critical acclaim such as Burnt Money (2000), Waiting for the Messiah (2000), Bottom of the Sea (2003), The Aura (2005), and Paulina (2015).
In 2023, she marked her directorial debut with the comedy-drama Blondi. Her second film, the legal drama Belén, is competing for the Golden Shell at the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival.
== Biography ==
Dolores Fonzi was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the separation of her parents, her mother, María del Rosario Cárrega, returned with her children to Adrogué, a city where Dolores and her brothers Tomás and Diego grew up. She studied acting at the school of Carlos Gandolfo. Her brother Tomás Fonzi is also an actor in Argentina.
== Career ==
In 1996, when she was seventeen years old, Dolores Fonzi made her first television appearance in the series La nena. In 1998, Cris Morena chose her to play Clara Vázquez in Verano del '98 with her brother, who played Benjamín Vázquez. Thanks to this successful series and her character as a villain, she gained great popularity and success. At the end of 1999 she left Verano del '98 to be part of the cast of Marcelo Piñeyro's film Burnt Money, thereby landing her film debut with a role as a sex worker. She also appeared in Waiting for the Messiah. In 2001, she had great recognition by integrating the cast of El sodero de mi vida in Canal 13, where she played a girl with a slight mental retardation. Experimenting with Luis Ortega the tape Caja negra is born, where she acted and participated in the integral creation. She later acted in movies like Private Lives, Bottom of the Sea, The Aura, La mujer rota, Salamandra, El club de la muerte and El campo, for the latter she was nominated for the Silver Condor Awards for Best Actress. In 2003 she starred in the unitary series Disputas and in the adaptation of the play of John Ford, Lástima que sea una puta. The following year she starred with Mariano Martínez the terror unit, Sangre fría by Telefe.
During 2006, Fonzi starred and produced the miniseries Soy tu fan which in 2010 was adapted by Canana Films in Mexico. She also starred in the series El tiempo no para by Canal 9. From 2005 to 2008 she participated in three chapters of Mujeres asesinas. Her return to television was in 2012 with her participation in Graduados the new Underground production for Telefe. In addition, she was part of the unit of TV Pública En terapia with the actors Norma Aleandro, Diego Peretti, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Ailín Salas, Julieta Cardinali and Germán Palacios. She also resumed the theater as the protagonist of the play Isósceles. That year, she also made the filming of El Crítico by Hernán Guerschuny, a co-production between HC Films and Lagarto Cine where Dolores Fonzi had the lead alongside Rafael Spregelburd. On television she participated as a guest actress in two episodes of the series Aliados.
In 2015 Fonzi starred in the film Paulina, remake of the film starring Mirtha Legrand, in 1960. The film had a strong box office collection and favorable reviews, being praised at the Cannes Festival. For her work in the film, Fonzi was awarded the Havana Star Prize for Best Actress at the 17th Havana Film Festival New York. She also acted in Truman film starring Ricardo Darín. In 2016 she was part of the cast of the series of La Leona, she played Eugenia Leone.
== Personal life ==
From 2008 to 2014, Fonzi was in a relationship with actor Gael García Bernal, whom she met on the set of the 2001 film Private Lives. They had two children respectively born in 2009 and 2011. Afterwards, Fonzi entered a relationship with filmmaker Santiago Mitre, whom she met during the filming of Paulina in 2014.
== Filmography ==
=== Television ===
=== Movies ===
=== Theater ===
=== Videoclips ===
== Accolades ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Dolores Fonzi at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_justices_of_India#List_of_Chief_Justices_of_India | List of chief justices of India | The chief justice of India is the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India. As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges.
A new chief justice is appointed by the president of India with recommendations by the outgoing chief justice in consultation with other judges. The chief justice serves in the role until they reach the age of sixty-five or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment. As per convention, the name suggested by the incumbent chief justice is almost always the next senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. This convention has been broken twice: in 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding three senior judges and in 1977, Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.
A total of 53 chief justices have served in the office since the Supreme Court of India superseded the Federal Court of India in 1950. Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, the 16th chief justice, is the longest-serving chief justice, serving over seven years (February 1978 – July 1985), while Kamal Narain Singh, the 22nd chief justice, is the shortest-serving, for 17 days in 1991. As of 2025, there has been no woman who has served as chief justice of India. The current and 53rd chief justice is Surya Kant who entered office on 24 November 2025. He will have a term of 15 months which is due to end on 9 February 2027.
== List of chief justices of the Federal Court of India ==
The Federal Court of India came into being on 1 October 1937. The seat of the court was in Delhi and it functioned until the establishment of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January 1950. The first chief justice was Sir Maurice Gwyer.
Key
== List of chief justices of India ==
== See also ==
List of current Indian chief justices
List of female chief justices in India
List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India
List of former judges of the Supreme Court of India
List of female judges of the Supreme Court of India
== Notes ==
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothair_I | Lothair I | Lothair I (9th. C. Frankish: Ludher and Medieval Latin: Lodharius; Dutch and Medieval Latin: Lotharius; German: Lothar; French: Lothaire; Italian: Lotario; 795 – 29 September 855) was a 9th-century Emperor of the Carolingian Empire (817–855, with his father until 840) and King of Italy (818–855) and Middle Francia (843–855).
Lothair I was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor Louis I and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman the duke of Hesbaye. On several occasions, Lothair led his full-brothers Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German in revolt against their father to protest against attempts to make their half-brother Charles the Bald a co-heir to the Frankish domains. Upon the father's death, Charles and Louis joined forces against Lothair in a three-year dynastic war (840–843). The struggles between the brothers led directly to the breakup of the Frankish Empire assembled by their grandfather Charlemagne, and laid the foundation for the development of modern France and Germany.
== Early life and reign ==
Lothair was born in 795, to Louis the Pious and Ermengarde of Hesbaye. His father was the son of the reigning Emperor, Charlemagne. At the time of Lothair's birth, his father Louis was already the King of Aquitaine. Little is known of Lothair's early life, which was probably passed at the courts of his father and grandfather. In 814, the elderly emperor died, and left his sole surviving legitimate son Louis the Pious as successor to his vast empire. Being already of age, Lothair was sent to govern Bavaria for his father, the new emperor.
In 817, Louis the Pious drew up his Ordinatio Imperii. By that act, Louis designated Lothair as his principal heir and ordered that Lothair would be the overlord of Louis' younger sons Pippin of Aquitaine (who was 20) and Louis the German (who was 13), and also the presumptive overlord of the Kingdom of Italy, that was ruled at this time by their cousin, king Bernard of Italy. Lothair would also inherit their lands if they were to die childless. Lothair was then crowned joint emperor by his father at Aachen. At the same time, Aquitaine and Bavaria were granted to his brothers Pippin and Louis, respectively, as subsidiary kingdoms.
Following the death of Bernard (818), brought on by his plotting against and blinding by Louis the Pious, Italy was awarded to Lothair. In 821, Lothair married Ermengarde (d. 851), daughter of Hugh the Count of Tours. In 822, he assumed the government of Italy, and at Easter, 5 April 823, he received the royal crown of Italy, and was again crowned as emperor by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome. In November 824, Lothair promulgated a statute, the Constitutio Romana, concerning the relations of pope and emperor, which reserved the supreme power to the secular potentate, and he afterwards issued various ordinances for the good government of Italy.
On Lothair's return to his father's court, his stepmother Judith won his consent to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme which was carried out in 829, when the young prince was given Alemannia as king. Lothair, however, soon changed his attitude and spent the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father. He was alternately master of the Empire, and banished and confined to Italy, at one time taking up arms in alliance with his brothers and at another fighting against them, whilst the bounds of his appointed kingdom were in turn extended and reduced.
== Division of the kingdom ==
The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, their father was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to Charles. The second rebellion was instigated by Angilbert II, Archbishop of Milan in 833, and again Louis was deposed in 834. Lothair, through the loyalty of the Lombards and later reconciliations, retained Italy and the imperial position through all remaining divisions of the Empire by his father.
When Louis the Pious was dying in 840, he sent the imperial insignia to Lothair, who, disregarding the various partitions, claimed the whole of the Empire. He was 45 years old when his father died. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom resisted this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair. A decisive battle was fought at Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841, when, in spite of his and his allied nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine's personal gallantry, Lothair was defeated and fled to Aachen. With fresh troops he began a war of plunder, but the forces of his brothers were too strong, and taking with him such treasure as he could collect, he abandoned his capital to them. He met with the leaders of the Stellinga in Speyer and promised them his support in return for theirs, but Louis and then the native Saxon nobility put down the Stellinga in the next years.
Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Saône. They agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843. By this, Lothair received the imperial title as well as northern Italy and a long stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhône; this territory includes the regions Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, and Provence. He soon ceded Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in Frankish writings) and the Saracens (as those loyal to the various Fatimids, Umayyads and Abbasides are known in Frankish writings).
In 845 the count of Arles, Fulcrad, led a rebellion in Provence. The emperor put it down and the count joined him in an expedition against the Saracens in Italy in 846.
== Death and aftermath ==
In 855 he became seriously ill, and despairing of recovery renounced the throne, divided his lands among his three sons, and on 23 September entered the monastery of Prüm, where he died six days later. He was buried at Prüm, where his remains were found in 1860. It was at Prüm that Lothair was most commemorated.
The same year, Lothair's kingdom was divided between his three sons in a deal called the Treaty of Prüm: the eldest, Louis II, received Italy and the title of emperor; the second, Lothair II, received Lotharingia; the youngest, Charles, received Provence.
== Family ==
Lothair married Ermengarde of Tours in 821, who died in 851.
Louis II (825–875) Crowned as King of Italy in 844 by Pope Sergius II. Crowned Emperor in 850. Married Engelberga
Hiltrude (826–865) Married Berengar of Spoleto.
Bertha (c. 830–852) Married to an unknown man, but later Abbess of Avenay.
Gisela (c. 830–856) abbess of San Salvatore at Brescia.
Lothair II (835–869) Succeeded his father. Married Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder, Count of Arles.
Rotrude (c. 840) Married Lambert II of Nantes.
Charles (845–863) Invested with Provence, Lyon and Transjuranian Burgundy
One illegitimate child is known.
Carloman (? – d. 853)
== See also ==
== References ==
== Sources ==
== External links ==
Media related to Lothair I at Wikimedia Commons
Surviving letters of Lothar I, in Latin with English translation by Richard Matthew Pollard. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sherman | Cindy Sherman | Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters.
Her breakthrough work is often considered to be the collection Untitled Film Stills, a series of 70 black-and-white photographs of herself evoking typical female roles in performance media (especially arthouse films and popular B-movies).
== Early life and education ==
Sherman was born in 1954, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, the youngest of the five children of Dorothy and Charles Sherman. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to the township of Huntington, Long Island. Her father worked as an engineer for Grumman Aircraft. Her mother taught reading to children with learning difficulties. Sherman has described her mother as good to a fault, and her father as strict and cruel. She was raised Episcopalian.
In 1972, Sherman enrolled in the visual arts department at Buffalo State University, where she majored in painting. During this time, she began to explore the ideas which became a hallmark of her work: She dressed herself as different characters, cobbled together from thrift-store clothing. Frustrated with what she saw as the limitations of painting as a medium of art, she abandoned it and took up photography. "[T]here was nothing more to say [through painting]", she recalled. "I was meticulously copying other art, and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead." Sherman has said about this time:
"One of the reasons I started photographing myself was that supposedly in the spring one of my teachers would take the class out to a place near Buffalo where there were waterfalls and everybody romps around without clothes on and takes pictures of each other. I thought, 'Oh, I don't want to do this. But if we're going to have to go to the woods I better deal with it early.' Luckily we never had to do that." She spent the remainder of her college education focused on photography. Though Sherman had failed a required photography class as a freshman, she repeated the course with Barbara Jo Revelle, whom she credited with introducing her to conceptual art and other contemporary forms. At college she met Robert Longo, a fellow artist who encouraged her to record her process of "dolling up" for parties. This was the beginning of her Untitled Film Stills series.
In 1974, together with Longo, Charles Clough and Nancy Dwyer, she created Hallwalls, an arts center intended as a space that would accommodate artists from diverse backgrounds. Sherman was also exposed to the contemporary art exhibited at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the two Buffalo campuses of the SUNY school system, Media Studies Buffalo, and the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts, and Artpark, in nearby Lewiston, N.Y.
It was in Buffalo that Sherman encountered the photo-based conceptual works of artists Hannah Wilke, Eleanor Antin, and Adrian Piper. Along with artists like Laurie Simmons, Louise Lawler, and Barbara Kruger, Sherman is considered to be part of the Pictures Generation. She graduated with a BA in 1976.
== Photography ==
Sherman works in series, typically photographing herself in a range of costumes. To create her photographs, Sherman shoots alone in her studio, assuming multiple roles as author, director, make-up artist, hairstylist, wardrobe mistress, and model.
=== Early work ===
Bus Riders (1976–2000) is a series of photographs that feature the artist as a variety of meticulously observed characters. The photographs were shot in 1976 for the Bus Authority for display on a bus. Sherman used costumes and make-up, including blackface, to transform her identity for each image, and the cutout characters were lined up along the bus's advertising strip. Some critiques say that this work showed insensitivity to race through the use of blackface makeup while others state that it was rather with the intention of exposing racism embedded in society. The American theatre critic Margo Jefferson has written, "[The African-American figures] all have nearly the same features, too, while Ms. Sherman is able to give the white characters she impersonates a real range of skin tones and facial features. This didn't look like irony to me. It looked like a stale visual myth that was still in good working order."
Other early works involved cutout figures, such as the Murder Mystery and Play of Selves.
In her landmark photograph series Untitled Film Stills, (1977–80), Sherman appears as B-movie and film noir actresses. When asked if she considers herself to be acting in her photographs, Sherman said, "I never thought I was acting. When I became involved with close-ups I needed more information in the expression. I couldn't depend on background or atmosphere. I wanted the story to come from the face. Somehow the acting just happened."
Many of Sherman's photo series, like the 1981 Centerfolds, call attention to stereotypes of women in society, films, television and magazines. When talking about one of her centerfold pictures Sherman stated, "In content I wanted a man opening up the magazine suddenly look at it with an expectation of something lascivious and then feel like the violator that they would be looking at this woman who is perhaps a victim. I didn't think of them as victims at the time... Obviously I'm trying to make someone feel bad for having a certain expectation".
She explained to The New York Times in 1990, "I feel I'm anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren't self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear." She describes her process as intuitive, and that she responds to elements of a setting such as light, mood, location, and costume, and will continue to change external elements until she finds what she wants. She has said of her process, "I think of becoming a different person. I look into a mirror next to the camera...it's trance-like. By staring into it I try to become that character through the lens ... When I see what I want, my intuition takes over—both in the 'acting' and in the editing. Seeing that other person that's up there, that's what I want. It's like magic."
=== Untitled Film Stills ===
The series Untitled Film Stills (1977–1980), with which Cindy Sherman achieved international recognition, consists of 69 black-and-white photographs. The artist poses in different roles (librarians, hillbillies, and seductresses), and settings (streets, yards, pools, beaches, and interiors), producing a result reminiscent of stills typical of Italian neorealism or American film noir of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
Sherman avoided putting titles on the images in order to preserve their ambiguity. She would often pose her heroines as alone, expressionless, and in private. An overarching characteristic of her heroines were those that did not follow conventional ideas of marriage and family; they were rebellious women who either died as that or who were later tamed by society. In this series, the gaze seems to come from another subject – "usually a man" – to highlight the concept of the male gaze.
Modest in scale compared to Sherman's later cibachrome photographs, they are all 8 1/2 by 11 inches, each displayed in identical, simple black frames.
Sherman used her own possessions as props, or sometimes borrowed, as in Untitled Film Still #11 in which the doggy pillow belongs to a friend. The shots were also largely taken in her own apartment.
The Untitled Film Stills fall into several distinct groups:
The first six are grainy and slightly out of focus (e.g. Untitled #4).
The next group was taken in 1978 at Robert Longo's family beach house on the north fork of Long Island. (Sherman met Longo in 1976 and began a relationship with him)
Later in 1978, Sherman began taking shots in outdoor locations around the city. E.g. Untitled Film Still #21
Sherman later returned to her apartment, preferring to work from home. She created her version of a Sophia Loren character from the movie Two Women. (E.g. Untitled Film Still #35 (1979))
She took several photographs in the series while preparing for a road trip to Arizona with her parents. Untitled Film Still#48 (1979), also known as The Hitchhiker, was shot by Sherman's father at sunset one evening during the trip.
The remainder of the series was shot around New York, like Untitled #54, often featuring a blonde victim typical of film noir.
The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan purchased the series for an estimated $1 million in 1995.
Untitled Film Still #21 was listed as one of the 100 influential photographs by TIME Magazine.
=== 1980s ===
In addition to her film stills, Sherman has appropriated a number of other visual forms—the centerfold, fashion photograph, historical portrait, and soft-core sex image. These and other series, like the 1980s Fairy Tales and Disasters sequence, were shown for the first time at the Metro Pictures Gallery in New York City.
It was with her series Rear Screen Projections, 1980, that Sherman switched from black-and-white to color and to clearly larger formats. Centerfolds/Horizontals, 1981, are inspired by the center spreads in fashion and pornographic magazines. The twelve (24 by 48 inches) photographs were initially commissioned — but not used — by Artforum's Editor in Chief Ingrid Sischy for an artist's section in the magazine. She poses either on the floor or in bed, usually recumbent and often supine. About her aims with the self-portraits, Sherman has said: "Some of them I'd hope would seem very psychological. While I'm working I might feel as tormented as the person I'm portraying."
In 1982, Sherman began her Pink Robes series which includes Untitled #97, #98, #99 and #100.
In Fairy Tales, 1985, and Disasters, 1986–1989, Cindy Sherman uses visible prostheses and mannequins for the first time. Provoked by the 1989 NEA funding controversy involving photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as well as the way Jeff Koons modeled his porn star wife in his "Made in Heaven" series, Sherman produced the Sex series in 1989. For once she removed herself from the shots, as these photographs featured pieced-together medical dummies in flagrante delicto.
Between 1989 and 1990, Sherman made 35 large, color photographs restaging the settings of various European portrait paintings of the fifteenth through early 19th centuries under the title History Portraits.
Rear Screen Projections
Rear Screen Projections is a series of photographs created by Cindy Sherman in 1980. This particular body of work features herself as the model in each image, posing in front of various rear-projected landscape scenes. Sherman appears in various guises, often described as "hitchhiker" or "runaway" types. The use of rear-projected images creates a sense of artifice and theatricality, as Sherman's character seems to be placed within, but not truly a part of, the depicted landscape. The settings range from mundane roadside scenes to more exotic, dreamlike vistas.
The series is seen as a continuation of themes explored in Sherman's earlier work Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980), particularly the exploration of female stereotypes and the construction of identity through photography. However, Rear Screen Projections differs in its overt use of artifice, drawing attention to the constructed nature of the image.
This body of work is considered a significant series in Sherman's oeuvre, bridging her early work with her later, more elaborate series. It's recognized for its innovative use of rear projection and its continued exploration of themes of identity, representation, and the constructed nature of reality. [11] The series has been influential on subsequent generations of photographers and artists working with constructed photography and staged self-portraiture.
Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales is a series of photographs created by Cindy Sherman in 1985. The series marks a significant departure from her earlier work, such as the Untitled Film Stills, in its overt engagement with grotesque and abject imagery.
In Fairy Tales, Sherman transforms herself into a cast of disturbing and often repulsive characters, drawing inspiration from classic fairy tales, though not illustrating specific narratives. The photographs feature Sherman in elaborate costumes and makeup, often surrounded by decaying props, discarded objects, and unsettling environments. The images evoke a sense of decay, horror, and psychological distress, subverting the traditional, idealized representations of fairy tale characters.
The series is characterized by its use of vivid color, theatrical staging, and a focus on the grotesque. Sherman employs prosthetics, masks, and other theatrical devices to create monstrous and deformed figures, challenging conventional notions of beauty and femininity.
=== 1990s ===
==== Sex Pictures ====
Sherman uses prosthetic limbs and mannequins to create her Sex Pictures series (1992). Hal Foster, an American art critic, describes Sherman's Sex Pictures in his article Obscene, Abject, Traumatic as "[i]n this scheme of things the impulse to erode the subject and to tear at the screen has driven Sherman [...] to her recent work, where it is obliterated by the gaze."
Reviewer Jerry Saltz told New York magazine that Sherman's work is "[f]ashioned from dismembered and recombined mannequins, some adorned with pubic hair, one posed with a tampon in vagina, another with sausages being excreted from vulva, this was anti-porn porn, the unsexiest sex pictures ever made, visions of feigning, fighting, perversion. ... Today, I think of Cindy Sherman as an artist who only gets better."
Greg Fallis of Utata Tribal Photography describes Sherman's Sex Pictures series and her work as follows: "With her Sex Pictures, Sherman posed medical prostheses in sexualized positions, recreating—and strangely modifying—pornography. An example of this can be seen in her work entitled Untitled,#264. Sherman displays herself with a body made of prosthetic. Her face is the only part of her that shows but is covered by a gas mask meant to emphasize the parts of the female body that tend to be over-sexualized.
=== Society Portraits ===
The Society Portraits is a series of photographs created by Cindy Sherman in 2008. The series features Sherman posing as wealthy, older women.
In Society Portraits, Sherman embodies a range of aging, affluent women. The portraits are characterized by their elaborate costumes, styled hair, and heavy makeup. The women are often adorned with jewelry and designer clothing, and posed in luxurious, though somewhat sterile, settings. Despite the trappings of wealth, the portraits often convey a sense of loneliness, vulnerability, and anxiety. Sherman employs digital manipulation in this series, enhancing wrinkles, sagging skin, and other signs of aging, contributing to the overall effect of unease.
=== 2000s ===
Between 2003 and 2004, Sherman produced the Clowns cycle, where the use of digital photography enabled her to create chromatically garish backdrops and montages of numerous characters. Set against opulent backdrops and presented in ornate frames, the characters in Sherman's 2008 untitled Society Portraits are not based on specific women, but the artist has made them look entirely familiar in their struggle with the standards of beauty that prevail in a youth- and status-obsessed culture.
Her exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 2012 also presented a photographic mural (2010–11) accompanied by films selected by Sherman. In this mural, she photoshopped her face with a decorative backdrop to transform herself into a fictitious environment. Along with other characters, Sherman toys with the idea of reality and fantasy together. Based on a 32-page insert Sherman did for POP using vintage clothes from Chanel's archive, a more recent series of large-scale pictures from 2012 depict outsized enigmatic female figures standing in striking isolation before ominous painterly landscapes the artist had photographed in Iceland during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and on the isle of Capri.
In 2017, she collaborated on a "selfie" project with W Magazine that was based on the concept of the "plandid", or "the planned candid photograph". Sherman utilized a variety of photo-correction apps to create her Instagram portraits.
From 2019 she showed self-portraits executed as tapestries by a Belgian workshop.
=== Fashion ===
Sherman's career has also included several fashion series, including designs for Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and Marc Jacobs. In 1983, fashion designer and retailer Dianne Benson commissioned her to create a series of advertisements for her store, Dianne B., that appeared in several issues of Interview magazine. Untitled #122 from this collection was especially iconic; by working to deemphasise the clothing, she played with the conventions of fashion photography popular at this time. Sherman also created photographs for an editorial in Harper's Bazaar in 1993. In 1994, she produced the Post Card Series for Comme des Garçons for the brand's autumn/winter 1994–95 collections in collaboration with Rei Kawakubo.
In 2006, Sherman created a series of fashion advertisements for designer Marc Jacobs. The advertisements themselves were photographed by Juergen Teller and released as a monograph by Rizzoli. For Balenciaga, Sherman created the six-image series Cindy Sherman: Untitled (Balenciaga) in 2008; they were first shown to the public in 2010. Also in 2010, Sherman collaborated with Anna Hu on a design for a piece of jewelry. She returned to working with Teller on Marc Jacobs' Spring/Summer 2024 campaign.
== Music and films ==
In the early 1990s, Sherman worked with Minneapolis band Babes in Toyland, providing photographs for covers for the albums Fontanelle and Painkillers, creating a stage backdrop used in live concerts, and acting in the promotional video for the song "Bruise Violet." She also worked as a film director.
Sherman moved from photographs to film with her movie Office Killer in 1997, starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Molly Ringwald and Carol Kane. Dorine, played by Carol Kane, is a stand-in for Sherman. They have a shared interest in arranging bodies, like a puppeteer, in diorama-like scenes. According to author Dahlia Schweitzer, Office Killer is full of unexpected characters and plot twists. Schweitzer considers the film to be a comedy, horror, melodrama, noir, feminist statement, and an art piece. Echoing similar grisly and gory elements as her Untitled Horror series, the film includes several artistically executed murder scenes. Office Killer grossed $37,446 and received generally poor reviews, which called the film "crude" and "laugh-free." In a review for The New York Times, art critic Roberta Smith states that the film lacks the artist's usual finesse and is a retrospective of her work – "a fascinating if lumpish bit of Shermaniana." Movie critic colleague to Roberta Smith, Stephen Holden, called the film "sadly inept."
Later, she had a cameo role in John Waters' film Pecker, and also appeared in The Feature in 2008, starring ex-husband Michel Auder, which won a New Vision Award.
In 2009, Paul Hasegawa-Overacker and Tom Donahue completed a feature documentary, Guest of Cindy Sherman, about the former's relationship with Sherman. She was initially supportive, but later opposed the project.
In the catalog essay by Philipp Kaiser for Sherman's 2016 exhibition at the Metro Pictures Gallery, he mentioned six short films that Sherman made while in college, and how they were the precursors that eventually led to Office Killer being created. The catalog also includes a conversation between Sherman and the director of the exhibit, Sofia Coppola, in which Sherman admits that she may star in an upcoming film project.
== Exhibitions ==
Sherman's first solo show in New York was presented at a noncommercial space The Kitchen in 1980. When the Metro Pictures Gallery opened later that year, Sherman's photographs were the first show. "Untitled Film Stills" were shown first at the non-profit gallery Artists Space where Sherman was working as a receptionist. Her first solo exhibitions in France were presented by Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris.
Sherman has since participated in many international events, including SITE Santa Fe (2004); the Venice Biennale (1982, 1995); and five Whitney Biennials. In addition to numerous group exhibitions, Sherman's work was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1982), Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1987), Kunsthalle Basel (1991), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. (1995), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1998), the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (2003), and Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin (2007), among others. Major traveling retrospectives of Sherman's work have been organized by the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam (1996); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1997), which was sponsored by Madonna; and Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Denmark, and Jeu de Paume in Paris (2006–2007). In 2009, Sherman was included in the seminal show "The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art mounted Cindy Sherman, a show that chronicled Sherman's work from the mid-1970s on and include more than 170 photographs. The exhibition travelled to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In 2013, Sherman was invited to organize a show within that year's Venice Biennale.
In 2016, after a sabbatical from her studio which was spent "coming to terms with health issues and getting older," Sherman produced and staged her first photo gallery in five years. The series, "The Imitation of Life," named after a 1959 melodrama by Douglas Sirk, tackles aging by presenting Sherman in highly stylized glamour portraits inspired by the divas of old Hollywood, such as Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, and Ruby Keeler. The series was exhibited in 2016 at the Metro Pictures Gallery in New York City, and also at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. In 2017 it was shown at the Spruth Magers gallery in Berlin, Germany, and at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.
In 2019, the National Portrait Gallery, London, organized a major retrospective of Sherman's works from the mid-1970s to the present. In 2024, at the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Sherman's first exhibition in Greece was held, gathering together over a hundred of her early works.
In 2024, Cindy Sherman exhibited Tapestries at Fotografiska Stockholm, presenting a series of tapestries based on her digitally altered Instagram selfies, marking her first major exploration of this medium.
== Feminism ==
In Sherman's Imitation of Life series of 2016 she poses, in vintage costume and theatrical makeup, as a variety of ageing actress-like women.
When writing about Sherman's "Film Stills" in the journal October, the scholar Douglas Crimp states that Sherman's work is "a hybrid of photography and performance art that reveals femininity to be an effect of representation."
However, Sherman does not consider her work or herself to be feminist, stating "The work is what it is and hopefully it's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical bullshit about feminist stuff."
Many scholars emphasize the relationship Cindy Sherman's work has with the concept of the gaze. In particular, scholars like Laura Mulvey have analyzed Sherman's Untitled series in relation to the male gaze. In a 1991 essay on Sherman, Mulvey states that ″the accouterments of the feminine struggle to conform to a facade of desirability haunt Sherman's iconography,″ which functions as a parody of different voyeurisms captured by the camera.
Others question whether this confrontation with the male gaze and a feminine struggle was an intentional consideration of Sherman's, and whether this intentionality is important in considering the feminist standpoint of Sherman's photography.
Sherman herself has identified an uncertainty toward the Untitled series' relationship with the male gaze. In a 1991 interview with David Brittain in Creative Camera, Sherman said that "I didn't really analyze it at the time as far as knowing that I was commenting upon some feminist issue. The theories weren't there at all... But now I can look back on some of them, and I think some of them are a little blatantly obvious, too much like the original pin-up pictures of those times, so I have mixed feelings about them now as a whole series."
In addition to questions of the gaze, Sherman's work is also given feminist analysis in the context of abjection. Scholars like Hal Foster and Laura Mulvey interpret Sherman's use of the abject via the grotesque in 1980s projects like Vomit Pictures as de-fetishizing the female body.
Scholar Michele Meager interprets Sherman as having been "crowned a resistant celebrity" to feminist theory.
== Art market ==
In 2010, Sherman's nearly six foot tall chromogenic color print Untitled#153 (1985), featuring the artist as a mud-caked corpse, was sold by Phillips de Pury & Company for $2.7 million, near the $3 million high estimate. In 2011, a print of Untitled#96 fetched $3.89 million at Christie's, making it the most expensive photograph at that time.
Sherman was represented by Metro Pictures for 40 years and also by Sprüth Magers before moving to Hauser & Wirth in 2021.
In April 2023, Phillips NY auctioned the 159 cm x 359 cm sized-Untitled #546 (2010) for a well above-estimate $355,600.
== Influence on contemporary artists ==
Sherman's work is often credited as a major influence for contemporary portrait photographers. One such photographer is Ryan Trecartin, who manipulates themes of identity in his videos and photography. Her influence stretches to artists in other art mediums, including painter Lisa Yuskavage, visual artist Jillian Mayer, and performance artist Tracey Ullman.
In April 2014, actor and artist James Franco exhibited a series of photographs at the Pace Gallery called New Film Stills, in which Franco restaged twenty-nine images from Sherman's Untitled Film Stills. The exhibit garnered mainly negative reviews, calling Franco's appropriations 'sophomoric,' 'sexist,' and 'embarrassingly clueless.'
== Personal life ==
Sherman lived with artist Robert Longo, from 1974 to 1980, who also included her in his 'Men in the Cities' series of photographs. She married director Michel Auder in 1984, making her stepmother to Auder's daughter, Alexandra, and her half-sister Gaby Hoffmann. They divorced in 1999. She was then in a 5-year relationship with Paul Hasegawa-Overacker, creator of a documentary film about Sherman. From 2007 to 2011, she had a relationship with the artist David Byrne.
Between 1991 and 2005, Sherman lived in a fifth-floor co-op loft at 84 Mercer Street in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood; she later sold it to actor Hank Azaria. She bought two floors in a 10-story condo building overlooking the Hudson River in West Soho, and currently uses one as her apartment and the other as her studio and office.
For many years, Sherman spent her summers in the Catskill Mountains. In 2000, she bought songwriter Marvin Hamlisch's 4,200-square-foot house on 0.4 acre in Sag Harbor for $1.5 million. She later acquired a 19th-century home on a ten-acre waterfront property on Accabonac Harbor in East Hampton, New York.
Sherman has expressed contempt for social media platforms, calling them "so vulgar." However, she maintains an active Instagram account featuring her selfies.
== Industry and advocacy work ==
Sherman serves on the artistic advisory committee of the New York City-based Stephen Petronio Company and on the Artists Committee of the Americans for the Arts. Along with David Byrne, she was a member of Portugal's Estoril Film Festival's jury in 2009.
In 2012, she joined Yoko Ono and nearly 150 fellow artists in the founding of Artists Against Fracking, a group in opposition to hydraulic fracturing to remove gas from underground deposits.
In 2023, Sherman served on the jury that chose Sarah Lucas as first winner of the New Museum's $400,000 Hostetler/Wrigley Sculpture Award.
Ahead of the 2024 United States presidential election, Sherman was one of 165 leading contemporary artists who contributed pieces to Artists for Kamala, an online sale with all proceeds raised going directly to Kamala Harris' campaign.
== Publications ==
Inverted Odysseys: Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, Cindy Sherman. MIT Press, 1999. Edited by Shelley Rice. ISBN 0-262-68106-4.
Essential, The: Cindy Sherman. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999. ISBN 0-8109-5808-2.
Cindy Sherman: Retrospective (Paperback). Thames & Hudson, 2000. By Amanda Cruz and Elizabeth A. T. Smith. ISBN 0-500-27987-X.
In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. Holiday House, 2000. By Leslie Sills, et al. ISBN 0-8234-1498-1.
Early Work of Cindy Sherman. Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, 2001 ISBN 0-9654020-3-7.
Cindy Sherman: Photographic Works 1975-1995 (Paperback). Schirmer/Mosel, 2002. By Elisabeth Bronfen, et al. ISBN 3-88814-809-X.
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills. Museum of Modern Art, 2003. ISBN 0-87070-507-5.
Cindy Sherman: Centerfolds. Skarstedt Fine Art, 2004. ISBN 0-9709090-2-0.
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl. St. Louis, Missouri: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 2006. ISBN 978-0-9712195-8-8.
Cindy Sherman. The MIT Press, 2006. Edited by Johanna Burton. ISBN 0-262-52463-5.
Cindy Sherman: A Play of Selves. Hatje Cantz, 2007. ISBN 978-3-7757-1942-1.
Cindy Sherman. Museum of Modern Art, 2012. ISBN 0870708120.
Cindy Sherman: Untitled Horrors. Hatje Cantz, 2013. ISBN 978-3-7757-3487-5.
Cindy Sherman's Office Killer: Another Kind of Monster. Intellect Books, 2014. By Dahlia Schweitzer. ISBN 1841507075.
== Films ==
Cindy Sherman [videorecording] : Transformations. by Paul Tschinkel; Marc H Miller; Sarah Berry; Stan Harrison; Cindy Sherman; Helen Winer; Peter Schjeldahl; Inner-Tube Video. 2002, 28 minutes, Color. NY: Inner-Tube Video.
== Artistic Style ==
Cindy Sherman’s artistic style is rooted in conceptual photography and explores the construction of identity, gender, and social roles through self-portraiture.She often assumes multiple characters in her work, using costumes, makeup, and props to transform herself, challenging traditional representations of women in media and popular culture. Her early work, such as the Untitled Film Stills series, is characterized by cinematic references and the portrayal of archetypal female figures, highlighting the influence of visual culture on individual identity.In later series, Sherman experimented with digital manipulation and grotesque imagery to question notions of beauty, fame, and social perception.
Sherman’s style is widely recognized for its critical approach to representation, blending realism with theatricality, and making the viewer aware of the artificiality inherent in images.
== Awards and other recognition ==
1981: Artist-in-residence, Light Work, Syracuse, New York
1994: Larry Aldrich Foundation Award
1995: MacArthur Fellowship
1997: Wolfgang Hahn Prize
1999: Hasselblad Award from the Hasselblad Foundation
2001: National Arts Award
2003: American Academy of Arts and Sciences Award
2005: Guild Hall Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts
2009: Jewish Museum's Man Ray Award
2009: International Artist Award from Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, Colorado.
2010: Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Arts, London
2012: Roswitha Haftmann Prize
2012: Honored by actor Steve Martin at the 10th anniversary Gala in the Garden at the Hammer Museum
2012: Sherman was among the artists whose works were given as trophies to the filmmakers of winning pictures in the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival's jury competitions
2013: Honorary doctorate degree from the Royal College of Art, London
2017: Induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum
2020: Wolf Prize in Art
2024: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, presented by Awards Council member Jeff Koons
== Collections ==
Works by Sherman are held in the following collections:
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Broad, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Museum (Manhattan), New York, NY
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Tate Modern, Bankside, London
== See also ==
Self-portraiture
Blackface in contemporary art
Laurel Nakadate
List of most expensive photographs
Nikki S. Lee
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Kelly, Michael, "Danto and Krauss on Cindy Sherman". In: M. A. Holly & K. Moxey (eds.), Art History, Aesthetics, Visual Studies. Massachusetts: Clark Art Institute, 2002.
Grosenick, Uta; Riemschneider, Burkhard, eds. (2005). Art Now (25th anniversary ed.). Köln: Taschen. pp. 288–291. ISBN 9783822840931. OCLC 191239335.
Hoban, Phoebe, "The Cindy Sherman Effect". Artnews.com. 2012.
== External links ==
Video on Untitled Film Stills and mass media representations |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbury | Lesbury | Lesbury is a small rural village in Northumberland in the north of England. It is built on the main coastal road 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Alnwick, on the north bank of the River Aln. Alnmouth railway station is about half a mile away.
== History ==
The village has a long history. The Anglican Church of St Mary was mentioned in records dating back to 1147, and records from the end of the 13th century state that there were thirteen residents eligible to pay tax. Robert de Emeldon, later Lord Treasurer of Ireland, was parish priest of Lesbury in the 1320s.
In the 18th century, a schoolroom and master's house were built, paid for by Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland. By 1897, the village had a large corn mill, as well as a reading room with 500 volumes in the library.
The name 'Lesbury' is derived from Laece Burg (the town of the leech or physician).
The church, originally Norman, was restored by Anthony Salvin in 1846. It has a square 13th-century tower with a pyramidal roof and a lofty arch on round columns. The 13th-century chancel has a 15th-century roof with oak beams decorated at intervals with little carvings of foliage. The heavy eight-sided font, boldly carved with the Percy locket and crescent, is of about the same age.
In the south wall of the nave are three lancet windows in memory of Sir Henry Hall Scott, founder of the Imperial Yeomanry of South Africa, and his son, Captain George Hall Scott, who fell at the Battle of the Somme. They are the work of the A.K. Nicholson studios. The central lights show Joan of Arc and St George standing above graphic representations of the siege of Orleans and the capture of the village of Montauban by the British and French in 1916.
The glass in the west window is in memory of George Bray, vicar from 1908 to 1934. An earlier vicar was Percival Stockdale, a writer of some reputation, who died here in 1811 and was buried at Cornhill on Tweed. Lesbury's most notable parson was Patrick Mackilwyan, who has a place in Thomas Fuller's Worthies of England. He started off by insisting on having his tithes in kind, but settled down with his parishioners and won their regard by visiting the sick in their tents on the moor during the Plague of 1665, although he was then 97. He died there at 101, declaring that "Of friends and books, good and few are best."
== Governance ==
An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward contains some of Alnwick with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 5,069.
== References ==
Northumberland County Council (2003). "Lesbury". Sense of Place North East - Northumberland Communities. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
== External links ==
Media related to Lesbury at Wikimedia Commons |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiography#History | Radiography | Radiography is an imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical ("diagnostic" radiography and "therapeutic radiography") and industrial radiography. Similar techniques are used in airport security, (where "body scanners" generally use backscatter X-ray). To create an image in conventional radiography, a beam of X-rays is produced by an X-ray generator and it is projected towards the object. A certain amount of the X-rays or other radiation are absorbed by the object, dependent on the object's density and structural composition. The X-rays that pass through the object are captured behind the object by a detector (either photographic film or a digital detector). The generation of flat two-dimensional images by this technique is called projectional radiography. In computed tomography (CT scanning), an X-ray source and its associated detectors rotate around the subject, which itself moves through the conical X-ray beam produced. Any given point within the subject is crossed from many directions by many different beams at different times. Information regarding the attenuation of these beams is collated and subjected to computation to generate two-dimensional images on three planes (axial, coronal, and sagittal) which can be further processed to produce a three-dimensional image.
== History ==
Radiography's origins and fluoroscopy's origins can both be traced to 8 November 1895, when German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the X-ray and noted that, while it could pass through human tissue, it could not pass through bone or metal. Röntgen referred to the radiation as "X", to indicate that it was an unknown type of radiation. He received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.
There are conflicting accounts of his discovery because Röntgen had his lab notes burned after his death, but this is a likely reconstruction by his biographers: Röntgen was investigating cathode rays using a fluorescent screen painted with barium platinocyanide and a Crookes tube which he had wrapped in black cardboard to shield its fluorescent glow. He noticed a faint green glow from the screen, about 1 metre away. Röntgen realized some invisible rays coming from the tube were passing through the cardboard to make the screen glow: they were passing through an opaque object to affect the film behind it.
Röntgen discovered X-rays' medical use when he made a picture of his wife's hand on a photographic plate formed due to X-rays. The photograph of his wife's hand was the first ever photograph of a human body part using X-rays. When she saw the picture, she said, "I have seen my death."
The first use of X-rays under clinical conditions was by John Hall-Edwards in Birmingham, England, on 11 January 1896, when he radiographed a needle stuck in the hand of an associate. On 14 February 1896, Hall-Edwards also became the first to use X-rays in a surgical operation.
The United States saw its first medical X-ray obtained using a discharge tube of Ivan Pulyui's design. In January 1896, on reading of Röntgen's discovery, Frank Austin of Dartmouth College tested all of the discharge tubes in the physics laboratory and found that only the Pulyui tube produced X-rays. This was a result of Pulyui's inclusion of an oblique "target" of mica, used for holding samples of fluorescent material, within the tube. On 3 February 1896 Gilman Frost, professor of medicine at the college, and his brother Edwin Frost, professor of physics, exposed the wrist of Eddie McCarthy, whom Gilman had treated some weeks earlier for a fracture, to the X-rays and collected the resulting image of the broken bone on gelatin photographic plates obtained from Howard Langill, a local photographer also interested in Röntgen's work.
X-rays were put to diagnostic use very early; for example, Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton opened a radiographic laboratory in the United Kingdom in 1896, before the dangers of ionizing radiation were discovered. Indeed, Marie Curie pushed for radiography to be used to treat wounded soldiers in World War I. Initially, many kinds of staff conducted radiography in hospitals, including physicists, photographers, physicians, nurses, and engineers. The medical speciality of radiology grew up over many years around the new technology. When new diagnostic tests were developed, it was natural for the radiographers to be trained in and to adopt this new technology. Radiographers now perform fluoroscopy, computed tomography, mammography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging as well. Although a nonspecialist dictionary might define radiography quite narrowly as "taking X-ray images", this has long been only part of the work of "X-ray departments", radiographers, and radiologists. Initially, radiographs were known as roentgenograms, while skiagrapher (from the Ancient Greek words for "shadow" and "writer") was used until about 1918 to mean radiographer. The Japanese term for the radiograph, rentogen (レントゲン), shares its etymology with the original English term.
== Medical uses ==
Since the body is made up of various substances with differing densities, ionising and non-ionising radiation can be used to reveal the internal structure of the body on an image receptor by highlighting these differences using attenuation, or in the case of ionising radiation, the absorption of X-ray photons by the denser substances (like calcium-rich bones). The discipline involving the study of anatomy through the use of radiographic images is known as radiographic anatomy. Medical radiography acquisition is generally carried out by radiographers, while image analysis is generally done by radiologists. Some radiographers also specialise in image interpretation. Medical radiography includes a range of modalities producing many different types of image, each of which has a different clinical application.
=== Projectional radiography ===
The creation of images by exposing an object to X-rays or other high-energy forms of electromagnetic radiation and capturing the resulting remnant beam (or "shadow") as a latent image is known as "projection radiography". The "shadow" may be converted to light using a fluorescent screen, which is then captured on photographic film, it may be captured by a phosphor screen to be "read" later by a laser (CR), or it may directly activate a matrix of solid-state detectors (DR—similar to a very large version of a CCD in a digital camera). Bone and some organs (such as lungs) especially lend themselves to projection radiography. It is a relatively low-cost investigation with a high diagnostic yield. The difference between soft and hard body parts stems mostly from the fact that carbon has a very low X-ray cross section compared to calcium.
=== Computed tomography ===
Computed tomography or CT scan (previously known as CAT scan, the "A" standing for "axial") uses ionizing radiation (x-ray radiation) in conjunction with a computer to create images of both soft and hard tissues. These images look as though the patient was sliced like bread (thus, "tomography" – "tomo" means "slice"). Though CT uses a higher amount of ionizing x-radiation than diagnostic x-rays (both utilising X-ray radiation), with advances in technology, levels of CT radiation dose and scan times have reduced. CT exams are generally short, most lasting only as long as a breath-hold, Contrast agents are also often used, depending on the tissues needing to be seen. Radiographers perform these examinations, sometimes in conjunction with a radiologist (for instance, when a radiologist performs a CT-guided biopsy).
=== Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry ===
DEXA, or bone densitometry, is used primarily for osteoporosis tests. It is not projection radiography, as the X-rays are emitted in two narrow beams that are scanned across the patient, 90 degrees from each other. Usually the hip (head of the femur), lower back (lumbar spine), or heel (calcaneum) are imaged, and the bone density (amount of calcium) is determined and given a number (a T-score). It is not used for bone imaging, as the image quality is not good enough to make an accurate diagnostic image for fractures, inflammation, etc. It can also be used to measure total body fat, though this is not common. The radiation dose received from DEXA scans is very low, much lower than projection radiography examinations.
=== Fluoroscopy ===
Fluoroscopy is a term invented by Thomas Edison during his early X-ray studies. The name refers to the fluorescence he saw while looking at a glowing plate bombarded with X-rays.
The technique provides moving projection radiographs. Fluoroscopy is mainly performed to view movement (of tissue or a contrast agent), or to guide a medical intervention, such as angioplasty, pacemaker insertion, or joint repair/replacement. The last can often be carried out in the operating theatre, using a portable fluoroscopy machine called a C-arm. It can move around the surgery table and make digital images for the surgeon. Biplanar Fluoroscopy works the same as single plane fluoroscopy except displaying two planes at the same time. The ability to work in two planes is important for orthopedic and spinal surgery and can reduce operating times by eliminating re-positioning.
Angiography is the use of fluoroscopy to view the cardiovascular system. An iodine-based contrast is injected into the bloodstream and watched as it travels around. Since liquid blood and the vessels are not very dense, a contrast with high density (like the large iodine atoms) is used to view the vessels under X-ray. Angiography is used to find aneurysms, leaks, blockages (thromboses), new vessel growth, and placement of catheters and stents. Balloon angioplasty is often done with angiography.
=== Contrast radiography ===
Contrast radiography uses a radiocontrast agent, a type of contrast medium, to make the structures of interest stand out visually from their background. Contrast agents are required in conventional angiography, and can be used in both projectional radiography and computed tomography (called contrast CT).
=== Other medical imaging ===
Although not technically radiographic techniques due to not using X-rays, imaging modalities such as PET and MRI are sometimes grouped in radiography because the radiology department of hospitals handle all forms of imaging. Treatment using radiation is known as radiotherapy.
== Industrial radiography ==
Industrial radiography is a method of non-destructive testing where many types of manufactured components can be examined to verify the internal structure and integrity of the specimen. Industrial Radiography can be performed utilizing either X-rays or gamma rays. Both are forms of electromagnetic radiation. The difference between various forms of electromagnetic energy is related to the wavelength. X and gamma rays have the shortest wavelength and this property leads to the ability to penetrate, travel through, and exit various materials such as carbon steel and other metals. Specific methods include industrial computed tomography.
== Image quality ==
Image quality will depend on resolution and density.
Resolution is the ability of an image to show closely spaced structure in the object as separate entities in the image while density is the blackening power of the image.
Sharpness of a radiographic image is strongly determined by the size of the X-ray source. This is determined by the area of the electron beam hitting the anode.
A large photon source results in more blurring in the final image and is worsened by an increase in image formation distance. This blurring can be measured as a contribution to the modulation transfer function of the imaging system.
== Radiation dose ==
The dosage of radiation applied in radiography varies by procedure. For example, the effective dosage of a chest x-ray is 0.1 mSv, while an abdominal CT is 10 mSv. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) have stated that the "risks of medical imaging at patient doses below 50 mSv for single procedures or 100 mSv for multiple procedures over short time periods are too low to be detectable and may be nonexistent." Other scientific bodies sharing this conclusion include the International Organization of Medical Physicists, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Nonetheless, radiological organizations, including the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR), as well as multiple government agencies, indicate safety standards to ensure that radiation dosage is as low as possible.
=== Shielding ===
Lead is the most common shield against X-rays because of its high density (11,340 kg/m3), stopping power, ease of installation and low cost. The maximum range of a high-energy photon such as an X-ray in matter is infinite; at every point in the matter traversed by the photon, there is a probability of interaction. Thus there is a very small probability of no interaction over very large distances. The shielding of photon beam is therefore exponential (with an attenuation length being close to the radiation length of the material); doubling the thickness of shielding will square the shielding effect.
Starting in the 1950s, personal lead shielding began to be used on directly on patients during all X-rays over the abdomen to intending to protect the gonads (reproductive organs) or a fetus if the patient was pregnant. Dental X-rays would also typically additionally use lead shielding to protect the thyroid. However, a consensus was reached between 2019 and 2021 that lead shielding for routine diagnostic X-rays is not necessary and may in some cases be harmful. Personal shielding for medical professionals and other people in the room is still recommended.
Rooms where X-rays are performed are lined with lead. The table in this section shows the recommended thickness of lead shielding for a room where X-rays are performed as function of X-ray energy, from the Recommendations by the Second International Congress of Radiology.
=== Campaigns ===
In response to increased concern by the public over radiation doses and the ongoing progress of best practices, The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging was formed within the Society for Pediatric Radiology. In concert with the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American College of Radiology, and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the Society for Pediatric Radiology developed and launched the Image Gently campaign which is designed to maintain high quality imaging studies while using the lowest doses and best radiation safety practices available on pediatric patients. This initiative has been endorsed and applied by a growing list of various professional medical organizations around the world and has received support and assistance from companies that manufacture equipment used in radiology.
Following upon the success of the Image Gently campaign, the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists have launched a similar campaign to address this issue in the adult population called Image Wisely. The World Health Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations have also been working in this area and have ongoing projects designed to broaden best practices and lower patient radiation dose.
=== Provider payment ===
Contrary to advice that emphasises only conducting radiographs when in the patient's interest, recent evidence suggests that they are used more frequently when dentists are paid under fee-for-service.
== Equipment ==
=== Sources ===
In medicine and dentistry, projectional radiography and computed tomography images generally use X-rays created by X-ray generators, which generate X-rays from X-ray tubes. The resultant images from the radiograph (X-ray generator/machine) or CT scanner are correctly referred to as "radiograms"/"roentgenograms" and "tomograms" respectively.
A number of other sources of X-ray photons are possible, and may be used in industrial radiography or research; these include betatrons, linear accelerators (linacs), and synchrotrons. For gamma rays, radioactive sources such as 192Ir, 60Co, or 137Cs are used.
=== Grid ===
An anti-scatter grid may be placed between the patient and the detector to reduce the quantity of scattered x-rays that reach the detector. This improves the contrast resolution of the image, but also increases radiation exposure for the patient.
=== Detectors ===
Detectors can be divided into two major categories: imaging detectors (such as photographic plates and X-ray film (photographic film), now mostly replaced by various digitizing devices like image plates or flat panel detectors) and dose measurement devices (such as ionization chambers, Geiger counters, and dosimeters used to measure the local radiation exposure, dose, and/or dose rate, for example, for verifying that radiation protection equipment and procedures are effective on an ongoing basis).
=== Side markers ===
A radiopaque anatomical side marker is added to each image. For example, if the patient has their right hand x-rayed, the radiographer includes a radiopaque "R" marker within the field of the x-ray beam as an indicator of which hand has been imaged. If a physical marker is not included, the radiographer may add the correct side marker later as part of digital post-processing.
=== Image intensifiers and array detectors ===
As an alternative to X-ray detectors, image intensifiers are analog devices that readily convert the acquired X-ray image into one visible on a video screen. This device is made of a vacuum tube with a wide input surface coated on the inside with caesium iodide (CsI). When hit by X-rays, phosphor material causes the photocathode adjacent to it to emit electrons. These electrons are then focused using electron lenses inside the intensifier to an output screen coated with phosphorescent materials. The image from the output can then be recorded via a camera and displayed.
Digital devices known as array detectors are becoming more common in fluoroscopy. These devices are made of discrete pixelated detectors known as thin-film transistors (TFT) which can either work indirectly by using photo detectors that detect light emitted from a scintillator material such as CsI, or directly by capturing the electrons produced when the X-rays hit the detector. Direct detectors do not tend to experience the blurring or spreading effect caused by phosphorescent scintillators or by film screens since the detectors are activated directly by X-ray photons.
== Dual-energy ==
Dual-energy radiography is where images are acquired using two separate tube voltages. This is the standard method for bone densitometry. It is also used in CT pulmonary angiography to decrease the required dose of iodinated contrast.
== See also ==
Autoradiograph – Radiograph made by recording radiation emitted by samples on photographic plates
Background radiation – Measure of ionizing radiation in the environment
Computer-aided diagnosis – Type of diagnosis assisted by computers
GXMO
Imaging science – Representation or reproduction of an object's formPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
List of civilian radiation accidents
Medical imaging in pregnancy – Types of pregnancy imaging techniques
Radiation – Waves or particles moving through space
Digital radiography – Form of radiography
Radiation contamination – Undesirable presence of radioactive substancesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Radiographer – Healthcare professional
Thermography – Infrared imaging used to reveal temperature
== References ==
== Further reading ==
== External links ==
MedPix Medical Image Database
Video on X-ray inspection and industrial computed tomography, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
NIST's XAAMDI: X-Ray Attenuation and Absorption for Materials of Dosimetric Interest Database
NIST's XCOM: Photon Cross Sections Database
NIST's FAST: Attenuation and Scattering Tables
A lost industrial radiography source event
RadiologyInfo - The radiology information resource for patients: Radiography (X-rays) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ryder_(engraver)#:~:text=Thomas%20Ryder%20(1746%E2%80%931810),Artists%20in%201766%20and%201767. | Thomas Ryder (engraver) | Thomas Ryder (1746–1810), engraver, was a pupil of James Basire, and during his apprenticeship established drawings with the Society of Artists in 1766 and 1767. He was also one of the first students in the schools of the Royal Academy.
== Works ==
Ryder engraved a few plates in the line manner, of which the most important are "The Politician" (a portrait of Benjamin Franklin), after S. Elmer, 1782; and "Vortigern and Rowena", after A. Kauffman, 1802; but he is best known by his works in stipple, which are among the finest of their class. These include "The Last Supper", after Benjamin West; "The Murder of James I of Scotland", after Opie; "Prudence and Beauty", after A. Kauffman; nine of the plates to the large edition of Boydell's "Shakspeare"; and others from designs by Bigg, Bunbury, Cipriani, Cosway, Ryley, and Shelley. Ryder also engraved portraits of Mrs. Damer, after Kauffman; Henry Bunbury, after Lawrence; Sir William Watson, M.D., after Abbot; and Maria Linley, after Westall. His plates are usually printed in brown ink and occasionally in colours. He had a son of the same Christian name who was also an engraver, and together they executed the whole-length portrait of Queen Charlotte, after Beechey, prefixed to the second volume of Boydell's ‘Shakspeare.’
== References ==
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Ryder, Thomas (1746-1810)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencing_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics#:~:text=A%20total%20of%20259%20fencers,Argentina%20(11) | Fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics | At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, eight events in fencing were contested. Men competed in both individual and team events for each of the three weapon types (épée, foil and sabre), but women competed only in foil events.
== Medal summary ==
=== Men's events ===
=== Women's events ===
== Medal table ==
== Participating nations ==
A total of 259 fencers (203 men and 56 women) from 30 nations competed at the Tokyo Games:
== References ==
== Sources ==
Tokyo Organizing Committee (1964). The Games of the XVIII Olympiad: Tokyo 1964, vol. 2. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousseeuw_Prize_for_Statistics | Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics | The Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics awards innovations in statistical research with impact on society. This biennial prize is awarded in even years, and consists of a medal, a certificate, and a monetary reward of US$1,000,000, similar to the Nobel Prize in other disciplines. The home institution of the Prize is the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) in Belgium, which appoints the international jury and carries out the selection procedure. The award money comes from the Rousseeuw Foundation created by the statistician Peter Rousseeuw.
== History ==
The first Rousseeuw Prize was awarded on October 12, 2022, at KU Leuven, presented by King Philippe of Belgium. The awarded topic was Causal Inference with application in Medicine and Public Health, with laureates James Robins, Andrea Rotnitzky, Thomas Richardson, Miguel Hernán and Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen.
The second Rousseeuw Prize was awarded on December 3, 2024 for work on The False Discovery Rate and Methods to Control It, with laureates Yoav Benjamini, Ruth Heller, and Daniel Yekutieli.
== Laureates ==
Nominations for the prize are submitted to its website together with letters of recommendation. The organizers of the prize and its ceremony are Mia Hubert and Stefan Van Aelst.
== See also ==
International Prize in Statistics
COPSS Presidents' Award
COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship
== References ==
== External links ==
The Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics, official site
The King Baudouin Foundation, official site |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winifred_Betts | Winifred Betts | Mary Winifred Aitken (née Betts; 11 May 1894 – 29 April 1971) was a New Zealand botanist. She was the first female lecturer at the University of Otago.
== Biography ==
Born in Nelson on 11 May 1894, Betts was the daughter of printer and stationer Alfred George Betts and Ada Betts (née Grindley). Known to friends as Winnie, she was educated at Nelson College for Girls and received her Bachelor of Science (1916) and Master of Science (1917) degrees from the University of Otago. On her graduation, she received the National Research Scholarship that was awarded at the university each year, which offered her an income of £100 a year, plus lab expenses, so she could conduct independent research.
Betts was appointed university lecturer in botany in 1920 at age 25, the first woman to earn that designation. She was described by the pre-eminent botanist Leonard Cockayne as “the most brilliant woman scientist in New Zealand".
Also in 1920, she married another Otago graduate, the mathematician Alexander Aitken, and the couple remained in New Zealand as Winnie Aitken continued her botany lectures until 1923. In December 1923, the couple moved to Scotland so her husband could pursue his academic career; subsequently, he was named professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh.
Winifred Aitken died in Edinburgh on 29 April 1971.
== Recognition ==
In 2017, Betts was selected as one of the Royal Society of New Zealand's "150 women in 150 words".
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_Cup | Hessian Cup | The Hesse Cup (German: Hessenpokal) is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup.
== History ==
The Cup was established in 1945, after the end of the Second World War, in the state of Hessen, which then was part of the US occupation zone in Germany.
The Hessen Cup is played annually.
From 1974 onwards, the winner of the Hessen Cup qualified for the first round of the German Cup.
== Modus ==
Professional clubs are not permitted to enter the competition, meaning, no teams from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga can compete.
In 2008–09, the best 15 teams of the regional cups in Hesse qualified for the first round of the Hesse Cup. All clubs from Hesse playing in the Regionalliga and below take part in these competitions. Additionally, Kickers Offenbach and SV Wehen Wiesbaden are the two clubs from Hesse in the 3. Liga, so they qualify directly for the Hesse Cup.
The final is played at a neutral location but the two finalists can agree to play the game at one of the two clubs home ground.
== Cup finals ==
Held annually at the end of season, these are the cup finals since 1945:
Source: "Ehrentafel der Hessenpokalsieger" (PDF) (in German). DSFS. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
Winners in bold
== Winners & finalists ==
Listed in order of wins, the Cup winners are:
Winning finals in bold.
† Achieved by reserve team.
1 The 1947 cup final was replayed twice, with the first two games having ended drawn 3–3 and 2–2.
2 The 1953 final had to be replayed because the first game ended in a 1–1 draw.
3 The 1957 final was called off after 65 minutes because of crowd trouble and the SV Kilianstädten walking off the field. The game was awarded with the score at the time it was called off.
4 The 1962 final had to be replayed because the first game ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time.
== References ==
=== Sources ===
Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
== External links ==
Fussball.de: Hesse Cup (in German)
Hessian football federation website (in German) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-affirming_surgery | Gender-affirming surgery | Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated with transgender health care, though many such treatments are also pursued by cisgender individuals. It is also known as sex reassignment surgery (SRS), gender confirmation surgery (GCS), and several other names.
Professional medical organizations have established Standards of Care, which apply before someone can apply for and receive reassignment surgery, including psychological evaluation, and a period of real-life experience living in the desired gender.
Feminization surgeries are surgeries that result in female-looking anatomy, such as vaginoplasty, vulvoplasty and breast augmentation. Masculinization surgeries are those that result in male-looking anatomy, such as phalloplasty and breast reduction.
In addition to gender-affirming surgery, patients may need to follow a lifelong course of masculinizing or feminizing hormone replacement therapy to support the endocrine system.
Sweden became the first country in the world to allow transgender people to change their legal gender after "reassignment surgery" and provide free hormone treatment, in 1972. Singapore followed soon after in 1973, being the first in Asia.
== Terminology ==
Gender-affirming surgery is known by many other names, including gender-affirmation surgery, sex reassignment surgery, gender reassignment surgery, and gender confirmation surgery. It is also sometimes called a sex change, though this term is usually considered offensive. Top surgery and bottom surgery refer to surgeries on the chest and genitals respectively.
Some transgender people who want medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as "transsexual".
Trans women and others assigned male at birth may undergo one or more feminizing procedures: genital surgeries such as penectomy (removal of the penis), orchiectomy (removal of the testes), vaginoplasty (construction of a vagina), vulvoplasty (construction of a vulva); as well as breast augmentation, tracheal shave (reduction of the Adam's apple), facial feminization surgery, and voice feminization surgery among others.
Trans men and others assigned female at birth may undergo one or more masculinizing procedures; such as chest reconstruction, breast reduction, hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries). A penis can be constructed through metoidioplasty or phalloplasty, and a scrotum through scrotoplasty.
As knowledge of non-binary genders expands in the medical community, more surgeons are willing to tailor operations to individual needs. Bigenital operations allow individuals to construct a penis or vagina and retain their original organs. Gender nullification is the removal of all external genitalia except the urethral opening, typically pursued by people assigned male at birth.
Gender-affirming surgery can also refer to operations pursued by cisgender people, such as mammaplasty, penile implant, or testicular implants following orchiectomy.
Gender-affirming surgery is often sensationalized and misrepresented by anti-trans activists through terms such as genital-mutilation surgery.
== Surgical procedures ==
The best-known gender-affirming procedures are those that reshape the genitals, which are also known as genital reassignment surgery, genital reconstruction surgery, sex reassignment surgery, and bottom surgery (the latter is named in contrast to top surgery, which is surgery to the breasts). However, the meaning of "sex reassignment surgery" has been clarified by the medical organization, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), to include any of a larger number of surgical procedures performed as part of a medical treatment for gender dysphoria.
WPATH says medically necessary gender-affirming surgeries include "complete hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, chest reconstruction or augmentation ... including breast prostheses if necessary, genital reconstruction (by various techniques which must be appropriate to each patient ...)... and certain facial plastic reconstruction." Other non-surgical procedures are also considered medically necessary treatments by WPATH, including facial hair electrolysis.
=== Genital surgery ===
==== Feminizing ====
For trans women and transfeminine people, genital reconstruction usually involves surgical construction of a vagina. The most common techniques are penile inversion, rectosigmoid vaginoplasty and peritoneal pullthrough vaginoplasty (PPT). Another technique, the non-penile inversion technique, uses perforated scrotal tissue to construct the vaginal canal. A less invasive procedure with reduced postoperative care requirements is vulvoplasty, which creates external female genitalia without a vaginal canal. The downside of this procedure is that it does not allow for penetrative sex.
==== Masculinizing ====
For trans men and transmasculine people, genital reconstruction may involve the construction of a penis through either phalloplasty or metoidioplasty, which is less invasive but results in a smaller penis.
==== Non-binary people ====
Non-binary people may elect to get any of the surgeries listed above, depending on their sex assignment. They may also opt for bigenital or gender nullification surgeries. Bigenital operations include androgynoplasty, a vaginoplasty procedure that retains the penis, or vagina-preserving phalloplasty. These procedures tend to be rarely performed. In 2017, one of the leading UK trans surgeons, James Bellringer, commented that he had never received a request for it.
==== Other considerations ====
Genital surgery may also involve other medically necessary procedures, such as orchiectomy, penectomy, or vaginectomy. Complications of penile inversion vaginoplasty are mostly minor; however, rectoneovaginal fistula (abnormal connection between the neovagina and the rectum) can occur in about 1–3% of patients. These require further surgery to correct.
=== Other surgeries ===
As underscored by WPATH, gender transition may entail a variety of non-genital surgeries that change primary or secondary sex characteristics, any of which are considered "gender-affirming surgery" when done to affirm a person's gender identity. For trans men, these may include mastectomy (removal of the breasts) and chest reconstruction (the shaping of a male-contoured chest), or hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes). For some trans women, facial feminization surgery, hair transplants, and breast augmentation are also aesthetic components of their surgical treatment. Voice feminizing surgery is a procedure in which the overall pitch range of the patient's voice is reduced. Adam's apple reduction surgery (chondrolaryngoplasty) or tracheal shaving is a procedure in which the most prominent part of the thyroid cartilage is reduced.
There is also Adam's apple enhancement therapy, in which cartilage is used to bring out the Adam's apple in female-to-male patients.
== History ==
Reports of people seeking gender-confirming surgery (vaginoplasty) go back to the 2nd century, such as Roman Emperor Elagabalus.
=== 20th century ===
In the US in 1917, Alan L. Hart, an American tuberculosis specialist, became one of the first trans men to undergo hysterectomy and gonadectomy as treatment of what is now called gender dysphoria.
Dora Richter is the first known trans woman to undergo complete male-to-female genital surgery. She was one of several transgender people in the care of sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld at Berlin's Institute for Sexual Research. In 1922, Richter underwent orchiectomy. In early 1931, a penectomy, followed in June by vaginoplasty.
In 1930-1931, Lili Elbe underwent four sex reassignment surgeries, including orchiectomy, an ovarian transplant, and penectomy. In June 1931, she underwent her fourth surgery, including an experimental uterine transplant and vaginoplasty, which she hoped would allow her to give birth. However, her body rejected the transplanted uterus, and she died of post-operative complications in September, at age 48.
A previous sex reassignment surgery patient was Magnus Hirschfeld's housekeeper, but their name has not been discovered.
Elmer Belt may have been the first U.S. surgeon to perform gender affirmation surgery, in about 1950.
In 1951, Harold Gillies, a plastic surgeon active in World War II, worked to develop the first technique for female-to-male gender-affirming surgery, producing a technique that has become a modern standard, called phalloplasty. Phalloplasty is a cosmetic procedure that produces a visual penis out of grafted tissue from the patient.
In 1971, Roberto Farina performed Brazil's first male-to-female gender-affirming surgery.
In 1984, Jalma Jurado developed a new surgical technique, which he used in surgeries for more than 500 trans women in Brazil and from around the world.
Following phalloplasty, in 1999, the procedure for metoidioplasty was developed for female-to-male surgical transition by the doctors Lebovic and Laub. Considered a variant of phalloplasty, metoidioplasty works to create a penis out of the patient's present clitoris. This allows the patient to have a sensation-perceiving penis head. Metoidioplasty may be used in conjunction with phalloplasty to produce a larger, more "cis-appearing" penis in multiple stages.
=== 21st century ===
On 12 June 2003, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Carola van Kück, a German trans woman whose insurance company denied her reimbursement for sex reassignment surgery as well as hormone replacement therapy. The legal arguments related to the Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Article 8. This affair is called van Kück vs Germany.
In 2011, Christiane Völling won the first successful case brought by an intersex person against a surgeon for non-consensual surgical intervention described by the International Commission of Jurists as "an example of an individual who was subjected to sex reassignment surgery without full knowledge or consent".
As of 2017, some European countries require forced sterilization for the legal recognition of sex reassignment. As of 2020, Japan also requires an individual to undergo sterilization to change their legal sex.
The early history of gender-affirming surgery in trans people has been reviewed by various authors.
== Prevalence ==
The prevalence of transgender-related surgeries is difficult to measure and likely underestimated. In 2015, the largest survey of transgender people in the United States reported that 25% of respondents reported had undergone such a surgery.
== Prior to surgery ==
=== Medical considerations ===
Some medical conditions, including diabetes, asthma, and HIV, can lead to complications with future therapy and pharmacological management. Typical gender-affirming surgery procedures involve complex medication regimens, including sex-hormone therapy, throughout and after surgery. Typically, a patient's treatment involves a healthcare team consisting of a variety of providers including endocrinologists, whom the surgeon may consult when determining if the patient is physically fit for surgery. Health providers including pharmacists can play a role in maintaining safe and cost-effective regimens, providing patient education, and addressing other health issues including smoking cessation and weight loss.
People with HIV or hepatitis C may have difficulty finding a surgeon able to perform successful surgery. Many surgeons operate in small private clinics that cannot treat potential complications in these populations. Some surgeons charge higher fees for HIV and hepatitis C-positive patients; other medical professionals assert that it is unethical to deny surgical or hormonal treatments to transgender people solely on the basis of their HIV or hepatitis status.
Fertility is also a factor considered in gender-affirming surgery, as patients are typically informed that if an orchiectomy or oöphoro-hysterectomy is performed, it will make them irreversibly infertile.
=== Gender dysphoric children ===
Gender-affirming surgery is generally not performed on children under 18, though in rare cases may be performed on adolescents if health care providers agree there is an unusual benefit to doing so or risk to not performing it. Preferred treatments for children include puberty blockers and gender affirming hormone therapy, which reduces the need for future surgery. Medical protocols typically require long-term mental health counseling to verify persistent and genuine gender dysphoria before any intervention, and consent of a parent or guardian or court order is legally required in most jurisdictions.
=== Intersex children and cases of trauma ===
Infants born with intersex conditions might undergo interventions at or close to birth. This is controversial because of the human rights implications.
There can be negative outcomes (including PTSD and suicide) when the surgically assigned gender does not match the person's gender identity, which will be realized by the person only later in life. Milton Diamond at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii recommended that physicians not perform surgery on children until they are old enough to give informed consent and to assign such infants in the gender to which they will probably best adjust. Diamond believed introducing children to others with differences of sex development could help remove shame and stigma. Diamond considered the intersex condition as a difference of sex development, not as a disorder.
=== Standards of care ===
Gender-affirming surgery can be hard to obtain due to financial barriers, insurance coverage, and lack of providers. A growing number of surgeons are now training to perform such surgeries. In many regions, a person's pursuit of gender-affirming surgery is often governed, or at least guided, by documents called Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC). The most widespread SOC in this field is published and often revised by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH, formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association or HBIGDA). Many jurisdictions and medical boards in the US and other countries recognize the WPATH Standards of Care for the treatment of transgender individuals. Some treatment may require a minimum duration of psychological evaluation and living as a member of the target gender full-time, sometimes called the real life experience (RLE) (sometimes mistakenly called the real life test [RLT]) before sex reassignment surgeries are covered by insurance.
Standards of Care usually give certain very specific "minimum" requirements as guidelines for progressing with treatment, causing them to be highly controversial and often maligned documents among transgender patients seeking surgery. Alternative local standards of care exist, such as in the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Much of the criticism surrounding the WPATH/HBIGDA-SOC applies to these as well, and some of these SOCs (mostly European SOC) are actually based on much older versions of the WPATH SOC. Other SOCs are entirely independent of the WPATH. The criteria of many of those SOCs are stricter than the latest revision of the WPATH-SOC. Many qualified surgeons in North America and many in Europe adhere almost unswervingly to the WPATH SOC or other SOCs. However, in the United States many experienced surgeons are able to apply the WPATH SOC in ways which respond to an individual's medical circumstances, as is consistent with the SOC.
Many surgeons require two letters of recommendation for gender-affirming surgery. At least one of these letters must be from a mental health professional experienced in diagnosing gender identity disorder (now recognized as gender dysphoria), who has known the patient for over a year. Letters must state that sex reassignment surgery is the correct course of treatment for the patient.
Many medical professionals and many professional associations have stated that surgical interventions should not be required for transsexual individuals to change sex designation on identity documents. However, depending on the legal requirements of many jurisdictions, transsexual and transgender people are often unable to change the listing of their sex in public records unless they can furnish a physician's letter attesting that sex reassignment surgery has been performed. In some jurisdictions legal gender change is prohibited in any circumstances, even after genital or other surgery or treatment.
=== Insurance ===
A growing number of public and commercial health insurance plans in the US now contain defined benefits covering sex reassignment-related procedures, usually including genital reconstruction surgery (MTF and FTM), chest reconstruction (FTM), breast augmentation (MTF), and hysterectomy (FTM). For patients to qualify for insurance coverage, certain insurance plans may require proof of the following:
a written initial assessment by a qualified licensed mental health professional
persistent, well-documented gender dysphoria
months of prior physician-supervised hormone therapy
In June 2008, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates stated that the denial to patients with gender dysphoria or otherwise covered benefits represents discrimination, and that the AMA supports "public and private health insurance coverage for treatment for gender dysphoria as recommended by the patient's physician." Other organizations have issued similar statements, including WPATH, the American Psychological Association, and the National Association of Social Workers.
In 2017, the United States Defense Health Agency for the first time approved payment for sex reassignment surgery for an active-duty U.S. military service member. The patient, an infantry soldier who is a trans woman, had already begun a course of treatment for gender reassignment. The procedure, which the treating doctor deemed medically necessary, was performed on 14 November at a private hospital, since US military hospitals lack the requisite surgical expertise.
== Post-procedural effects ==
=== Mental health and quality of life ===
Clinical research on long-term quality-of-life outcomes following surgery is limited and confounded by various factors, including small sample sizes, and baseline rates of mental health issues and suicide among transgender people compared to the general population.
A 2020 meta-analysis found "evidence of low quality" that gender-affirming surgery, particularly chest reconstruction for trans men, improves quality of life. A 2022 systematic review found that gender-affirming surgical procedures led to "reduced rates of suicide attempts, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of gender dysphoria along with higher levels of life satisfaction, happiness and QoL after gender-affirming surgery." A 2024 systematic review found that genital surgeries significantly improved depression and dissociation in trans and gender-diverse individuals, with "mixed results" for other mental health outcomes. It concluded there was "less conclusive evidence" of mental health improvement after trans surgical procedures compared to hormonal therapy, though expressed tentative support for both.
A secondary analysis of the U.S. Transgender Survey found that gender-affirming surgery was significantly associated with lower rates of psychological distress, smoking, and suicidal ideation, compared to rates among respondents who desired surgery but had not undergone it. This was the largest controlled study on the subject to date (N=19,960), though the design of the survey and self-reported responses introduced some limitations and possible response bias.
Gender-affirming surgery can be seen as human enhancement.
==== Social obstacles ====
Transgender people often fall victim to different social obstacles which may hinder their experiences with care, such as discrimination, prejudice, harassment, and other stigmatizing behaviours. The rejection faced by trans people is much more severe than what is experienced by lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. Due to these minority stressors, gender-affirming surgery may result in only limited quality of life improvements, and transgender individuals receiving it may not be fully alleviated of mental health disparities after the procedure.
Regret after gender-affirming surgery may also be an outcome of the discrimination transgender individuals face. According to a systematic review published in 2021, "poor social and group support, late-onset gender transition, poor sexual functioning, and mental health problems are factors associated with regret." Nevertheless, it found the prevalence of regret after gender-affirming surgery to be quite low, at around 1% of the 7.928 transgender patients studied.
=== Sexuality ===
Looking specifically at transsexual people's genital sensitivities, both trans men and trans women are capable of maintaining their genital sensitivities after gender-affirming surgery. However, these are counted upon the procedures and surgical tricks which are used to preserve the sensitivity. Considering the importance of genital sensitivity in helping transsexuals to avoid unnecessary harm or injury to the genitals, allowing trans men to obtain erection by inserting a penile implant after phalloplasty, the ability of trans people to experience erogenous and tactile sensitivity in their reconstructed genitals is one of the essential objectives surgeons want to achieve in gender-affirming surgery. Moreover, studies have also found that the critical procedure for genital sensitivity maintenance and achieving orgasm after phalloplasty is to preserve both the clitoral hood and the clitoris underneath the reconstructed phallus.
Erogenous sensitivity is measured by the abilities to reach orgasm in genital sexual activities, like masturbation and intercourse. Many studies reviewed that both trans men and trans women have reported an increase of orgasms in both sexual activities, implying the possibilities to maintain or even enhance genital sensitivity after gender-affirming surgery.
Most trans persons report enjoying better sex lives and improved sexual satisfaction after gender-affirming surgery. The enhancement of sexual satisfaction was positively related to the satisfaction of new primary sex characteristics. Before gender-affirming surgery, trans patients had unwanted sex organs which they were eager to remove. Hence, they were not enthusiastic about engaging in sexual activity. Transsexual individuals who have undergone gender-affirming surgery are more satisfied with their bodies and experienced less stress when participating in sexual activity.
Most of the individuals report that they have experienced sexual excitement during sexual activity, including masturbation. The ability to obtain orgasm is positively associated with sexual satisfaction. Frequency and intensity of orgasm are substantially different for trans men and trans women. Almost all female-to-male individuals revealed an increase in sexual excitement and can achieve orgasm through sexual activity with a partner or via masturbation, whereas only 85% of the male-to-female individuals are able to achieve orgasm after gender-affirming surgery. A study found that both trans men and trans women reported qualitative change in their experience of orgasm. The female-to-male trans individuals reported that they had been experiencing intensified and stronger excitements and orgasm while male-to-female persons have been encountering longer and more gentle feelings.
Rates of masturbation have also changed after gender-affirming surgery for both trans women and trans men. A study reported an overall increase of masturbation frequencies in most transsexuals and 78% of them were able to reach orgasm by masturbation after gender-affirming surgery. A study showed that there were differences in masturbation frequency between trans men and trans women; female-to-male individuals masturbated more often than male-to-female. The possible reasons for the difference in masturbation frequency could be associated with the surge of libido, which was caused by the testosterone therapies, or the withdrawal of gender dysphoria.
Concerning trans people's expectations for different aspects of their life, the sexual aspects have the lowest level of satisfaction among all other elements (physical, emotional and social levels). When comparing trans with cisgender persons of the same gender, trans women had a similar sexual satisfaction to cis women, but trans men had a lower level of sexual satisfaction to cis men. Moreover, trans men also had a lower sexual satisfaction with their sexual life than trans women.
== Legal status ==
== See also ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Media related to Gender-affirming surgery at Wikimedia Commons |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cullen,_Lord_Pentland | Paul Cullen, Lord Pentland | Paul Benedict Cullen, Lord Pentland, (born 11 March 1957) is the current Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General, the most senior judge in Scotland. He is a former Solicitor General for Scotland, Senator of the College of Justice and Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission.
== Early life ==
Born in Gosforth, Northumberland, he was educated at St Augustine's High School, Edinburgh and at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh.
== Legal career ==
=== Department of Environment ===
Cullen was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1982, devilling for Alan Rodger QC. He tutored part-time at the Faculty of Law at the University of Edinburgh from 1982 to 1986, when he was elected Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates, serving until 1991. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of the Environment in Scotland from 1988 to 1991 and appointed an Advocate Depute in 1992, becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1995. A member of the Conservative Party, he became Solicitor General for Scotland, the junior Law Officer in Scotland, in 1995, when Donald Mackay succeeded Lord Rodger of Earlsferry as Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer. He held this post until the Labour election victory in 1997, when he was succeeded by Colin Boyd, who later became Lord Advocate.
=== Gilmerton enquiry ===
He was the chairman of the public inquiry into the Gilmerton Limestone Emergency in 2001–2002, and has been Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and of the Police Appeals Tribunal. In 2003, The Scotsman named him the seventieth highest earner in Scotland, and third highest earner at the Bar, after Richard Keen QC (who was sixty-first with earnings of £600,000 and a former dean of the Faculty) and Michael Jones, Lord Jones (who was fifty-fifth with earnings of £750,000). He was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including the Countryside Alliance challenge to the Scottish fox-hunting ban, judicial review connected to the Stockline Plastics factory explosion, and the first two appeals to the Inner House of the Court of Session under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the first such appeal to the House of Lords.
=== Senator of College of Justice ===
In November 2008, Cullen was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session, the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and took the judicial title, Lord Pentland. In 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). He has also served as an Intellectual Property judge.
Lord Pentland was appointed as Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission on 1 January 2014 for a period of five years until 31 December 2018. He was appointed to the First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session in July 2020, and to the Privy Council in September 2020.
=== Lord President of Court of Session ===
On 9 January 2025, it was announced that Lord Pentland had been appointed as the next Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General. He succeeded Lord Carloway on 3 February 2025.
On 17 October 2025, Lord Pentland celebrated the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Sheriff Appeal Court alongside Lord Carloway, Lord Gill and Sheriff Principal Anwar.
== Political career ==
Cullen contested the Eastwood constituency at the 1997 general election for the Conservative Party, but finished in second place to Jim Murphy of the Labour Party. All Conservative Party representation was wiped out from Scottish constituencies at that election. Cullen served as Vice-President of the Edinburgh South Conservative Association from 1997 until he took the bench in 2008. He represented the Scottish Conservative Party on the Consultative Steering Group in 1998-99 which helped prepare procedures for the new Scottish Parliament. He was appointed Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel of the Scottish Conservatives in 2000.
== Personal life ==
Cullen is married to Joyce Nicol, former Chair of Brodies LLP (1983), with whom he has two sons and a daughter. He plays tennis and bridge, and is a member of the New Club.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlotta_Gall#Publication_and_documentary | Carlotta Gall | Carlotta Gall is a British journalist and author who covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for The New York Times for twelve years. She was also their Istanbul bureau chief covering Turkey and now covers the war in Ukraine.
== Career ==
Daughter of veteran Scottish journalist Sandy Gall, Carlotta Gall started her newspaper career with The Moscow Times, in Moscow, in 1994, and covered the first war in Chechnya intensively for the paper, among other stories all over the former Soviet Union. She also freelanced for British papers (The Independent, The Times, and The Sunday Times) as well as American publications (USA Today, Newsweek and The New York Times).
In 1996, she co-authored with Thomas de Waal, Chechnya: A Small Victorious War. The following year, they published Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus, which was awarded the James Cameron Prize for Distinguished Reporting in the UK. Gall was awarded the Kurt Schork award for international freelance journalism in 2002, the Interaction award for international reporting in 2005, and was awarded the Edward Weintal Prize for diplomatic reporting by Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in 2007.
In 1998, she moved to the Financial Times and The Economist reporting on the Caucasus and Central Asia from Baku, Azerbaijan. From 1999 to 2001, Gall worked in the Balkans for the New York Times, covering the wars in Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia and developments in Bosnia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia. From 2001 to 2013, she was based in Afghanistan, as a correspondent with The New York Times for Pakistan and Afghanistan. From 2013 to 2017, she was the newspaper's North Africa correspondent based in Tunis and then the Times' bureau chief in Istanbul, Turkey; she now covers the war in Ukraine.
== Publication and documentary ==
Gall is featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side (2007). She was the first journalist to report the story of two Afghans who died in US custody at Bagram air base (Parwan Detention Facility). The case of an Afghan taxi driver beaten to death in 2002 while in US-military custody forms the heart of the documentary's examination of the abuses committed during the detainment and interrogation of political prisoners. Gall investigated the death of cab driver Dilawar, officially declared by the military to be from natural causes but uncovered what she considers to be incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.
In 2014, in her book The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014, she accused the ISI, Pakistan's clandestine intelligence service, of hiding and protecting Osama bin Laden and his family after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
== Bibliography ==
—; de Waal, Thomas (1997). Chechnya: a small victorious war. London: Pan Macmillan Adult. ISBN 978-0-330-35075-4.
—; de Waal, Thomas (1998). Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-2963-2.
— (2014). The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014. Boston: Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0-544-53856-6.
== References ==
== External links ==
Journalisted - Articles by Carlotta Gall |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axitinib | Axitinib | Axitinib, sold under the brand name Inlyta, is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor developed by Pfizer. It has been shown to significantly inhibit growth of breast cancer in animal (xenograft) models and has shown partial responses in clinical trials with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and several other tumour types.
It was approved to treat renal cell carcinoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after showing a modest increase in progression-free survival, though there have been reports of fatal adverse effects.
== Medical uses ==
=== Renal cell carcinoma ===
It has received approval for use as a treatment for renal cell carcinoma from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (January 2012), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (September 2012), the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (September 2012) and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) (July 2012).
== Clinical trials ==
A Phase II clinical trial showed good response in combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer. However, Pfizer reported on 30 January 2009, that Phase III clinical trials of the drug when used in combination with gemcitabine showed no evidence of improved survival rates over treatments using gemcitabine alone for advanced pancreatic cancer and halted the trial.
In 2010, a Phase III trial for previously treated metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) showed significantly extended progression-free survival when compared to sorafenib. In December 2011, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted unanimously to recommend that US FDA approve axitinib for the second-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), based on the results of the Phase III trial comparing axitinib and sorafenib.
It has also been studied in combination with the ALK1 inhibitor dalantercept.
A study published in 2015 showed that axitinib effectively inhibits a mutated gene (BCR-ABL1[T315I]) that is common in chronic myeloid leukemias and adult acute lymphoblastic leukemias which have become resistant to other tyrosine kinase inhibitors like imatinib. This is one of the first examples of a new indication for an existing drug being discovered by screening known drugs using a patient's own cells.
== Adverse effects ==
Diarrhea, hypertension, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, dysphonia, hand-foot syndrome, weight decreased, vomiting, asthenia, and constipation are the most common side effects occurring in more than 20% of patients.
== Interactions ==
Coadministration with strong CYP3A4/CYP3A5 inhibitors and inducers should be avoided where possible as they may increase or reduce plasma exposure of axitinib, respectively.
== Mechanism of action ==
Its primary mechanism of action is thought to be vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1–3, c-KIT and PDGFR inhibition, this, in turn, enables it to inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels by tumours).
It was also proposed that it might act by inducing autophagy, as some other tyrosine kinase inhibitors, like sorafenib.
It has also been shown to bind (in a different conformation from the VEGF binding) to the BCR-ABL fusion protein, specifically inhibiting the drug-resistant T315I mutant isoform.
== Pharmacokinetics ==
== Society and culture ==
=== Legal status ===
In July 2024, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Axitinib Accord, intended for the treatment of adults with renal cell carcinoma. The applicant for this medicinal product is Accord Healthcare S.L.U.
=== Economics ===
Pfizer reported revenue of US$1.036 billion for Inlyta in 2023.
=== Brand names ===
In the European Union, it is sold under the brand name Inlyta.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._Wolper | David L. Wolper | David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, and North and South, and the theatrically-released films Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and L.A. Confidential (1997). He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985 for his work producing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as helping to bring the games there. His 1971 film (as executive producer) about the study of insects, The Hellstrom Chronicle, won an Academy Award.
== Biography ==
Wolper was born in New York City, into an eastern European Jewish family, the son of Anna (née Fass) and Irving S. Wolper. He briefly attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa before transferring to the University of Southern California.
Wolper directed the 1959 documentary The Race for Space, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and others including Biography (1961–63), The Making of the President 1960 (1963) and Four Days in November (1964). Wolper then sold his company to Metromedia for $3.6 million in 1964. In October 1968, he paid $750,000 to leave Metromedia and took six film projects with him. The pre-1968 library is owned by Cube Entertainment (formerly International Creative Exchange), while the post-1970 library (along with Wolper's production company, Wolper Productions, now known as The Wolper Organization) has been owned by Warner Bros. since November 1976.
In 1969, Wolper received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
He won an Academy Award for the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle, about the study of insects, which he executive produced. He also produced numerous documentaries and documentary series including The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (TV) (1968), Appointment With Destiny (1971–73 TV series), Visions of Eight (1973), This Is Elvis (1981), Imagine: John Lennon (1988) and others.
On March 13, 1974, one of his crews filming a National Geographic history of Australopithecus at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was killed when their Sierra Pacific Airlines Corvair 440 slammed into the White Mountains shortly after takeoff from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, killing all 35 on board, including 31 Wolper crew members. The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast in the television series Primal Man. The cause of the crash remains unsolved.
In 1984, he helped bring the Olympic Games to Los Angeles and produced the opening and closing ceremonies. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards the following year.
In 1988, Wolper was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. For his work on television, he had received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wolper died on August 10, 2010, of congestive heart disease and complications of Parkinson's disease at his Beverly Hills home. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hollywood Hills cemetery.
== Productions ==
His company was involved in the following productions. He was a distributor of the early shows, and became an executive producer with The Race for Space in 1958.
== See also ==
Norman Lear
Aaron Spelling
Alan Landsburg
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
David L. Wolper at IMDb
David L. Wolper at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Works by or about David L. Wolper at the Internet Archive |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Resnick | Stephen Resnick | Stephen Alvin Resnick (; October 24, 1938 – January 2, 2013) was an American Marxist economist. He was well known for his work (much of it written together with Richard D. Wolff) on Marxian economics, economic methodology, and class analysis. His work, along with that of Wolff, is especially associated with a post-Althusserian perspective on political economy.
== Biography ==
Resnick earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His dissertation was an econometric analysis of the European Common Market. His early work (during his tenure at Yale University between 1965 and 1971) was with Stephen Hymer and focused on issues of economic development and international political economy.
After a brief period at the City College of New York (1971–1973), Resnick began teaching at the Economics Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973. He began working with Richard D. Wolff in this period, and from then until Resnick's death they published numerous articles and books together, formulating a nondeterminist, class analytical approach. Topics included Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination, radical economics, international trade, business cycles, social formations, the Soviet Union, and comparing and contrasting Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories.
Resnick's work with Wolff took Louis Althusser and Étienne Balibar's Reading Capital as its point of departure and developed a very subtle reading of Karl Marx's Capital Volumes II and III in their influential Knowledge and Class. In Resnick's work, Marxian class analysis entails the detailed study of the conditions of existences of concrete forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of surplus labor. While there could be an infinite number of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist canon refers to ancient (independent), slave, feudal, capitalist, and communist class processes.
In 1989, Resnick joined efforts with a group of colleagues, ex- and then current students to launch Rethinking Marxism, an academic journal that aims to create a platform for rethinking and developing Marxian concepts and theories within economics as well as other fields of social inquiry. He remained a member of the editorial board of the journal until 1994, and continued thereafter to serve as a member of the advisory board of the journal.
Resnick continued to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses and direct dissertation research in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst until 2013. He received multiple teaching awards and taught classes in economic theory, economic development, and economic history. Resnick listed his primary research interests as Marxian theory and economic history and development.
Resnick died on January 2, 2013, as a result of leukemia.
== Bibliography ==
Notable works of Stephen Resnick include:
Hymer, S., & Resnick, S. (1969). A model of an agrarian economy with nonagricultural activities. The American Economic Review, 59(4), 493–506.
Richard D. Wolff and Stephen A. Resnick. Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1987).
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987).
J.K. Gibson-Graham, Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. Class and Its Others (Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis, 2000).
J.K. Gibson-Graham, Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. Re/Presenting Class: Essays in Postmodern Marxism (Duke University Press, Durham NC, 2001).
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR (Routledge, NY, 2002).
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. New Departures in Marxian Theory (Economics as Social Theory (Routledge, NY, 2006).
Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian (The MIT Press, 2012).
== Videos ==
"Course on Marxian Economics"
"Course on Socialist Economics"
"Past Present and Future of the Economics Department" Round table with Resnick, Katzner, Bowles
"Memorial for Stephen Resnick" Remarks of Richard D. Wolff
"The POLITICS of OUR 40-YEAR COLLABORATION"
== See also ==
Paul Hirst
Barry Hindess
J. K. Gibson-Graham
== References ==
== External links ==
Stephen A Resnick's website with Richard D. Wolff
Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture and Society
Re-centering Class in Critical Theory: A Tribute to Stephen A. Resnick (1938-2013)
Obituary article on Umass.edu |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Chen | Felix Chen | Felix Chen or Chen Chiu-sen (Chinese: 陳秋盛; pinyin: Chén Qiūshèng; 9 July 1942 – 9 April 2018) was a Taiwanese conductor and violinist. He was resident conductor and music director of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra from 1986 until his dismissal in 2003. He taught both Chien Wen-pin, musical director of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2007; and the same orchestra's current maestro, Lü Shao-chia.
== Early life ==
Chen was born in Taihoku Prefecture, Taiwan on 9 July 1942. He began his musical career studying the violin, and won first prize in Taiwan's provincial violin competition in 1959. Later, he studied at the Munich Conservatory in Germany. He returned to Taiwan in 1969 and played violin in several orchestras.
== Career ==
=== Early career ===
In 1971, Chen moved to Austria to study conducting, returning again to Taiwan in 1973 to work for the Taiwan Provincial Symphony Orchestra. He later moved to the Taipei Symphony Orchestra (TSO), which he led for 17 years. He began staging operas with them. In this era, the TSO had not yet begun to stage operas; consequently, Chen's were almost the only Western operas known at that time in Taiwan. He was praised for his work at the podium conducting both orchestral and operatic works. Every year Chen and the TSO produced one or two operas (among them Aida, Otello and Turandot) which became major musical events in Taiwan.
In a 2003 article in the Taipei Times newspaper, Chen was described as "a veritable Taiwanese 'living national treasure'", due to his "long line of magnificent concerts and opera productions."
=== Later career ===
After his retirement, Chen taught at the National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei National University of the Arts, and Tainan National University of the Arts. He was invited to give guest performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan (NSO) and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in his later years. The conductors Lü Shao-chia and Chien Wen-pin were both students of Chen.
In March 2014, Chen came out of retirement and for the first time publicly praised Shen Yun Performing Arts for their "staging techniques" while reflecting that the institution deserved its reputation.
=== Firing ===
In September 2003, Chen was accused of corruption and involvement in a forgery scandal. As a result, the Department of Culture Affairs of the Taipei City Government decided to relieve him of his post. Chen eventually chose to retire, and some people believed he was forced to do so. In 2010, the Taipei Times asserted that "according to many in Taipei's classical music scene, not a shred of evidence involving Chen in any wrongdoing was ever discovered." Chen meanwhile returned to university teaching, making occasional appearances as a guest conductor.
== Death ==
Chen died on 9 April 2018 in Taipei at the age of 75.
== Partial discography ==
Ritual Incantations
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B Minor, Op. 104: I. Allegro
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B Minor, Op. 104: II. Adagio ma non troppo
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B Minor, Op. 104: III. Finale: Allegro moderato
Ritual Incantations: I. Majestic: Driving and Persistent — Cantabile
Ritual Incantations: II. Mysterious and Expansive — Longing — Yearning
Ritual Incantations: III. Spirited — Passionate — Bold and Lyrical
== References ==
== External links ==
Biography of Felix Chen Archived 2018-01-22 at the Wayback Machine at MusicianTW.gov |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Lloyd-Williams#cite_note-FLSW-6 | Mari Lloyd-Williams | Mari Lloyd-Williams is a Welsh medical consultant who specialises in palliative care. She taught at the University of Liverpool for more than two decades before moving to Liverpool John Moores University in 2022.
== Biography ==
Mari Lloyd-Williams was born to Margaret Winter Davies and county councillor Lloyd Williams. She was educated at Leicester Medical School. In 2000, she became a Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer for the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and LOROS Hospice after completing her palliative medicine training with them. In 2002, she moved to the University of Liverpool, where she became a Senior Lecturer and was later granted a personal chair at the School of Population, Community and Behavioural Sciences in 2003. In 2022, she moved to Liverpool John Moores University and became Professor of Palliative and Supportive Care. She also holds an honorary consultant position in palliative medicine with the Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool and the Liverpool clinical commissioning group.
As an academic, Lloyd-Williams specialises in palliative care. Among her work in palliative care includes the leadership of a project involving more than a hundred elderly people in a rural village. With the support of The Prince's Countryside Fund, she was granted a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 for the purposes of traveling to the Faroe Islands and Ireland to "[develop] volunteer-led palliative care facilities in rural communities". She told the Denbighshire Free Press that she would use the Fellowship funds for a visit to Giljagarður, an elderly community in the Faroese town of Leirvík.
She was elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2011. She is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Free_Press | Winnipeg Free Press | The Free Press (or FP; founded as the Manitoba Free Press; previously known as the Winnipeg Free Press) is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as current events in sports, business, and entertainment and various consumer-oriented features, such as homes and automobiles appear on a weekly basis.
The WFP was founded in 1872, only two years after Manitoba became part of Canada, in 1870. The WFP's founding predated Winnipeg's own incorporation, in 1873. The Winnipeg Free Press has since become the oldest newspaper in Western Canada that is still active.
== Timeline ==
November 30, 1872: The Manitoba Free Press was launched by William Fisher Luxton and John A. Kenny. Luxton bought a press in New York City and, along with Kenny, rented a shack at 555 Main Street, near the present corner of Main Street and James Avenue.
1874: The paper moved to a new building on Main Street, across from St. Mary Avenue.
1882: Control of the Free Press was passed on to Clifford Sifton. The organization subsequently moved to a building on McDermot Avenue, where it would remain until 1900.
1900: The paper moved to a new address on McDermot Avenue at Albert Street.
1901: John Wesley Dafoe served as president, editor-in-chief, and editorial writer for the WFP until 1944.
1905: The newspaper moved to a four-storey building at Portage and Garry.
1913: The newspaper moved to 300 Carlton Street and would remain there for 78 years.
1920: The Free Press took its newsprint supplier before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for violating the War Measures Act during World War I. The newspaper won the case, known as Fort Frances Pulp and Paper v Manitoba Free Press, as the court determined that whether the state of national emergency continued after the war was a political matter for Parliament.
February 21, 1923: Harry Houdini was placed in the straight jacket by two city police officers and then hoisted by his feet with pulleys to 30 feet above the sidewalk off the side of the Winnipeg Free Press Building. The paper ran an amateur photo contest with impressive cash prizes of $15, $10 and $5 for the three best images of the escape. The contest would be won by L. B. Foote, who went on to chronicle events for the Free Press for two decades.
December 2, 1931: The paper was renamed the Winnipeg Free Press.
1991: The Free Press moved to its current location in the Inkster Industrial Park, a CA$150 million plant at 1355 Mountain Avenue.December 2001: The Free Press and its sister paper, Brandon Sun, were bought from Thomson Newspapers by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership.
== Strike ==
In 2008, at noon on Thanksgiving Day (Monday, October 13), about 1,000 members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, representing editorial, advertising, circulation, and press staff, as well as newspaper carriers, launched a strike action. The strike ended 16 days later, when the union ratified the final offer on Tuesday, October 28. The contract was ratified by 67% of newspaper carriers, 75% of the pressmen, and 91% of the inside workers, including journalists. The recent five-year contract was negotiated, ratified, and signed in 2013, with no threat of a strike. Workers and managers negotiated directly with great success, without the need of a lawyer that previous contracts had required.
== Circulation ==
As of November 1, 2009, the WFP ceased publishing a regular Sunday edition. In its place, a Sunday-only tabloid called On 7 was launched, but it has since been discontinued.
On March 27, 2011, the impending arrival of Metro in the Winnipeg market caused the Sunday newspaper to be retooled as a broadsheet format, Winnipeg Free Press SundayXtra. The Sunday edition is now available exclusively online.
According to figures via Canadian Newspaper Association, the Free Press' average weekday circulation for 2013 was 108,583, while on Saturdays it was 144,278. Because of the relatively small population of Manitoba, that meant that over 10% of the population could be receiving the paper and its advertisements. Like most Canadian daily newspapers, the Free Press has seen a decline in circulation, dropping its total by 17% to 106,473 copies daily from 2009 to 2015.
Daily average
As of 2023, the Winnipeg Free Press media kit claims that 1.15 million users visit the newspaper's network of sites each month, and that in Winnipeg, 439,000 adults read the publication in print or digital format each week.
== Notable staff ==
John Wesley Dafoe 1901-1944, president, editor-in-chief, & wrote influential editorials
Charles Edwards (1928 – early-1930s): journalist and news agency executive
Bartley Kives (2000–2016): arts and news writer; left to join CBWT-DT as a television journalist.
Vince Leah (1980–1993): journalist, writer, sports administrator and member of the Order of Canada
Bob Moir (1948–1958): television producer, sports commentator, and journalist
Hal Sigurdson (1951–1963; 1976–1996): columnist and sports editor from 1976 to 1989
Maurice Smith (1927–1937; 1940–1976): columnist and sports editor from 1944 to 1976
Scott Young (1936–1940): sports writer from 1936 to 1940
== See also ==
List of newspapers in Canada
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Cook, Ramsay (1963). The politics of John W. Dafoe and the Free Press. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-5119-6. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Merrill, John Calhoun (1980). The world's great dailies : profiles of fifty newspapers. New York: Hastings House. pp. 351–365. ISBN 978-0-8038-8095-5.
Paterson, Edith (1970). Tales of early Manitoba from the Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Free Press.
== External links ==
Official website |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._W._Botha#:~:text=In%201943%2C%20Botha%20married%20Anna,two%20sons%20and%20three%20daughters. | P. W. Botha | Pieter Willem Botha, (locally BOOR-tə, Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈpitər ˈvələm ˈbuəta]; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006) was a South African politician who served as the last Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and as the first executive State President of South Africa from 1984 until his resignation in 1989. Nicknamed 'Die Groot Krokodil' (Afrikaans for 'The Big Crocodile') due to his tough political stance, he was considered the final hardline leader of South Africa during the apartheid era.
Born on a small farm in the Orange Free State in 1916, Botha was raised in a conservative Afrikaner family with strong nationalist beliefs. Botha studied law at Grey University College but left before completing his degree to pursue a career in politics. He became involved in the National Party's youth wing and worked as a political organizer, laying the foundation for his rise within the party. He supported the NPs opposition to South Africa's involvement in World War II on the side of Britain, and actively campaigned for a German victory. In the 1948 general election, he was elected to the House of Assembly as the MP from George, a position he held for over four decades. His influence within the party grew, and in 1958, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs by Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. In 1961, Botha became Minister of Community Development and Coloured Affairs, overseeing forced removals, including the controversial clearance of District Six. His role expanded in 1966, when he was appointed Minister of Defence by Prime Minister John Vorster. During his tenure, he transformed the South African Defense Forces, increasing military spending, implementing conscription, and launching covert operations against anti-apartheid movements. Botha also played a key role in South Africa's nuclear weapons program and its military interventions in Angola and Namibia during the Cold War.
Botha was elected leader of the National Party and assumed office as Prime Minister on 4 September 1978, following the resignation of John Vorster. His tenure was marked by a focus on maintaining apartheid through military expansion and internal security measures while introducing limited reforms, such as the Tricameral Parliament in 1983, which granted limited political representation to Coloured and Indian South Africans, but excluded Black South Africans. The 1983 referendum on the Tricameral Parliament passed with support from white voters. In 1984, Botha became South Africa's first executive State President, consolidating executive power and continuing apartheid policies. His presidency faced increasing internal unrest, protests, and international sanctions. After suffering a stroke in 1989, he resigned as Leader of the National Party and later State President, and was succeeded by F. W. de Klerk.
After resigning as State President, Botha remained influential in South African politics. He opposed the reforms initiated by his successor, F.W. de Klerk, particularly the negotiations to dismantle apartheid and the unbanning of the ANC, and advocated for a no vote in the 1992 referendum. Botha became a vocal critic of the move toward democracy, maintaining his belief in the necessity of apartheid. In the late 1990s, he faced legal challenges related to his role in the apartheid-era policies, notably during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, where he was called to account for his actions but refused to fully cooperate. Botha's health continued to decline, and he died on 31 October 2006, at the age of 90.
== Personal life ==
=== Early life and education ===
Pieter Willem Botha was born on 12 January 1916 on a small farm in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State Province (now Free State Province). The son of Afrikaner parents, his father, Pieter Willem Botha Sr., fought as a commando against the British in the Second Boer War. His mother, Hendrina Christina Botha (née de Wet), was interned in a British concentration camp during the war.
Botha's upbringing was heavily influenced by Afrikaner culture and Calvinist religious teachings. His parents emphasized discipline, hard work, and loyalty to the Afrikaner cause. Growing up in the aftermath of the Second Boer War and amid increasing Afrikaner nationalism, he absorbed the prevailing belief that Afrikaners needed to assert political and economic control over South Africa. This environment helped shape his later political ideology and commitment to apartheid policies.
Botha initially attended the Paul Roux School and matriculated from Bethlehem Voortrekker High School. In 1934, he entered the Grey University College (now the University of the Free State) in Bloemfontein to study law, but left early at the age of twenty in order to pursue a career in politics. He began working for the National Party as a political organiser in the neighbouring Cape Province. Botha joined the Ossewabrandwag, an Afrikaner nationalist group which was sympathetic to the German Nazi Party, and helped found its Cape Town branch in 1939. After the German attack on the USSR, Botha condemned the Ossewabrandwag in August 1941, changing his ideological allegiance to Christian nationalism, and was expelled from the organisation soon after.
=== Family ===
In 1943, Botha married Anna Elizabeth Rossouw (Elize). The couple had five children; two sons (Piet and Rossouw) and three daughters (Elsa, Amelia and Rozanne). In the 1980s, Rozanne Botha, emerged as a minor celebrity figure in the country. She released Afrikaans pop songs and appeared on the covers of magazines such as Sarie and Style, where she was dubbed "First Daughter of the Land".
In 1998, he married Barbara Robertson, a legal secretary 25 years his junior, following Elize's death the previous year.
In 2022, two of his daughters died. Amelia Paschke, died in a car crash driving back from Betty's Bay. In the same year, Rozanne also died, of cancer.
== Parliamentary career ==
Botha was elected to parliament in 1948 as an MP for the National Party from the constituency of George. His entry into politics coincided with the National Party's rise to power under Prime Minister D.F. Malan, whos government formally instituted the policy of Apartheid. As a staunch supporter of Afrikaner nationalism, Botha aligned himself with the baasskap faction of the party, advocating for stricter racial policies and the consolidation of white minority rule.
Botha gained a reputation for his tough and uncompromising rhetoric, often warning of the dangers of communism, black liberation movements, and international pressure against apartheid. His speeches in Parliament were marked by aggressive language, emphasizing the need for strong leadership to defend white rule. He displayed authoritarian tendencies, advocating for increased state power to suppress opposition and enforce apartheid policies. His biggest opponents during his career in Parliament were Helen Suzman and Harry Schwarz, whom he often verbally attacked in Parliament.
After retaining his seat in the 1953 and 1958 elections, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs by Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. In his capacity, he assisted the administration with the enforcement of the Population Registration Act, which classified all South Africans into one of four racial groups.
In 1961, he was appointed Minister of Community Development and Coloured Affairs, a position that gave him direct control over policies related to urban segregation and forced removals. He was responsible for implementing large-scale resettlement programs that forcibly relocated non-white communities from urban centers to designated areas under the Group Areas Act.
In 1966, he was appointed Minister of Defence, a title in which he held for over 15 years. As Defence Minister, he rapidly expanded the state's military capabilities, responding to growing resistance to apartheid and perceived external threats from neighboring African countries and international sanctions. He began South Africa's nuclear weapons program through a doctrine of "strategic deterrence", aiming to deter Soviet-backed forces in Southern Africa from intervening. He was instrumental in establishing the policy of "total onslaught", which framed South Africa's racial policies as a broader Cold War struggle against communism and black liberation movements. Under his 15 years in charge of the ministry, the South African Defence Force (SADF) reached a zenith, at times consuming 20% of the national budget, compared to 1.3% in 1968, and was involved in the South African Border War.
=== Prime Minister (1978–1984) ===
When Prime Minister John Vorster resigned following allegations of his involvement in the Muldergate Scandal in 1978, Botha was elected as his successor by the National Party caucus, besting the electorate's favourite, 45-year-old Foreign Minister Pik Botha. In the final internal ballot, he beat Connie Mulder, the scandal's namesake, in a 78–72 vote. On 5 December 1978, he was absolved in a judicial report of blame in the scandal.
Upon becoming Prime Minister, Botha retained the defence portfolio until October 1980, when he appointed SADF Chief General Magnus Malan, his successor. From his ascension to the cabinet, Botha pursued an ambitious military policy designed to increase South Africa's military capability. He sought to improve relations with the West – especially the United States – but with mixed results. He argued that the preservation of the apartheid government, though unpopular, was crucial to stemming the tide of African Communism, which had made in-roads into neighbouring Angola and Mozambique after these two former Portuguese colonies obtained independence.
In one of his first moves as Prime Minister, he appointed Piet Koornhof as minister responsible for black affairs. Koornhof, who joined the ANC in the post-apartheid era, was regarded as one of the most reform‐minded ministers in the government. Botha had led a campaign to demolish Crossroads, a high-density township in Cape Town in 1978. Amid significant opposition, Botha and Koornhof agreed to "indefinitely delay" the demolitions.
A challenge he faced within his first two months in office was the election of Andries Treurnicht as leader of the Transvaal province. Treurnicht was vocally opposed to apartheid reforms and now had a power base controlling a strong majority of seats in the all-white parliament. The election highlighted differences between Afrikaners in Botha's Cape Province and Treurnicht's. In the former, there was a higher level of tolerance towards racial groups, with attitudes mostly formed by contact with Cape Coloureds. Botha had in 1974 said that the Nico Malan Theatre should be open to patrons of all races. However, he was opposed to blacks becoming a majority in the Western Cape and sought demolitions of unplanned black townships.
In January 1979, he became the first premier to visit Robben Island, known primarily as a prison for mostly black political prisoners. He declined to say whether he had met with any of the prisoners, stating that it was a "routine" visit. In April of the same year, Botha offered military and economic support to Abel Muzorewa's incoming government for Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Botha held high-level talks with Muzorewa in June 1979.
In the weeks leading up to the 1981 South African general election, he was confronted by hard-line Afrikaner hecklers, some of whom were supporters of the Herstigte Nasionale Party, resisting to changes to the status quo of apartheid. On the final night of the campaign trail, Botha vowed that "As long as there is a National Party Government, we won't hand over South-West Africa to the authority of SWAPO." In the election, his party garnered 58% of the all-white vote and 131 seats. This was down from 65% and 134 seats in the 1977 South African general election, with the party losing votes to the Herstigte Nasionale Party.
In April 1981, the passport of Desmond Tutu was seized. Tutu on visits to Europe and the United States, called for economic pressure on South Africa to make Botha's government enter into negotiations with the country's leadership. Botha was angered by these visits and had vowed to seize Tutu's passport. In the same year, he authorised Operation Beanbag, a series of raids by the South African Defence Force against safe houses of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the ANC in Mozambique.
In February 1982, he survived a significant challenge to his leadership from Andries Treurnicht. He was able to secure 172 votes versus 36 on a motion of support in his leadership and his route of power-sharing with other racial groups.
On 22 April 1983, Botha announced a special commission to consider repealing the Immorality Act and the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949. Botha said: "I am personally opposed to immoral practices, but the Government does not see these two laws as guarantees for the survival of South Africa,".
On 19 May 1983, South Africa was the subject of resolutions taken by the International Press Institute condemning the "continued harassment and persecution" of the media in South Africa. The institute appealed to Botha to "to accept press freedom as a prerequisite for a country that regards itself as part of the democratic world." The institute also cited the increasing difficulty for foreign journalists to obtain visas to report and work from South Africa. The resolution also highlighted the forthcoming trials of journalists, Allister Sparks, his wife, Suzanne and Bernard Simon. The charges against all three were dropped in March 1984.
In May 1983 he condemned the Church Street, Pretoria bombing committed by uMkhonto weSizwe, saying that it confirmed "that we are dealing with a Communist-inspired onslaught."
In 1983, Botha proposed a new constitution, which was then put to a vote of the white population on 2 November. The constitution was endorsed by the white electorate.
Though it did not implement a federal system, it implemented what was ostensibly a power-sharing agreement with Coloureds and Indians. The new constitution created two new houses of parliament alongside the existing, white-only House of Assembly—the House of Representatives for Coloureds and the House of Delegates for Indians. The three chambers of the new Tricameral Parliament had sole jurisdiction over matters relating to their respective communities. Legislation affecting "general affairs", such as foreign policy and race relations, had to pass all three chambers after consideration by joint standing committees. At the time, White South Africans outnumbered Coloureds and Indians together, hence preserving white dominance within the framework of a "power-sharing" system.
The plan included no chamber or system of representation for the black majority. Each Black ethno-linguistic group was allocated a 'homeland' which would initially be a semi-autonomous area. However, blacks were legally considered citizens of the Bantustans, not of South Africa, and were expected to exercise their political rights there. Bantustans were expected to gradually move towards a greater state of independence with sovereign nation status being the final goal. During Botha's tenure, Ciskei, Bophutatswana and Venda all achieved nominal sovereignty and nationhood, which were only recognised by each other and by South Africa . These new countries, set up within the borders of South Africa, never gained international recognition, and economically all remained heavily dependent on South Africa. Over half of the Bantustans, most notably KwaZulu led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, rejected independence due to their leaders' commitment to opposing apartheid from within.
The new constitution also changed the executive branch from the parliamentary system that had been in place in one form or another since 1910, to a presidential system. The prime minister's post was abolished, and its functions were merged with those of the state president, which became an executive post with sweeping powers. In a departure from general presidential systems, however, the president was to be elected not by universal suffrage (or white suffrage) but by an electoral college, whose members were elected by the three chambers of the Parliament. The state president and cabinet had sole jurisdiction over "general affairs". Disputes between the three chambers regarding "general affairs" were resolved by the President's Council, composed of members from the three chambers and members directly appointed by the state president. In practice, the composition of the President's Council and the electoral college made it impossible for the Coloured and Indian chambers to outvote the white chamber on any substantive matter, even if they voted as a bloc. Thus, the real power remained in white hands — and in practice, in the hands of Botha's National Party, which commanded a large majority in the white chamber due to the first past the post voting system. Only with the challenge posed by the Conservative Party, which was against the reforms due to the fears of apartheid breaking up, was the Botha's position put in question.
The new constitution was criticised by the black majority for failing to grant them any formal role in government. The African National Congress and Chief Buthelezi were among its opponents. Their stand was supported by many coloured, white and Indian groups, including the official opposition, the Progressive Federal Party. Although many international commentators such as the Reagan Administration praised it as a "first step" in what was assumed to be a series of reforms.
=== State President (1984–1989) ===
On 14 September 1984, Botha was elected as the first state president under the newly approved constitution.
Implementing the presidential system was seen as a key step in consolidating Botha's personal power. In previous years, he had succeeded in getting a number of strict laws that limited freedom of speech through parliament, and thus suppressed criticism of government decisions. States of emergencies became frequent, including extrajudicial killings either during riots or through special forces, such as the Koevoet.
In many western countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom (where the Anti-Apartheid Movement was based) and the Commonwealth, there was much debate over the imposition of economic sanctions in order to weaken Botha and undermine the white regime. By the late 1980s – as foreign investment in South Africa declined – disinvestment began to have a serious effect on the nation's economy.
State President Botha's loss of influence can be directly attributed to decisions taken at the Ronald Reagan/Mikhail Gorbachev summit of the leaders of the US and the Soviet Union in Moscow (29 May – 1 June 1988) that paved the way to resolving the problem of Namibia which, according to foreign minister Pik Botha, was destabilising the region and "seriously complicating" the major issue which South Africa itself would shortly have to face. Soviet military aid would cease and Cuban troops be withdrawn from Angola as soon as South Africa complied with UN Security Council Resolution 435 by relinquishing control of Namibia and allowing UN-supervised elections there. The Tripartite Agreement, which gave effect to the Reagan/Gorbachev summit decisions, was signed at UN headquarters in New York on 22 December 1988 by representatives of Angola, Cuba and South Africa.
On 18 January 1989, Botha (then aged 73) suffered a mild stroke which prevented him from attending a meeting with Namibian political leaders on 20 January 1989. Botha's place was taken by acting president J. Christiaan Heunis. On 2 February 1989, Botha resigned as leader of the National Party (NP), anticipating his nominee – finance minister Barend du Plessis – would succeed him. Instead, the NP's parliamentary caucus selected as leader education minister F. W. de Klerk, who moved quickly to consolidate his position within the party as a reformist, while hardliners supported Botha. In March 1989, the NP elected De Klerk as state president but Botha refused to resign, saying in a television address that the constitution entitled him to remain in office until March 1990 and that he was even considering running for another five-year term. Following a series of acrimonious meetings in Cape Town, and five days after UNSCR 435 was implemented in Namibia on 1 April 1989, Botha and De Klerk reached a compromise: Botha would retire after the parliamentary elections in September, allowing de Klerk to take over as state president.
However, Botha abruptly resigned from the state presidency on 14 August 1989, complaining that he had not been consulted by De Klerk over his scheduled visit to see President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia:
"The ANC is enjoying the protection of president Kaunda and is planning insurgency activities against South Africa from Lusaka", Botha declared on nationwide television. He said he had asked the cabinet what reason he should give the public for abruptly leaving office. "They replied I could use my health as an excuse. To this, I replied that I am not prepared to leave on a lie. It is evident to me that after all these years of my best efforts for the National Party and for the government of this country, as well as the security of our country, I am being ignored by ministers serving in my cabinet."
De Klerk was sworn in as acting state president on 14 August 1989 and the following month was nominated by the electoral college to succeed Botha in a five-year term as state president. De Klerk soon announced the removal of legislation against anti-apartheid groups – including the African National Congress – and the release of Nelson Mandela. De Klerk's term saw the dismantling of the apartheid system and negotiations that eventually led to South Africa's first racially inclusive democratic elections on 27 April 1994.
In a statement on the death of Botha in 2006, De Klerk said:
"Personally, my relationship with P. W. Botha was often strained. I did not like his overbearing leadership style and was opposed to the intrusion of the State Security Council system into virtually every facet of government. After I became leader of the National Party in February 1989, I did my best to ensure that P. W. Botha would be able to end his term as president with full dignity and decorum. Unfortunately, this was not to be."
== Apartheid government ==
Botha undertook some changes to apartheid practices, but these were rejected by many as superficial and inadequate. He legalised interracial marriage and miscegenation, both completely banned since the late 1940s. The constitutional prohibition on multiracial political parties was lifted. He also relaxed the Group Areas Act, which barred non-whites from living in certain areas. In 1988, a new law created "Open Group Areas" or racially mixed neighbourhoods but these neighbourhoods had to receive a Government permit, had to have the support of the local whites immediately concerned, and had to be an upper-class neighbourhood in a major city in order to be awarded a permit. In 1983, the aforementioned constitutional reforms granted limited political rights to "Coloureds" and "Indians". Botha also became the first South African government leader to authorise contacts with Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned leader of the African National Congress (ANC).
Even these meagre reforms went too far for a group of NP hardliners, led by former Education Minister Andries Treurnicht. In 1982, the group broke away to form the Conservative Party. However, they did not even begin to meet the demands of the opposition. In the face of rising discontent and violence, Botha refused to cede political power to blacks and imposed greater security measures against anti-apartheid activists. Botha also refused to negotiate with the ANC.
In 1985, Botha delivered the Rubicon speech, a policy address in which he refused to give in to demands by the black population, including the release of Mandela. Botha's defiance of international opinion further isolated South Africa, leading to economic sanctions and a rapid decline in the value of the rand. The following year, when the United States introduced the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, Botha declared a nationwide state of emergency. He is famously quoted during this time as saying, "This uprising will bring out the beast in us".
As economic and diplomatic actions against South Africa increased, civil unrest spread amongst the black population, supported by the ANC and neighbouring black-majority governments. On 16 May 1986, Botha publicly warned neighbouring states against engaging in "unsolicited interference" in South Africa's affairs. Four days later, Botha ordered air strikes against selected targets in Lusaka, Harare, and Gaborone, including the offices of exiled ANC activists. Botha charged that these raids were just a "first installment" and showed that "South Africa has the capacity and the will to break the [ANC]."
In spite of the concessions made by Botha, his rule was still very repressive. Thousands were detained without trial during Botha's tenure, while others were tortured and killed. The TRC found Botha responsible for gross violations of human rights. He was also found to have directly authorised "unlawful activity which included killing." Botha declined to apologise for apartheid. In a 2006 interview to mark his 90th birthday, he suggested that he had no regrets about the way he had run the country. Botha denied that he had ever considered black South Africans to be in any way inferior to whites, but conceded that "some" whites did hold that view. He also claimed that the racial segregation laws of apartheid "started in Lord Milner's time" and the National Party merely inherited them; however, Botha conceded that the Afrikaner population had been "happy to perpetuate [apartheid]", as many of them "were, and some of them still are... 'racists at heart'".
== Post-presidency ==
Botha and his wife Elize retired to their home, Die Anker, in the town of Wilderness, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from the city of George and located on the Indian Ocean coast of the Western Cape. Elize died in 1997 after a heart attack. He was briefly engaged to Reinette Water Naude, an independently wealthy woman 31 years his junior. However, on 22 June 1998, he married Barbara Robertson, a legal secretary 25 years his junior.
Botha remained largely out of sight of the media and it was widely believed that he remained opposed to many of F. W. de Klerk's reforms. He resigned from the Afrikaner Broederbond.
Then-president Nelson Mandela arranged a dinner with Botha's daughters, Rozanne and Elsa, and their husbands. Mandela had hoped to lobby the family so that they would persuade Botha to testify at the new government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up to expose apartheid-era crimes and chaired by his cultural and political nemesis, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. There was no unanimous agreement between the family, with Rozanne vocally opposed, believing that her father could face prosecution and/or humiliation in the court.
The TRC found that he had ordered the 1988 bombing of the South African Council of Churches headquarters in Johannesburg. In August 1998, he was fined and given a suspended jail sentence for his refusal to testify on human rights violations and violence sanctioned by the State Security Council (SSC) which he, as president until 1989, had directed.
In June 1999, Botha successfully appealed to the High Court against his conviction and sentence. The Court's ruling by Judge Selikowitz (with Judge Foxcroft concurring) found that the notice served on Botha to appear before the TRC was technically invalid.
=== Death and funeral ===
Botha died of natural causes at his home in Wilderness on Tuesday 31 October 2006, aged 90. His death was met with magnanimity by many of his former opponents. Former President Nelson Mandela was reported as saying "while to many Mr. Botha will remain a symbol of apartheid, we also remember him for the steps he took to pave the way towards the eventual peacefully negotiated settlement in our country".
President Thabo Mbeki announced that flags would be flown at half mast to mark the death of a former head of state. The offer of a state funeral was declined by Botha's family, and a private funeral was held on 8 November in the town of George, where Botha's body was buried. Mbeki attended the funeral.
However, the government's decision to honour Botha with official gestures, such as flying the national flag at half-mast and offering a state funeral, was met with public criticism. Organisations including the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and COSATU expressed strong opposition, arguing that a man widely regarded as a symbol of apartheid oppression should not receive national recognition.
== Honours and awards ==
=== National honours ===
Decoration for Meritorious Services, May 1976
Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of South Africa, November 1979
=== Foreign honours ===
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Botha's last interview before he died
The Mandela Document, dated prior to Mandela's release
"Fighter and Reformer: Extracts from the Speeches of P. W. Botha", Compiled by J.J.J. Scholtz, Published: Bureau for Information, Pretoria, 1989
The life and times of PW Botha – IOL
PW, Tambo 'partners in peace' – News24
'He was my bread and botha' (By artists) – Mail&Guardian
Zuma on PW: 'He saw the need for change' – Mail&Guardian
Thabo Mbeki on PW – Moneyweb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hod_Stuart# | Hod Stuart | William Hodgson "Hod" Stuart (February 20, 1879 – June 23, 1907) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. A cover-point (now known as a defenceman), he played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues from 1899 to 1907. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders team in Canadian football. With his brother Bruce, Stuart played in the first professional ice hockey league, the American-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), where he was regarded as one of the best players in the league.
Frustrated with the violence associated with the IPHL, he left the league late in 1906 and returned to Canada, where in 1907 he helped the Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy for hockey. Two months later, he died in a diving accident. To raise money for his widow and children, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association hosted an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. An estimated 3,800 spectators attended the Hod Stuart Memorial Game on January 2, 1908, described by the Montreal Herald as "unique in the history of hockey in Montreal, if not in the whole of Canada".
In an era when defencemen were expected to stay behind during the play, Stuart became known for his ability to score goals while playing a defensive role, and for his ability to remain calm during matches that often turned violent. He also became known for his work to reduce that violence and to increase the salaries of hockey players. His efforts were acknowledged when the Hockey Hall of Fame was created in 1945 and he became one of the first nine players to be inducted. He was joined there by his brother Bruce in 1961.
== Personal life ==
Stuart was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the eldest son of William Stuart and Rachel Hodgson. He had two brothers, Alex and Bruce, and two sisters, Jessie and Lottio. Stuart was involved in sports from an early age. His father had been a good lacrosse player and a good curler and was at once point skip of the Ottawa Curling Club, and both Hod and Bruce played hockey from a young age, often for the same teams. Stuart also played rugby and football, and played for the local professional football team, the Ottawa Rough Riders.
Outside of hockey Stuart worked as a bricklayer, and later in his life he also worked with his father in construction. He was said to have been a quiet person, and unlike other athletes of his era was not one to talk about his exploits, except with close friends. Loughlin, his wife, came from Quebec; around 1903 they were married and had two children together.
== Playing career ==
Stuart first joined a senior hockey team when he spent the winter of 1895–1896 with the Rat Portage Thistles, a team in northwestern Ontario. Along with his brother Bruce, Stuart joined the Ottawa Hockey Club of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) for the 1899 season. He played the 1900 season for Ottawa, captaining the team. Through his father's business contacts, Stuart got a job in Quebec and moved there in 1900; upon arriving there he joined the Quebec Bulldogs, also of the CAHL. He scored seven goals in fifteen games with the team over the next two seasons.
In 1902, the Pittsburgh Bankers of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League signed Stuart to a professional contract; this was disputed between the Bankers and the Pittsburgh Victorias, who also claimed him. Eventually the Bankers won the dispute and kept Stuart; the following year they would also sign Bruce. Stuart was offered a salary of US$15–20 per week, plus steady income from a day job in Pittsburgh. Stuart scored seven goals and had eight assists and was named the best cover-point in the league in 1903.
After one season in Pittsburgh, Stuart moved to the Portage Lakes Hockey Club, a team in northern Michigan, for the 1903–1904 season and played in fourteen exhibition games, finishing fourth on the team with thirteen goals scored. With the formation of the International Professional Hockey League, Stuart left Portage Lake for the Calumet Miners, where he accepted the positions of coach and manager, in addition to playing cover-point, for $1,800. He scored eighteen goals for Calumet in 1904–1905, helped the team with the league championship and was named to the end of season all-star team as the best cover-point in the league.
On December 11, 1905, before the start of the 1905–06 season, Stuart was suspended from the league after the western teams complained that he had won too many championships and was too rough for the league. He was reinstated by the league on December 30, and joined the Pittsburgh Professionals. After Pittsburgh finished their season, Stuart joined Calumet for one game so they could try to win the league championship, which they lost to the Portage Lakes Hockey Club. Once again he was named best cover-point in the IPHL as he scored eleven goals. A big man with a fluid skating stride, he was considered the finest defenceman of his era for his outstanding play on both offence and defence.
As the IPHL convinced players to move to the United States and get paid to play, hockey teams in Canada were forced to match the salaries in order to keep their players. Stuart, who was unhappy playing in Pittsburgh because of the violence involved in games, heard from Dickie Boon that the Montreal Wanderers, defending Stanley Cup winners, of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) were willing to make Stuart the highest paid player in hockey if he were to join the team. On December 13, 1906, Stuart had a letter published in the Montreal Star that detailed his problems with the IPHL. Stuart's chief concern was the officiating; he said they "don't know how to run hockey over here, the rink people appoint the most dumb and incompetent referees that could be found." In December 1906 Pittsburgh refused to play a game against Michigan Soo, claiming they did not like the choice of referee. While a common problem in the IPHL, Pittsburgh's management believed Stuart was behind the action, and released him from the team. No longer bound to any team, Stuart joined the Wanderers; his first game with the team was watched by 6,069 fans, one of the largest audiences to see a hockey game in Canada to that point. He took part in the Wanderers' Stanley Cup challenge against the New Glasgow Cubs, a team from Nova Scotia, on December 27 and 29, 1906, and along with teammates Riley Hern, Frank Glass, Moose Johnson and Jack Marshall, became the first professional hockey players to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Stuart did not escape violence in the ECAHA. On January 12, 1907, the Wanderers faced the Ottawa Senators, a game the Wanderers ultimately won 4–2. Charles Spittal of Ottawa was described as "attempting to split Cecil Blachford's skull", Alf Smith hit Stuart "across the temple with his stick, laying him out like a corpse", and Harry Smith cracked his stick across Ernie "Moose" Johnson's face, breaking Johnson's nose. Stuart was commended for his actions during the game; it was said that he neither flinched nor retaliated, even after bearing most of the hits. At a league meeting on January 18, the Montreal Victorias proposed suspending Spittal and Alf Smith for the season in response to their actions, but this was voted down and the president of the league, Fred McRobie, resigned. The next time the Senators visited Montreal for a game, the police arrested Spittal, Alf and Harry Smith, leading to $20 fines for Spittal and Alf, and an acquittal for Harry. Even with the persistent violence, Stuart helped the Wanderers to an undefeated season; they then accepted a challenge from the Kenora Thistles for the Stanley Cup. The Thistles won the series, held in January, but lost a rematch between the teams in March, giving the Cup back to the Wanderers. Stuart participated in both challenges, and though did not score a goal in any of the four games, he was said to have played the best game of his career in the first game of the series, even with a broken finger. Regarded as the most important player on the Wanderers, Stuart was said to know how to play every position on the ice, and passed his knowledge of the game onto his teammates.
== Death ==
Tired of the constant violence, Stuart quit hockey after the Stanley Cup championship in 1907 and joined his father in construction. As part of this job, Stuart was sent to Belleville, Ontario, to oversee the building of the Belleville Drill Shed, one of his father's contracts. While in Belleville, he continued to receive offers to join a new hockey team. He was asked if he wanted to manage the Belleville team; a similar offer came from Peterborough, Ontario, while a town outside Toronto was said to have offered a railroad president's salary if Stuart would join them. On the afternoon of June 23, 1907, Stuart went to the Bay of Quinte, near Belleville, to swim with some friends. Stuart swam to the nearby lighthouse, about half a kilometre away from his group, climbed onto a platform and dove into the shallow water. He dived head first onto jagged rocks, gashing his head and breaking his neck. He was killed instantly. His body was brought back to Ottawa, where a service was held at his family's home before he was buried at Beechwood Cemetery.
=== All-star game ===
To raise money for Stuart's widow and two children, the ECAHA decided to host an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. An estimated 3,800 spectators attended the Hod Stuart Memorial Game on January 2, 1908, with tickets selling out days in advance. Described by the Montreal Herald as "unique in the history of hockey in Montreal, if not in the whole of Canada," the event featured the Montreal Wanderers, Stuart's former team, playing against a squad of top players from the other teams in the ECAHA.
The Westmount Arena agreed to host the event for no charge, and all proceeds from the game went to Stuart's family, totaling over $2,100. Fans were asked to mail in choices of who should play on the all-star team, with the contest winners given two tickets to the game. The Wanderers, an established team, played better than the All-Stars, who had to learn to play together, and led 7–1 after the first half of the game; though the All-Stars played better in the second half, the Wanderers won by a score of 10–7.
=== Roster ===
=== Legacy and playing style ===
In the immediate aftermath of his death on June 23, 1907, and surrounding his funeral in Ottawa on June 24, many of Stuart's close colleagues in the tight-knit hockey community would pay tribute to the late sportsman. Representatives from the Ottawa Hockey Club, Ottawa Rowing Club, Ottawa Football Club, St. Patrick's Football Club, Ottawa Victorias and Montreal Wanderers were all present at the funeral services alongside family, friends and several city aldermen, all expressing regret for the passing of one of the city's most distinguished athletes. James Strachan, president of the Montreal Wanderers, called him "a splendid hockey player, and one of the finest fellows in the game," and his brother Billy Strachan, a teammate of Stuart on the 1906–07 Montreal Wanderers, said that "the little I did play in his company gave me a very high opinion of him as a player and as a man."
Around the time of his death Hod Stuart was often in the conversation not only as one of the best cover-points in the game, but also one of the best players overall. Montreal native forward Lorne Campbell, who had been a teammate of Stuart on both the Pittsburgh Bankers (WPHL) and the Pittsburgh Professionals (IPHL), claimed in a 1908 interview with the Winnipeg Tribune that Stuart was the best cover-point the game had ever seen up to that point in time, and that he had also helped revolutionize the game of the puck rushing defenceman.
Lorne Campbell would also remark that despite Stuart looking slow on the ice to some spectators, this was only due to his peculiar skating stroke that would give away a false impression, and that for a player of his big size Stuart was "the speediest that ever drew on a pair of skates to play hockey." Campbell also complimented Stuart on his stickhandling and his long reach, and claimed him to have been "one of the best generals in the game."
Lorne Campbell further claimed that while Stuart had been involved in many violent hockey games as a player, he was not himself a dirty player, "but more sinned against than sinning." Campbell claimed that Stuart "was able to take care of himself on the ice, and those stories about him going into a game with the only thought of laying some player out were pure fiction." According to Campbell Stuart took so many stick whacks across his hands, particularly between the thumb and the first fingers, that he had to devise a special hockey glove so padded with protection that a crack on that part of the hand had no effect on him.
== Career statistics ==
=== Regular season and playoffs ===
Playing stats from Total Hockey
== Awards ==
=== WPHL ===
=== IPHL ===
Awards from Total Hockey
== See also ==
List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career
== References ==
== Bibliography ==
== External links ==
Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey
William Hodgson Stuart; an appreciation of a great athlete Souvenir booklet on Hod Stuart, printed for the January 2, 1908 benefit game in his memory, at archive.org |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown_(fraudster) | Michael Brown (fraudster) | Michael Campbell-Brown (born Michael Robert Alexander Brown; 19 April 1966) is a Scottish businessman and fugitive convicted in absentia of theft, perjury and perverting the course of justice. Between 10 February and 30 March 2005 he donated £2.4 million to the Liberal Democrats. He was the largest donor the party had ever had, giving ten times more than anything it had received before.
Campbell-Brown has worked for Serco since 2019.
== Early life and legal issues ==
Brown was born on 19 April 1966 into a family from Glasgow. His father, Ian, was an executive at one of Scotland's largest whisky producers. He attended his local school and later completed a City and Guilds qualification in catering at the Glasgow College of Food Technology.
Brown resided in Majorca, Spain and claimed to have been an international bond trader, whose clients were vetted by United States embassy officials and Special Branch before he accepted their money. Brown's clients included former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards. Brown married Sharon Campbell in 1993.
In June 2008, after being charged with various counts of fraud and money laundering, Brown fled bail and an arrest warrant was subsequently issued. The charges of fraud and money laundering were later discharged by the judge at trial.
Brown was last reported to reside on Templewood Avenue in Hampstead, northwest London. He told various former clients he had been suffering from cancer and adopted the surname Campbell-Brown before he disappeared. In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, neighbours of Brown's Hampstead residence reported that he altered his appearance, growing a full beard in place of his usual goatee and allowing his typically dyed blond hair to revert to its natural grey. His legal representative denied allegations that these changes were intended to aid in evading authorities.
An extensive investigation was carried out by the City of London Police, both domestically and internationally. As part of the search, officers visited the residence of Paul Strasburger, a fellow Liberal Democrat donor who had previously provided bail for Brown.
It is believed that Brown resurfaced in the Caribbean later in 2008. Private investigators hired by two of his creditors reported that credit cards linked to Brown were used in Antigua and Barbuda during September and October of that year. Documents reviewed by The Observer indicated that a credit card issued under the name "M. Campbell-Brown"—an alias Brown had reportedly adopted shortly before disappearing—was used at cash machines in the region during that time.
In September 2011, it was reported by The Guardian that Brown was living in the Dominican Republic under the name Darren Patrick Nally. On 6 January 2012, he was arrested by the Dominican police.
== Trial and aftermath ==
In August 2008 Southwark Crown Court Judge Wadsworth decided that the trial could proceed in the defendant's absence and as private funding had run out to his legal team, Brown would be eligible for legal aid.
In November 2008, a trial was held at the Crown Court in the absence of the defendant, Brown. During the proceedings, the jury was informed that Brown had deliberately constructed a false persona characterized by apparent wealth and social prominence. This included fabrications such as claiming his father held a noble title, asserting connections with the royal family, and offering investors returns of up to 50%. According to prosecuting counsel Martin Edmunds QC, the funds obtained were used to finance an opulent lifestyle, cover business-related expenses, and provide earlier investors with fabricated returns.
Brown resided in a £49,000-per-year apartment in Mayfair, where he reportedly conducted meetings with associates, including an individual named Edwards. He also operated from a high-profile office in the same district and drove a Range Rover with the personalised registration "5 AVE." His expenditures included £2.5 million on a private jet, £400,000 on a yacht, and £327,000 on a home entertainment system for his residence in Majorca.
On 28 November 2008, after deliberating for nine and a half hours, the jury found Brown guilty on four counts: two charges of theft, one of providing false information, and one of perverting the course of justice. These offenses occurred between 9 February 2005 and 17 April 2006. Brown was convicted in absentia and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.
Because he was residing in Majorca, Spain, at the time of the donation, and was not registered to vote in the United Kingdom, Michael Brown used a company name as the official legal donor. In October 2006 the High Court in London ruled that the company which Brown used to donate the money to the Liberal Democrats, 5th Avenue Partners, had never traded in bonds.
Robert Mann, a lawyer based in Los Angeles, filed a writ in the High Court seeking £683,000 from the Liberal Democrats, alleging that the party prioritized the financial gain over concerns regarding the origin of the funds.
On 20 November 2009, the Electoral Commission issued a press release, stating that:
Having considered all the evidence in this case, we have concluded that 5th Avenue Partners Limited met the requirements to be a permissible donor. The Electoral Commission will be taking no further action in this case
In April 2010, Brown was one of the subjects of Britain's first televised election debate.
== Post release work ==
After his release from prison in 2016, Brown now known as Michael Campbell-Brown, began blogging and giving talks on criminal justice issues. He worked in both publicly operated and privately managed prisons, including HM Prison Leicester and facilities run by G4S. His work focused on supporting new prisoners during their first days in custody, a period often associated with increased vulnerability and a higher risk of suicide.
In 2019, he joined Serco, a company that operates prisons. In this role, he contributed to improving induction procedures for newly arrived inmates and trained existing prisoners to serve as peer mentors. He described the early stages of custody as particularly distressing for many prisoners, noting that individuals often arrive feeling extremely anxious and uncertain about what will happen in the immediate hours and days following their arrival.
His work was temporarily suspended in 2018 following reports that Spanish authorities were investigating him in connection with alleged money laundering. Campbell-Brown denied being subject to any active investigation, and no official confirmation of such an inquiry was made public. He was later cleared to return to his role and was invited to speak at a conference for prison officers organised by the Butler Trust, a UK charity that promotes best practice in criminal justice.
Although he had previously supported the Liberal Democrats, Campbell-Brown later withdrew his support for the party. He criticised its handling of Charles Kennedy's leadership, claiming Kennedy was forced to resign due to concerns about his alcohol use. Referring to Kennedy’s death in 2015 at the age of 55, Campbell-Brown stated that the party bore some responsibility. A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats declined to respond to the accusation, stating they would not dignify it with a reply.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Burgess | Janice Burgess | Janice Burgess (March 1, 1952 – March 2, 2024) was an American television executive, screenwriter and producer for Nickelodeon. She created the Nick Jr. series The Backyardigans and worked as a writer and story editor for Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club. Both shows were produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Burgess joined Nickelodeon in 1995 as executive-in-charge of production.
== Early life and education ==
Burgess was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood and attended the Ellis School. She frequently played in her backyard, and she later used those memories as inspiration for The Backyardigans. "I really remember it as a wonderful, happy, safe place... you could have these great adventures just romping around. From there, you could go anywhere or do anything." She loved musicals, and her mother frequently played a wide array of music. Planning to become an art historian, she graduated from Brandeis University in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in art history.
== Career ==
According to an interview with Investor's Business Daily, Burgess did not enjoy traveling "in art circles with collectors and high society," so she sought out a different career after college. She volunteered for a job at the public television station WQED, where she was put in charge of craft services.
In the early 1990s, Burgess held positions at the Children's Television Workshop, including as an assistant travel coordinator for 3-2-1 Contact and project manager for Ghostwriter. For the latter, she coordinated the efforts of a tie-in magazine and teacher materials with the content and goals of the television show. It was during this job that she was notified of an opening at Nickelodeon; Burgess joked that she interviewed for the job "about 11,000 times." She was hired as the executive in charge of production for Nick Jr., overseeing the development of Blue's Clues and Little Bill. Burgess later became the vice president of Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. division.
=== The Backyardigans ===
While working as an executive, Burgess attended scripting and concept development meetings, where she enjoyed helping the creative teams with characters and storylines. Burgess was eventually given the opportunity to transition to a creative role by the senior vice president of Nick Jr, Brown Johnson. She asked Burgess to develop an idea for a new Nick Jr. show, and Burgess produced a pilot episode called "Me and My Friends" at Nickelodeon Studios Florida in 1998. The pilot was a live-action, full-body puppet show that featured music and dance; it was not picked up for a full series. Several months after the rejection, Brown Johnson asked Burgess to retool the concept, as she liked the characters and music from Burgess's pilot and felt the show would work better in animation.
Using the characters from "Me and My Friends," Burgess wrote a second pilot, which was produced at Nickelodeon's New York studio in 2002. The show, now fully animated and renamed The Backyardigans, was greenlit for a full season of 20 episodes. Reflecting on the shift to animation, Burgess said, "Sometimes your first attempt is just not all that great. In this case, my second attempt was much better." The Backyardigans premiered on Nickelodeon on October 11, 2004.
Burgess served as executive producer for The Backyardigans throughout its run of four seasons. In 2006, she described her work on the show positively: "making The Backyardigans has become sort of like an adventure that I go on with my friends. Of course, we get paid, but we do get to be carefree in our work, enjoy each other, hang around a lot, travel a little bit, and make up stuff."
Burgess drew inspiration from action films when writing episodes of the show, as she wanted to adapt high-stakes stories for a young audience. She also was inspired by memories of playing in her own childhood backyard. The series received eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations, and Burgess won the 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program. After The Backyardigans wrapped production in 2010 on the fourth and final season, much of the series' staff members regrouped to work on Nickelodeon's Winx Club, including Burgess. She worked as a writer, story editor, and creative consultant on the action-adventure series.
== Death ==
Burgess died in hospice care in Manhattan on March 2, 2024, the day after her 72nd birthday. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, six years prior to her death.
== References ==
== External links ==
Janice Burgess at IMDb
The Backyardigans at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Griggs | Wiley Griggs | Wiley Lee Griggs III (March 24, 1925 – August 23, 1996), nicknamed "Diamond Jim", was an American Negro league infielder in the 1940s and 1950s.
A native of Union Springs, Alabama, Griggs was the brother of fellow Negro leaguer Acie Griggs. Younger brother Wiley attended A. H. Parker High School, and served in the US Army during World War II. He broke into the Negro leagues in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons, and was a reserve infielder that year as the team reached the Negro World Series. In 1951, he was selected to represent the Houston Eagles in the East–West All-Star Game. Griggs died in Birmingham, Alabama in 1996 at age 71.
== References ==
== External links ==
Career statistics from MLB · Baseball Reference and Seamheads
Wiley Griggs biography from Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasir_Aslam_Wani | Nasir Aslam Wani | Nasir Aslam Wani (born 31 August 1964) is an Indian politician from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and belongs to the National Conference party.
He has served the State as the Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Housing & Urban Development, PHE, Revenue & Relief and later taking on responsibility for the Minister of State Home department as an additional portfolio.
He won the state assembly elections in 2008 from Amirakadal Constituency and served as a minister in the cabinet.
In the 2024 assembly elections Wani contested from Kupwara and lost to Fayaz Mir of PDP, Wani was then nominated as the Advisor to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. He is the grandson of politician, late Ghulam Nabi Wani Sogami.
== Political career ==
Nasir Aslam Wani was involved with various NGOs for social work. He joined the Youth National Conference in 1998 and was nominated as Central Secretary. He worked as the Provincial Secretary of Kashmir Province and was also a member of the Central Working Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference.
=== Amirakadal Constituency ===
At Amirakadal, Nasir got 3922 votes against 3103 of his rival Parvez Ahmad of PDP.
== Ministry ==
Wani was elected as a member of J&K Legislative Assembly in 2008 General Elections from Amirakadal Constituency; inducted in the Council of Ministers headed by Mr. Omar Abdullah as Minister of State for Housing & Urban Development, PHE, Tourism and Revenue & Relief on 11 July 2009.
=== Home Ministry ===
In 2011, Wani was given an additional charge of the Home Department.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eremiaphila_barbara | Eremiaphila barbara | Eremiaphila barbara is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae.
== See also ==
List of mantis genera and species
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cuba | History of Cuba | The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Native American cultures prior to the arrival of the explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After his arrival, Spain conquered Cuba and appointed Spanish governors to rule in Havana. The administrators in Cuba were subject to the Viceroy of New Spain and the local authorities in Hispaniola. In 1762–63, Havana was briefly occupied by Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions between 1868 and 1898, led by General Máximo Gómez, failed to end Spanish rule and claimed the lives of 49,000 Cuban guerrillas and 126,000 Spanish soldiers. However, the Spanish–American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three and a half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.
In the years following its independence, the Cuban republic saw significant economic development, but also political corruption and a succession of despotic leaders, culminating in the overthrow of the dictator Fulgencio Batista by the 26th of July Movement, led by Fidel Castro, during the 1953–1959 Cuban Revolution. The new government aligned with the Soviet Union and embraced communism. In the early 1960s, Castro's regime withstood invasion, faced nuclear Armageddon, and experienced a civil war that included Dominican support for regime opponents. Following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968), Castro publicly declared Cuba's support. His speech marked the start of Cuba's complete absorption into the Eastern Bloc. During the Cold War, Cuba also supported Soviet policy in Afghanistan, Poland, Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The Cuban economy was mostly supported by Soviet subsidies.
With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 Cuba was plunged into a severe economic crisis known as the Special Period that ended in 2000 when Venezuela began providing Cuba with subsidized oil. The country has been politically and economically isolated by the United States since the Revolution, but has gradually gained access to foreign commerce and travel as efforts to normalise diplomatic relations have progressed. Domestic economic reforms are also beginning to tackle existing economic problems which arose in the aftermath of the special period (i.e. the introduction of the dual currency system).
== Pre-Columbian (to 1500) ==
Cuba's earliest known human inhabitants inhabited the island in the 4th millennium BC. The oldest known Cuban archeological site, Levisa, dates from approximately 3100 BC. A wider distribution of sites date from after 2000 BC, most notably represented by the Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures of western Cuba. These neolithic cultures used ground stone and shell tools and ornaments, including the dagger-like gladiolitos. The Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures lived a subsistence lifestyle based on fishing, hunting and collecting wild plants.
The indigenous Guanajatabey, who had inhabited Cuba for centuries, were driven to the far west of the island by the arrival of subsequent waves of migrants, including the Taíno and Ciboney. These people had migrated north along the Caribbean island chain. The Taíno and Ciboney were part of a cultural group commonly called the Arawak, who inhabited parts of northeastern South America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Initially, they settled at the eastern end of Cuba, before expanding westward across the island. The Spanish Dominican clergyman and writer Bartolomé de las Casas estimated that the Taíno population of Cuba had reached 350,000 by the end of the 15th century. The Taíno cultivated the yuca root, harvested it and baked it to produce cassava bread. They also grew cotton and tobacco, and ate maize and sweet potatoes.
== Spanish conquest ==
Christopher Columbus, on his first Spanish-sponsored voyage to the Americas in 1492, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. Columbus, who was searching for a route to India, believed the island to be a peninsula of the Asian mainland. Columbus arrived at Cuba on October 27, 1492, and he landed on October 28, 1492, at Puerto de Nipe.
During a second voyage in 1494, Columbus passed along the south coast, landing at various inlets including what was to become Guantánamo Bay. With the Papal Bull of 1493, Pope Alexander VI commanded Spain to conquer and convert the pagans of the New World to Catholicism. The Spanish began to create permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, east of Cuba, soon after Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean, but the coast of Cuba was not fully mapped by Europeans until 1508, by Sebastián de Ocampo. In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out from Hispaniola to form the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. The settlement was at Baracoa, but the new settlers were greeted with stiff resistance from the local Taíno population. The Taínos were initially organized by cacique (chieftain) Hatuey, who had himself relocated from Hispaniola to escape Spanish rule. After a prolonged guerrilla campaign, Hatuey and successive chieftains were captured and burnt alive, and within three years the Spanish had gained control of the island. In 1514, a south coast settlement was founded in what was to become Havana. The current city was founded in 1519.
Clergyman Bartolomé de las Casas observed a number of massacres initiated by the invaders, notably the massacre near Camagüey of the inhabitants of Caonao. According to his account, some three thousand villagers had traveled to Manzanillo to greet the Spanish with food, and were "without provocation, butchered". The surviving indigenous groups fled to the mountains or the small surrounding islands before being captured and forced into reservations. One such reservation was Guanabacoa, today a suburb of Havana.
In 1513, Ferdinand II of Aragon issued a decree establishing the encomienda land settlement system that was to be incorporated throughout the Spanish Americas. Velázquez, who had become Governor of Cuba, was given the task of apportioning the land and the indigenous peoples to groups throughout the new colony. The scheme was not a success, however, as the natives either succumbed to diseases brought from Spain such as measles and smallpox, or simply refused to work, preferring to move into the mountains. Desperate for labor for the new agricultural settlements, the Conquistadors sought slaves from surrounding islands and the continental mainland. Velazquez's lieutenant Hernán Cortés launched the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico from Cuba, sailing from Santiago to the Yucatán Peninsula. However, these new arrivals also dispersed into the wilderness or died of disease.
Despite the difficult relations between the natives and the new Europeans, some cooperation was in evidence. The Spanish were shown by the natives how to nurture tobacco and consume it as cigars. There were also many unions between the largely male Spanish colonists and indigenous women. Modern studies have revealed traces of DNA that renders physical traits similar to Amazonian tribes in individuals throughout Cuba, although the native population was largely destroyed as a culture and civilization after 1550. Under the Spanish New Laws of 1552, indigenous Cuban were freed from encomienda, and seven towns for indigenous peoples were set up. There are indigenous descendant Cuban (Taíno) families in several places, mostly in eastern Cuba. The local indigenous population also left their mark on the language, with some 400 Taíno terms and place-names surviving to the present day. For example, Cuba and Havana were derived from Classic Taíno, and indigenous words such as tobacco, hurricane and canoe were transferred to English.
== Colonial period ==
The Spanish established sugar and tobacco as Cuba's primary products, and the island soon supplanted Hispaniola as the prime Spanish base in the Caribbean. African slaves were imported to work the plantations as field labor. However, restrictive Spanish trade laws made it difficult for Cubans to keep up with the 17th and 18th century advances in processing sugar cane until the Haitian Revolution saw French planters flee to Cuba. Spain also restricted Cuba's access to the slave trade, instead issuing foreign merchants asientos to conduct it on Spain's behalf, and ordered regulations on trade with Cuba. The resultant stagnation of economic growth was particularly pronounced in Cuba because of its great strategic importance in the Caribbean, and the stranglehold that Spain kept on it as a result.
Colonial Cuba was a frequent target of buccaneers, pirates and French corsairs. In response to repeated raids, defenses were bolstered throughout the island during the 16th century. In Havana, the fortress of Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro was built to deter potential invaders. Havana's inability to resist invaders was dramatically exposed in 1628, when a Dutch fleet led by Piet Heyn plundered the Spanish ships in the city's harbor. In 1662, English pirate Christopher Myngs captured and briefly occupied Santiago de Cuba on the eastern part of the island.
Nearly a century later, the British Royal Navy launched another invasion, capturing Guantánamo Bay in 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear. Admiral Edward Vernon saw his 4,000 occupying troops capitulate to raids by Spanish troops, and more critically, an epidemic, forcing him to withdraw his fleet to British Jamaica. In the War of the Austrian Succession, the British carried out unsuccessful attacks against Santiago de Cuba in 1741 and again in 1748. Additionally, a skirmish between British and Spanish naval squadrons occurred near Havana in 1748.
The Seven Years' War, which erupted in 1754 across three continents, eventually arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. In 1762 a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops set out from Portsmouth to capture Cuba. The British arrived on 6 June, and by August had Havana under siege. When Havana surrendered, the admiral of the British fleet, George Keppel, entered the city as a new colonial governor and took control of the whole western part of the island. The arrival of the British immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Though Havana, which had become the third-largest city in the Americas, was to enter an era of sustained development and closening ties with North America during this period, the British occupation proved short-lived. Pressure from London sugar merchants fearing a decline in sugar prices forced negotiations with the Spanish over colonial territories. Less than a year after Havana was seized, the Peace of Paris was signed by the three warring powers, ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba. In 1781, General Bernardo de Gálvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, reconquered Florida for Spain with Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban troops.
In the 19th century, Cuba became the most important world producer of sugar, thanks to the expansion of slavery and a relentless focus on improving sugar technology. Use of modern refining techniques was especially important because the British Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. The British government set about trying to eliminate the transatlantic slave trade. Under British diplomatic pressure, in 1817 Spain agreed to abolish the slave trade from 1820 in exchange for a payment from London. Cubans rushed to import further slaves in the time legally left to them. Over 100,000 new slaves were imported from Africa between 1816 and 1820. In spite of the new restrictions a large-scale illegal slave trade continued to flourish in the following years. Many Cubans were torn between desire for the profits generated by sugar and a repugnance for slavery. By the end of the 19th century, slavery was abolished.
When Spain opened the Cuban trade ports, it quickly became a popular place. Cubans began to use water mills, enclosed furnaces, and steam engines to produce higher-quality sugar at a much more efficient pace. The boom in Cuba's sugar industry in the 19th century made it necessary for the country to improve its transportation infrastructure. Many new roads were built, and old roads were quickly repaired. Railroads were built relatively early, easing the collection and transportation of perishable sugar cane. By 1860, Cuba was devoted to growing sugar, having to import all other necessary goods. Cuba was particularly dependent on the United States, which bought 82 percent of its sugar. In 1820, Spain abolished the slave trade, hurting the Cuban economy even more and forcing planters to buy more expensive, illegal, and "troublesome" slaves (as demonstrated by the slave rebellion on the Spanish ship Amistad in 1839).
== Reformism, annexation, and independence (1800–1898) ==
In the early 19th century, three major political currents took shape in Cuba: reformism, annexation and independence. Spontaneous and isolated actions added a current of abolitionism. The 1776 Declaration of Independence by the Thirteen Colonies and the successes of the French Revolution of 1789 influenced early Cuban liberation movements, as did the successful revolt of black slaves in Haiti in 1791. One of the first of such movements in Cuba, headed by the free black Nicolás Morales, aimed at gaining equality between "mulatto and whites" and at the abolition of sales taxes and other fiscal burdens. Morales' plot was discovered in 1795 in Bayamo, and the conspirators were jailed.
=== Reform, autonomy and separatist movements ===
As a result of the political upheavals caused by the Iberian Peninsular War of 1807–1814 and of Napoleon's invasion of Spain and the removal of Ferdinand VII from the Spanish throne in 1808, a western separatist rebellion emerged among the Cuban Creole aristocracy in 1809 and 1810. One of its leaders, Joaquín Infante, drafted Cuba's first constitution, declaring the island a sovereign state, presuming the rule of the country's wealthy, maintaining slavery as long as it was necessary for agriculture, establishing a social classification based on skin color and declaring Catholicism the official religion. This conspiracy also failed, and the main leaders were deported. In 1812 a mixed-race abolitionist conspiracy arose, organized by José Antonio Aponte, a free-black carpenter. He and others were executed.
The Spanish Constitution of 1812, and the legislation passed by the Cortes of Cádiz after it was set up in 1808, instituted a number of liberal political and commercial policies, which were welcomed in Cuba but also curtailed a number of older liberties. Between 1810 and 1814 the island elected six representatives to the Cortes, in addition to forming a locally elected Provincial Deputation. Nevertheless, the liberal regime and the Constitution proved ephemeral: Ferdinand VII suppressed them when he returned to the throne in 1814 after Napoleon's total defeat. By the end of the 1810s, some Cubans were inspired by the successes of Simón Bolívar in South America and Mexico's criollo independence movement. Numerous secret-societies emerged, most notably the Bolívarian Suns and Rays Conspiracy, founded in 1821 and led by José Francisco Lemus, associated with Freemasonry in Cuba. It aimed to establish the free Republic of Cubanacán, and it had branches in five districts of the island.
In 1823 the society's leaders were arrested and condemned to exile. In the same year, King Ferdinand VII abolished constitutional rule in Spain yet again. As a result, the national militia of Cuba, established by the Constitution and a potential instrument for liberal agitation, was dissolved, a permanent executive military commission under the orders of the governor was created, newspapers were closed, elected provincial representatives were removed and other liberties suppressed.
This suppression, and the success of independence movements in the former Spanish colonies on the North American mainland, led to a notable rise of Cuban nationalism. A number of independence conspiracies developed during the 1820s and 1830s, but all failed. Among these were the "Expedición de los Trece" (Expedition of the 13) in 1826, the "Gran Legión del Aguila Negra" (Great Legion of the Black Eagle) in 1829, the "Cadena Triangular" (Triangular Chain) and the "Soles de la Libertad" (Suns of Liberty) in 1837. Leading national figures in these years included Félix Varela and Cuba's first revolutionary poet, José María Heredia.
Between 1810 and 1826, 20,000 royalist refugees from the Latin American Revolutions arrived in Cuba. They were joined by others who left Florida when Spain ceded it to the United States in 1819. These influxes strengthened loyalist pro-Spanish sentiments.
=== Antislavery and independence movements ===
In 1826 the first armed uprising for independence took place in Puerto Príncipe, led by Francisco Agüero Velasco and Andrés Manuel Sánchez. Both were executed, becoming the first popular martyrs of the Cuban independence movement.
The 1830s saw a surge of activity from the reformist movement, whose main leader, José Antonio Saco, stood out for his criticism of Spanish despotism and of the slave trade. Nevertheless, Cubans remained deprived of the right to send representatives to the Spanish parliament, and Madrid stepped up repression.
Under British diplomatic pressure, the Spanish government had pledged to abolish slavery. In this context, Black revolts in Cuba increased, and were put down with mass executions. One of the most significant was the Conspiración de la Escalera (Ladder Conspiracy) in 1843–1844. The Ladder Conspiracy involved free Black persons and enslaved, as well as white intellectuals and professionals. It is estimated that 300 Black and mixed-race persons died from torture, 78 were executed, over 600 were imprisoned and over 400 expelled from the island. José Antonio Saco, one of Cuba's most prominent thinkers, was expelled.
Following the 1868–1878 rebellion of the Ten Years' War, all slavery was abolished by 1886. Slave traders looked for others sources of cheap labour, such as Chinese colonists and Indians from Yucatán. Another feature of the population was the number of Spanish-born colonists, known as peninsulares, who were mostly adult males; they constituted between ten and twenty per cent of the population between the middle of the 19th century and the great depression of the 1930s.
=== Possibility of annexation by the United States ===
Black unrest and attempts by the Spanish metropolis to abolish slavery motivated many Creoles to advocate Cuba's annexation by the United States, where slavery was still legal. Other Cubans supported the idea due to their desire for American-style economic development and democratic freedom. In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson considered annexing Cuba for strategic reasons, sending agents to the island to negotiate with Captain General Someruelos. In 1810, James Madison sent diplomat William Shaler to Cuba to "feel the pulse of Cuba as to an estimate of the inducements to a like incorporation of that island with the United States in comparison with those of an adherence to the Spanish Main, which cannot for a long time be equally capable of protecting the island against maritime dangers."
In April 1823, U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams discussed the rules of political gravitation: "if an apple severed by its native tree cannot choose but fall to the ground, Cuba, forcibly disjoined from its own unnatural connection with Spain, and incapable of self-support, can gravitate only towards the North American Union which by the same law of nature, cannot cast her off its bosom". He furthermore warned that "the transfer of Cuba to Great Britain would be an event unpropitious to the interest of this Union". Adams voiced concern that a country outside of North America would attempt to occupy Cuba.
On 2 December 1823, U.S. President James Monroe specifically addressed Cuba and other European colonies in his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine. Cuba, located just 94 miles (151 km) from Key West, Florida, was of interest to the doctrine's founders, as they warned European forces to leave "America for the Americans".
The most outstanding attempts in support of annexation were made by the Venezuelan filibuster General Narciso López, who prepared four expeditions to Cuba in the US. The first two, in 1848 and 1849, failed before departure due to U.S. opposition. The third, made up of some 600 men, managed to land in Cuba and take the central city of Cárdenas, but failed eventually due to a lack of popular support. López's fourth expedition landed in Pinar del Río province with around 400 men in August 1851; the invaders were defeated by Spanish troops and López was executed.
=== Struggle for independence ===
In the 1860s, Cuba had two more liberal-minded governors, Serrano and Dulce, who encouraged the creation of a Reformist Party, despite the fact that political parties were forbidden. But they were followed by a reactionary governor, Francisco Lersundi, who suppressed all liberties granted by the previous governors and maintained a pro-slavery regime. On 10 October 1868, the landowner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared Cuban independence and freedom for his slaves. This began the Ten Years' War from 1868 to 1878. The Dominican Restoration War (1863–65) brought to Cuba an unemployed mass of former Dominicans who had served with the Spanish Army in the Dominican Republic before being evacuated to Cuba. Some of these former soldiers joined the new Revolutionary Army and provided its initial training and leadership.
With reinforcements and guidance from the Dominicans, the Cuban rebels defeated Spanish detachments, cut railway lines, and gained dominance over vast sections of the eastern portion of the island. The Spanish government used the Voluntary Corps to commit harsh acts against the Cuban rebels, and the Spanish atrocities fuelled the growth of insurgent forces; however, they failed to export the revolution to the west. On 11 May 1873, Ignacio Agramonte was killed by a stray bullet; Céspedes was killed on 27 February 1874. In 1875, Máximo Gómez began an invasion of Las Villas west of a fortified military line, or trocha, bisecting the island. The trocha was built between 1869 and 1872; the Spanish erected it to prevent Gómez to move westward from Oriente province. It was the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas.
Gómez was controversial in his calls to burn sugar plantations to harass the Spanish occupiers. After the American admiral Henry Reeve was killed in 1876, Gómez ended his campaign. By that year, the Spanish government had deployed more than 250,000 troops to Cuba, as the end of the Third Carlist War had freed up Spanish soldiers. On 10 February 1878, General Arsenio Martínez Campos negotiated the Pact of Zanjón with the Cuban rebels, and the rebel general Antonio Maceo's surrender on 28 May ended the war. Spain sustained 200,000 casualties, mostly from disease; the rebels sustained 100,000–150,000 dead and the island sustained over $300 million in property damage. The Pact of Zanjón promised the manumission of all slaves who had fought for Spain during the war, and slavery was legally abolished in 1880. However, dissatisfaction with the peace treaty led to the Little War of 1879–80.
== Conflicts in the late 19th century (1886–1900) ==
=== Background ===
During the time of the so-called "Rewarding Truce", which encompassed the 17 years from the end of the Ten Years' War in 1878, fundamental changes took place in Cuban society. With the abolition of slavery in October 1886, former slaves joined the ranks of farmers and urban working class. Most wealthy Cubans lost their rural properties, and many of them joined the urban middle class. The number of sugar mills dropped and efficiency increased, with only companies and the most powerful plantation owners owning them. The numbers of campesinos and tenant farmers rose considerably. Furthermore, American capital began flowing into Cuba, mostly into the sugar and tobacco businesses and mining. By 1895, these investments totalled $50 million. Although Cuba remained Spanish politically, economically it became increasingly dependent on the United States.
These changes also entailed the rise of labour movements. The first Cuban labour organization, the Cigar Makers Guild, was created in 1878, followed by the Central Board of Artisans in 1879, and many more across the island. Abroad, a new trend of aggressive American influence emerged. Secretary of State James G. Blaine placed particular importance on the control of Cuba: "If ever ceasing to be Spanish, Cuba must necessarily become American and not fall under any other European domination".
=== Martí's Insurrection and the start of the war ===
After his second deportation to Spain in 1878, the pro-independence Cuban activist José Martí moved to the United States in 1881, where he began mobilizing the support of the Cuban exile community in Florida. He sought a revolution and Cuban independence from Spain, but also lobbied to oppose U.S. annexation of Cuba. Propaganda efforts by the Cuban Junta continued for years and intensified starting in 1895.
After deliberations with patriotic clubs across the United States, the Antilles and Latin America, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party) was officially proclaimed on 10 April 1892, with the purpose of gaining independence for both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Martí was elected delegate, the highest party position. In Foner's words, "Martí's impatience to start the revolution for independence was affected by his growing fear that the United States would succeed in annexing Cuba before the revolution could liberate the island from Spain".
On 25 December 1894, three ships set sail for Cuba from Fernandina Beach, Florida, loaded with armed men and supplies. Two of the ships were seized by U.S. authorities in early January, but the proceedings went ahead. The insurrection began on 24 February 1895, with uprisings across the island. The uprisings in the central part of the island, such as Ibarra, Jagüey Grande and Aguada, suffered from poor co-ordination and failed; the leaders were captured, some of them deported and some executed. In the province of Havana the insurrection was discovered before it got off and the leaders detained. Thus, the insurgents further west in Pinar del Río were ordered to wait.
Martí, on his way to Cuba, gave the Proclamation of Montecristi in Santo Domingo, outlining the policy for Cuba's war of independence: the war was to be waged by blacks and whites alike; participation of all blacks was crucial for victory; Spaniards who did not object to the war effort should be spared, private rural properties should not be damaged; and the revolution should bring new economic life to Cuba.
On 1 and 11 April 1895, the main rebel leaders landed on two expeditions in Oriente: Major Antonio Maceo and 22 members near Baracoa and Martí, Máximo Gómez and four other members in Playitas. Around that time, Spanish forces in Cuba numbered about 80,000, including 60,000 Spanish and Cuban volunteers. The latter were a locally enlisted force that took care of most of the guard and police duties on the island. By December, 98,412 regular troops had been sent to the island and the number of volunteers had increased to 63,000 men. By the end of 1897, there were 240,000 regulars and 60,000 irregulars on the island. The revolutionaries were far outnumbered.
The rebels came to be nicknamed "Mambis" after a black Spanish officer, Juan Ethninius Mamby, who joined the Dominicans in the fight for independence in 1846. When the Ten Years' War broke out in 1868, some of the same soldiers were assigned to Cuba, importing what had by then become a derogatory Spanish slur. The Cubans adopted the name with pride.
After the Ten Years' War, possession of weapons by private individuals was prohibited in Cuba. Thus, one of the most serious and persistent problems for the rebels was a shortage of suitable weapons. This lack of arms forced them to utilise guerrilla tactics, using the environment, the element of surprise, fast horses and simple weapons such as machetes. Most of their firearms were acquired in raids on the Spaniards. Between 11 June 1895 and 30 November 1897, 60 attempts were made to bring weapons and supplies to the rebels from outside Cuba, but only one succeeded, largely due to British naval protection.
=== Escalation of the war ===
Martí was killed on 19 May 1895, but Máximo Gómez (a Dominican) and Antonio Maceo (a mulatto) fought on. Gómez used scorched-earth tactics, which entailed dynamiting passenger trains and burning the Spanish loyalists' property and sugar plantations—including many owned by Americans. By the end of June all of Camagüey was at war. Continuing west, Gómez and Maceo joined up with veterans of the 1868 war, Polish internationalists, General Carlos Roloff and Serafín Sánchez in Las Villas. In mid-September, representatives of the five Liberation Army Corps assembled in Jimaguayú to approve the Jimaguayú Constitution. This constitution established a central government, which grouped the executive and legislative powers into one entity, the Government Council, which was headed by Salvador Cisneros and Bartolomé Masó.
After a period of consolidation in the three eastern provinces, the liberation armies headed for Camagüey and then for Matanzas, outmanoeuvring and deceiving the Spanish Army. The revolutionaries defeated the Spanish general Arsenio Martínez Campos and killed his most trusted general at Peralejo. Campos tried the same strategy he had employed in the Ten Years' War, constructing a broad defensive belt across the island, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 200 metres (660 ft) wide. This line, called the trocha, was intended to limit rebel activities to the eastern provinces, and consisted of a railroad, from Jucaro in the south to Moron in the north, on which armored railcars could travel. At various points along this railroad there were fortifications, posts and barbed wire; booby traps were placed at the locations most likely to be attacked.
For the rebels, it was essential to bring the war to the western provinces of Matanzas, Havana and Pinar del Río, where the island's government and wealth was located. In a successful cavalry campaign, overcoming the trochas, the rebels invaded every province. Surrounding all the larger cities and well-fortified towns, they arrived at the westernmost tip of the island on 22 January 1896.
Unable to defeat the rebels with conventional military tactics, the Spanish government sent Gen. Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau (nicknamed The Butcher), who reacted to these rebel successes by introducing terror methods: periodic executions, mass exiles, and the destruction of farms and crops. These methods reached their height on 21 October 1896, when he ordered all countryside residents and their livestock to gather in various fortified areas and towns occupied by his troops. Hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their homes, creating appalling conditions of overcrowding. This was the first recorded and recognized use of concentration camps where non-combatants were removed from their land to deprive the enemy of succor and then the internees were subjected to appalling conditions. It is estimated that this measure caused the death of at least one-third of Cuba's rural population. The forced relocation policy was maintained until March 1898.
Since the early 1880s, Spain had also been suppressing an independence movement in the Philippines, which was intensifying; Spain was thus now fighting two wars, which placed a heavy burden on its economy. In secret negotiations in 1896, Spain turned down the United States' offers to buy Cuba.
Maceo was killed on 7 December 1896. As the war continued, the major obstacle to Cuban success was weapons supply. Although weapons and funding came from within the United States, the supply operation violated American laws, which were enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard; of 71 resupply missions, only 27 got through.
In 1897, the liberation army maintained a privileged position in Camagüey and Oriente, where the Spanish only controlled a few cities. Spanish liberal leader Praxedes Sagasta admitted in May 1897: "After having sent 200,000 men and shed so much blood, we don't own more land on the island than what our soldiers are stepping on". The rebel force of 3,000 defeated the Spanish in various encounters, such as the battle of La Reforma and the surrender of Las Tunas on 30 August, and the Spaniards were kept on the defensive.
As stipulated at the Jimaguayú Assembly two years earlier, a second Constituent Assembly met in La Yaya, Camagüey, on 10 October 1897. The newly adopted constitution decreed that a military command be subordinated to civilian rule. The government was confirmed, naming Bartolomé Masó as president and Domingo Méndez Capote as vice president. Thereafter, Madrid decided to change its policy toward Cuba, replacing Weyler, drawing up a colonial constitution for Cuba and Puerto Rico, and installing a new government in Havana. But with half the country out of its control, and the other half in arms, the new government was powerless and rejected by the rebels.
=== USS Maine incident ===
The Cuban struggle for independence had captured the North American imagination for years and newspapers had been agitating for intervention with sensational stories of Spanish atrocities. Americans came to believe that Cuba's battle with Spain resembled the United States's Revolutionary War. North American public opinion was very much in favor of intervening for the Cubans.
In January 1898, a riot by Cuban-Spanish loyalists against the new autonomous government broke out in Havana, leading to the destruction of the printing presses of four local newspapers which published articles critical of the Spanish Army. The U.S. Consul-General cabled Washington, fearing for the lives of Americans living in Havana. In response, the battleship USS Maine was sent to Havana. On 15 February 1898, the Maine was destroyed by an explosion, killing 268 crewmembers. The cause of the explosion has not been clearly established, but the incident focused American attention on Cuba, and President William McKinley and his supporters could not stop Congress from declaring war to "liberate" Cuba. In an attempt to appease the United States, the colonial government ended the forced relocation policy and offered negotiations with the independence fighters. However, the truce was rejected by the rebels and the concessions proved too late. Madrid asked other European powers for help; they refused.
On 11 April 1898, McKinley asked Congress for authority to send U.S. Armed Forces troops to Cuba for the purpose of ending the civil war. On 19 April, Congress passed joint resolutions supporting Cuban independence and disclaiming any intention to annex Cuba, demanding Spanish withdrawal, and authorizing military force to help Cuban patriots gain independence. This included from Senator Henry Teller the Teller Amendment, which passed unanimously, stipulating that "the island of Cuba is, and by right should be, free and independent". The amendment disclaimed any intention on the part of the United States to exercise jurisdiction or control over Cuba for other than pacification reasons. War was declared on 20/21 April 1898.
=== Cuban Theatre of the Spanish–American War ===
Hostilities started hours after the declaration of war when a U.S. contingent under Admiral William T. Sampson blockaded several Cuban ports. The Americans decided to invade Cuba in Oriente where the Cubans were able to co-operate. The first U.S. objective was to capture the city of Santiago de Cuba to destroy Linares' army and Cervera's fleet. To reach Santiago they had to pass through concentrated Spanish defences in the San Juan Hills. Between 22 and 24 June 1898 the Americans landed under General William R. Shafter at Daiquirí and Siboney and established a base. The port of Santiago became the main target of U.S. naval operations, and the American fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season. Nearby Guantánamo Bay was chosen for this purpose and attacked on 6 June. The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement during the Spanish–American War, and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron.
Resistance in Santiago consolidated around Fort Canosa, while major battles between Spaniards and Americans took place at Las Guasimas on 24 June, and at El Caney and San Juan Hill on 1 July, after which the American advance ground to a halt. Spanish troops successfully defended Fort Canosa, allowing them to stabilize their line and bar the entry to Santiago. The Americans and Cubans began a siege of the city, which surrendered on 16 July after the defeat of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron. Thus, Oriente fell under the control of Americans and the Cubans, but U.S. General Nelson A. Miles would not allow Cuban troops to enter Santiago, claiming that he wanted to prevent clashes between Cubans and Spaniards. Cuban General Calixto García, head of the mambi forces in the Eastern department, ordered his troops to hold their areas and resigned, writing a letter of protest to General Shafter.
After losing the Philippines and Puerto Rico, which had also been invaded by the United States, Spain sued for peace on 17 July 1898. On 12 August, the U.S. and Spain signed a protocol of peace, in which Spain agreed to relinquish Cuba. On 10 December 1898, the U.S. and Spain signed the formal Treaty of Paris, recognizing continuing U. S. military occupation. Although the Cubans had participated in the liberation efforts, the United States prevented Cuba from sending representatives to the Paris peace talks or signing the treaty, which set no time limit for U.S. occupation and excluded the Isle of Pines from Cuba. Although the U.S. president had no objection to Cuba's eventual independence, U.S. General William R. Shafter refused to allow Cuban General Calixto García and his rebel forces to participate in the surrender ceremonies in Santiago de Cuba.
== U.S. occupation (1898–1902) ==
After the last Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the government of Cuba was temporarily handed over to the United States on 1 January 1899. The first governor was General John R. Brooke. Unlike Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, the United States did not annex Cuba because of the restrictions imposed in the Teller Amendment.
=== Political changes ===
The U.S. administration was undecided on Cuba's future status. Once it had been pried away from the Spaniards it was to be assured that it moved and remained in the U.S. sphere. How this was to be achieved was a matter of intense discussion and annexation was an option. Brooke set up a civilian government, placed U.S. governors in seven newly created departments, and named civilian governors for the provinces as well as mayors and representatives for the municipalities. Many Spanish colonial government officials were kept in their posts. The population were ordered to disarm and, ignoring the Mambi Army, Brooke created the Rural Guard and municipal police corps at the service of the occupation forces. Cuba's judicial powers and courts remained legally based on the codes of the Spanish government. Tomás Estrada Palma, Martí's successor as delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, dissolved the party a few days after the signing of the Paris Treaty. The revolutionary Assembly of Representatives was also dissolved.
=== Economic changes ===
Before the United States officially took over the government, it had already begun cutting tariffs on American goods entering Cuba, without granting the same rights to Cuban goods going to the United States. Government payments had to be made in U.S. dollars. The Foraker Amendment prohibited the U.S. occupation government from granting privileges and concessions to American investors, to appease anti-imperialists during the occupational period. Despite this, the Cuban economy was soon dominated by American capital. By 1905, nearly 10% of Cuba's land area belonged to Americans. By 1902, American companies controlled 80% of Cuba's ore exports and owned most of the sugar and cigarette factories.
Immediately after the war, there were several serious barriers for foreign businesses attempting to operate in Cuba. The Joint Resolution of 1898, the Teller Amendment, and the Foraker Amendment threatened foreign investment. Eventually, Cornelius Van Horne of the Cuba Company, an early railroad company in Cuba, found a loophole in "revocable permits" justified by preexisting Spanish legislation that effectively allowed railroads to be built in Cuba. General Leonard Wood, the governor of Cuba and a noted annexationist, used this loophole to grant hundreds of franchises, permits, and other concessions to American businesses.
Once the legal barriers were overcome, American investments transformed the Cuban economy. Within two years of entering Cuba, the Cuba Company built a 350-mile railroad connecting the eastern port of Santiago to the existing railways in central Cuba. The company was the largest single foreign investment in Cuba for the first two decades of the twentieth century. By the 1910s it was the largest company in the country. The improved infrastructure allowed the sugar cane industry to spread to the previously underdeveloped eastern part of the country. As many small Cuban sugar cane producers were crippled with debt and damages from the war, American companies were able to quickly and cheaply take over the industry. At the same time, new productive units called centrales could grind up to 2,000 tons of cane a day making large-scale operations most profitable. The large fixed cost of these centrales made them almost exclusively accessible to American companies with large capital stocks. Furthermore, the centrales required a large, steady flow of cane to remain profitable, which led to further consolidation. Cuban cane farmers who had formerly been landowners became tenants on company land. By 1902, 40% of the country's sugar production was controlled by Americans.
With American corporate interests firmly rooted in Cuba, the U.S. tariff system was adjusted accordingly to strengthen trade between the nations. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1903 lowered the U.S. tariff on Cuban sugar by 20%. This gave Cuban sugar a competitive edge in the American marketplace. At the same time, it granted equal or greater concessions on most items imported from the United States. Cuban imports of American goods went from $17 million in the five years before the war, to $38 million in 1905, and eventually to over $200 million in 1918. Likewise, Cuban exports to the United States reached $86 million in 1905 and rose to nearly $300 million in 1918.
=== Elections and independence ===
Popular demands for a Constituent Assembly soon emerged. In December 1899, the U.S. War Secretary assured the Cuban populace that the occupation was temporary, that municipal and general elections would be held, that a Constituent Assembly would be set up, and that sovereignty would be handed to Cubans. Brooke was replaced by General Leonard Wood to oversee the transition. Parties were created, including the Cuban National Party, the Federal Republican Party of Las Villas, the Republican Party of Havana and the Democratic Union Party.
The first elections for mayors, treasurers and attorneys of the country's 110 municipalities took place on 16 June 1900, but balloting was limited to literate Cubans older than 21 and with properties worth more than $250. Only members of the dissolved Liberation Army were exempt from these conditions. Thus, the number of about 418,000 male citizens over 21 was reduced to about 151,000. The same elections were held one year later, again for a one-year-term.
Elections for 31 delegates to a Constituent Assembly were held on 15 September 1900 with the same balloting restrictions. In all three elections, pro-independence candidates won overwhelming majorities. The Constitution was drawn up from November 1900 to February 1901 and then passed by the Assembly. It established a republican form of government, proclaimed internationally recognized individual rights and liberties, freedom of religion, separation between church and state, and described the composition, structure and functions of state powers.
On 2 March 1901, the U.S. Congress passed the Army Appropriations Act, stipulating the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba. As a rider, this act included the Platt Amendment, which defined the terms of Cuban–U.S. relations until 1934. The amendment provided for a number of rules heavily infringing on Cuba's sovereignty:
That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty with any foreign power which will impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner permit any foreign power to obtain control over any portion of the island.
That Cuba would contract no foreign debt without guarantees that the interest could be served from ordinary revenues.
That Cuba consent that the United States may intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, to protect life, property, and individual liberty, and to discharging the obligations imposed by the treaty of Paris.
That the Cuban claim to the Isle of Pines (now called Isla de la Juventud) was not acknowledged and to be determined by treaty.
That Cuba commit to providing the United States "lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon".
On 6 April 1901, the Constituent Assembly rejected the Platt Amendment by a vote of 24 to 2. The United States demanded that this amendment be approved fully and without changes by the Constituent Assembly as an appendix to the new constitution. US Secretary of War Elihu Root told Governor Wood to convey to the Cuban delegates that “they never can have any further government in Cuba, except the intervening Government of the United States, until they have [approved the Platt Amendment].” On 12 June 1901, after heated debate, the Constituent Assembly approved the appendix by a margin of four votes. Wood later admitted privately to US President Roosevelt: "Little or no independence had been left to Cuba with the Platt Amendment and the only thing appropriate was to seek annexation".
In the presidential elections of 31 December 1901, Tomás Estrada Palma, an American still living in the United States, was the only candidate. His adversary, General Bartolomé Masó, withdrew his candidacy in protest against U.S. favoritism and the manipulation of the political machine by Palma's followers. Palma was elected to be the Republic's first President.
== Early 20th century (1902–1959) ==
The U.S. occupation officially ended when Palma took office on 20 May 1902. Havana and Varadero soon became popular tourist resorts. Though some efforts were made to ease Cuba's ethnic tensions through government policies, racism and informal discrimination towards blacks and mestizos remained widespread.
Guantanamo Bay was leased to the United States as part of the Platt Amendment. The status of the Isle of Pines as Cuban territory was left undefined until 1925, when the United States finally recognized Cuban sovereignty over the island. Palma governed successfully for his four-year term; yet when he tried to extend his time in office, a revolt ensued.
The Second Occupation of Cuba, also known as the Cuban Pacification, was a major US military operation that began in September 1906. After the collapse of Palma's regime, US President Roosevelt invaded and established an occupation that would continue for nearly two and a half years. The stated goal of the operation was to prevent fighting between the Cubans, to protect North American economic interests, and to hold free elections. In 1906, the United States representative William Howard Taft negotiated an end of the successful revolt led by the young general Enrique Loynaz del Castillo. Palma resigned and the United States Governor Charles Magoon assumed temporary control until 1909. Following the election of José Miguel Gómez in November 1908, Cuba was deemed stable enough to allow a withdrawal of American troops, which was completed in February 1909.
For three decades, the country was led by former War of Independence leaders, who after being elected did not serve more than two constitutional terms. The Cuban presidential succession was as follows: José Miguel Gómez (1908–1912); Mario García Menocal (1913–1920); Alfredo Zayas (1921–25) and Gerardo Machado (1925–1933).
Under the Liberal Gómez the participation of Afro-Cubans in the political process was curtailed when the Partido Independiente de Color was outlawed and bloodily suppressed in 1912, as American troops reentered the country to protect the sugar plantations. Under Gómez's successor, Mario Menocal of the Conservative Party, income from sugar rose steeply. Menocal's reelection in 1916 was met with armed revolt by Gómez and other Liberals (the so-called "Chambelona War"), prompting the United States to send in Marines. Gómez was defeated and captured and the rebellion was snuffed out.
In World War I, Cuba declared war on Imperial Germany on 7 April 1917, one day after the United States entered the war. Despite being unable to send troops to fight in Europe, Cuba played a significant role as a base to protect the West Indies from German U-boat attacks. A draft law was instituted, and 25,000 Cuban troops raised, but the war ended before they could be sent into action.
Alfredo Zayas was elected president in 1920 and took office in 1921. When the Cuban financial system collapsed after a drop in sugar prices, Zayas secured a loan from the United States in 1922. One historian has concluded that the continued U.S. military intervention and economic dominance had once again made Cuba "a colony in all but name."
=== Post-World War I ===
President Gerardo Machado was elected by popular vote in 1925, but he was constitutionally barred from reelection. Machado, determined to modernize Cuba, set in motion several massive civil works projects such as the Central Highway, but at the end of his constitutional term he held on to power. The United States decided not to interfere militarily. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a number of Cuban action groups staged a series of uprisings that either failed or did not affect the capital.
The Sergeants' Revolt undermined the institutions and coercive structures of the oligarchic state. The young and relatively inexperienced revolutionaries found themselves pushed into the halls of state power by worker and peasant mobilisations. Between September 1933 and January 1934 a loose coalition of radical activists, students, middle-class intellectuals, and disgruntled lower-rank soldiers formed a Provisional Revolutionary Government. This coalition was directed by a popular university professor, Dr Ramón Grau San Martín. The Grau government promised a 'new Cuba' which would belong to all classes, and the abrogation of the Platt Amendment. They believed their legitimacy stemmed from the popular support which brought them to power, and not from the approval of the United States Department of State.
To this end, throughout the autumn of 1933, the government decreed a dramatic series of reforms. The Platt Amendment was unilaterally abrogated, and all the political parties of the Machadato were dissolved. The Provisional Government granted autonomy to the University of Havana, women obtained the right to vote, the eight-hour day was decreed, a minimum wage was established for cane-cutters, and compulsory arbitration was promoted. The government created a Ministry of Labour, and a law was passed establishing that 50 per cent of all workers in agriculture, commerce and industry had to be Cuban citizens. The Grau regime set agrarian reform as a priority, promising peasants legal title to their lands. The Provisional Government survived until January 1934, when it was overthrown by an anti-government coalition of right-wing civilian and military elements. Led by a young mestizo sergeant, Fulgencio Batista, this movement was supported by the United States.
=== 1940 Constitution and the Batista era ===
==== Rise of Batista ====
In 1940, Cuba conducted free and fair national elections. Fulgencio Batista, was originally endorsed by Communist leaders in exchange for the legalization of the Popular Socialist Party and Communist domination of the labor movement. The reorganization of the labor movement during this time was capped with the establishment of the Confederacion de Trajabadores de Cuba (Confederation of Cuban Workers, or CTC), in 1938. However, in 1947, the Communists lost control of the CTC, and their influence in the trade union movement gradually declined into the 1950s. The assumption of the Presidency by Batista in 1952 and the intervening years to 1958 placed tremendous strain on the labor movement, with some independent union leaders resigning from the CTC in opposition to Batista's rule. The relatively progressivist 1940 Constitution was adopted by the Batista administration. The constitution denied Batista the possibility of running consecutively in the 1944 election.
Rather than endorsing Batista's hand-picked successor Carlos Zayas, the Cuban people elected Ramón Grau San Martín in 1944. Grau made a deal with labor unions to continue Batista's pro-labor policies. Grau's administration coincided with the end of World War II, and he presided over an economic boom as sugar production expanded and prices rose. He instituted programs of public works and school construction, increasing social security benefits and encouraging economic development and agricultural production. However, increased prosperity brought increased corruption and urban violence. The country was also steadily gaining a reputation as a base for organized crime, with the Havana Conference of 1946 seeing leading Mafia mobsters descend upon the city.
Grau's presidency was followed by that of Carlos Prío Socarrás, whose government was tainted by increasing corruption and violent incidents among political factions. Eduardo Chibás – the leader of the Partido Ortodoxo (Orthodox Party), a nationalist group – was widely expected to win in 1952 on an anticorruption platform. However, Chibás committed suicide before he could run, and the opposition was left without a unifying leader. Batista seized power in an almost bloodless coup. President Prío was forced to leave Cuba. Due to the corruption of the previous two administrations, the general public reaction to the coup was somewhat accepting at first. However, Batista soon encountered stiff opposition when he temporarily suspended balloting and the 1940 constitution, and attempted to rule by decree. Nonetheless, elections were held in 1954 and Batista was re-elected under disputed circumstances.
==== Economic expansion and stagnation ====
Although corruption was rife under Batista, Cuba did flourish economically. Wages rose significantly; according to the International Labour Organization, the average industrial salary in Cuba was the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than in developed nations such as Denmark and France. Although a third of the population still lived in poverty (according to Batista's government), Cuba was one of the five most developed countries in Latin America by the end of the Batista era, with 56% of the population living in cities.
In the 1950s, Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of contemporary Italy, although still only a sixth as large as that of the United States. Labour rights were also favourable – Cuban workers were entitled to a month's paid holiday, nine days' sick leave with pay, and six weeks' leave before and after childbirth. Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios during this period. Havana was the world's fourth-most-expensive city at the time. Moreover, Cuba's health service was remarkably developed. By the late 1950s, it had one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita – more than in the United Kingdom at that time – and the third-lowest adult mortality rate. According to the World Health Organization, the island had the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America, and the 13th-lowest in the world. Cuba's education spending in the 1950s was the highest in Latin America, relative to GDP. Cuba had the fourth-highest literacy rate in the region, at almost 80% according to the United Nations – higher than that of Spain at the time.
However, the United States, rather than Latin America, was the frame of reference for educated Cubans. Middle-class Cubans grew frustrated at the economic gap between Cuba and the US, and increasingly dissatisfied with the administration. Large income disparities arose due to the extensive privileges enjoyed by Cuba's unionized workers. Cuban labour unions had established limitations on mechanization and even banned dismissals in some factories. The labour unions' privileges were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants".
Cuba's labour regulations ultimately caused economic stagnation. Hugh Thomas asserts that "militant unions succeeded in maintaining the position of unionized workers and, consequently, made it difficult for capital to improve efficiency." Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba increased economic regulation enormously. The regulation led to declining investment. The World Bank also complained that the Batista administration raised the tax burden without assessing its impact. Unemployment was high; many university graduates could not find jobs. After its earlier meteoric rise, the Cuban gross domestic product grew at only 1% annually on average between 1950 and 1958.
==== Political repression and human rights abuses ====
In 1952, while receiving military, financial, and logistical support from the United States, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions. Estimates range from hundreds to about 20,000 people killed.
=== Cuban Revolution (1952–1959) ===
In 1952, Fidel Castro, a young lawyer running for a seat in the Chamber of Representatives for the Partido Ortodoxo, circulated a petition to depose Batista's government on the grounds that it had illegitimately suspended the electoral process. The courts ignored the petition. Castro thus resolved to use armed force to overthrow Batista; he and his brother Raúl gathered supporters, and on 26 July 1953 led an attack on the Moncada Barracks near Santiago de Cuba. The attack ended in failure – the authorities killed several of the insurgents, captured Castro himself and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. However, the Batista government released him in 1955, when amnesty was given to many political prisoners. Castro and his brother subsequently went into exile in Mexico, where they met the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. While in Mexico, Guevara and the Castros organized the 26 July Movement with the goal of overthrowing Batista. In December 1956, Fidel Castro led a group of 82 fighters to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma. Despite a pre-landing rising in Santiago by Frank País Pesqueira and his followers among the urban pro-Castro movement, Batista's forces promptly killed, dispersed or captured most of Castro's men.
Castro escaped into the Sierra Maestra mountains with as few as 12 fighters, aided by the urban and rural opposition. Castro and Guevara then began a guerrilla campaign against the Batista régime, with their main forces supported by numerous poorly armed escopeteros and the well-armed fighters of Frank País' urban organization. Growing anti-Batista resistance, including a bloodily crushed rising by Cuban Navy personnel in Cienfuegos, soon led to chaos. At the same time, rival guerrilla groups in the Escambray Mountains also grew more effective. Castro attempted to arrange a general strike in 1958, but could not win support among Communists or labor unions. Multiple attempts by Batista's forces to crush the rebels ended in failure. Castro's forces acquired captured weaponry, the biggest being a government M4 Sherman tank, which would be used in the Battle of Santa Clara.
The United States imposed trade restrictions on the Batista administration and sent an envoy who attempted to persuade Batista to leave the country voluntarily. With the military situation becoming untenable, Batista fled on 1 January 1959, and Castro took over. Within months Castro moved to consolidate his power by marginalizing other resistance groups and imprisoning and executing opponents and dissidents. As the revolution became more radical and continued its marginalization of the wealthy and political opponents, thousands of Cubans fled the island, eventually forming a large exile community in the United States.
== Government of Fidel Castro (1959–2006) ==
=== 1959: "Year of Liberation" ===
On 1 January 1959, Che Guevara marched his troops from Santa Clara to Havana, without encountering resistance. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro marched his soldiers to the Moncada Army Barracks, where all 5,000 soldiers in the barracks defected to the Revolutionary movement. The United States recognized the Castro government on 7 January 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a new ambassador, Philip Bonsal, to replace Earl E. T. Smith, who had been close to Batista. The Eisenhower administration, in agreement with the American media and Congress, did this with the assumption that "Cuba [would] remain in the U.S. sphere of influence". However, Castro belonged to a faction which opposed U.S. influence. Earlier, during the guerilla war, on 5 June 1958, Castro had written: "The Americans are going to pay dearly for what they are doing. When the war is over, I'll start a much longer and bigger war of my own: the war I'm going to fight against them." "Castro dreamed of a sweeping revolution that would uproot his country's oppressive socioeconomic structure and of a Cuba that would be free of the United States".
After the success of the revolution, on 4 February 1959, Fidel Castro announced a massive reform plan which included a public works project, a land reform granting nearly 200,000 families farmland, and nationalization of various industries. On April 9, 1959, Fidel Castro declared that promised elections would be postponed; under the rationale of "revolution first, elections later", inferring Castro needed time for domestic reforms before elections could take place. Later, Castro issued the first agrarian reform law, on 17 May 1959, in which the state sought to limit the size of land holdings, and to distribute that land to small farmers in "Vital Minimum" tracts. This law served as a pretext for seizing lands held by foreigners and redistributing them to Cuban citizens.
Only six months after Castro seized power, the Eisenhower administration began to plot his overthrow. The United Kingdom was persuaded to cancel a sale of Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft to Cuba. The US National Security Council (NSC) met in March 1959 to consider means to institute a régime-change and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began arming guerillas inside Cuba in May. In January 1960 Roy R. Rubottom, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, summarized the evolution of Cuba–United States relations since January 1959: "The period from January to March might be characterized as the honeymoon period of the Castro government. In April a downward trend in US–Cuban relations had been evident… In June we had reached the decision that it was not possible to achieve our objectives with Castro in power and had agreed to undertake the program referred to by Undersecretary of State Livingston T. Merchant. On 31 October in agreement with the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department had recommended to the President approval of a program along the lines referred to by Mr. Merchant. The approved program authorized us to support elements in Cuba opposed to the Castro government while making Castro's downfall seem to be the result of his own mistakes."
On October 11, 1959, army officer Huber Matos resigned in protest of communist influence in the Cuban government. After Matos' arrest, a greater trend of political removals followed. Fidel Castro eventually purged all political opponents from the administration. Loyalty to Castro and the revolution became the primary criterion for all appointments. Mass organisation such as labor unions that opposed the revolutionary government were made illegal. The government of Cuba soon encountered opposition from internal opposition groups and from the United States.
=== 1960: Domestic repression and diplomatic shifts ===
A popular desire for some form of urban-based civil defence culminated after the explosion of the French freighter La Coubre. Speaking the day after the explosion, at the funeral for 27 dock workers killed, Fidel Castro said that the United States was responsible for the explosion, calling it "the work of those who do not wish us to receive arms for our defense". U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter denied that on 7 March in a meeting with the Cuban chargé d'affaires in Washington, then delivered a formal note of protest to Cuban Foreign Minister Raul Roa on 15 March.
A month later, at a May Day celebration in 1960, Fidel Castro finally cancelled all promised elections. In his announcement speech, Castro alluded that his government was "democratic", but still that Cuba did not need elections, which were accused of usually being "fraudulent".
Alongside worries of internal security, relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban government, in reaction to the refusal of Royal Dutch Shell, Standard Oil and Texaco to refine petroleum from the Soviet Union in Cuban refineries under their control, took control of those refineries in July 1960. The Eisenhower administration promoted a boycott of Cuba by oil companies; Cuba responded by nationalizing the refineries in August 1960. Cuba expropriated more US-owned properties, notably those belonging to the International Telephone and Telegraph Company (ITT) and to the United Fruit Company.
Later, on September 28, 1960, after a bombing by the Presidential Palace, Castro announced the formation of vigilance organizations to report suspicious activity. This vigilance organization became the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. By the end of 1960, all opposition newspapers had been closed down and all radio and television stations had come under state control. Teachers and professors found to have involvement with counter-revolution were purged. Fidel's brother Raúl Castro became the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba on 3 January 1961, and further restricted trade in February 1962. The Organization of American States, under pressure from the United States, suspended Cuba's membership on 22 January 1962, and the U.S. government banned all U.S.–Cuban trade on 7 February. The Kennedy administration extended this ban on 8 February 1963, forbidding U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba or to conduct financial or commercial transactions with the country.
Cuba began to pursue more close relations with the Soviet Union. As early as September 1959, Valdim Kotchergin, a KGB agent, was seen in Cuba. Jorge Luis Vasquez, a Cuban who was imprisoned in East Germany, states that the East German Stasi trained the personnel of the Cuban Interior Ministry (MINIT). The relationship between the KGB and the Cuban Intelligence Directorate (DI) was complex and marked by both times of close cooperation and times of extreme competition. The Soviet Union saw the new revolutionary government in Cuba as an excellent proxy agent in areas of the world where Soviet involvement was not popular on a local level. Nikolai Leonov, the KGB chief in Mexico City, was one of the first Soviet officials to recognize Fidel Castro's potential as a revolutionary, and urged the Soviet Union to strengthen ties with the new Cuban leader. The USSR saw Cuba as having far more appeal with new revolutionary movements, western intellectuals, and members of the New Left, given Cuba's perceived David and Goliath struggle against U.S. "imperialism". In 1963, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1,500 DI agents, including Che Guevara, were invited to the USSR for intensive training in intelligence operations.
=== Golden exile and Bay of Pigs ===
In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the Cuban administration exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons. Cuban officers began to receive extended military training in the Soviet Union, becoming proficient in the use of advanced Soviet weapons systems.
Castro's policies in Cuba slowly led hundreds of thousands of upper- and middle-class Cubans to flee to the United States and other countries. By 1961, thousands of Cubans had fled for the United States. On 22 March of that year, an exile council was formed. The council planned to defeat the Cuban regime and form a provisional government with José Miró Cardona, a noted leader in the civil opposition against Batista, to serve as temporary president.
In April 1961, less than four months into the Kennedy administration, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) executed a plan that had been developed under the Eisenhower administration. This military campaign to topple Cuba's revolutionary government is now known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion (or La Batalla de Girón in Cuba). The aim of the invasion was to empower existing opposition militant groups to "overthrow the Communist regime" and establish "a new government with which the United States can live in peace." The invasion was carried out by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group of over 1,400 Cuban exiles called Brigade 2506. Arriving in Cuba by boat from Guatemala on 15 April, the brigade initially overwhelmed Cuba's counter-offensive. But by 20 April, the brigade surrendered and was publicly interrogated before being sent back to the US. The invasion helped further build popular support for the new Cuban government. The Kennedy administration thereafter began Operation Mongoose, a covert CIA campaign of sabotage against Cuba, including the arming of militant groups, sabotage of Cuban infrastructure, and plots to assassinate Castro. All this reinforced Castro's distrust of the US.
=== Escalante affair ===
In July 1961, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (IRO) was formed, merging Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement with Blas Roca's Popular Socialist Party and Faure Chomón's Revolutionary Directory 13 March. Later, on 26 March 1962, the IRO became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC), which, in turn, became the Communist Party on 3 October 1965, with Castro as First Secretary. The constitution secured the Communist Party's central role in governing Cuba, but kept party affiliation out of the election process.
The creation of the ORI was entrusted to PSP executive secretary Anibal Escalante, who used this opportunity to place PSP executives in positions of power and then purge the army of old guerrilla leaders, and speed up agrarian reforms which caused an economic decline. These actions were unpopular in the country causing Fidel Castro to condemn the ORI and order for its restructuring. At the end of the affair, Castro dismissed Escalante and his compatriots from the IRO.
The affair alarmed the Soviet leadership who feared a loss of good relations with Cuba. Soviet leadership was also growing to fear a possible U.S. invasion of Cuba. In this crisis of international relations the Soviet Union sent more SA-2 anti-aircraft missiles in April as well as a regiment of regular soviet troops.
=== Cuban Missile Crisis ===
Tensions between the two governments peaked again during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States had a much larger arsenal of long-range nuclear weapons than the Soviet Union, as well as medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), whereas the Soviet Union had a large stockpile of medium-range nuclear weapons. Cuba agreed to let the Soviets secretly place SS-4 Sandal and SS-5 Skean MRBMs on their territory. After Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance photos confirmed the missiles' presence in Cuba, the United States established a cordon in international waters to stop Soviet ships from bringing in more (designated a quarantine rather than a blockade to avoid issues with international law). At the same time, Castro was getting a little too extreme for Moscow, so at the last moment the Soviets called back their ships. In addition, they agreed to remove the missiles already there in exchange for an agreement that the United States would not invade Cuba.
=== Early economic planning ===
Starting in 1961, Che Guevara spearheaded a Four Year Plan to rapidly industrialize the Cuban economy, by minimizing the sugar industry in favor of other agricultural sectors. The plan was designed to be carried out from 1962 to 1965, but was cancelled early in 1964 due to economic setbacks. Agricultural diversification led to a steep drop in sugar production, which was a vital market in Cuba.
Following the economic decline brought by the Four Year Plan, Fidel Castro invited leftist economists from all over the world to print their opinions in economic journals in Cuba about how Cuba should develop into a communist society. The two main spokespeople in the debate were Che Guevara who argued for an independent Cuban model to communism, and Carlos Rafael Rodríguez of the Popular Socialist Party who advocated for more of a "soviet" model towards communism which meant a development of capitalism before socialism and later communism.
This "Great Debate" came to an end when Guevara left Cuba in 1965. Initially, his view lost support. In 1968, however, Fidel Castro announced the reforms of the Revolutionary Offensive which drew on Guevara's ideas.
=== Militarization of labor ===
Military Units to Aid Production or UMAPs (Unidades Militares para la Ayuda de Producción) – in effect, forced labor concentration camps – were established in 1965 as a way to eliminate alleged "bourgeois" and "counter-revolutionary" values in the Cuban population. The creation of the UMAP camps themselves was initially proposed by Fidel Castro and implemented by his brother Raúl Castro after a state visit to the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, where he learned that the Soviets ran camps for "anti-socials." According to an April 14, 1966 article in Granma, the official state newspaper, UMAP camps were proposed at a November 1965 meeting between Fidel Castro and military leaders. Both were concerned over how to handle "misplaced elements."
On 6 November 1965, Cuba and the United States agreed to an airlift for Cubans who wanted to emigrate to the United States. The first of these Freedom Flights left Cuba on 1 December 1965. Emigrants were often forced to serve in labor camps before departure, and all their property was confiscated before their exit from Cuba.
In 1968, the "Revolutionary Offensive" was announced, as a campaign to nationalize all remaining private small businesses, which at the time totaled to be about 58,000 small enterprises. The campaign would spur industrialization in Cuba and focus the economy on sugar production, specifically to a deadline for an annual sugar harvest of 10 million tons by 1970. The economic focus on sugar production involved international volunteers and the mobilization of workers from all sectors of the Cuban economy. Economic mobilization also coincided with greater militarization of Cuban political structures and the Cuban workforce in general, which was put under military command. Some of the small merchants whose enterprises were nationalized in the offensive chose to leave Cuba in the "Freedom Flights" airlift. By 1971, over 250,000 Cubans in general, had flown to the United States in the Freedom Flights.
=== Political institutionalization ===
By the 1970s, the standard of living in Cuba was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife. Castro changed economic policies in the first half of the 1970s. In the 1970s unemployment reappeared as problem. The solution was to criminalize unemployment with 1971 Anti-Loafing Law; the unemployed would be jailed.
After 1971, Cuba entered its "grey years:, which are a loosely defined period in Cuban history, generally agreed to have started with the Padilla affair in 1971. The "grey years" are often associated with the tenure of Luis Pavón Tamayo (de) as the head of Cuba's National Cultural Council ("Consejo Nacional de Cuba", or CNC) from 1971 to 1976. The grey years were generally defined by cultural censorship, harassment of intellectuals and artists, and the ostracization of members of the LGBT+ community. Greater monetary influence from the Soviet Union during this time period pressured Cuba into adopting a model of cultural repression that was reflected in Cuba's domestic policy throughout the 1970s.
A period of institutionalization was kickstarted by the first official congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in December 1975. The meeting approved the development of a "System of Direction for Economic Planning" (SDPE), which was modeled on soviet economic planning and prioritized profit making. The implementation of the SDPE took ten years. In 1976, a new constitution was also approved. The constitution was modeled off the Soviet system, and introduced the National Assembly of People's Power as the institution of indirect representation in government.
=== Involvement in Third World conflicts ===
From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, seeking to spread its revolutionary ideals abroad and gain foreign allies. Although still a developing country itself, Cuba supported African, Latin American and Asian countries in the fields of military development, health and education. These "overseas adventures" not only irritated the United States but were also quite often a source of dispute with Cuba's ostensible allies in the Kremlin.
The Sandinista insurgency in Nicaragua, which led to the demise of the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, was openly supported by Cuba. However, it was on the African continent where Cuba was most active, supporting a total of 17 liberation movements or leftist governments, in countries including Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique. Cuba offered to send troops to Vietnam, but the initiative was turned down by the Vietnamese.
Cuba had some 39,000–40,000 military personnel abroad by the late 1970s, with the bulk of the forces in Sub-Saharan Africa but with some 1,365 stationed among Algeria, Iraq, Libya, and South Yemen. By 1982, Cuba possessed the best equipped and largest per capita armed forces in Latin America. Moscow used Cuban surrogate troops in Africa and the Middle East because they had a high level of training for combat in Third World environments, familiarity with Soviet weapons, physical toughness and a tradition of successful guerrilla warfare dating back to the uprisings against Spain in the 19th century. An estimated 7,000–11,000 Cubans died in conflicts in Africa.
As early as 1961, Cuba supported the National Liberation Front in Algeria against France. In 1964, Cuba supported the Simba Rebellion of adherents of Patrice Lumumba in Congo-Leopoldville (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo). Some 40–50 Cubans fought against Portugal in Guinea-Bissau each year from 1966 until independence in 1974. In late 1973, there were 4,000 Cuban tank troops in Syria as part of an armored brigade which took part in the Yom Kippur War until May 1974.
Its involvement in the Angolan Civil War was particularly intense and noteworthy with heavy assistance given to the Marxist–Leninist MPLA. At the height of its operation, Cuba had as many as 50,000 soldiers stationed in Angola. Cuban soldiers were instrumental in the defeat of South African and Zairian troops and the establishment of Namibia. Cuban soldiers also defeated the FNLA and UNITA armies and established MPLA control over most of Angola. South African Defence Force soldiers were again drawn into the Angolan Civil War in 1987–88, and several inconclusive battles were fought between Cuban and South African forces. Cuban-piloted MiG-23s performed airstrikes against South African forces in South West Africa during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
Cuba's presence in Mozambique was more subdued, involving by the mid-1980s 700 Cuban military and 70 civilian personnel. In 1978, in Ethiopia, 16,000 Cuban combatants, along with the Soviet-supported Ethiopian Army, defeated an invasion force of Somalians. The executing of civilians and refugees, and rape of women by the Ethiopian and Cuban troops was prevalent throughout the war. Assisted by Soviet advisors, the Cubans launched a second offensive in December 1979 directed at the population's means of survival, including the poisoning and destruction of wells and the killing of cattle herds.
Cuba was unable to pay on its own for the costs of its overseas military activities. After it lost its subsidies from the USSR, Cuba withdrew its troops from Ethiopia (1989), Nicaragua (1990), Angola (1991), and elsewhere.
=== Mariel boatlift ===
Several attempts by Cubans to seek asylum at the embassies of South American countries set the stage for the events of the spring of 1980. On 21 March 1978, two young Cuban writers who had been punished for dissent and denied permission to emigrate, Reynaldo Colas Pineda and Esteban Luis Cárdenas Junquera, unsuccessfully sought asylum in the Argentine embassy in Havana and were sentenced to two years in prison. On May 13, 1979, 12 Cubans sought to take asylum in the Venezuelan embassy in Havana by crashing their bus through a fence to gain entry to the grounds and the building. In January 1980, groups of asylum seekers took refuge in the Peruvian and Venezuelan embassies, and Venezuela called its ambassador home for consultations to protest that they had been fired on by the Cuban police. In March, Peru recalled its ambassador, who had denied entry to a dozen Cubans who were seeking asylum in his embassy. The embassy invasions then became a confrontation between the Cuban government and the Havana embassies. A group of Cubans attempted to enter the Peruvian embassy in the last week of March, and on April 1, a group of six driving a city bus was successful in doing so, and a Cuban guard was killed by a ricocheting bullet. The Peruvians announced that they would not hand those who were seeking asylum over to Cuban police. The embassy grounds contained two 2-story buildings and gardens covering an area the size of a US football field, or 6,400 square yards
Castro stated ultimately on 20 April that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave Cuba if they had someone to pick them up. Soon after Castro's decree, many Cuban Americans began making arrangements to pick up refugees in the harbor. On April 21, the first boat from the harbor docked in Key West and held 48 refugees. By April 25 as many as 300 boats were picking up refugees in Mariel Harbor. Cuban officials also packed refugees into Cuban fishing vessels. Around 1,700 boats brought thousands of Cubans from Mariel to Florida between the months of April and October in that year.
=== Rectification process ===
In February 1986, at the Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, Castro proclaimed: "Now, we are going to build socialism". Castro criticized material incentives for laborers. Over the next months continued to criticize the Cuban bureaucracy and laziness. Economic reforms also included restructurings of party management. In 1986, the System of Direction for Economic Planning was made to obey the command of the Politboro of the Communist Party of Cuba.
On October 8, 1987, at the anniversary of Che Guevara's death, Castro gave a speech inferring Guevara would be horrified at the bureaucracy in Cuba, and the lack of patriotic enthusiasm of common workers.
Throughout the rectification process, private businesses became more heavily regulated, farmers markets were banned, material incentives were ended, and the minimum wage was increased.
=== Special Period ===
Starting from the mid-1980s, Cuba experienced a crisis referred to as the "Special Period". When the Soviet Union was dissolved in late 1991, a major supporter of Cuba's economy was lost, leaving it essentially paralyzed because of the economy's narrow basis, focused on just a few products with just a few buyers. National oil supplies, which were mostly imported, were severely reduced. Over 80% of Cuba's trade was lost and living conditions declined. A "Special Period in Peacetime" was declared, which included cutbacks on transport and electricity and even food rationing. In response, the United States tightened its trade embargo, hoping it would lead to Castro's downfall. But the government tapped into a pre-revolutionary source of income and opened the country to tourism, entering into several joint ventures with foreign companies for hotel, agricultural and industrial projects. As a result, the use of U.S. dollars was legalized in 1994, with special stores being opened which only sold in dollars. There were two separate economies, dollar-economy and the peso-economy, creating a social split in the island because those in the dollar-economy made much more money. However, in October 2004, the Cuban government announced an end to this policy: from November U.S. dollars would no longer be legal tender, but would instead be exchanged for convertible pesos with a 10% tax payable to the state on the exchange of U.S. dollars.
A Canadian Medical Association Journal paper states that "The famine in Cuba during the Special Period was caused by political and economic factors similar to the ones that caused a famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s. Both countries were run by authoritarian regimes that denied ordinary people the food to which they were entitled when the public food distribution collapsed; priority was given to the elite classes and the military." The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and money until 1993, forcing many Cubans to eat anything they could find. Even domestic cats were reportedly eaten.
Extreme food shortages and electrical blackouts led to a brief period of unrest, including numerous anti-government protests and widespread increases in urban crime. In response, the Cuban Communist Party formed hundreds of "rapid-action brigades" to confront protesters. The Communist Party's publication Granma stated that "delinquents and anti-social elements who try to create disorder ... will receive a crushing reply from the people". In July 1994, 41 Cubans drowned attempting to flee the country aboard a tugboat; the Cuban government was later accused of sinking the vessel deliberately.
Thousands of Cubans protested in Havana during the Maleconazo uprising on 5 August 1994. However, the regime's security forces swiftly dispersed them. After the Maleconazo riots, Fidel Castro announced that any Cubans who wished to leave the island could. Around 5,000 rafters had left earlier in the year but after the announcement around 33,000 rafters left the island. U.S. President Bill Clinton would announce that any rafters intercepted at sea would be detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Around 200,000 rafters would be detained at the base.
=== Recovery and new diplomacy ===
Although contacts between Cubans and foreign visitors were made legal in 1997, extensive censorship had isolated it from the rest of the world. In 1997, a group led by Vladimiro Roca, son of the founder of the Cuban Communist Party, sent a petition, entitled La Patria es de Todos ("the homeland belongs to all") to the Cuban general assembly, requesting democratic and human rights reforms. Roca and his associates were imprisoned but were eventually released. I
Though it was largely diplomatically isolated from the West at this time, Cuba nonetheless cultivated regional allies. After the rise to power of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1999, Cuba and Venezuela formed an increasingly close relationship.
In December 1999, during a Federation of University Students meeting, a student announced a spontaneous march to the Office of American Interests in Havana to demand the return of Elián González. A few days after the march the "Group of the Battle of Ideas" was formed by the Young Communist League and the Federation of University Students. The group began organizing demonstrations across Cuba for the return of Elián González. After González's return, the group began regularly meeting with Fidel Castro to oversee various construction projects and government meetings in Cuba. Fidel Castro ensured that the group had special authorities, and could bypass the approval of various ministries. What followed was a political campaign titled the "Battle of Ideas", which focused on human development, and youth mobilization. Various improvement projects were conducted in regards to education and healthcare. Cuba also began forging closer diplomatic ties with Pink tide governments, often providing them medical services. Over 30,000 health workers would be deployed overseas by 2007.
In 2001, a group of Cuban activists collected thousands of signatures for the Varela Project, a petition requesting a referendum on the island's political process, which was openly supported by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The petition gathered sufficient signatures to be considered by the Cuban government, but was rejected on an alleged technicality. Instead, a plebiscite was held in which it was formally proclaimed that Castro's brand of socialism would be perpetual.
In 2003, Castro cracked down on independent journalists and other dissidents in an episode which became known as the "Black Spring". The government imprisoned 75 dissident thinkers, including journalists, librarians, human rights activists, and democracy activists, on the basis that they were acting as agents of the United States by accepting aid from the U.S. government.
== Government of Raul Castro (2007–2020) ==
=== Transfer of power ===
In 2006, Fidel Castro fell ill and withdrew from public life. The following year, Raúl Castro became Acting President. In a letter dated 18 February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his formal resignation, saying "I will not aspire nor accept...the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief." In 2008, Cuba was struck by three separate hurricanes, in the most destructive hurricane season in the country's history; over 200,000 were left homeless, and over US$5 billion of property damage was caused.
=== Improving foreign relations ===
In July 2012, Cuba received its first American goods shipment in over 50 years, following the partial relaxation of the U.S. embargo to permit humanitarian shipments. In October 2012, Cuba announced the abolition of its much-disliked exit permit system, allowing its citizens more freedom to travel abroad. In February 2013, after his reelection as president, Raúl Castro stated that he would retire from government in 2018 as part of a broader leadership transition. In July 2013, Cuba became embroiled in a diplomatic scandal after Chong Chon Gang, a North Korean ship illegally carrying Cuban weapons, was impounded by Panama.
The severe economic strife suffered by Venezuela in the mid-2010s lessened its ability to support Cuba, and may ultimately have contributed to the thawing of Cuban-American relations. In December 2014, after a highly publicized exchange of political prisoners between the United States and Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to re-establish diplomatic relations, establish an embassy in Havana and improve economic ties. Obama's proposal received both strong criticism and praise from different elements of the Cuban American community. In April 2015, the U.S. government announced that Cuba would be removed from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. embassy in Havana was formally reopened in August 2015. In 2017, staffing levels at the embassy were reduced following unexplained health incidents.
=== Economic reforms ===
As of 2015, Cuba remains one of the few officially socialist states in the world. Though it remains diplomatically isolated and afflicted by economic inefficiency, major currency reforms were begun in the 2010s, and efforts to free up domestic private enterprise are now underway. Living standards in the country have improved significantly since the turmoil of the Special Period, with GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power parity rising from less than US$2,000 in 1999 to nearly $10,000 in 2010. Tourism has furthermore become a significant source of prosperity for Cuba.
Despite the reforms, Cuba remains afflicted by chronic shortages of food and medicines. The electrical and water services are still unreliable. In July 2021, protests erupted over these problems and the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but primarily because of the historical government oppression, profound lack of opportunities, and repression of personal liberties.
== Leadership of Diaz-Canel (2021–present) ==
Fidel Castro was succeeded both as the first secretary of the ruling Communist party in 2011 and as the president of State Council in 2008 by his brother, Raúl Castro. In 2018, Miguel Díaz-Canel took over from Raúl Castro as president. In April 2021, Díaz-Canel succeeded Raúl Castro also as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most powerful position in Cuba. He is the first person to hold both the Cuban presidency and the leadership of the Communist Party (PCC) without being a member of the Castro family.
A series of protests against the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba began on 11 July 2021, triggered by a shortage of food and medicine and the government's response to the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba. The protests were the largest anti-government demonstrations since the Maleconazo in 1994.
From 2021 onward, there has been a significant surge of Cuban nationals leaving the country, mostly to the United States, due to a combination of factors, including economic hardships and political uncertainties in their homeland. The crisis has resulted in a notable increase in Cuban encounters at the United States' southern border, with many attempting to cross into the country through both regular border crossings and sea arrivals, particularly in South Florida. The mass exodus has posed humanitarian, social, and political challenges for both Cuba and the U.S., prompting discussions and negotiations between the two nations to address the crisis and manage the flow of migrants. It has been described as the largest mass emigration in Cuba's history. It is estimated that nearly 500,000 Cubans sought refuge into the United States between 2021 and 2023, accounting for nearly 5% of Cuba's population. It is estimated that 60% of the new Cuban arrival between 2021 and 2023 (300,000), have settled in Miami-Dade County.
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
Allaire, Louis (2000). "Archaeology of the Caribbean Region". In Frank Salomon (ed.). South America. The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. Vol. III. Stuart B. Schwartz (third ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63075-4.
Ros, Enrique (2004). La UMAP: El Gulag Castrista. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal. ISBN 9781593880262.
== Bibliography and further reading ==
== External links ==
Post-USSR: Modern Cuban Struggles, 1991 video from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
Reflecting on Cuba's Bloody History. Peter Coyote. San Francisco Chronicle. 4 March 2009.
Deena Stryker Photographs of Cuba, 1963–1964 and undated – Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscript Collection Archived 31 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine – University of Miami libraries Digital Collections
American Settlers in Cuba – Historic photographs and information on American settlers in Cuba before the Revolution
Latin American Network Information Center. "Cuba: History". Country Directory. USA: University of Texas at Austin.
Digital Photographic Archive of Historic Havana- a digital archive of 1055 significant buildings in the Historic Center of Havana |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherland:_Fort_Salem | Motherland: Fort Salem | Motherland: Fort Salem is an American supernatural drama television series created by Eliot Laurence that premiered on Freeform on March 18, 2020. The series stars Taylor Hickson as Raelle Collar, Jessica Sutton as Tally Craven, and Ashley Nicole Williams as Abigail Bellweather, three witches conscripted into the U.S. Army. In August 2021, the series was renewed for a third and final season which premiered on June 21, 2022, and concluded on August 23, 2022.
== Premise ==
Motherland: Fort Salem follows Raelle Collar, Abigail Bellweather, and Tally Craven, three witches who accept conscription into the U.S. Army. They train in combat magic and use their vocal cords to enact "seeds" or "seed sounds", layering vocal sounds to create powerful spells. The series takes place in a women-dominated world in which the U.S. ended the persecution of witches 300 years ago during the Salem witch trials after an agreement known as the Salem Accord. The world finds itself at odds with a terrorist organization known as the Spree, a witch resistance group fighting against the conscription of witches.
== Cast and characters ==
=== Main ===
Taylor Hickson as Raelle Collar, a witch from a minor witch family line who enlists at Fort Salem, but who shows a surprising potential for work. Her mother was killed in combat while her father is revealed to be a civilian, something deeply frowned upon.
Amalia Holm as Scylla, a second-year cadet at Fort Salem whom Raelle falls for, but who is evasive about her past. It is later revealed her surname is Ramshorn. Her parents were killed for being dodgers, an illegal act of avoiding military conscription.
Demetria McKinney as Anacostia Quartermaine, a tough drill sergeant at Fort Salem
Jessica Sutton as Tally Craven, a witch who enthusiastically enlists at Fort Salem despite her mother's opposition due to all of Tally's aunts being previously killed in action
Ashley Nicole Williams as Abigail Bellweather, a proud enlistee at Fort Salem from the storied Bellweather witch family line
Lyne Renée as Sarah Alder (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1), the commanding general of the United States' witch armed forces and the leader of Fort Salem. She is hundreds of years old, having negotiated the Salem Accords 300 years ago, but appears to be a woman in her 40s in the present day.
=== Recurring ===
Catherine Lough Haggquist as Petra Bellweather, an ambitious, proud, by-the-book general in the U.S. armed forces as chief intelligence officer and Abigail's mother
Diana Pavlovska as Willa Collar, Raelle's mother who was reportedly killed in combat before Raelle enlisted
Hrothgar Mathews as Edwin Collar, Raelle's father
Annie Jacob as Glory Moffett (season 1), a meek enlistee at Fort Salem and a friend of Tally's
Sarah Yarkin as Libba Swythe (season 1), a pugnacious enlistee at Fort Salem whose family has a long-standing feud with the Bellweathers
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Kelly Wade, the United States president and civilian head of the U.S. government, and thus Alder's superior; she and Alder clash over tactics and military operations.
Kai Bradbury as Gerit Buttonwood (season 1), a young male witch who visits Fort Salem and soon catches Tally's attention
Emilie Leclerc as Izadora, a scientist, Necro teacher, and officer at Fort Salem
Tony Giroux as Adil, a member of the nomadic tribe of witches known as the Tarim, who brings his sister Khalida to Fort Salem for treatment when she becomes mortally ill from an infection
Kylee Brown as Khalida, a member of the nomadic Tarim tribe and Adil's younger sister who is brought to Fort Salem for treatment of an unknown infection that threatens her life
Victor Webster as Blanton Silver (seasons 2–3), the vice president of the United States of America
Arlen Aguayo-Stewart as Nicte Batan (seasons 2–3), who is a witch sergeant from Alder's past, and who has a surprising connection to events in the present. Various actresses have played Nicte when she is magically disguised, including Kandyse McClure in the third season.
Mellany Barros as Penelope Silver (seasons 2–3), Vice President Blanton Silver's daughter, who is recently discovered to be a witch
Ess Hödlmoser as M (seasons 2–3), a coven leader / sergeant at War College who undertakes the next level of training for Raelle, Tally and Abigail.
Praneet Akilla as Gregorio (season 2; guest, season 3), a prospective match for Abigail
Bob Frazer as Alban Hearst (seasons 2–3), a high-ranking member of the Camarilla
Sandra Ferens as Quinn (seasons 2–3), a friend of Willa Collar's from the army, and Raelle's godmother, who lives in the Cession
Liza Huget as Minerva Bellweather (seasons 2–3), the formidable mother of Petra Bellweather, and Abigail's grandmother
Luc Roderique as Sterling Woodlot (seasons 2–3), a member of VP Silver's staff and friend and former lover of Anacostia's
Emilie Ullerup as Kara Brandt (season 3), a wealthy woman who is financing VP Silver's and the Camarilla's efforts to wipe out witches once and for all
Michael Horse as the Marshal (season 3), the lead witch-hunter in the Cession
Aaron Douglas as Colonel Jarrett (season 3), of the non-witch military, who is sent by President Silver to "monitor" events at Fort Salem
Olivia Lucas as Thelma Bearkiller (season 3), a member of the Cession council who is at first skeptical of the claims of the Bellweather unit
=== Guest ===
Jillian Fargey as May Craven, Tally's mother, who doesn't want Tally to join the army (in "Say the Words", "My Witches", "Book Club")
Nick E. Tarabay as Witchfather, the male head of the witch armed forces (in "A Biddy's Life", "Hail Beltane", "Mother Mycelium")
Bernadette Beck as Charvel Bellweather, Abigail's cousin who is about to get married (in "Bellweather Season", "Brianna's Favorite Pencil")
Naiah Cummins as Bridey, a tough soldier that Petra Bellweather assigns as Abigail's bodyguard after a bloody attack on the Bellweathers (in "Up Is Down", "Witchbomb")
Marci T. House as the Imperatrix, who is in charge of researching and maintaining witches' magical bloodlines (in "A Tiffany")
== Episodes ==
=== Series overview ===
=== Season 1 (2020) ===
=== Season 2 (2021) ===
=== Season 3 (2022) ===
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Development on the series began in August 2016 under the working title Motherland, and on June 5, 2018, a pilot had been ordered. On March 5, 2019, it was announced that Freeform had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was created by Eliot Laurence, who was also expected to executive produce alongside Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Maria Maggenti, and Steven Adelson. The pilot was also directed by Adelson. Production companies involved with the series were slated to include Freeform Studios and Gary Sanchez Productions. On May 14, 2019, an official trailer for the series was released. The series premiered on March 18, 2020.
David J. Peterson along with Jessie Sams created the language known as Méníshè, which is spoken on the show by the Tarim, and is described as an "ancient witch language". Laurence and his team knew of Peterson from his previous work on Game of Thrones and hired him to create the language for the show.
On May 19, 2020, Freeform renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on June 22, 2021. On August 23, 2021, Freeform renewed the series for a third and final season, which premiered on June 21, 2022.
=== Casting ===
Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Taylor Hickson, Jessica Sutton, Amalia Holm, and Demetria McKinney had been cast in series regular roles. Kelcey Mawema, one of the leads in the original pilot, was recast. On March 28, 2019, it was announced that Ashley Nicole Williams had replaced Kelcey Mawema. On August 9, 2019, it was announced that Bernadette Beck would be guest starring in the series. On September 24, 2019, it was announced that Kai Bradbury would be joining the cast in a recurring role. On January 28, 2020, Sarah Yarkin was cast in a recurring capacity. On May 19, 2020, Lyne Renée was promoted as a series regular for the second season. On May 27, 2021, Victor Webster, Mellany Barros, Praneet Akilla, Ess Hödlmoser and Arlen Aguayo were cast in recurring roles for the second season.
=== Filming ===
Filming for the pilot took place in July 2018. Principal photography for the first season began on April 22, 2019, and ended on August 23, 2019, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming took place in the Cloverdale area of Surrey, British Columbia, from May 9 to 10, 2019. Filming for the second season began on October 9, 2020, and concluded on April 1, 2021. Filming for the third season began on November 2, 2021, and concluded on April 14, 2022.
== International releases ==
Internationally, the show airs on Fox8 in Australia, streams on Showmax in South Africa, and is exclusive to BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom under the title Fort Salem, to avoid confusion with the BBC sitcom Motherland.
As of November 20, 2020, it has been released by Amazon Prime in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
In Canada, Sweden, and Norway, Disney+ has the streaming distribution rights to the show.
== Music ==
The music for the series is scored by Brandon Roberts. The album for the first season was released on March 20, 2020.
== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 71% based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Despite a fine cast and impressive set up, Motherland: Fort Salem's ambitious ideas are overwhelmed by the sheer too-muchness of it all." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
=== Ratings ===
==== Season 1 ====
==== Season 2 ====
==== Season 3 ====
=== Accolades ===
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Motherland: Fort Salem at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarita_Adve | Sarita Adve | Sarita Vikram Adve is the Richard T. Cheng Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are in computer architecture and systems, parallel computing, and power and reliability-aware systems.
== Education and career ==
Adve completed a Bachelor of Technology degree in electrical engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1987. She subsequently completed a Master of Science (1989) and Ph.D. (1993) in computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before joining Illinois, Adve was a member of faculty at Rice University from 1993 to 1999. She served on the NSF CISE directorate's advisory committee from 2003 to 2005 and on the expert group to revise the Java memory model from 2001 to 2005. She served as chair of ACM SIGARCH from 2015 to 2019.
She was elected as the Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2012 for her contributions to shared memory semantics and parallel computing.
She was the PhD supervisor of Parthasarathy Ranganathan.
== Awards and honors ==
Adve received the Ken Kennedy Award in 2018, the ACM SIGARCH Maurice Wilkes award in 2008, an IBM faculty award in 2005, was named a UIUC University Scholar in 2004, received an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 1998, an IBM University Partnership award in 1997 and 1998, and a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 1995. Adve was named a Fellow of the ACM in 2010. She was the winner of the 2012 ABIE Award for Innovation from the Anita Borg Institute.
In 2020, Adve was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023, Adve was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
== References ==
== External links ==
Sarita Adve's Homepage |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._M._Sikri#:~:text=Biography,at%20Lincoln's%20Inn%2C%20in%20London. | S. M. Sikri | Sarv Mittra Sikri (26 April 1908 – 24 September 1992) was an Indian lawyer and judge who served as the 13th Chief Justice of India.
He previously served as the first Advocate-General for Punjab, before becoming the first judge of the Supreme Court of India, to be directly appointed from the Bar. Additionally, he is the first of only two judges to be CJI, directly from the Bar.
== Biography ==
Sikri was born in Lahore on 26 April 1908. He moved to London to study medicine, but switched to law, studying at Trinity College, Cambridge. Before returning to Lahore in 1930, he served as a barrister-at-law at Lincoln's Inn, in London.
He began his legal practise in the chambers of Jagannath Agarwal, who was a leading advocate in the Lahore High Court and practiced criminal and civil law. Following independence, he was appointed the Assistant Advocate General of Punjab in 1949 and soon as the advocate general in 1951. Held the same position almost entirely until his elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1964.
As an advocate, he appeared and practised in various courts, ranging from the Lahore High Court and other courts in Punjab to the Federal Court of India and eventually the Supreme Court of India.
== Notable judgements ==
I.C. Golaknath and Ors. v. State of Punjab and Anrs. had him a part of the thin majority of 6:5, in which the court reversed its earlier decision which had upheld Parliament's power to amend all parts of the Constitution, including Part III related to Fundamental Rights. The judgement left Parliament with no power to curtail Fundamental Rights.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown_(fraudster)# | Michael Brown (fraudster) | Michael Campbell-Brown (born Michael Robert Alexander Brown; 19 April 1966) is a Scottish businessman and fugitive convicted in absentia of theft, perjury and perverting the course of justice. Between 10 February and 30 March 2005 he donated £2.4 million to the Liberal Democrats. He was the largest donor the party had ever had, giving ten times more than anything it had received before.
Campbell-Brown has worked for Serco since 2019.
== Early life and legal issues ==
Brown was born on 19 April 1966 into a family from Glasgow. His father, Ian, was an executive at one of Scotland's largest whisky producers. He attended his local school and later completed a City and Guilds qualification in catering at the Glasgow College of Food Technology.
Brown resided in Majorca, Spain and claimed to have been an international bond trader, whose clients were vetted by United States embassy officials and Special Branch before he accepted their money. Brown's clients included former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards. Brown married Sharon Campbell in 1993.
In June 2008, after being charged with various counts of fraud and money laundering, Brown fled bail and an arrest warrant was subsequently issued. The charges of fraud and money laundering were later discharged by the judge at trial.
Brown was last reported to reside on Templewood Avenue in Hampstead, northwest London. He told various former clients he had been suffering from cancer and adopted the surname Campbell-Brown before he disappeared. In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, neighbours of Brown's Hampstead residence reported that he altered his appearance, growing a full beard in place of his usual goatee and allowing his typically dyed blond hair to revert to its natural grey. His legal representative denied allegations that these changes were intended to aid in evading authorities.
An extensive investigation was carried out by the City of London Police, both domestically and internationally. As part of the search, officers visited the residence of Paul Strasburger, a fellow Liberal Democrat donor who had previously provided bail for Brown.
It is believed that Brown resurfaced in the Caribbean later in 2008. Private investigators hired by two of his creditors reported that credit cards linked to Brown were used in Antigua and Barbuda during September and October of that year. Documents reviewed by The Observer indicated that a credit card issued under the name "M. Campbell-Brown"—an alias Brown had reportedly adopted shortly before disappearing—was used at cash machines in the region during that time.
In September 2011, it was reported by The Guardian that Brown was living in the Dominican Republic under the name Darren Patrick Nally. On 6 January 2012, he was arrested by the Dominican police.
== Trial and aftermath ==
In August 2008 Southwark Crown Court Judge Wadsworth decided that the trial could proceed in the defendant's absence and as private funding had run out to his legal team, Brown would be eligible for legal aid.
In November 2008, a trial was held at the Crown Court in the absence of the defendant, Brown. During the proceedings, the jury was informed that Brown had deliberately constructed a false persona characterized by apparent wealth and social prominence. This included fabrications such as claiming his father held a noble title, asserting connections with the royal family, and offering investors returns of up to 50%. According to prosecuting counsel Martin Edmunds QC, the funds obtained were used to finance an opulent lifestyle, cover business-related expenses, and provide earlier investors with fabricated returns.
Brown resided in a £49,000-per-year apartment in Mayfair, where he reportedly conducted meetings with associates, including an individual named Edwards. He also operated from a high-profile office in the same district and drove a Range Rover with the personalised registration "5 AVE." His expenditures included £2.5 million on a private jet, £400,000 on a yacht, and £327,000 on a home entertainment system for his residence in Majorca.
On 28 November 2008, after deliberating for nine and a half hours, the jury found Brown guilty on four counts: two charges of theft, one of providing false information, and one of perverting the course of justice. These offenses occurred between 9 February 2005 and 17 April 2006. Brown was convicted in absentia and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.
Because he was residing in Majorca, Spain, at the time of the donation, and was not registered to vote in the United Kingdom, Michael Brown used a company name as the official legal donor. In October 2006 the High Court in London ruled that the company which Brown used to donate the money to the Liberal Democrats, 5th Avenue Partners, had never traded in bonds.
Robert Mann, a lawyer based in Los Angeles, filed a writ in the High Court seeking £683,000 from the Liberal Democrats, alleging that the party prioritized the financial gain over concerns regarding the origin of the funds.
On 20 November 2009, the Electoral Commission issued a press release, stating that:
Having considered all the evidence in this case, we have concluded that 5th Avenue Partners Limited met the requirements to be a permissible donor. The Electoral Commission will be taking no further action in this case
In April 2010, Brown was one of the subjects of Britain's first televised election debate.
== Post release work ==
After his release from prison in 2016, Brown now known as Michael Campbell-Brown, began blogging and giving talks on criminal justice issues. He worked in both publicly operated and privately managed prisons, including HM Prison Leicester and facilities run by G4S. His work focused on supporting new prisoners during their first days in custody, a period often associated with increased vulnerability and a higher risk of suicide.
In 2019, he joined Serco, a company that operates prisons. In this role, he contributed to improving induction procedures for newly arrived inmates and trained existing prisoners to serve as peer mentors. He described the early stages of custody as particularly distressing for many prisoners, noting that individuals often arrive feeling extremely anxious and uncertain about what will happen in the immediate hours and days following their arrival.
His work was temporarily suspended in 2018 following reports that Spanish authorities were investigating him in connection with alleged money laundering. Campbell-Brown denied being subject to any active investigation, and no official confirmation of such an inquiry was made public. He was later cleared to return to his role and was invited to speak at a conference for prison officers organised by the Butler Trust, a UK charity that promotes best practice in criminal justice.
Although he had previously supported the Liberal Democrats, Campbell-Brown later withdrew his support for the party. He criticised its handling of Charles Kennedy's leadership, claiming Kennedy was forced to resign due to concerns about his alcohol use. Referring to Kennedy’s death in 2015 at the age of 55, Campbell-Brown stated that the party bore some responsibility. A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats declined to respond to the accusation, stating they would not dignify it with a reply.
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Capilla | La Capilla | La Capilla is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in the Tenza Valley.
== Borders ==
North with Úmbita and Pachavita
South with Tenza and Cundinamarca
West with Cundinamarca
East with Pachavita and Tenza
== Etymology ==
La Capilla was originally called La Capilla de Tenza, after the Our Lady of Candle appeared in the outskirts of the village. Because of this, a chapel was built; hence the name Capilla.
== History ==
The first inhabitants of the region of La Capilla were the Muisca, who were organised in their loose Muisca Confederation. The people of the area of La Capilla were loyal to the caciques of Garagoa, Sutatenza and Somondoco in the Tenza Valley. Conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his troops passed through this valley in 1537, on their way to the domains of the zaque of Hunza. Modern La Capilla was founded on November 13, 1793, by Juan de la Cruz Aguirre.
== Economy ==
Main economical activity of La Capilla is agriculture, with cucumbers, tomatoes and beans cultivated.
== Other characteristics ==
Market Day: Monday
Distance from Tunja: 92 kilometres (57 mi)
Median temperature: 18 °C (64 °F)
Demonym: Capillense
== Gallery ==
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladas_Mironas | Vladas Mironas | Vladas Mironas (; 22 June 1880 – 18 February 1953) was a Lithuanian Catholic priest and politician. He was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania and served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania from March 1938 to March 1939.
Mironas attended Mitau Gymnasium where his classmate was Antanas Smetona. They became friends and Mironas spent most of his life supporting Smetona's political ambitions. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy, Mironas was ordained priest in 1904 and joined the Lithuanian cultural life in Vilnius. He was a member and co-founder of numerous Lithuanian societies and organizations, including the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas. He attended the Great Vilnius Seimas in 1905. He was a parish priest of Choroszcz (1907–1910), Valkininkai (1910–1914), and Daugai (from 1914). In 1917, he attended Vilnius Conference and was elected to the Council of Lithuania as its second vice-chairman. On 16 February 1918, he signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania. In late 1918, Mironas joined the Party of National Progress which merged into the Lithuanian Nationalist Union and was continuously elected to its leadership. He was elected to the Third Seimas in May 1926.
The coup d'état in December 1926 brought the Nationalist Union to power and Smetona became the President of Lithuania. In 1929, Mironas became the chief chaplain of the Lithuanian Army helping ensure its loyalty to Smetona. He had substantial influence in the new regime and handled some sensitive tasks, including attempting to mediate the conflict between Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras. His contemporary diplomat Petras Klimas referred to Mironas as the éminence grise (grey eminence) of Smetona. Mironas became the successor of Juozas Tūbelis (Smetona's brother-in-law) as the Prime Minister of Lithuania after the Polish ultimatum in March 1938 and as the chairman of the Lithuanian Nationalists Union in January 1939. Mironas considered the duties of Prime Minister to be a "heavy and unbearable burden" and his government did not introduce any significant reforms. He was replaced by Jonas Černius after the German ultimatum and the loss of the Klaipėda Region in March 1939.
Mironas then retired from politics. After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Mironas was arrested by the NKVD in September 1940 but was freed from Kaunas Prison at the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. He was arrested again by the Soviets in August 1944 and agreed to became an informant. However, he was reluctant cooperate and withheld information. He was arrested in January 1947 and sentenced to seven years in prison. He died at the Vladimir Central Prison in 1953.
== Biography ==
=== Early life and education ===
Vladas Mironas was born on 22 June 1880 in Kuodiškiai near Čedasai in the present-day northern Lithuania. He had at least four brothers. The eldest brother Antanas inherited family's farm of about 50 hectares (120 acres).
After attending a primary school in Panemunis, Mironas enrolled at Mitau Gymnasium in 1892. At the time, a number of future prominent Lithuanians were students at the gymnasium. They included Antanas Smetona, Mykolas Sleževičius, Juozas Tūbelis, Vladas Stašinskas, Petras Avižonis, Jurgis Šlapelis. Their teachers included the Lithuanian linguist Jonas Jablonskis who gathered various Lithuanian intellectuals, supported and distributed the banned Lithuanian publications, organized Lithuanian activities. 33 Lithuanian students (including Smetona and Mironas) were expelled from the gymnasium for refusing to pray in Russian. Smetona and two others managed to secure an audience with Ivan Delyanov, Minister of National Education, who allowed the Lithuanians to pray in Latin and the expelled students to continue their education.
Mironas did not return to Mitau and transferred to Vilnius Priest Seminary in 1897. There he joined a secret group of Lithuanian clerics organized by Jurgis Šaulys. The group shared Lithuanian publications to learn more about Lithuanian language, culture, and history. In 1901, he continued his studies at the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy where he earned a candidate degree (he needed another year to get a master's degree in theology). In 1904, Mironas was ordained as a priest and assigned as a chaplain to several schools in Vilnius.
=== Activist in the Russian Empire ===
==== In Vilnius ====
Mironas joined the Lithuanian cultural life in Vilnius. In 1905, he published a Lithuanian translation of two Catholic textbooks by Dionizy Bączkowski which were printed by the Józef Zawadzki printing shop. The same year, together with other priests, he submitted a petition to Bishop of Vilnius Eduard von der Ropp to allow masses and sermons in the Lithuanian language (at the time, only the Church of Saint Nicholas, Vilnius, conducted services in Lithuanian).
In December 1905, Mironas attended the Great Seimas of Vilnius which discussed Lithuania's political future. He represented the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and helped organizing its meetings after the Seimas, but did not officially join the party. Mironas participated in the founding meeting of the Constitutional Catholic Party of Lithuania and Belarus organized by Bishop von der Ropp. He was elected to its presidium and managed to add the issue of Lithuania's autonomy to its political program, but quickly withdrew from the party as it was dominated by Poles who did not support Lithuanian political ambitions.
Mironas financially supported and otherwise assisted with the publishing of Lithuanian periodicals Vilniaus žinios as well as Viltis and Vairas (edited by Smetona). He also assisted with the establishment of various Lithuanian societies, including the Society of Saint Casimir that published Lithuanian books, organizational committee of the First Lithuanian Art Exhibition, the Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius, Society Vilniaus Aušra (predecessor of the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas). Further, he was a member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society and Rūta Society which organized amateur theater performances.
==== Vilnius region ====
In 1907, bishop von der Ropp was exiled to Tbilisi. Lithuanian activists decided to send a delegation to Pope Pius X to request that a Lithuanian would be appointed as the next Bishop of Vilnius. Mironas was selected as a member of the delegation. Perhaps in retaliation for this, he was reassigned from Vilnius to Choroszcz by the diocese administrator Kazimierz Mikołaj Michalkiewicz. This assignment far from Lithuanian cultural centers interrupted Mironas's public work. In 1910, he was reassigned as parish priest to Valkininkai (at the same time, he was the dean of Merkinė) which allowed him to resume public work.
In October 1911, together with Alfonsas Petrulis and Jonas Navickas, Mironas established a publishing company that published magazine Aušra every two weeks (142 issues published before it was discontinued in 1915). The magazine was intended for Lithuanians living in Vilnius area. In 1912, he established a local chapter of the Lithuanian Catholic Temperance Society. In January 1913, Mironas was elected to the board of the newly established Lithuanian Education Society Rytas which organized and maintained Lithuanian primary schools. Mironas personally assisted with the establishments of 28 such schools. In February 1913, he was elected an honorary member of the Society of Saint Zita of Lithuanian female servants.
At the end of 1914, Mironas was reassigned to the Daugai parish. There, he established a chapter of the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers. Using his status within the Roman Catholic Church, he was able to travel more freely and procure supplies for the war refugees. He also continued to work on establishing Lithuanian primary schools (about 90 schools were established by a committee he chaired). As war progressed, he was drawn into political discussions. In July 1917, he was one of the 19 signatories of a memorandum to the German chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg in which Lithuanians defended against the Polish territorial ambitions.
=== Council of Lithuania ===
As German military advances stalled, German leadership rethought their strategy for occupied Lithuania. The policy of open annexation was replaced by a more subtle strategy of creating a network of formally independent states under German influence (the so-called Mitteleuropa). To that end, Germans asked Lithuanians to establish an advisory council (Vertrauensrat). Mironas became a member of the 22-member organizing committee which organized the Vilnius Conference which in turn elected the 20-member Council of Lithuania in September 1917. Mironas was elected second vice-chairman the council (Smetona was its chairman).
Mironas attended most of the sessions of the council. He also chaired ten meetings in January 1918 when council members held heated political debates regarding the Act of 11 December 1917 which called for "a firm and permanent alliance" with Germany. Smetona and Mironas supported the act and argued with four leftists members who resigned in protest. After heated debates, Smetona stepped down as chairman and Mironas stepped down as vice-chairman of the council on 15 February and the Act of Independence of Lithuania was adopted on 16 February 1918. While Smetona returned as chairman of the council, Mironas refused leadership positions and remained just a member.
Mironas supported the idea of monarchy in Lithuania and voted for inviting Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach, to become the King of Lithuania. During 1918, the Council of Lithuania became involved in selecting the new Bishop of Vilnius. Reportedly, Mironas was considered as a candidate, but he refused. Eventually, Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius was selected as a compromise between conflicting Polish and Lithuanian ambitions.
=== Independent Lithuania ===
==== Outside the government ====
As Lithuania worked to establish its independence, Mironas continued to serve as a priest in Daugai. During the Polish–Lithuanian War, he was briefly arrested by Poland in August and December 1919. In March–June 1920, Mironas and Jonas Vileišis toured various communities of Lithuanian Americans collecting donations. During the May 1923 elections to the Second Seimas, Mironas served as a chairman of the local electoral committee in Daugai. During the September 1923 census, he chaired census committees in Daugai, Varėna, Alovė.
In late 1918, Mironas joined the Party of National Progress which merged into the Lithuanian Nationalist Union and was continuously elected to its leadership. He devoted efforts to managing its finances, administration, and publications. Mironas ran as a candidate to the First Seimas in October 1922, but the party fared poorly and no members of the Nationalist Union were elected. Together with Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras, Mironas was elected to the Third Seimas in May 1926. However, he did not speak during any of the Seimas sessions. His ecclesiastical superiors disapproved of his political activities because he did join the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. Bishop Juozapas Kukta removed him as dean of Merkinė. Mironas then moved to Kaunas and become more involved in politics.
==== Adjacent to the government ====
The December 1926 coup brought the Lithuanian Nationalist Union to power. Antanas Smetona become the President while Augustinas Voldemaras became the Prime Minister. In September 1927, Mironas was elected to the central committee of the Nationalist Union and was tasked with editing its magazine Tautininkų balsas. He was also one of the leaders of the Pažanga publishing company that published Lietuvos aidas, the official newspaper of the Lithuanian government, and other publications of the Nationalist Union. Despite being involved with publishing periodicals, he wrote very little – only 11 articles by him are known between 1911 and 1934.
In January 1928, Mironas became the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education (it was mainly in charge of the religious education in schools). However, Bishop Kukta forced him to resign at end of 1928. Despite the clear conflict between his religious superiors and his political party, Mironas did not attempt to quit either and continued to balance his loyalties. In spring 1929, President Smetona pushed for Mironas to become the chief chaplain of the Lithuanian Army. While Bishop Kukta protested this appointment, it was confirmed by Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas. On 20 May 1929, Mironas became the chaplain and, at the same, rector of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Kaunas. In this position, Mironas helped to ensure military's loyalty to President Smetona.
Mironas headed a council that coordinated activities of the Nationalist Union and its organizations (including Young Lithuania and Farmers' Unity). In this capacity, Mironas attempted to mediate the growing conflict between Smetona and Voldemaras which ended with the removal of Voldemaras by mid-1930. Mironas became an informal advisor to Smetona and frequently attended meetings at the Presidential Palace. Due to his influence, diplomat Petras Klimas referred to Mironas as the éminence grise (grey eminence) of Smetona.
In 1929–1937, Mironas was entrusted with a secret mission to periodically transfer large sums of cash to the Provisional Committee of Vilnius Lithuanians which organized Lithuanian activities in Vilnius Region (then part of the Second Polish Republic). Mironas personally traveled to the Free City of Danzig to hand the cash to Konstantinas Stašys.
Mironas was a member of the Kaunas city council (1934–1938) and the Committee for the Order of Vytautas the Great (since 1934). Mironas was a member or chairman of various other committees and societies, including a committee to provide aid to northern Lithuania due to a poor harvest in 1929, scholarship fund of the Nationalist Union in 1930, society to study and support religious art, committee for perpetuating the memory of Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, committee for commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1938, the Union for the Liberation of Vilnius (he was elected to its board in 1939), etc.
==== In the government ====
===== Cabinet =====
In January 1938, Mironas was sent on a secret mission to negotiate with the Second Republic of Poland regarding normalizing diplomatic relations that were severed as a result of the territorial dispute over Vilnius Region. He negotiated with Aleksander Tyszkiewicz and his son Stanisław Tyszkiewicz in Kretinga. However, President Smetona did not want to make any concessions and the negotiations abruptly ended. In March 1938, Poland issued an ultimatum forcing Lithuania to reestablish diplomatic relations. This triggered a government crisis in Lithuania and the long-term Prime Minister Juozas Tūbelis (who was also Smetona's brother-in-law) stepped down. On 24 March, Mironas was selected as the new Prime Minister citing his familiarity with issues concerning Vilnius Region. Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas approved the appointment, while Pope Pius XI found the appointment "regretful" but did not protest it.
The first Mironas Cabinet included a number of experienced statesmen, but it did not introduce any significant reforms. Tūbelis remained in the government as Minister of Agriculture. However, due to poor health, he resigned on 1 October 1938 and was replaced by Mironas. In January 1939, Mironas replaced Tūbelis as the chairman of the Nationalist Union. On 5 December 1938, Mironas reluctantly formed the second cabinet. He considered the duties of Prime Minister to be a "heavy and unbearable burden". In his memoirs, Kazys Musteikis (newly appointed Minister of Defence) considered this government to be one of the weakest as it had no known or prominent figures. This new government was formed due the formal expiration of Smetona's tenure (he was easily reelected).
On 20 March 1939, Germany presented an ultimatum demanding that Lithuania cede the Klaipėda Region. Lithuania was forced to accept and Smetona formed a new government under Prime Minister Černius. In his memoir, the deposed Augustinas Voldemaras claimed that this meant the end of the personal friendship between Smetona and Mironas, but this claim lacks evidence. Mironas continued as chairman of the Nationalist Union until 2 December 1939 when the post was taken over by Domas Cesevičius representing the younger generation of nationalists.
===== Policies =====
One of the first tasks of Mironas Cabinet was dealing with the aftermath of the Polish ultimatum and the normalization of the bilateral relations with Poland. Mironas personally supported the efforts as he saw the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as greater threats to Lithuania. The government quickly concluded agreements relating to the cross-border railway transport and communications (mail, telegraph, and telephone). However, the government stressed that it was not giving up its claims to Vilnius. Better relations with Poland allowed to revisit the idea of the Baltic Entente and a possible military alliance between Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The three countries prepared a joint declaration of neutrality in November 1939.
Christian Democrats (one of the main opponents of Smetona's regime) hoped that Mironas, as a priest, would weaken the anti-religious policies of the Lithuanian government. Mironas indeed opened negotiations with the Apostolic Nuncio Antonino Arata regarding the suppressed Faculty of Theology of Vytautas Magnus University, but Smetona refused to make more than symbolic concessions. In internal affairs, Mironas supported the new Board for Public Works (Visuomeninio darbo valdyba) that was in charge of government propaganda; however, it was quickly closed due to budget cuts by the successor Prime Minister Jonas Černius. In economic matters, the government focused on agriculture and was able to decrease prices of fertilizers while increasing prices for grain.
=== Soviet persecution ===
By the end of 1939, Mironas effectively retired from politics and spent increasing amounts of time at a manor he owned in Bukaučiškės II near Daugai. The manor with 20 hectares (49 acres) of land was gifted to him by the government of Lithuania in 1934. He purchased additional 22.5 hectares (56 acres), restored manor buildings, and started farming. He also received a state pension of 800 Lithuanian litas. His health started deteriorating as he had diabetes and a heart illness.
After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Mironas was arrested by the NKVD on 12 September 1940 and accused of anti-Soviet agitation according to Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code). He was freed from Kaunas Prison at the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. He returned to Daugai and stayed clear of politics. Two of Mironas's brothers were deported during the June deportation and died in Siberia.
By mid-1944, the Red Army pushed out Germans from eastern Lithuania. Unlike many other Lithuanian intellectuals, Mironas did not retreat west and was arrested by SMERSH on 23 August 1944. One of the key evidence against him was his correspondence with Stasys Lozoraitis and members of the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania. NKGB managed to recruit Mironas as an informant and get him assigned to the Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus, Vilnius. He was released in February 1945. However, he was reluctant to cooperate and provide incriminating information. He was arrested again for three weeks in March 1946. Mironas became more careful and started avoiding company.
Mironas was arrested for the fourth and final time on 3 January 1947. This time, he was accused of purposefully withholding information as well as agitating youth to join the German-sponsored Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force. This time, Mironas admitted his guilt. On 23 August 1947, the Special Council of the NKVD sentenced Mironas to seven years in prison. He was imprisoned at the Vladimir Central Prison where he died on 18 February 1953 of a stroke. He was buried in the prison cemetery in an unmarked grave.
== Memory ==
After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, Mironas could be publicly commemorated. Streets in Kaunas and Vilnius were named after him in 1995 and 2006. In 2007, the school in Daugai was renamed in his honor.
A memorial stone was unveiled in his native Kuodiškiai in 1998. In 2007, a cenotaph was erected in Rasos Cemetery to Mironas and two other signatories of the Act of Independence (Kazys Bizauskas and Pranas Dovydaitis) whose place of burial is unknown.
On 7 May 2000, Pope John Paul II recognized 114 Lithuanian martyrs, among them Mironas.
== Awards ==
Mironas received the following state awards:
1930: Order of Vytautas the Great (3rd degree)
1930: Order of the Crown of Italy (3rd degree)
1932: Order of the Three Stars (2nd degree)
1938: Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1st degree)
== References ==
== Bibliography == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YOLO_(Scandal) | YOLO (Scandal) | "YOLO" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television series Scandal. It premiered on December 5, 2013 on ABC.
== Plot ==
Huck begins to torture Quinn and is stopped by a phone call from Olivia telling him that her mother is alive. He warns her to leave her apartment with her mother and go to a safe house and goes to join her though not before ripping out one of Quinn's teeth in anticipation of the torture to follow.
At the safe house Huck and Jake realize that Olivia's mother Maya still has a tracker in her body. They rip it out and manage to flee the scene before members of B613 manage to track them down. The gladiators manage to acquire false identity papers for Maya under the name Marie Wallace but before they can get Maya to an airport they realize that the No Fly List has been updated with Maya's fake name.
Olivia calls Fitz and he agrees to help her smuggle her mother out of the country. As Maya waves goodbye from aboard the plane Olivia flashes back to a moment in her childhood where someone called the house asking for "Marie". She realizes that Marie Wallace is her mother's real name and she is a terrorist and her father was trying to protect her from her. She tells this to Huck who warns her they have a problem since after torturing Quinn he allowed her to be found by Charlie if she promised to get close to Rowan Pope and kill him. At B-613 headquarters Quinn holds a needle in her hand while talking to an unsuspecting Rowan.
Meanwhile, Sally Langston has decided to run for presidency even agreeing that midway through the race she will become pro-choice in order to assure her win. She announces her decision to Fitz who rebukes Cyrus for not having stopped her. Cyrus, who was confronted by James for using him as a rent-boy to entrap Sally's husband, decides to use the pictures of James having sex with Sally's husband to threaten Sally. She laughs off his threat but later calls him telling him she has committed a sin while standing beside the inert body of her husband who appears to be dead.
== Cultural references ==
The title refers to the popular acronym YOLO that stands for "You Only Live Once".
== Production ==
Speaking on the torture scenes of her character Quinn, actress Katie Lowes remarked that "when I got this script I didn't sleep for three and a half weeks."
== References == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_Software_System_Award#:~:text=2008,%2C%20Anoop%20Sharma | ACM Software System Award | The ACM Software System Award is an annual award that honors people or an organization "for developing a software system that has had a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both". It is awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) since 1983, with a cash prize sponsored by IBM of currently $35,000.
== Recipients ==
The following is a list of recipients of the ACM Software System Award:
== See also ==
Software system
List of computer science awards
== References ==
== External links ==
Software System Award — ACM Awards |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crypt_(Kings_Island) | The Crypt (Kings Island) | The Crypt was an indoor Giant Top Spin ride located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Former park owner Paramount Parks collaborated with HUSS Park Attractions to design and manufacture the ride, which opened as Tomb Raider: The Ride on April 5, 2002. The flat ride featured a variety of special effects that correlated with the theme of the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from Paramount Pictures. Under new ownership by Cedar Fair, Kings Island removed all references to the film from both the ride and its indoor queue line following the 2007 season. It reopened as The Crypt in 2008. An outdoor, smaller version of the ride opened at sister park Kings Dominion in 2005 as Tomb Raider: FireFall and closed in 2019.
== History ==
During the 2000 season, Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal, a log flume water ride, gave its last ride. For the beginning of the 2001 season, the area around Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal was fenced in, with the phrase, "An exciting new adventure is coming in 2002" written along the fence. Paramount's Kings Island officially announced Tomb Raider: The Ride on July 2, 2001, by placing the 17-foot-tall (5.2 m) Hindu goddess Brahma prop used in the first movie (and later, in the ride's pre-show) in front of the park's Eiffel Tower and Royal Fountains. After the Paramount Parks were sold to Cedar Fair and all licensing rights were dropped, the rides within the park continued to operate with the Paramount movie names for the 2007 season. However, on January 21, 2008, Kings Island's main web site replaced the name Tomb Raider: The Ride with The Crypt.
The ride cost approximately $20 million to build, making it one of the most expensive rides the park has ever constructed. The Crypt was the world's first and only Giant Top Spin, performing two inversions in a cycle that lasted 1:10.
== Ride experience ==
=== Tomb Raider: The Ride (2002–2007) ===
In the attraction's Tomb Raider: The Ride incarnation, the attraction's entry plaza featured a special edition Land Rover Defender parked by the ride's entrance to represent Lara Croft's presence at the site. Atmospheric music (some sampling the movie's score) played throughout the plaza and into the queue. Upon entering the building, guests found themselves walking on catwalks over artifacts and rubble while passing under ceilings supported by a seemingly temporary bamboo structure. A large antechamber, featuring large stone monkey warrior statues from the film, sectioned off one cycle's worth of guests into three rows. As the ride's original score intensified, ancient gears could be heard tumbling into place as a light aligned to illuminate the Triangle of Light featured on the elaborately carved door located in front of riders. Once the light is aligned, the door began to slide open with accompanying sound and fog effects, allowing guests to enter the pre-show room. Once in the pre-show area, the door would slide closed.
The pre-show room featured the statue of Brahma used in the film and a large oval projection screen that raised out of the altar beneath the statue. A video played to explain the foundation of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, establishing the ride's storyline to be centered around the Triangle of Light, an ancient artifact capable of controlling time, which is sought by Croft in the film. Once the pre-show video had ended, the entire left wall of the room rose, revealing the "secret" entrance to the sixty-foot-tall altar chamber of the god Shiva and allowing riders to board the vehicle, maintaining the same rows from the prior room.
The ride featured an original soundtrack composed by Rob Pottorf, sound effects from The Bakery, and voiceovers from Angelina Jolie, along with other members of the film's cast.
The ride lifted riders up toward the eyes of a carving of Shiva on the forward wall. His eyes (embedded with automated lights) scanned the car, and fire and ice emblems held in two of his six hands illuminated. The ride then flipped through the darkness before stopping with riders looking straight up at razor-sharp icy stalactites on the ceiling. It released, flipped again, and came to a stop, holding riders looking straight down on "lava pits", pools of water cascading from a massive volcano behind the loading platform that stretched up the chamber's back wall. In time with the music, the lava would begin to jump up, as fountains narrowly avoided splashing riders.
After another flip through the darkness, the ride circled around the bottom of its arc, looking up at the god on the wall. As fog and lights filled the room, the fire and ice effects went off at once as, in time with the audio track, the god screamed and her fire, ice, and eyes went dark. He appeared to "wake up" once more as one final blast of fog emanated from the base of the ride structure, nearly contacting riders before fading away (this used as a device to keep riders engaged during the ride's lengthy homing procedure before the bridges could lower to allow guests to disembark).
For the majority of its time as Tomb Raider: The Ride, the ride included four inversions, extended "hang time" over the lava pits, a god with piercing eyes and fire and ice emblems, fog effects, and a synchronized musical score composed specifically for the ride, lasting 2:30.
=== The Crypt (2008–2011) ===
In June 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company purchased all five Paramount Parks from Viacom. After the 2007 season, the parks removed all references to Paramount and their licensed film properties from rides and attractions. At Kings Island, this led to a change in the name of Tomb Raider: The Ride which became The Crypt.
The name change coincided with a change in theme, as many film aspects of the original ride were removed. The Shiva goddess statue in the Heart of the Tomb, a feature in the line queue, was painted over. The ride's water and fog effects were also removed. The Giant Top Spin's 77-seat gondola was reduced in size with the removal of the first row of seats, reducing the capacity by one third. The ride performed a nine-inversion cycle like its sister ride at Kings Dominion for the 2008 season and for a month of the 2009 season. Beginning in 2009, the ride was reprogrammed to perform a less intensive cycle with only two inversions – half the number previously performed when it was known as Tomb Raider: The Ride.
The Crypt was changed and updated several more times over the years. Following its operation in 2008 with a techno soundtrack in complete darkness, the soundtrack was changed to howling wind and beating drums. Gradually, more of the theatrical lighting used on Tomb Raider: The Ride returned to the ride. The queue line, which had its Tomb Raider: The Ride musical score removed earlier, began playing an album of atmospheric music from the Midnight Syndicate until 2011, when both the queue and ride were outfitted with music from the score of the 2010 film Inception. Also in 2011, new lighting and props were added to the queue line, and manual doors were retrofitted in place of the original "vault door" that would raise and lower to let riders in. In the middle of the season, the red, amber, and yellow underwater lights that formerly illuminated the "lava pit" were turned back on, and would stay illuminated throughout the ride. In addition, blue lights were installed on the goddess statue and would begin flashing as the gondola reversed direction halfway through the ride cycle.
The Crypt gave its last ride October 30, 2011. The following year on January 20, 2012, The Crypt was removed from the park's website without explanation. Park officials confirmed the following month on Twitter that The Crypt "has reached the end of its service life", and that it would "be replaced by an all-new Halloween Haunt experience".
=== Halloween Haunt Attraction (2012–present) ===
The Crypt has been transformed into Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror. This attraction was themed to a museum of oddities and wax. It was removed following the 2024 Halloween season.
In 2025, Kings Island debuted a new maze attraction, themed to the The Conjuring Universe media franchise, named The Conjuring: Beyond Fear, in the building.
== Design ==
The show elements for Tomb Raider: The Ride were designed by Technifex, a special effects company specializing in themed entertainment. Scenic design was handled by Weber Group with lighting designed by Visual Terrain. The soundtrack was composed by Rob Pottorf of RPMusic while The Bakery handled sound design.
The Travel Channel aired a behind-the-scenes special dedicated to the mechanics and story of the original ride.
The Crypt was a higher-capacity version of the highly popular smaller Top Spin located at many amusement parks. Initially, Tomb Raider: The Ride accommodated 77 riders. When it was rebranded The Crypt, its capacity was reduced to 46 (by removing the first row of the gondola).
== See also ==
2011 in amusement parks
== References ==
== External links ==
Kings Island Central information Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine - Alternate source of details and stats.
POV of the original attraction in 2002 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolo_Akili#:~:text=Born%20Michael%20Todd%20Robinson%20Jr%2C%20after%20graduating%20from%20Georgia%20State,adopted%20the%20name%20Yolo%20Akili. | Yolo Akili | Yolo Akili (born October 14, 1981 as Michael Todd Robinson Jr), also known as Yolo Akili Robinson, is an activist, writer, poet, counselor, and community organizer who advocates for addressing mental and emotional health needs in the Black community. He is the author of Dear Universe: Letters of Affirmation and Empowerment, and the founder and executive director of BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective).
== Early career ==
Born Michael Todd Robinson Jr, after graduating from Georgia State University with a degree in Women's and African American Studies, he adopted the name Yolo Akili. In the years following graduation, Akili worked as a counselor, yoga instructor and poet. During this period he released a spoken word album of poetic meditations ruminating on sexual identity called Purple Galaxy.
Moving into work as a community organizer, Akili joined AID Atlanta's HIV prevention team and served as a life support counselor at National AIDS & Education Services to Minorities (NAESM). Collaborating with Charles Stephens, Akili co-founded Sweet Tea: Southern Queer Men's Collective, a group of queer pro-feminist dedicated to combating sexism. As the regional training coordinator of Men Stopping Violence (MSV), Akili developed batterer intervention programs geared towards educating heterosexual African American men in their 40s about abetting violence and sexism against women.
In conjunction with this work, Akili began to focus on disentangling victims of violence from abusive patterns. Writing for Shondaland, Akili detailed his own struggle with overcoming domestic violence, the shame that afflicts members of the LBGTQ+ community who feel trapped in abusive relationships, and the need for victims of trauma to avoid normalizing destructive behaviour. During his time as a counselor, Akili saw that there were institutional barriers in place throughout the country that were preventing members of the Black community from engaging with their emotional healthcare needs, particularly after witnessing an HIV-testing counselor fail to connect a patient with care while working in Atlanta.
== BEAM ==
Seeking to address the disconnect between mental healthcare access in the Black community, and fed up with the failure of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence organizations to recognize the intersection between emotional trauma, recovery, and abuse, Akili founded BEAM, "Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective". Named in honor of Joseph Beam, the cultural and political activist who inspired Akili to reflect on his personal vulnerability as a Black gay man, BEAM works with a collection of artists, healers, advocates, legal professionals, activists, and religious leaders to provide mental and emotional healthcare to the historically marginalized and medically mistreated Black community. Akili has stated that BEAM's goal is to "remove the barriers Black people experience getting access to mental health care and healing". He has also cited the lack of emotional health support from licensed professionals as inspiration for training people in Black communities—from grocery clerks to aunties to barbers—to provide help where none would otherwise exist.
Through BEAM, Akili sponsors community engagement events that teach Black people how to recognize their emotional needs, develop self-care practices, and pinpoint specific organizations that offer help when trauma becomes unbearable. He also delivers grants to mental healthcare groups across the nation that engage with traditionally neglected communities. BEAM's outreach events have featured panels of notable mental health experts and activist including Jenifer Lewis, Raquel Willis, Patrisse Cullors, Vanessa Baden, Dr. Consuela Ward, Dr. Moya Bailley, Tre'Vell Andeson, James Bland, Nathan Hale Williams, Grant Emerson Harvey, Darryl Stephens, and Aaryn Lang.
== Other work ==
=== Advocacy and writing ===
Akili is an advocate for feminism, denouncing misogyny throughout the gay community, rejecting the agency that some gay men feel to fondle women's bodies, recognizing the need for therapy and addressing one's emotional well-being in the Black community (as opposed to self medicating or pushing through), embracing the "permission to get better: 'Healing is our birthright', and overcoming the vestiges of HIV/AIDS panic and trauma from the medical industrial complex in the Black community.
In 2015 he helped lead the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles' study into improving HIV treatment among young Black and Latino men (HYM). His writing has appeared in numerous publications including, TheBody.com, Essence, Everyday Feminism, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Cassius, and Shondaland. As a contributor to HuffPost, he has challenged the power dynamics between sex roles in same-gender relationships, writing "...because a "bottom" still means weak, and "top" still means power — This is a call to become clearer to each other outside of checked boxes on Grindr or stats listed on Jacked", demanded that Black communities reject the narrative that "Black People are Deficient In Every Damn Thing and There are No 'Good' Black Men", and called for a "World Where Ending Partner Violence Was A Priority" in a "Black (Feminist) Future where Gendered socialization will be declared a public health emergency."
=== Media appearances ===
Akili has delivered keynotes, lectures, and led panels at National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and Other Health Disparities,Claremont McKenna College, AIDS United, Vanderbilt University, Ramapo College, Harvard University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Clayton State University, Baruch College, Agnes Scott College, Fordham University, Northern Illinois University, and Columbia University.
== Awards ==
He was awarded the Creative Leadership Award in 2009 by the Feminist Women's Health Center for his work promoting feminism. After releasing his book Dear Universe in 2013, Akili was recognized by BET as a "Health Hero" for his work addressing emotional health in the Black community. He appeared on NBC News in 2016 as a part of Jarrett Hill's Back to Reality podcast, to discuss popular culture in the Black community. He was recognized by Blavity as one of "28 Young Black Creators And Leaders Making History Today" in 2018. That same year, in recognition of his work promoting the intersection between mental health and social justice, he was nominated by AIDS United to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which awarded him its Health Equity Award. On the heels of this accolade, he was declared a "Health Equity Hero" by TheBody.com. In 2019 he was recognized by Essence Magazine as a part of their Black History Month coverage for his work "Aiding in The Resistance" in the Black LGBTQ+ community. On June 10, 2020, Jordan Peele announced that he was donating $1 million to five Black Lives Matter centered organizations through his production firm MonkeyPaw Productions, including Akili and BEAM which received $200K. That same month, Akili was celebrated for his work during BET's 2020 Music Awards, where it was announced that Well's Fargo Bank was rewarding Akili and BEAM $25K for their work.
== References ==
== External links ==
Official biography on BEAM
Yolo Akili on Twitter |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpbill | Sharpbill | The sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus) is a small passerine bird that is placed in its own family Oxyruncidae. It was formerly placed in the family Tityridae. Its range is from the mountainous areas of tropical South America and southern Central America (Panama and Costa Rica).
It inhabits the canopy of wet forest and feeds on fruit and some invertebrates. It has an orange erectile crest, black-spotted yellowish underparts and scaling on the head and neck. As its name implies, it has a straight, pointed beak, which gives its common name.
Sharpbills are most commonly found in tall dense forests but occasionally venture to the forest edge. Their diet consists of primarily of fruit, but they will also take insects, hanging upside down in from twigs to obtain insect larvae. They will also travel in mixed-species feeding flocks with ovenbirds, tanagers, woodpeckers and cotingas. The breeding system employed by this species is polygamous with closely grouped males displaying in from a lek. The nest of the sharpbill is built by the female and is a small cup built on a slender branch. Chicks are fed by regurgitation.
== Taxonomy ==
The genus Oxyruncus was erected by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820. The sharpbill was described in 1821 by the English naturalist William Swainson under the binomial name Oxyrhuncus cristatus with an "h" inserted into the name of the genus. The word Oxyruncus is from the Ancient Greek oxus for "sharp" or "pointed" and rhunkhos "bill". The specific epithet is from the Latin cristatus for "crested" or "plumed".
The affinities of the sharpbill to other species has long puzzled ornithologists, and this was only settled by the publication of large multilocus DNA sequencing studies. The cladogram below shows the phylogenetic relationships of the sharpbill to other families in the parvorder Tyrannida. It is based on the study by Carl Oliveros and collaborators published in 2019 and the study by Michael Harvey and collaborators that was published in 2020. The families and species numbers are from the list maintained by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).
Four subspecies are recognised:
Oxyruncus cristatus frater (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1868) – Costa Rica and west Panama
Oxyruncus cristatus brooksi Bangs & Barbour, 1922 – east Panama
Oxyruncus cristatus hypoglaucus (Salvin & Godman, 1883) – southeast Venezuela, the Guianas and north Brazil
Oxyruncus cristatus cristatus Swainson, 1821 – southeast Brazil, east Paraguay and northeast Argentina
== References ==
Charles G. Sibley; Scott M. Lanyon; Jon E. Ahlquist (1984) "The relationships of the Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus)" Condor 86(1) 48–52.
== External links ==
Image at ADW |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_in_Tanzania | Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania | The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT; Swahili: Kanisa la Kiinjili la Kilutheri Tanzania) is the federation of Lutheran churches in Tanzania and one of the largest Lutheran denominations in the world, with more than 6 million members, or 13% of the Tanzanian population. It is the second largest Lutheran church in the world and the largest Lutheran church in East Africa.
The church is led by a presiding bishop and twenty-eight diocesan bishops, representing 28 dioceses. The head office of the church is in Mbeya, since 1967. The church is affiliated with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Christian Council of Tanzania, the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum, and the Lutheran World Federation.
The ELCT is an organization which reaches out to the people of Tanzania offering worship opportunities, Christian education, and numerous social services, including disaster response, healthcare, and AIDS education and relief.
== History ==
The first Lutheran missionaries arrived in what was then German East Africa in 1887, when the Evangelical Missionary Society for East Africa (EMS), based in Berlin, Germany, established a missionary station at Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam. The second group of missionaries was also from Germany, entering via South Africa and settling in the Southern Highlands region of Tanzania. Similar missions from Germany continued to arrive in the region continuously throughout the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. This mission activity continued in spite of the interruption of the Hehe Wars in 1891, the Maji Maji Uprising of 1905–1907, World War I, and World War II.
In 1938, seven Lutheran churches were loosely gathered into the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Tanganyika. The member churches then merged to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
In 1964, Johannes Lilje, then presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, consecrated Stefano Moshi, who had been elected as the first president of the newly formed church body and who had been an advocate for the establishment of episcopacy, as the first presiding bishop of the ELCT.
== Organization ==
The seat of the church is in Arusha. It is financed mainly from collections and donations as well as through project grants from churches in the Global North.
The ELCT is led by a presiding bishop, or "Mkuu", who is elected to serve four year terms, and 24 bishops who preside over their local dioceses. The presiding bishop is elected for a four-year term from amongst the bishops of the dioceses. The ELCT's current presiding bishop is Alex Malasusa.
=== Presiding bishops ===
=== Clergy and church body ===
The ELCT employs 1360 ordained pastors (28 of them overseas), 3000 lay evangelists, and 300 community officers to aid the work of the church (2014 figures). Women are not ordained in all ELCT dioceses; however, as of 1990, the national church does ordain women. Ordination of women is a sensitive topic in the ELCT and the church is largely split. Currently, local dioceses make their own decision on whether to ordain women or not.
The ELCT is one of the fastest growing churches in the world, with an annual growth in baptized members of around 8%.
=== Social services ===
Social service programming is central to the mission of the ELCT. The social services offered by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania include the following departments:
Education (Secondary and University)
Finance and Administration
Health and Medical Care (21 hospitals and numerous local pharmacies)
Mission and Evangelism
Planning and Development
Social Services and Women's Work
HIV/AIDS Program
Disaster Response
== Dioceses ==
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania consists of the following regional dioceses:
== Beliefs ==
=== Lutheranism ===
Lutheranism is associated with the theology of Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism generally accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession (not the variata) as a true witness to the Gospel. Lutheran clergy tend not to subscribe to a doctrine of Biblical inerrancy, but see validity in various scholarly methods of analysis to help in understanding the Bible. This is in concord with most moderate Protestant bodies and in contrast to the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in the United States, which practices the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.
Like other Lutheran church bodies, the ELCT confesses two sacraments: Communion (or the Eucharist) and Holy Baptism (including infant baptism). Confession and absolution is often included as a sacrament; however, as it is a return to the forgiveness given in baptism, strictly speaking, there are only two sacraments.
With respect to the eucharist or communion, the ELCT holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the sacramental union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine. All communicants orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross. Members of other denominations sometimes refer to this as a belief in consubstantiation. Lutherans, however, reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to consider the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy. The Lutheran belief in the holy mystery character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to that of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief than to the views of most Protestants. In contrast, most Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the actual body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper.
== Relations with other churches ==
The ELCT decided to establish a relationship with the North American Lutheran Church, and both churches approved a "Memorandum of Understanding" at a convocation held in August 2013, paving the way for full communion between the two churches.
== See also ==
List of the largest Protestant bodies
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
Africa Lutheran Communion |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neelam_Kler | Neelam Kler | Neelam Kler is an Indian neonatologist, known for her pioneering work on neonatal intensive care and ventilation. She is credited with developing neonatal care to better the survival rate of extremely tiny preterm babies (less than 1000 grams) to 90 percent. The Government of India honoured her with the third-highest civilian award, Padmabhushan, in 2014, for her services to the fields of medicine and neonatology.
== Biography ==
Neelam Kler was born in Srinagar, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India and had her schooling in the Presentation Convent School in Srinagar. Opting for the medical profession, she obtained a master's degree in Paediatrics from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, (PIGMER) Chandigarh and continued there for further training in neonatology. Later, she went to Copenhagen, Denmark, on a fellowship in neonatology from the Copenhagen University for advanced studies on the subject.
== Professional career ==
After returning from Copenhagen, Kler started her professional career in India by joining Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, on 31 May 1988. During a career spanning 26 years, Kler launched the department of neonatology at the hospital, presently holding the position of the Chairperson.
She has also worked as a visiting consultant at King Fahd University Hospital, Gizan, Saudi Arabia and as a fellow in neonatology at the Milwaukee Children Hospital, Wisconsin, USA.
Presently she holds the following offices:
President of the National Neonatology Forum.
Advisor on CNAG (Cell of Nutrition Advisory Group) on line service on Nutrition queries.
Editor -'Journal of Neonatology a quarterly journal published by National Neonatology Forum.
Organising Chairperson of FAOPS (Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies) 2010
Member – WHO Expert Committee on prevention of birth defects in South East Asia.
Master trainer, American Academy of Pediatrics – Baby's Breath assistance.
Member – Global Neonatal Nutrition Consensus Group for the development of international guidelines on feeding the preterm infants
She has, at various points, collaborated with United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, and World Health Organization, on various matters related to neonatological care. She is also a panel member of the Newborn and child health strategy of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
On the social front, Dr. Kler chairs the Health Care at ALL Ladies League.
== Legacy ==
Neelam Kler is known for the development of neonatal care, especially the care of preterm babies, is considered a pioneer in intensive care and ventilation. She is credited with developing the department of neonatology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi to a state of the art facility with modern high frequency ventilation with Nitric Oxide delivery and bedside cerebral function monitoring. Statistical data has shown that, under Dr. Kler, the survival rate of preterm babies, weighing less than 1000 grams, have improved to 90 per cent and the infection rate was brought down to 9.8 per 1000 inpatients.
She has also contributed in initiating a three-year doctoral program in neonatology by the National Board of Examinations.
== Awards and recognitions ==
Padmabhushan – 2014 – the sole recipient for medicine category to be awarded in 2014.
== Publications ==
Neelam Kler has published several articles in national and international books on paediatrics, some of them are:
Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS), in collaboration with Pankaj Garg, in Recent Advances in Paediatrics
Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder in Late Preterm and Term infants with Severe Jaundice with Satish Saluja, Asha Agarwal and Sanjiv Amin
Chapter 011 Follow-up of Preterm Baby with Anita Singh
Chapter-004 Parenteral Nutrition in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with Choudhury Vivek and Navin Gupta
Chapter-62 Neonatal Transport with Sony Arun and Navin Gupta
Chapter-005 Parenteral Nutrition in Newborn with Sony Arun
Chapter-64 Neonatal Respiratory Disorders with Sony Arun and Satish Saluja
Selected Macro/Micronutrient Needs of the Routine Preterm Infant with Jatinder Bhatia, Ian Griffin, Diane Anderson and Magnus Domelleof
== See also ==
Pediatrics
Preterm birth
American Academy of Pediatrics
King Fahd University Hospital
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (India)
== References ==
== External links == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_Frank_Rosenblatt_Award | IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award | The IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award is a Technical Field Award established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Board of Directors in 2004. This award is presented for outstanding contributions to the advancement of the design, practice, techniques, or theory in biologically and linguistically motivated computational paradigms and systems, including neural networks, connectionist systems, evolutionary computation, fuzzy systems, and hybrid intelligent systems in which these paradigms are contained.
The award may be presented to an individual, multiple recipients, or a team of up to three people. It is named for Frank Rosenblatt, creator of the perceptron.
Recipients of this award receive a bronze medal, certificate, and honorarium.
== Recipients ==
2026: Andrew G. Barto & Richard S. Sutton
2025: Yaochu Jin
2024: Bernadette Bouchon-Meunier
2023: Marios Polycarpou
2022: Paul Werbos
2021: James M. Keller
2020: Xin Yao
2019: Erkki Oja
2018: Enrique H. Ruspini
2017: Stephen Grossberg
2016: Ronald R. Yager
2015: Marco Dorigo
2014: Geoffrey E. Hinton
2013: Terrence Sejnowski
2012: Vladimir Vapnik
2011: Hans-Paul Schwefel
2010: Michio Sugeno
2009: John J. Hopfield
2008: Teuvo Kohonen
2007: James C. Bezdek
2006: Lawrence J. Fogel
== References ==
== External links ==
IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award page at IEEE Computational Intelligence Society
List of IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award recipients |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison | Thomas Edison | Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison was raised in the American Midwest. Early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions were developed. He went into business and became wealthy. Edison used his fortune to further his passion for invention. This was realized in experimental mining operations, the first film studio, and 1,093 US patents.
== Early life ==
Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio, but grew up in Port Huron, Michigan, after the family moved there in 1854. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison Jr. (1804–1896, born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia) and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871, born in Chenango County, New York). His patrilineal family line was Dutch by way of New Jersey.
His great-grandfather, loyalist John Edison, fled New Jersey for Nova Scotia in 1784. The family moved to Middlesex County, Upper Canada, around 1811, and his grandfather, Capt. Samuel Edison Sr. served with the 1st Middlesex Militia during the War of 1812. His father, Samuel Edison Jr. moved to Vienna, Ontario, and fled to Ohio after his involvement in the Rebellion of 1837.
Edison was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, a former school teacher. He attended school for only a few months, but was a very curious child who learned most things by reading on his own. Inspired by A School Compendium of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, a book given to him by his mother, the young Edison tinkered and learned about electricity. His parents also owned a set of books by Thomas Paine, whose work inspired Edison's thinking throughout his life.
Edison developed hearing problems at the age of 12. Historian Paul Israel attributed the cause of his deafness to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle-ear infections. He subsequently concocted elaborate fictitious stories about the cause of his deafness. He was completely deaf in one ear and barely hearing in the other. Edison later listened to a music player or piano by clamping his teeth into the wood to absorb the sound waves into his skull. As an adult, he believed his hearing loss allowed him to avoid distraction and concentrate more easily on his work.
Edison began his career as a news butcher, selling newspapers, candy, and vegetables on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. He turned a $50-a-week profit by age 13, most of which went to buying equipment for electrical and chemical experiments. He founded the Grand Trunk Herald, which he sold with his other papers. The paper only ran twenty-four issues and was unique in its original coverage of local news. Five hundred people subscribed to the paper, and Edison was able to hire at least two assistants. Edison was proud of his work on the train, and he hung a frame with the first issue of the Grand Trunk Herald in his home until he died.
At age 15, in 1862, he saved a child from being struck by a runaway train. The father was so grateful that he trained Edison as a telegraph operator. He began working as a telegrapher in a local general store before moving to Stratford Junction, Ontario, where he worked as a night telegrapher for the Grand Trunk Railway. While on the job, he studied qualitative analysis, conducted chemical experiments, and negligently slept. This led to the near collision of two trains, after which he resigned.
== Telegraphy ==
From 1863 to 1869, Edison worked several night shift telegraphy jobs in Ontario, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Massachusetts. As an employee of Western Union, he worked the Associated Press bureau news wire. In Cincinnati, he lived with Ezra Gilliland, who he remained friends with for 25 years. He joined the National Telegraph Union and wrote for their magazine. In addition to spending his time tinkering, he studied Spanish. He created a reputation among the other young, male telegraph operators for being bright and trying new things, but on several occasions his tinkering interfered with his work.
In Boston, from 1867 to 1869, Edison made some money from inventing a stock ticker for some local customers but lost it when he tried to expand the venture to New York without adoption.
His first patent was for the electric vote recorder, U.S. patent 90,646, which was granted on June 1, 1869.
Edison moved to New York City in 1869. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher, Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the impoverished young Edison to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey, home while Edison worked for Samuel Laws at the Gold Indicator Company. Pope and Edison founded their own company in October 1869, working as electrical engineers. Edison attracted wealthy and connected investors. With the money, they hired fifty employees within a few months and opened a larger shop in Newark, New Jersey. The company made money by renting out telegraph lines. To win business, they manufactured machines to record telegraphs and typewriters that printed directly to the wire. Edison strictly regulated his employees’ work and efficiency while trying many experiments.
Edison enrolled in a chemistry course at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art to support his work on a new telegraphy system with Charles Batchelor. This appears to have been his only enrollment in courses at an institution of higher learning. At the factory, Edison and Batchelor collaborated fervently; their notebooks jointly signed "E&B" contain near-constant experimentation with improvements to the telegraph.
Edison grew the company to a few hundred employees, and in 1874, received $30,000 ($833,735 in 2024) for inventing the first telegraph that could simultaneously transmit four messages through a single wire. With the money, Edison invested in the Port Huron street railway, which was owned by his brother William Pitt. He expanded his own business, and he hired his young nephew and father.
== Menlo Park laboratory ==
=== Research and development facility ===
In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application. It was built in 1876, a part of Raritan Township (now named Edison Township in his honor) with the funds from the sale of Edison's quadruplex telegraph. His staff was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove them hard to produce results. Edison's name is registered on 1,093 patents. As the leader of his laboratory, Edison was credited for inventions made in large part by those working under him. He worked extreme hours and expected those around him to follow suit. This often meant 18 hours per day Monday through Friday and additional work on Saturday and Sunday. One employee described the work as "the limits of human exhaustion." Edison often litigated and employed several patent lawyers. At times, this allowed him to challenge the intellectual property rights of many contemporaries.
For Edison, big business came with big publicity. He shut down public and reporter access to the laboratory at Menlo Park and tailored his image with interviews. He expanded his public involvement by funding the creation of Science, which published its first volume in 1880. He was the chief editor but kept his role anonymous. The journal began as a mouthpiece for pro-Edison articles. He gave up the journal in 1883 due to its lack of profit. It was subsequently led by Alexander Graham Bell.
In just over a decade, Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to occupy two city blocks. Edison said he wanted the lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material". In 1887 the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minks, camels ... silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hooves, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell ... cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores ..." and the list goes on.
=== Carbon telephone microphone ===
In 1876, Edison began work to improve the microphone for telephones by developing a carbon microphone, which consists of two metal plates separated by granules of carbon that would change resistance with the pressure of sound waves.
In 1877, Edison and his backers at Western Union wanted to compete with Alexander Graham Bell on telephone technology. Edison believed that the worst part of Bell's telephone was the microphone designed by Emile Berliner. Edison iterated many different designs and tested which gave the best sound while ensuring it was loud enough for his deaf ears. His core idea was to use a stronger current and vary it in proportion to the sound waves. The sound varied the current by applying pressure to a carbon pad, which in turn changed the resistance of the circuit. After testing 150 materials, Edison determined that parchment and tinfoil were best suited for constructing the diaphragm, while a specially coated rubber served as the semiconductor.
David Edward Hughes' also published a paper on the physics of loose-contact carbon microphones in 1878. He claimed, and at the time was credited for, discovering the semiconductor effect and presented a Hughes Telephone. This angered Edison and caused public controversy, particularly because Hughes acknowledged that he was advised by one of Edison's colleagues.
=== Phonograph ===
The invention that first gained him wider notice was the phonograph in 1877. He vigorously stirred up public awareness for this new invention by engaging with journalists and performing public demonstrations. The phonograph was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park". As he aged, he grew to resent titles representing him as a genius, and he emphasized "one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."
His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder. Despite its limited sound quality and that the recordings could be played only a few times, the phonograph made Edison a celebrity. Joseph Henry, president of the National Academy of Sciences and one of the most renowned electrical scientists in the US, described Edison as "the most ingenious inventor in this country... or in any other". In April 1878, Edison demonstrated the phonograph before the National Academy of Sciences. Although Edison obtained a patent for the phonograph in 1878, he did little to develop it until Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter produced a phonograph-like device in the 1880s that used wax-coated cardboard cylinders.
In 1887, the Edison Phonograph Company was founded to compete with Bell. Gilliland had worked for Bell developing the phonograph but came to help Edison start the new venture. Unfortunately for their friendship, the venture ran out of money before getting a product to market and had to raise money from an exploitative investor. Jesse Lippincott offered simultaneous deals to Edison, Gilliland, and Bell in an attempt to form a phonograph monopoly. However, he knew Edison would not take the bargain, so obfuscated his own, Gilliland's, and Bell's roles in the deal and made the offer through Edison's personal attorney. When Edison discovered the scheme, he was infuriated, but Gilliland went to Europe, which ended their friendship. After five years of litigation, Edison assumed total control of the company. The drama led to multiple other fall outs that tore apart the tight circle of Edison's wealthy inventor-friends.
Edison struggled for years to bring a phonograph to market. The principal technical issue was getting the recording material durable enough for prolonged use without it wearing out the phonograph's needle. He attempted to pivot to making talking dolls with a miniature phonograph inside. However, the system usually failed during shipment and production was shut down in 1890. Edison thought that the phonograph would be a powerful instrument for conducting business and would redefine the role of secretaries. However, by 1899 Edison's phonograph company submitted to market demands and produced a cheap model that was in high demand for entertainment. In 1900, this phonograph was sold for $10, and buyers could additionally select from the 3,000 different musical records produced by Edison's 1,000 employees in the phonograph works. The quality of line work was strictly supervised by experts.
Edison had no musical training, could not read sheet music, and was mostly deaf. Through 1915, he exerted tight control on the production of records, personally approving every artist based on what he thought sounded good and preventing their names from being attached to the music.
Widespread adoption of the radio was detrimental to phonograph sales. Edison's business sold 90% fewer records in 1921 compared to 1920. From 1922 to 1926, radio sales went up 843%. Younger managers, especially his son Charles, tried to get Edison to enter the radio business or adopt new advertising methods. However, Edison chose to focus on weeding out employees that did not meet his mark.
=== Tasimeter ===
Edison invented a highly sensitive device, that he named the tasimeter, which measured infrared radiation. His impetus for its creation was the desire to measure the heat from the solar corona during the total solar eclipse of July 29, 1878.
== Electric light ==
In 1878, Edison began working on a system of electrical illumination that he could deploy in a large-scale commercial utility, something he hoped could compete with gas and oil-based lighting. Key to his system would be developing a durable low resistance incandescent lamp, essential for a wide-scale indoor lighting system. There had been many incandescent lamps devised by inventors prior to Edison, but these early bulbs all had flaws such as an extremely short life and requiring a high electric current to operate, which made them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially. Edison first tried using a filament made of cardboard, carbonized with compressed lampblack. This burnt out too quickly to provide lasting light. He then experimented with different grasses and canes such as hemp, and palmetto, before settling on bamboo as the best filament.
He addressed lighting as a system. Solving it took experimental research; market research, with Grosvenor Lowrey that included forging connections with powerful investors, viewing a mechanical electric generator, and planning power distribution; and grand public statements to promote his work. Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan, Spencer Trask, and the members of the Vanderbilt family.
Edison continued trying to improve this design and on November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". The patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament, including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways". It was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and Batchleor discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last over 1,200 hours. This high-resistance filament led Edison to select the 110V power source standard in the United States today. This was much higher voltage than what competitors were using. Many of his employees assisted in carrying out experiments on filaments, manufacturing the glass for the bulbs, and establishing vacuums for the filament to incandesce within. By February 1880, spectators were coming to see the "Village of Light" around Menlo Park.
Attempts to prevent blackening of the bulb due to emission of charged carbon from the hot filament culminated in Edison effect bulbs. Edison's 1883 patent for voltage-regulating is the first US patent for an electronic device due to its use of an Edison effect in an active component. The Edison Effect was instrumental in the eventual design of vacuum tubes.
Edison hired Francis Robbins Upton, a former student of Hermann von Helmholtz, in 1878. Upton received 5% of the company profits and eventually became the general manager after leading much of the research into electric lighting. He wrote some of Edison's speeches and assisted with hiring decisions. John Ott also worked for Edison. He made many of the mechanical improvements Edison suggested and conducted experiments in Edison's lab. Both men agreed to give Edison credit for most of the patents, but Ott was solely credited for some of the patents he worked on. Ott's testimony was important for holding up Edison's patent claims. John's brother, Fred, also worked for Edison as an experimental assistant for fifty-seven years.
Henry Villard, president of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, attended Edison's 1879 demonstration. Villard was impressed and requested Edison install his electric lighting system aboard the Columbia. Although hesitant at first, Edison agreed to Villard's request. Most of the work was completed in May 1880, and the Columbia went to New York City, where Edison and his personnel installed Columbia's new lighting system. The Columbia was Edison's first commercial application for his incandescent light bulb. The Edison equipment was removed from Columbia in 1895.
Villard was subsequently induced to finance the construction of an electrically powered and lighted train built on a custom track built by Edison's company. The train worked and some of the technology was patented, but Edison elected to focus on the bulbs and did not follow through with developing the train.
The incandescent light bulb patented by Edison began to gain widespread popularity in Europe as well. He sent engineers to promote their system, first to London, then around Europe.
On September 4 1882, Edison turned on the electrical lighting system to supply the company's 946 customers in Manhattan. Few people noticed and some came in the evening to ask why the system was not on yet, since the lights were so steady and so similar to the gas people were used to that they had not noticed the switch. There was little press but the Boston Globe stated, Edison has had an 'opening night.' His aim is to open night until it shall be as day.
In 1883, the US patent office ruled that Edison's patented filament improvement process was based on Sawyer's flashing method and was, therefore, invalid. Edison's company modified their improvement process until 1889, when a judge ruled that their new patent was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with yet another competitor, Joseph Swan, who held an 1880 British patent on a similar incandescent electric lamp, formed a joint company called Ediswan to manufacture and market the invention in Britain. Sawyer's original filament improvement process was better, and Westinghouse, which owned rights to Sawyer's patent, was able to take a sizeable portion of the bulb market share from Edison by 1889.
=== Electric power distribution ===
After devising a commercially viable electric light bulb on October 21, 1879, Edison developed an electric utility to compete with the existing gas light utilities. To prove he was making progress, Edison hosted a board meeting that was illuminated by his system. On December 17, 1880, he founded the Edison Illuminating Company, and during the 1880s, he patented a system for electricity distribution.
The amount of copper wire needed to commercialize this new technology was enormous. In order to reduce the copper requirement, Edison invented the three-prong wire system.
To expand its influence in New York, especially to secure the rights for installing underground electric lines, the Edison Illuminating Company opened a second office on 65th Avenue. The Edison Machine Works and Edison Electric Tube Company opened in New York by the end of the year. Edison paid his New York workers significantly more than other firms in the 1880s. Before fully commercializing power distribution, Edison needed a way to measure how much power his customers consumed. He invented a cell with a zinc solution and zinc plates that received some of each customer's current. This resulted in zinc from the solution precipitating onto the plates, which were weighed on a monthly basis to determine how much current had passed through and bill the customer accordingly.
In January 1882, to demonstrate feasibility, Edison had switched on the 93 kW first steam-generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London. On September 4, 1882, in Pearl Street, New York City, his 600 kW cogeneration steam-powered generating station, Pearl Street Station's, electrical power distribution system was switched on, providing 110 volts direct current (DC). Subscriptions quickly grew to 508 customers with 10,164 lamps.
=== Expansion and competition ===
As Edison expanded his direct current (DC) power delivery system, he received stiff competition from companies installing alternating current (AC) systems. From the early 1880s, AC arc lighting systems for streets and large spaces had been an expanding business in the US. With the development of transformers in Europe and by Westinghouse Electric in the US in 1885–1886, it became possible to transmit AC long distances over thinner and cheaper wires, and "step down" (reduce) the voltage at the destination for distribution to users. This allowed AC to be used in street lighting and in lighting for small businesses and domestic customers, the market Edison's patented low voltage DC incandescent lamp system was designed to supply. Edison's DC empire suffered from one of its chief drawbacks: it was suitable only for the high density of customers found in large cities. Edison's DC plants could not deliver electricity to customers more than one mile (1.6 km) from the plant, and left a patchwork of unsupplied customers between plants. Small cities and rural areas could not afford an Edison style system, leaving a large part of the market without electrical service. AC companies expanded into this gap.
Edison expressed views that AC was unworkable and the high voltages used were dangerous. As George Westinghouse installed his first AC systems in 1886, Thomas Edison struck out personally against his chief rival stating, Just as certain as death, Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size. He has got a new thing and it will require a great deal of experimenting to get it working practically. Many reasons have been suggested for Edison's anti-AC stance. One notion is that the inventor could not grasp the more abstract theories behind AC and was trying to avoid developing a system he did not understand. Edison also appeared to have been worried about the high voltage from improperly installed AC systems killing customers and hurting the sales of electric power systems in general. The primary reason was that Edison Electric based their design on low voltage DC, and switching a standard after they had installed over 100 systems was, in Edison's mind, out of the question. By the end of 1887, Edison Electric was losing market share to Westinghouse, who had built 68 AC-based power stations to Edison's 121 DC-based stations. To make matters worse for Edison, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts (another AC-based competitor) built twenty-two power stations.
Parallel to expanding competition between Edison and the AC companies was rising public furor over a series of deaths in the spring of 1888 caused by pole mounted high voltage alternating current lines. This turned into a media frenzy against high voltage alternating current and the seemingly greedy and callous lighting companies that used it. Edison took advantage of the public perception of AC as dangerous, and joined with self-styled New York anti-AC crusader Harold P. Brown in a propaganda campaign, aiding Brown in the public electrocution of animals with AC, and supported legislation to control and severely limit AC installations and voltages (to the point of making it an ineffective power delivery system) in what was now being referred to as a "war of the currents". The development of the electric chair was used in an attempt to portray AC as having a greater lethal potential than DC and smear Westinghouse, via Edison colluding with Brown and Westinghouse's chief AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, to ensure the first electric chair was powered by a Westinghouse AC generator.
Edison was becoming marginalized in his own company having lost majority control in the 1889 merger that formed Edison General Electric. In 1890 he told president Henry Villard he thought it was time to retire from the lighting business and moved on to an iron ore refining project that preoccupied his time. Edison's dogmatic anti-AC values were no longer controlling the company. By 1889 Edison's Electric's own subsidiaries were lobbying to add AC power transmission to their systems and in October 1890 Edison Machine Works began developing AC-based equipment.
Cut-throat competition and patent battles were bleeding off cash in the competing companies and the idea of a merger was being put forward in financial circles. With the Edison company winning its electric lamp patent infringement cases, Villard began to float the idea of acquiring one of Edison's AC rivals, thereby eliminating many of the further costly patent case and gaining control of that companies AC patents. In 1892 Villard teamed up with J. P. Morgan to engineer a merger of Edison General Electric with its main alternating current based rival, The Thomson-Houston Company. For Villard and Edison General Electric the plan backfired. Morgan decided Thomson-Houston was the more valuable of the two companies, ousted Villard, and put the Thomson-Houston board in charge of the new company, now called General Electric. General Electric now controlled three-quarters of the US electrical business and would compete with Westinghouse for the AC market.
Edison put on a brave face, noting to the media how his stock had gained value in the deal, but privately he was bitter that his company and all of his patents had been turned over to the competition. He served as a figurehead on the company's board of directors for a few years before selling his shares.
== Mining ==
Starting in the late 1870s, Edison became interested and involved with mining. High-grade iron ore was scarce on the east coast, resulting in high costs as ore was usually shipped from the Midwest. He tried to change this by mining low-grade ore and beach sand. Several others had attempted to improve the refining process by using magnets to separate iron from other metals, but none had been able to do so profitably.
The Edison Ore Milling Company began in 1880 with separating iron out of beach sand. Edison made promises to deliver hundreds of tons of ore a month to several customers, but after three years the operation was shut down and only one customer had received their ore. William Kennedy Dickson and John Birkinbine helped lead the venture. Batchelor and Insull provided some of the capital with Edison taking the majority share financed from his own pocket.
Rather than a complete loss, this first mining venture allowed Edison to license some of the technology to more profitable iron producers. The West Orange team continued to iterate on the technology for years and Edison purchased a mine in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. Birkinbine wanted to use this as a demonstration mine to sell the technology to mine owners, but Edison wanted to take over the mining industry himself. Birkinbine was fired in 1890.
Edison bought several mines in the eastern states and began constructing a new centralized mining operation in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. The new process used rollers and crushers that pulverized five ton rocks. To obtain the boulders, Edison purchased the largest steam shovel in America. One novelty of Edison's system was the electrically powered seventy ton rollers which were rotated 3500 ft/min. To protect the system, the roller's gears released at the moment the boulders were dropped in and their momentum crushed the rocks. Edison departed from contemporary, manually intensive, mining practices by prioritized automation. This meant the rocks journeyed up, down, and across the facility on conveyor belts utilizing gravity, sieves, and additional rollers to separate ore in fines. The fines were recirculated through a magnetic gradient created by an array of 480 electromagnets to select for iron.
Customers would not accept iron with a significant phosphorus content because it ruined the Bessemer process. Edison's system removed the phosphorus with a light pneumatic system that leveraged phosphorus' lower density. Economic forces also dictated that the iron ore be mixed into briquettes for transport and handling at steel mills. Edison advanced the automation of this process and was proud of it taking two hours. The eventual goal was for no humans to touch the iron. Nevertheless, the mine was rapidly losing money.
In 1893, the United States was in a severe recession. Between the capital investments in mining, falling iron prices, and the expensive lifestyle of Mina and his children, Edison was at risk of becoming insolvent. He was also unwell as his diabetes was beginning to effect him. He decided to take a loan from his father-in-law.
In 1901, Edison visited an industrial exhibition in the Sudbury area in Ontario, Canada, and thought nickel and cobalt deposits there could be used in his production of electrical equipment. He returned as a mining prospector and is credited with the original discovery of the Falconbridge ore body. His attempts to mine the ore body were not successful, and he abandoned his mining claim in 1903.
=== Cement ===
Despite the failure of his mining company, Edison used some of the materials and equipment to produce Portland cement. Manufacturing of iron ore produced a large quantity of waste sand which Edison sold to cement manufacturers. In 1899, he established the Edison Portland Cement Company, intending to manufacture his own cement and make improvements to its production process.
In the manufacturing of Portland cement, limestone, the primary ingredient, is baked at high temperature with the other minerals. Edison designed a novel system which improved the efficiency of this process by baking the cement in horizontal 150ft long kilns which allowed the cement to achieve the same quality after cooking longer at a lower temperature. This consumed less coal resulting in saving from the manual labor needed to load coal into kilns. Edison reused most of the factory material from the iron extraction process at the Ogden mine to construct his new system. In addition to selling the cement itself, Edison later licensed the proven system to cement manufactures in America and collected royalties into the 1920s.
Running machines in the dusty environment natural to crushing rocks yielded many problems for the machines. Dynamos in particular were problematic because they could not be sealed off due to heat dissipation being required. Edison invented a fan cooling system to bring in fresh air to cool the dynamos while sealing them off from the dusty factory air.
In 1901, Edison sought to parlay his cement business by starting a cheap housing development initiative. He wanted to create small towns in which every American could afford to buy a home. To bring down the cost of building he commissioned a system for casting a whole three storey house from cement in a single mold. He used this method to build employee housing and made a public relations campaign that did not yield sufficient demand for him to pursue it further.
== West Orange ==
=== Moving the works ===
The first labor strike against Edison occurred in the spring of 1886. It was led by D.J. O'Dare of the Edison Tube Works. Manufacturing in New York City was typically performed for nine hours a day, and Edison's employees were among the best paid in the city. However, they were not paid overtime for the additional work that was often performed. The strike sought more pay, overtime pay, and the right to unionize work. Edison and other managers were completely unwilling to negotiate unionization due to the loss of control. By the end of the year, the various manufacturing facilities in the city were closed and centralized as the Edison United Manufacturing Company opened a new factory in Schenectady, New York. The citizen's of Schenectady subsidized 16% of the real estate cost to help attract Edison's business to their town.
Samuel Insull began working for Edison in 1881 as a secretary. He had previously worked at Vanity Fair. The two became friends as Insull became a trusted lieutenant. Later, when Mary was dying, Insull helped the family make arrangements. As with all of Edison's men, Insull worked hard. When Edison United Manufacturing Company opened, he was one of two managers.
In December, Edison was housebound due to pleurisy. He recovered, but by May 1887 he needed emergency surgery to treat abscesses below his ear. He had surgeries there again in 1906 and 1908.
By 1887, Edison felt he had outgrown Menlo Park. He put Batchelor in charge of constructing a new laboratory complex in West Orange, which when finally constructed was more than ten times the size of the old lab.
In December 1914, a fire killed one employee and destroyed thirteen buildings causing $1.5 million in damages. The phonograph works was destroyed. Edison was optimistic about the situation, ordered everything rebuilt with the newest technology and was manufacturing records again by January. The impact of the fire was partially mitigated because the factory practiced regular fire drills.
In 1921, following the inauguration of Warren G. Harding, the American economy was entering a recession. At this point, Edison had experience leading his businesses through recessions and had seen several of his friends go bankrupt when they were unable to manage. He fired thousands of his employees including executives. By the fall, the economy recovered, and business returned; however, it was a near miss with bankruptcy.
=== Fluoroscopy ===
Edison learned about X-rays in 1896, following their discovery by Wilhelm Röntgen. He was sent a photo of Röntgen's hands with the bones visible. The new technology excited Edison and he tried developing an X-ray system with better glass and more electric power than previously used. While experimenting, Edison learned X-ray images display better on calcium tungstate screens and informed Lord Kelvin.
The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, although Edison abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring his assistants, Clarence Dally and Charles Dally. In 1903, a shaken Edison said: "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them." The brothers often acted as human guinea pigs for the fluoroscopy project. Clarence died, at the age of 39, of injuries related to the exposure, including mediastinal cancer.
=== Rechargeable battery ===
In the late 1890s, Edison worked on developing a lighter, more efficient rechargeable battery. He sought something customers could use to power their phonographs, but in the early 1900s he focused on batteries for electric cars. At the time, lead acid batteries were widely used, but they were not very efficient and protected by others' patents. In 1900, Edison decided to pursue an alkaline battery for electric cars. His lab tested 10,000 combinations of electrodes and solutions eventually settling on a nickel-iron combination.
Waldemar Jungner simultaneously worked on a similar design which Edison likely knew about. Edison and Junger litigated over their respective intellectual property as Edison attempted to commercialize his battery. Edison obtained a US and European patent for his nickel–iron battery in 1901 and founded the Edison Storage Battery Company. In 1904, Edison was worried about losing the patent fight and personally petitioned president Theodore Roosevelt to step in. Roosevelt obliged; however, the patent office still denied Edison's claim.
By 1904 Edison Storage Battery Company had 450 employees. The first rechargeable batteries they produced were for electric cars. A total recall was issued due to the batteries losing power after several recharge cycles. When the capital of the company was exhausted, Edison paid for the company with his private money.
Henry Ford first met Edison, in 1896, while working for Edison Illuminating Company. Edison encouraged Ford's nascent automobile tinkering and Ford resigned in 1899 to start his first motor company. By 1908, with the Model T on the road, gas cars were taking over the market. Edison did not demonstrate a mature battery until 1910: a very efficient and durable nickel-iron-battery with lye as the electrolyte. The nickel–iron battery was never very successful; by the time it was ready, electric cars were disappearing, and lead acid batteries had become the standard for starting gas-powered cars. Ford was still enamored with Edison and lent him $1.1 million ($34.5 million in 2024) to finance further battery research, but Edison was unable to bring a sufficient battery to market.
== Motion pictures ==
While working on the mining project, Edison and William Kennedy Dickson, one of his employees at the mine who was also a photographer, began trying to make camera "to do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear". Edison focused on the electromechanical elements while Dickson lead the optical and film effort. Edison was granted a patent for a motion picture camera, labeled the "Kinetograph". Much of the credit for the invention belongs to Dickson.
In fact, Edison's eye was trained on a bigger prize than a motion camera. He wanted a kinetophonograph to capture motion picture and record sounds with synchronized playback. In the spring of 1890, Dickson produced the first video with sound starring himself. However, keeping the sound and video synchronized outside of a laboratory setting proved to be very difficult and Edison shelved commercial development of the technology.
In 1891, Thomas Edison built a Kinetoscope or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films. The kinetograph and kinetoscope were both first publicly exhibited May 20, 1891.
Edison and Dickson were preoccupied with the mining project and growing revenue from the phonograph business. This slowed the commercialization of Edison's motion picture camera and gave Dickson more time to iterate on the details. In 1894, they shifted from marketing campaigns to raise awareness to commercializing their inventions.
In the last three months of 1894, an associate of Edison's sold hundreds of kinetoscopes in the Netherlands and Italy. In Germany and in Austria-Hungary, the kinetoscope was introduced by the Deutsche-österreichische-Edison-Kinetoscop Gesellschaft, founded by the Ludwig Stollwerck of the Schokoladen-Süsswarenfabrik Stollwerck & Co of Cologne.
By 1895, Dickson was beginning to set up business for himself separate from Edison. The exact motivation for the split is unknown but likely stemmed from disagreements between Dickson and Edison.
The first kinetoscopes arrived in Belgium at the Fairs in early 1895. The Edison's Kinétoscope Français, a Belgian company, was founded in Brussels on January 15, 1895, with the rights to sell the kinetoscopes in Monaco, France and the French colonies. The main investors in this company were Belgian industrialists. On May 14, 1895, the Edison's Kinétoscope Belge was founded in Brussels. Businessman Ladislas-Victor Lewitzki, living in London but active in Belgium and France, took the initiative in starting this business. He had contacts with Leon Gaumont and the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. In 1898, he also became a shareholder of the Biograph and Mutoscope Company for France.
In April 1896, Thomas Armat reached a deal with Edison in which Edison's company manufactured and sold the Vitascope to project films produced in Edison's film studio. Armat advertised as an Edison invention to boost sales, but was in fact, Armat's invention. Edison had made his own projector, but both men knew the Vitascope was better at the time.
Edison's film studio made nearly 1,200 films. The majority of the productions were short films showing everything from acrobats to parades to fire calls including titles such as Fred Ott's Sneeze (1894), The Kiss (1896), The Great Train Robbery (1903), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1910), and the first Frankenstein film (1910). Edison was happy to have Edwin S. Porter porter run the creative side of the movie business. In 1903, the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island announced they would execute Topsy the elephant. Edison Manufacturing filmed, Electrocuting an Elephant, as AC current killed the poor animal.
As the film business expanded, competing exhibitors routinely copied and exhibited each other's films. To better protect the copyrights on his films, Edison deposited prints of them on long strips of photographic paper with the U.S. copyright office. Many of these paper prints survived longer and in better condition than the actual films of that era.
In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company, which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust).
In 1913, movies used live actors and bands to add sound to the experience. However, Edison was again feeling confident in his kinetophone technology to synchronize recorded sound and motion picture playback. Simultaneously, Leon Gaumont was developing similar technology. Both their systems required a skilled projectionist who could adjust the video speed for the sound playback.
In 1914, Edison fired Porter for unclear reasons. The technical aspects of silent, black and white film were mostly solved and the storytelling did not capture the inventor's interest. The kinetophone was hard to sell due to the difficulty in operating it. Edison's movie business began to decline.
Edison said his favorite movie was The Birth of a Nation. He thought that talkies had "spoiled everything" for him. "There isn't any good acting on the screen. They concentrate on the voice now and have forgotten how to act. I can sense it more than you because I am deaf." His favorite stars were Mary Pickford and Clara Bow.
== National security ==
Due to the security concerns around World War I, Edison suggested forming a science and industry committee to provide advice and research to the US military, and he headed the Naval Consulting Board in 1915. However, he attended few of the meetings due to his deafness. One of the board's main tasks was to prepare a site to conduct research for the navy. Edison wanted to locate the site far from Washington DC, as too many visits from bureaucrats would slow down the research. However, he was not listened to by the other board members and turned his focus to experiments in military technology.
=== Submarines ===
At the start of the war, Edison attempted several methods for improving submarine detection which failed to gain adoption by the Navy. He allowed Miller Hutchinson, to promote his battery technology as a safer solution to lead battery power on submarines. An American submarine crew had suffered serious injuries due to one such battery leaking sulfuric acid which mixed with seawater to produce chlorine gas inside the vessel. However, the nickle-iron batteries, used by Edison, leak hydrogen gas. This was not a problem on automobiles but confined in a submarine can become explosive. In January 1916, while undergoing maintenance with the new Edison test battery there was a hydrogen explosion inside the USS E-2 which killed five men. Edison and Hutchinson defended their battery stating that the explosion was due to operator error. However, many naval officials blamed Edison and Hutchinson for overselling the battery. The event derailed sales of the battery but did not destroy Edison's good standing with the navy.
=== Rubber ===
In 1915, the United States consumed 75% of the world's rubber and produced a negligible amount. Edison, and many other businessmen, became concerned with America's reliance on foreign supply of rubber. He sought a native supply of rubber. Domestic fears were realized when the Stevenson Plan was introduced in 1921. The laboratory was funded by Edison, Ford, and Firestone with $75,000.
Age did not make Edison any less familiar with the press. He used his 80th birthday to give tours of his experimental garden and promote his research into various domestic plants for producing rubber.
After testing 17,000 plant samples, he eventually found an adequate source in the Goldenrod plant. Near the end of 1929, Edison announced Solidago leavenworthii, also known as Leavenworth's Goldenrod could be bred to give a 12% latex yield. Edison employed systematic problem solving to rubber production. He rejected other plants based on combinations of their latex content, the extraction processes needed to get the latex from the plant, where the latex is found in the plants, growth speed, and ability to harvest the plant.
=== Chemicals ===
The phonograph business had led Edison to personally search for and hire several chemists to develop chemicals to coat records with that would prevent them from being worn down as they were played. Edison eventually licensed Condensite from another chemist which was formed from the condensation of phenol and formaldehyde. At the start of World War I, the American chemical industry was primitive: most chemicals were imported from Europe. The war resulted in a shortage of phenol which was used to make explosives and Aspirin.
Edison responded by undertaking production of phenol at his Silver Lake facility using processes developed by his chemists. He built two plants with a capacity of six tons of phenol per day. Production began the first week of September, one month after hostilities began in Europe. He built two plants to produce raw material benzene at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and Bessemer, Alabama, replacing supplies previously from Germany. Edison manufactured aniline dyes, which previously had been supplied by the German dye trust. Other wartime products include xylene, p-phenylenediamine, shellac, and pyrax. Wartime shortages made these ventures profitable. In 1915, his production capacity was fully committed by midyear. Edison preferred not to sell phenol for military uses. However, he sold his surplus to Bayer who exported it to Germany.
== Final years ==
Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat in Fort Myers. They were friends until Edison's death. Edison and Ford undertook annual motor camping trips from 1914 to 1924. Harvey Firestone and naturalist John Burroughs also participated. The trips functioned as a moving advertisement for Ford cars, Firestone tires, and whatever Edison had going on at the time. A team of reporters joined to ensure word spread.
In 1926, at 79 years old, Edison handed over the presidency of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. to Charles.
Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death, the Lackawanna Railroad inaugurated suburban electric train service from Hoboken to Montclair, Dover, and Gladstone, New Jersey. Electrical transmission for this service was by means of an overhead catenary system using direct current, which Edison had championed. Despite his frail condition, Edison was at the throttle of the first electric MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken in September 1930, driving the train the first mile through Hoboken yard on its way to South Orange.
=== Death ===
In the final years of his life, Edison continued to chew tobacco daily and his diabetes worsened. Edison died on October 18, 1931, at Glenmont and was buried on the property.
Edison's last breath is kept, as a momento, in a test tube at The Henry Ford museum near Detroit. Charles Edison had the test tube prepared and sent to Ford as a symbol of his father's love of chemistry and friendship with Ford. A plaster death mask and casts of Edison's hands were also made.
== Domestic life ==
=== Mary ===
On December 25, 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell (1855–1884), whom he had met two months earlier; she was an employee at one of his shops. They had three children:
Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965), nicknamed "Dot"
Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935), nicknamed "Dash"
William Leslie Edison (1878–1937) Inventor, graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale, 1900.
Edison generally preferred spending time in the laboratory to being with his family. He did not provide Mary much companionship and she was closest with her sister.
Thomas Jr. was often sick as a child, but Edison left his care in Mary's hands. In her childhood, Marion often came to the laboratory at Menlo park.
Wanting to be an inventor, but not having much of an aptitude for it, Thomas Jr. became a problem for his father and his father's business. Starting in the 1890s, Thomas Jr. became involved in snake oil products and shady and fraudulent enterprises, producing products being sold to the public as "The Latest Edison Discovery". The situation became so bad that Thomas Sr. had to take his son to court to stop the practices, finally agreeing to pay Thomas Jr. an allowance of $35 (equivalent to $1,225 in 2024) per week, in exchange for not using the Edison name; the son began using aliases, such as Burton Willard. Thomas Jr. struggled with alcoholism and depression. Thomas Jr. had a disastrous one year marriage which began in 1899 and caused scandal for himself and the senior Edison. In 1931, nearing the end of his life, he obtained a role in the Edison company, thanks to the intervention of his half-brother Charles.
When the Edisons moved to New York, they lived by Gramercy Park. Edison neglected his wife after the first few years of their marriage. She enjoyed shopping for fashionable gowns, and attending balls. By 1882, Mary's mental health was highly concerning to her doctor.
Mary Edison died at age 29 on August 9, 1884, of unknown causes: possibly from a brain tumor or a morphine overdose. Doctors frequently prescribed morphine to women at this time to treat a variety of causes, and researchers believe that her symptoms could have been from morphine poisoning.
=== Mina ===
Thomas met Mina Miller at the World Cotton Centennial in December 1884. She was the daughter of the inventor Lewis Miller, who had made significant personal wealth by selling a wheat mower for which he had invented several improvements. He was a co-founder of the Chautauqua Institution, and a benefactor of Methodist charities. Mina enjoyed the socialite lifestyle and practiced a strict Methodist faith her whole life. She was a family friend of the Gillilands' and Edison met her several times in 1885 while working on a project with Ezra in Boston. He joined her for the Chautauqua gathering in 1885, but their flirting was dampened by the religious nature of the gathering. He proposed to her after the two took a trip in September.
On February 24, 1886, at the age of 39, Edison married the 20-year-old Mina Miller (1865–1947) in Akron, Ohio.
They had three children:
Madeleine Edison (1888–1979)
Charles Edison (1890–1969)
Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992)
Marion did not get along with Mina and moved to Germany in 1894. She returned, in 1924, after divorcing her unfaithful husband.
According to Tesla:If Edison had not married a woman of exceptional intelligence, who made it the one object of her life to preserve him, he would have died many years ago from consequences of sheer neglect.
In his second marriage he was also often neglectful of his wife and children. When he was around, he was extremely controlling. He left nearly every aspect of housekeeping and child rearing to Mina and her five maids. One exception was the Fourth of July. Being deaf, Edison enjoyed the very loud boom made by fireworks. He made his own fireworks into which he added a small amount of TNT.
Edison wrote Mina love letters about missing her while he was away for extended periods.
Madeleine stated she had few childhood memories of her father, and he was typically only home once a week during her childhood. She married John Eyre Sloane.
Theodore was named after Mina's brother, who died in the Spanish–American War shortly before she gave birth. Her sister died in November of that year and her father died the following February 1899.
Theodore went on to study physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After working for Charles while their father stepped down, Theodore decided to become an independent inventor running his own lab.
Charles studied general science at MIT. He took over his father's business after his death. Later he served one term as Governor of New Jersey (1941–1944).
=== Property ===
In 1885, Thomas Edison bought 13 acres of property in Fort Myers, Florida, for roughly $2,750 (equivalent to $96,240 in 2024) and built what was later called Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. The main house and guest house are representative of Italianate architecture and Queen Anne style architecture.
Edison purchased a home known as Glenmont in 1886, in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. He sold it to Mina in 1891.
Edison liked boats, cars, and fishing. He drove only on very limited occasions, but, for research purposes, owned several cars which helped him bond with his son, Charles, who he encouraged to drive even as a child.
== Views ==
=== On religion and metaphysics ===
Historian Paul Israel has characterized Edison as a "freethinker". Edison was heavily influenced by Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason. Edison defended Paine's "scientific deism", saying, "He has been called an atheist, but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity." In an October 2, 1910, interview Edison stated:
Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me—the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love—He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us—nature did it all—not the gods of the religions.
Edison was labeled an atheist for those remarks, and although he did not allow himself to be drawn into the controversy publicly, he clarified himself in a private letter:
You have misunderstood the whole article, because you jumped to the conclusion that it denies the existence of God. There is no such denial, what you call God I call Nature, the Supreme intelligence that rules matter. All the article states is that it is doubtful in my opinion if our intelligence or soul or whatever one may call it lives hereafter as an entity or disperses back again from whence it came, scattered amongst the cells of which we are made.
He also stated, "I do not believe in the God of the theologians; but that there is a Supreme Intelligence I do not doubt."
Edison explored and promoted ideas in panpsychism.
=== Politics ===
==== Republican ====
Edison's father was a Democrat that supported the secession of the Confederate States of America. Edison was a lifelong Republican, but he briefly supported Theodore Roosevelt in his third attempt at the presidency as a Progressive party candidate. He liked the Republican party's support of industrial capitalism and tariffs.
==== Presidents ====
Edison met several presidents. He met Rutherford B. Hayes in 1879 to demonstrate the phonograph. He met Benjamin Harrison in 1890. In 1921, Edison met Harding with the Firestone, Ford summer caravan. He met Calvin Coolidge in 1924 at the president's home in Vermont. In 1928, Edison received the Congressional Gold Medal and Coolidge called into the ceremony via radio. Herbert Hoover met Edison in 1929 at Seminole Lodge. Ten months later, Hoover traveled with Edison and Ford to Ford's reconstruction of Menlo Park.
==== Suffrage ====
Edison was a supporter of women's suffrage. He said in 1915, "Every woman in this country is going to have the vote." Edison signed onto a statement supporting women's suffrage which was published to counter anti-suffragist literature spread by Senator James Edgar Martine. His employment of women was somewhat notable at the time. He assigned women factory jobs that required nimble fingers like making the brush wires for dynamos.
==== Pacifism ====
Nonviolence was key to Edison's political and moral views, and when asked to serve as a naval consultant for World War I, he specified he would work only on defensive weapons and later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill." Following a tour of Europe in 1911, Edison spoke negatively about "the belligerent nationalism that he had sensed in every country he visited".
==== Monetary policy ====
In May 1922, he published a proposal, A Proposed Amendment to the Federal Reserve Banking System. Which proposes a commodity-backed currency. The proposals failed to find support and were abandoned.
== Awards ==
The following is an incomplete list of awards given to Edison during his lifetime:
In 1878, honorary PhD from Union College
On November 10, 1881, Officer of the Legion of Honour
In 1892, Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
In 1889, the John Scott Medal
In 1899, the Edward Longstreth Medal of The Franklin Institute
In 1908, John Fritz Medal
In 1915, Franklin Medal of The Franklin Institute
In 1920, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
In 1923, the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers
In 1927, the American Philosophical Society member
On May 29, 1928, the Congressional Gold Medal
== See also ==
Edison Pioneers – a group formed in 1918 by employees and other associates of Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace
Thomas Edison in popular culture
List of things named after Thomas Edison
== References ==
== Bibliography ==
== Further reading ==
Adair, Gene. Thomas Alva Edison : inventing the electric age (1996) online
Bryan, George S. Edison : the man and his works (1947) online
Carlson, W. Bernard, and Michael E. Gorman. “Understanding Invention as a Cognitive Process: The Case of Thomas Edison and Early Motion Pictures, 1888-91.” Social Studies of Science 20#3 1990, pp. 387–430. JSTOR 284991
Cole, Benjamin M., and David Chandler. “A Model of Competitive Impression Management: Edison versus Westinghouse in the War of the Currents.” Administrative Science Quarterly 64#4 (2019): 1020–63. doi:10.1177/0001839218821439.
DeGraaf, Leonard. “Confronting the Mass Market: Thomas Edison and the Entertainment Phonograph.” Business and Economic History 24#1 1995, pp. 88–96. JSTOR 23703274
Freeberg, Ernest. The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America (2014) online
Friedel, Robert, and Paul B. Israel. Edison's Electric Light: The Art of Invention (2010) The Johns Hopkins University Press in the Johns Hopkins Introductory Studies in the History of Technology.
Hargadon, Andrew B., and Yellowlees Douglas. "When Innovations Meet Institutions: Edison and the Design of the Electric Light" Administrative Science Quarterly 46#3 (2001) pp. 476–501, DOI 10.2307/3094872.
Millard, Andre. “Thomas Edison and the Theory and Practice of Innovation.” Business and Economic History 20, 1991, pp. 191–99. JSTOR 23702816
Ram, Hadar, et al. “Entrepreneurial Imagination: Insights from Construal Level Theory for Historical Entrepreneurship.” Business History 66#2 (2024): 364–85. doi:10.1080/00076791.2022.2149737; based on Edison's writings.
Sanford, Greg. “Illuminating Systems: Edison and Electrical Incandescence.” OAH Magazine of History (1989) 4#2 JSTOR 25162654
Thompson, Emily. “Machines, Music, and the Quest for Fidelity: Marketing the Edison Phonograph in America, 1877-1925.” The Musical Quarterly 79#1 1995, pp. 131–71. JSTOR 742520
Usselman, Steven W. “From Novelty to Utility: George Westinghouse and the Business of Innovation during the Age of Edison.” Business History Review, 66#2 pp. 251–304. JSTOR 3116939
Winchell, Mike. The Electric War: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, And The Race To Light The World (Henry Holt, 2019)
== Primary sources ==
The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition
The Papers of Thomas A. Edison, book edition in 9 volumes; each can be downloaded at no cost
volume 1 18471873 online; also download vol 1
volume 2 1873–1876 online; also download vol 2
== External links ==
"An Hour with Edison", Scientific American, July 13, 1878, p. 17
Interview with Thomas Edison in 1931
The Diary of Thomas Edison
Works by Thomas Edison at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Thomas Edison at the Internet Archive
Edison's patent application for the light bulb at the National Archives.
Thomas Edison Personal Manuscripts and Letters
Edison Papers Rutgers.
Edisonian Museum Antique Electrics
Thomas Edison at IMDb |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebedev_Physical_Institute | Lebedev Physical Institute | The Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS or just LPI) (in Russian: Физи́ческий институ́т имени П. Н. Ле́бедева Российской академии наук (ФИАН)), situated in Moscow, is a Russian research institute specializing in physics. The institute was established in its present shape in 1934 by academician Sergey Vavilov. It moved to Moscow and was named after a Russian physicist Pyotr Lebedev the same year. It is also known as P. N. Lebedev Institute of Physics or just Lebedev Institute. In Russian it is often referred to by the acronym FIAN (ФИАН) standing for "Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences". The range of the research activities includes: laser technology, dark matter structure, nanostructures, superconductivity, cosmic rays, and gamma-astronomy. The institute developed a technique of crystallizing cubic zirconia (which was called Fianit in Russia, named after FIAN).
== Directors of the Institute ==
Sergey Vavilov (1934–1951)
Dmitri Skobeltsyn (1951–1972)
Nikolay Basov (1973–1988)
Leonid Keldysh (1988–1994)
Oleg Krokhin (1994–2004)
Gennady Mesyats (2004–2015)
Nikolai Kolachevsky (2015–)
== Nobel prizes awarded to FIAN scientists ==
1958 — Pavel Cherenkov, Igor Tamm, Ilya Frank: "for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov-Vavilov effect".
1964 — Nikolay Basov, Alexander Prokhorov: "for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle".
1975 — Andrei Sakharov won a Peace Prize for his campaigning for human rights.
2003 — Vitaly Ginzburg: "for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids".
== Facilities ==
The institute has, among other research facilities, a particle accelerator: 1.2 GeV electron synchrotron called "Pakhra", located in Troitsk near Moscow (at the LPI's HEP department). However, the institute is not totally (or even perhaps mainly) focused on accelerator/particle physics, but the scope of the research of the institute contains most of the areas of modern physics.
Andreyev Acoustics Institute is part of the Institute, and is named for Nikolay Andreyev.
== Publications of the Institute ==
"Краткие сообщения по физике" (in Russian); English version: Bulletin of the Lebedev Physics Institute
"Квантовая электроника" (in Russian); English translation: Quantum Electronics (formerly Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics)
== Films about the Lebedev Physical Institute ==
In 2021 it was released a documentary “Mishik Kazaryan: The Path of an Explorer” (2021) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWuZsXSCFxo ). The film (original title «Мишик Казарян: путь Искателя») was directed by Leonid Ioffe. It narrates about the life and work of Professor Mishik Kazaryan, an experimental physicist, laureate of the USSR State Prize, who worked in the Lebedev Physical Institute. The film also allows to immerse into the life of the Lebedev Physical Institute since middle of 1960-s.
== See also ==
A. M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute
Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory
== External links ==
Lebedev Physics Institute official web site Archived 2015-09-19 at the Wayback Machine |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Championnat_LNA_season | 2016–17 Championnat LNA season | The 2016–17 Championnat LNA season was the 86th season of the top tier basketball league in Switzerland. Monthey won its third national championship.
== Competition format ==
All teams played two times against each other for completing 20 games per team.
The six first qualified teams joined the group for places 1 to 6 while the other five teams will play the group for places 7 to 11. These two groups will be played with a one-legged round-robin format, where all teams from group 1 to 6 and the two first qualified teams from the group for the seventh position will be qualified for the playoffs. In this intermediate stage, teams start with the points accumulated by the winnings achieved in the first stage.
The quarterfinals and the semifinals were played as a best-of-five series while the final in a best-of-seven series.
== Teams ==
BBC Lausanne
BC Winterthur
Boncourt
Fribourg Olympic
Lions de Genève
Lugano Tigers
Monthey
5 Stelle Massagno
Starwings Basket Regio Basel
Swiss Central Basket
Union Neuchâtel
== Regular season ==
== Intermediate stage ==
=== Group 1–6 ===
=== Group 7–11 ===
== Play-offs ==
Seeded teams played at home games 1, 2 and 5.
Source:
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodlands,_Texas | The Woodlands, Texas | The Woodlands is a Special-purpose district and Census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with portions extending into Harris County. The Woodlands is governed by The Woodlands Township, an organization that provides municipal services and is administered by an elected board of directors. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the township had a population of 114,436 people.
In 2021, the Howard Hughes Corporation estimated the population of The Woodlands was 119,000. The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area separate from the Houston urban area with The Woodlands as a principal city: The Woodlands–Conroe, TX urban area had a 2020 population of 402,454, making it the 103rd largest in the United States.
The Woodlands is located 28 miles (45 km) north of Houston along Interstate 45. Though it began as an exurban development and a bedroom community, it has also attracted corporations and has several corporate campuses, most notably Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Huntsman Corporation, Woodforest National Bank, Baker Hughes, McKesson Specialty Health, and Halliburton. The community won a Special Award for Excellence in 1994 from the Urban Land Institute.
== History ==
=== Early history ===
The area that is now The Woodlands was used by the Akokisa and Bidai peoples, who relied on the fresh water of Spring Creek. In 1984, construction in the Indian Springs neighborhood near the creek discovered Bidai artifacts.
=== Foundation and growth ===
The Woodlands was conceived after the oil industry investor George P. Mitchell attended a symposium by the Rouse Company subsidiary American City Corporation and developer of Columbia, Maryland, on how to develop new towns using the HUD Title VII program. It was dedicated by George P. Mitchell in 1974 and managed by The Woodlands Corporation as an extension of Mitchell Energy & Development. Mitchell, an oil businessman, planned to establish a conference center, hotels, office parks, retail malls, schools, large distribution centers, and golf courses. Houses would range from moderately priced to expensive and large. Bill Schadewald of the Houston Business Journal said that Mitchell wanted the development to "entice city slickers looking for far-flung suburban quality of life". Schadewald said that local sources stated that the HUD New Town program, a federally funded program, had a "low survival rate" and questioned whether The Woodlands would succeed.
The Woodlands Corporation was acquired on July 31, 1997, by a partnership between Morgan Stanley and Crescent Real Estate Equities. In December 2003, Rouse Company acquired Crescent's interest, and Rouse was bought by General Growth Properties on November 12, 2004. In 2011, The Woodlands was sold to the Howard Hughes Development Corporation.
The land was previously occupied by the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Mill, hence Grogan's Mill and Cochran's Crossing neighborhoods, called "villages". The original planning utilized many of the planning concepts and design consultants employed in other well-regarded new communities of that era such as Columbia, Maryland, Irvine Ranch, California, and Reston, Virginia. The original development plan included environmental design principles espoused by Ian McHarg, a distinguished landscape architect, teacher and author of the seminal work Design With Nature.
In 2012, the U.S. Census Bureau designated the area around The Woodlands and Conroe as a "large urbanized transit area", defined as having over 200,000 residents, making it eligible to receive federal transportation funds.
=== Incorporation as a city ===
Mitchell's original plan was for The Woodlands to be annexed by the city of Houston, but in the mid-2000s, some residents organized to prevent annexation. To counteract any possible move by the city, a movement began to create an independent city government. However, the formation of an independent government would require authorization by the State of Texas and the City of Houston, as Houston held extraterritorial jurisdiction over the area.
In 2007, two state legislators representing The Woodlands, Sen. Tommy Williams and Rep. Robert Eissler, introduced two bills that were enacted in the 2007 Legislature – House Bill 4109 and Senate Bill 1012. HB 4109 called for a vote to allow expansion of an existing improvement district (now The Woodlands Township) and to allow The Woodlands to collect sales tax, while SB 1012 allowed for the creation of regional agreements between governments. The passage of these bills allows an opportunity for The Woodlands to incorporate itself until 2057. Since 2019, there has been formal discussion of The Woodlands to become an incorporated city. However, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these plans were put on hold and resumed in April 2021. In 2020, residents of The Woodlands formed the TownshipFuture PAC. In a referendum on November 2, 2021, residents voted against incorporation by a wide margin, keeping The Woodlands as a township for the foreseeable future.
== Geography ==
The Woodlands is primarily in Montgomery County, with a small portion in Harris County, bordering Houston. According to the United States Census Bureau, The Woodlands has an area of 43.9 square miles (113.6 km2), of which 43.3 square miles (112.1 km2) are land and 0.58 square miles (1.5 km2), or 1.32%, are water.
The Woodlands is in a heavily forested area, and much of the community has retained trees for shade and decoration. The terrain is essentially flat, with the exception of topographic variations ranging from 125 to 175 feet above sea level between Spring Creek and Flintridge Drive.
=== Villages ===
The Woodlands is organized into eight villages, which are subdivided into neighborhoods. Each village features varying amenities including parks, hike and bike trails, golfing, commercial centers, and a range of residential properties from single family to estates.
The Town Center offers dining, shopping, office space, and a central canal modeled after the San Antonio River Walk. The Research Forest district includes a Park and Ride facility and The Woodlands Township Town Hall.
Alden Bridge
Cochran's Crossing
College Park
Creekside Park
Grogan's Mill
Indian Springs
Panther Creek
Sterling Ridge
=== Climate ===
The Woodlands has a humid subtropical climate, typical to the Southeast Texas region and Greater Houston. Temperature ranges are within the top decile for census-designated places in the United States. Winter daily highs average approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15C), daily lows 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4C); summer daily highs average 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34C), daily lows 72 (22C) degrees Fahrenheit. It is part of Wind Zone 2 per the FEMA mapping chart.
=== Protected Areas ===
The Woodlands has 151 urban parks within its boundaries, with all residents being within a ten-minute walk of a park.
The areas surrounding Spring Creek are protected as part of the George Mitchell Nature Preserve, a section of the larger Spring Creek Greenway, the "longest, connected, urban forested corridor in the nation."
The northern part of the CDP borders on the W. Goodrich Jones State Forest. This forest, managed by the Texas A&M Forest Service, serves as a vital habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.
== Demographics ==
The Woodlands first appeared as a census designated place in the 1980 United States census.
The Woodlands first appeared as a census designated place in the 1980 U.S. census. At the 2010 U.S. census, there were 93,847 people living in The Woodlands. In 2021, its population was estimated at 119,000 per a survey by The Howard Hughes Corporation. According to the 2020 United States census, there were 114,436 people, 41,210 households, and 31,063 families residing in the CDP.
The racial makeup of The Woodlands in 2020 was 77.3% white (non-Hispanic and Hispanic or Latino), 4.2% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.7% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 9.1% two or more races, 17.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 67.9% white alone, not Hispanic or Latino.
As of 2017 about 10% of the residents of The Woodlands were of Mexican origins; they numbered at over 10,000. In 2000, wealthy Mexicans began buying houses in The Woodlands for vacation purposes. Large numbers settled in The Woodlands from 2006 to 2014 as the Mexican drug war occurred. By 2006 the numbers of middle and upper class Hispanics and Latinos, including Mexican nationals, increased. Some of the residents were assigned to Houston by their companies. Some of them moved to The Woodlands to escape increased crime and political tensions from the Mexican presidential election and find better schools for their children.
At the 2013–2014 school year, 22% of the students at Conroe Independent School District elementary and junior high schools in The Woodlands were Hispanic or Latin American. This was an increase from 10.5% in the 2005–2006 school year, and the percentages grew particularly in Glen Loch, Lamar, and Tough elementary schools. The 2013-2014 percentage in Conroe ISD schools in The Woodlands was below the overall Conroe ISD Hispanic average of 34.2%.
The Hispanic and Latin American community has Viva! The Woodlands Magazine, a Spanish language magazine that covers The Woodlands, as well as the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Many churches in The Woodlands area have some services in Spanish.
In 2000, there were 55,649 people, 19,881 households, and 15,546 families. The population density was 2,328.4 inhabitants per square mile (899.0/km2).There were 21,014 housing units at an average density of 897.7 per square mile (346.6/km2). The racial makeup was 92.36% White, 1.75% Black, 0.29% Native American, 2.80% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28% of the population.
There were 19,881 households, out of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.2% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.8% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.21. At the 2000 U.S. census, 31.8% were under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males; for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household according to the 2020 census was $130,011. The per capita income is $67,290. About 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line.
97.8% of residents 25 years or older are high school graduates or higher. 64.3% of residents 25 years or older have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
=== Religion ===
As of 2016, there were almost 50 centers of worship in The Woodlands, occupying a total of 330 acres (130 ha) of land. As of 2011, the community is majority Christian.
As of 2018, The Woodlands United Methodist Church had about 13,000 members in its congregation. It was established in 1978. Pastor Kerry Shook established Fellowship of The Woodlands Church, now known as Woodlands Church, in 1993. Its permanent church building opened on August 19, 2001. Church Project, which holds services in a former Kroger, had an average weekly attendance of 1,500 in 2014. As of 2018 Christ Church United Methodist has about 3,000 members. Circa 2012 Covenant United Methodist Church began its worship services at Timber Creek Elementary School, and by 2016 bought 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land near the entrance of Village of Creekside Park for a permanent 700-seat facility. On December 25, 2001, the Korean Community Church in The Woodlands, with Presbyterian Korean-language services and non-denominational English services, opened. It opened to serve ethnic Koreans in The Woodlands, Conroe, Huntsville, Kingwood, and Spring. Other Protestant, Christian and non-denominational Christian churches in The Woodlands include HopePointe Anglican Church, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, and Unity of The Woodlands.
Saints Simon and Jude Catholic Parish, the first Catholic church in The Woodlands, was established circa 1980, with its 400 parishioners initially meeting at Knox Junior High School before moving into its permanent building in 1981. As of 2013 it had 3,800 families in its congregation. St. Anthony of Padua, another Catholic church, had 3,020 families in its congregation in 2006, and 5,700 families in its congregation in 2013. It operates St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School.
There are two Jewish places of worship, traditional and reformed. Congregation Beth Shalom, established circa 1984 led by Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg, has about 175 families, and is affiliated with Reform Judaism. Its affiliated organizations are the Association of Reformed Congregations and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Chabad of The Woodlands was established in 2011 by Rabbi Mendel and Leah Blecher. It is a branch of the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement, offering traditional-style services to contemporary Jewish families. Chabad of The Woodlands inaugurated and sponsors the annual Hanukkah on Market Street celebration, and established the first Jewish preschool in the area.
In 2011, there were 350 Hindu families in The Woodlands. In a 15-year period ending in 2011, the Hindu population in the Woodlands increased by 300%, and Kate Shellnut of the Houston Chronicle stated that according to "Hindu leaders" every year the Hindu population in The Woodlands grows by 20 to 25 families. The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands, a Hindu temple serving the northern part of Greater Houston, was scheduled to open in 2010. Another Hindu temple, Char Dham Hindu Temple, was founded by Surya Sahoo.
Masjid al-Ansaar (Woodlands Islamic Center) of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) was created in 2009, and in 2019 it had 300 parishioners. It is in an unincorporated area outside of The Woodlands.
=== Ethnic groups ===
As of 2017 about 10% of the residents of The Woodlands were of Mexican origins; they numbered at over 10,000. In 2000 wealthy Mexicans began buying houses in The Woodlands for vacation purposes. Large numbers settled in The Woodlands from 2006 to 2014 as the Mexican drug war occurred. In 2017 many wealthy Mexicans in Texas were moving back to Mexico and fewer were moving to The Woodlands. The Rice University Baker Institute director, Tony Payán, stated that uncertainty regarding the Trump Administration's attitudes towards immigration and the decline in value of the Mexican peso were factors.
== Economy ==
By 2000, a significant amount of corporate office space was under construction. Of the 4,800,000 square feet (450,000 m2) of office space under construction in Greater Houston, over one third was in The Woodlands.
On February 11, 1999, Anadarko Petroleum announced that it would purchase a 7.5-acre (30,000 m2) tract from The Woodlands Land Company, to build a 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2), 32-story headquarters building, to open in mid-2002. As of 2000, the Anadarko building was the largest office project in The Woodlands.
In January 2012, Anadarko Petroleum announced plans to construct a second office tower adjacent to its existing headquarters in The Woodlands. The 31-story building—later named Hackett Tower—includes ten levels of parking and was completed in 2014. Located at the corner of Woodloch Forest Drive and Lake Robbins Drive, Hackett Tower remains the tallest building in Montgomery County and the tallest structure between Houston and Dallas. Since Anadarko’s acquisition, the tower is now part of the campus operated by Occidental Petroleum. Chicago Bridge & Iron's (CB&I) worldwide administrative office was in The Woodlands. In 2018 McDermott International, which acquired CB&I, announced that it would sell the headquarters facility in The Woodlands to Howard Hughes Corporation.
In 2000, work began on a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) building for Maersk Sealand.
In 2011, ExxonMobil announced plans to construct a new 385-acre campus near the intersection of the Hardy Toll Road and Interstate 45, just south of The Woodlands, within Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Approximately 10,000 employees from the Houston area began relocating to the campus in 2014, with full occupancy reached in 2015.
Other companies based in The Woodlands include Woodforest National Bank, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corporation, and Huntsman Corporation.
Many wealthy Mexicans who settled in The Woodlands due to rising crime in Mexico had also established businesses in The Woodlands.
== Arts and culture ==
Cultural events include:
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion hosts free concerts by the Houston Symphony, including recurring annual events such as the Star-Spangled Salute for Independence Day and Hocus Pocus Pops for Halloween.
The Woodlands Waterway, which stretches from The Woodlands Mall to Lake Woodlands, and has lighted sidewalks.
Market Street, a shopping district with a movie theater, shops and restaurants.
The Woodlands Mall, which borders the waterway and is adjacent to Market Street, forming a large shopping district.
Every April, The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival draws 220 international juried artists.
The Woodlands Concert Band, established in 2001, performs at local events, and is composed of amateur and professional musicians.
Each village in The Woodlands has its own shopping center.
== Sporting hub ==
The Woodlands Township maintains numerous parks and facilities and offers thousands of recreation programs, including adult sports leagues and youth activities, and regularly hosts championships in sports such as pickleball, tennis, swimming, and more.
In addition to year-round classes and leagues, The Woodlands hosts popular annual sporting events that attract participants from across the country:
Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (April) is an annual full-distance triathlon and a global qualifier for the IRONMAN World Championship.
In addition to the main triathlon, the event often includes complementary community races such as the IRONKIDS Fun Run and the Doggie Dash, introduced in 2023, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the local animal rescue Operation Pets Alive.
YMCA Dragon Boat Team Challenge (September) is an annual dragon boat racing event held at Northshore Park that benefits The Woodlands Family YMCA and the event raises awareness about drowning prevention.
Memorial Hermann 10 for Texas (October) is a USA Track and Field (USATF) sanctioned event with a certified 10-mile course.
Glow and Go 5K (December) is a festive evening race that lights up The Woodlands Waterway with holiday cheer. Participants are encouraged to dress in their most colorful, glowing gear and enjoy a fun, chip-timed 5K course filled with music, lights, and seasonal spirit.
Crush Rush 5K (February) is a chip-timed race along The Woodlands Waterway and is sanctioned by USA Track and Field (USATF).
== Government ==
The Woodlands Township is a special-purpose district created by the 73rd Texas Legislature in 1993, and is run by a seven-member board of directors who are elected directly by the residents of the township in an at large election, for two year staggered terms. Even though The Woodlands is not a city nor a traditional township government, it still provides limited municipal government services such as trash pickup, parks and recreation, covenant enforcement, fire and rescue services, streetscaping, economic development, and enhanced law enforcement and security patrols.
== Education ==
Most students in the Montgomery County portion attend schools in the Conroe Independent School District. Children residing in the May Valley neighborhood in Sterling Ridge Village attend schools in the Magnolia Independent School District. Children from the Creekside Park Village in Harris County attend the Tomball Independent School District.
Montgomery County Memorial Library System operates two libraries in The Woodlands, the South Branch and the George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library. Most schools have the honored rank of an exemplary school, the highest school ranking in Texas. Texas students are administered the STAAR test, a review of general knowledge, which can determine students' promotion to the next grade level.
=== Primary and secondary schools ===
==== Public schools ====
The Woodlands High School (TWHS) serves the western portion of The Woodlands in Montgomery County. TWHS was ranked 626 on Newsweek's 2012 list of America's Best High Schools.
The Woodlands College Park High School, which opened in 2005, serves the eastern portion of The Woodlands in Montgomery County. TWCP was ranked 382 on Newsweek's 2012 list of America's Best High Schools. College Park is also home to the Conroe ISD Academy of Science and Technology, a science and technology based magnet program. Refer to the Conroe School District for specific feeders. Magnolia High School serves pupils residing in May Valley, and Tomball High School serves pupils residing inside the Harris County portion.
Junior high schools
Montgomery County: Knox Junior High School, McCullough Junior High School
Harris County: Creekside Park Junior High School
In 2023 TISD had plans to move middle school grades of the Creekside Village area to Tomball, but parents protested. The district shifted and decided instead to move the fifth grade to an addition at Creekside Park Junior High School. The directors of The Woodlands Township had asked that TISD not move the middle school students to Tomball.
==== Private schools ====
By 2015, many private preparatory schools began campus expansions as The Woodlands had an increase in population and corporate office relocations.
The John Cooper School
The Woodlands Christian Academy
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School (K-8) (of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston)
The closest Catholic high school is Frassati Catholic High School in north Harris County; the planners of the school intended for it to serve The Woodlands.
As of 2019, the British International School of Houston in Greater Katy has a school bus service to The Woodlands.
=== Colleges and universities ===
Lone Star College (originally the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) and Sam Houston State University-The Woodlands Center serve the community. The territory in Conroe ISD joined the community college district in 1991, and the territory in Tomball ISD had joined the district in 1982. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woodlands and in unincorporated Montgomery County, Texas. The district moved to its current location on March 17, 2003. Our Lady of the Lake University, a private non-profit university based in San Antonio, moved its Houston Campus to The Woodlands in 2011.
== Media ==
In 2007, The Bracelet of Bordeaux was filmed in The Woodlands. The cast and crew were largely composed of local residents, and the film was part of a larger effort to generate interest in using The Woodlands and Houston as shooting locations for major motion pictures.
== Infrastructure ==
Law enforcement in Montgomery County is provided by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Highway Patrol. The Harris County portion is covered by Harris County Constable Precinct #4.
The Woodlands Township runs two transit services in The Woodlands: The Woodlands Express, which provides commuter service to the Central Business District of Houston, the Texas Medical Center, and Greenway Plaza from three park and ride lots in The Woodlands, and the free daily Town Center Trolley.
== Notable people ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
The Woodlands Township, local government website |
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